The Flying Fortress drops the bomb first!
Mitsuo Fuchida and others mistakenly believed that dropping bombs at high altitudes from the Sky Fortress was just a waste of time.
The Flying Fortress is the world's first heavy bomber equipped with a radar sight and can accurately drop bombs at high altitudes. It has a terrifying 5-ton load capacity, and the magazine has already been opened, waiting to be dropped.
The fleet of aircraft faced the undefended bow of the aircraft carrier [Xianghe] and launched a single follow-up bomb release.
"Woo..."
The sharp whistling sound of the bombs was soul-stirring, one after another, falling in an orderly manner.
Although there are radar sights, the aircraft carrier is alive.
Dropping bombs from 10,000 meters in the air requires precise lead time. It was the first time for the shooters in the Sky Fortress to actually fight, and their hit rate was almost zero.
The task force launched a snake-like maneuver and moved forward. Most of the cannonballs that fell from a height of 10,000 meters were easily dodged by the "Xianghe". However, even so, the "Xianghe" was still in a state of disarray. Many of the shells that fell were on both sides of the ship. The side explosion caused a huge column of water, which rushed more than a dozen sailors into the sea. The strong air current pushed two Zeros that had extinguished the fire into the sea and were crushed by the side of the ship.
There was still a fire burning on the miserable [Xianghe], and the burning of gasoline produced billowing thick smoke. This brought endless convenience to the flying fortress, as long as it was aimed at the thick smoke and dropped the bomb.
Although the main purpose of this bombing was to deter the Japanese from launching a third wave of strikes, the American pitchers hated the Japanese to the core and wished they could stuff the bomb directly into the chimney of the Shokaku and explode it.
Due to the fire, the gunners of some gun positions on the "Xianghe" could only temporarily leave and take shelter, and the thick smoke hindered the gunner's vision. This brought convenience to the B25, which followed the bombing completion and blew up the Japanese army. Behind the dizzy sky fortress, drop altitude and quickly drop bombs.
The amount of bombs carried by the four B25s was also astonishing. They dropped dozens of bombs continuously and intensively. Only three bombs hit, and the rest exploded on the edge of the aircraft carrier. The powerful impact blasted out water columns dozens of meters high, knocking out dozens of bombs. A sailor rushed into the sea.
A bomb fell on the 127mm anti-aircraft gun waiting room at positions 55 to 58 on the port side of the Shokaku, causing damage to the 127mm anti-aircraft gun at position 6 and causing heavy casualties to the gun crew.
In addition, the port side of the flight deck on top of the standby room deformed, and powerful armor-piercing fragments swept across the No. 4 127mm anti-aircraft gun position. The fire splashed and cut the muzzle of the gun, killing three Japanese soldiers on the spot.
Fire broke out in the chief of staff's cabin and the sailor's cabin on the port side of the main deck. Thick smoke came out, and the sailors immediately poured water to put it out.
The second bomb hit the 12.7mm machine gun station on the left side of the chimney, which was located about three meters above position 103 on the starboard side. The armor-breaking fragments caused serious casualties to the 120mm machine gun crews on the left and right sides of the chimney.
In addition, armor-piercing fragments swept across the 127mm anti-aircraft gun console on the rear side of the ship and the air defense console on the front side, causing a large number of Japanese casualties.
A bomb exploded roughly inboard of rib No. 87 on the port side. The bomb exploded and deformed the lifeboat deck on the port side of the Shokaku, which is the platform for the three 20mm cannons in ribs No. 84 to 97.
The armor-piercing shrapnel penetrated the outer defensive steel plate of the cannon, causing water to enter the storage compartment on deck 3. The Japanese soldiers responded quickly and immediately closed the compartment to stop the water flow.
Two near-misses, small in size but very lethal to the crew, exploded outside the left rear side. Shrapnel penetrated the aircraft carrier's woodwork shop and nearby areas, killing 4 and injuring 6 Japanese soldiers, making them cry for their fathers and mothers.
The Flying Fortress quickly turned around after exiting the attack. Facing the fierce Japanese artillery fire, the inexperienced Americans prepared without hesitation to drop bombs on the riddled Japanese aircraft carrier and then retreat.
Seeing that [Shokaku] was besieged by a group of American aircraft, the aircraft carrier [Zuikaku] and the destroyers [Tanikaze], [Urakaze], and [Hamakaze] quickly moved closer to it, tightened the defense circle, and fired more intensively , attacking B25 bombers.
During the battle, a B25 was hit by artillery fire. Due to its rough skin and thick flesh, it left the battlefield and flew towards Pearl Harbor, dragging thick smoke.
One of the Flying Fortresses was so eager to perform its service that it lowered its altitude and was hit on the left wing. The engine stopped working and could only rely on the power of the right wing to stumble and follow the B25 back.
Now, the Japanese finally knew that the high firepower of their anti-aircraft guns was powerless against the flying fortress, so all their firepower was directed at the B25 and Wildcat squadrons.
In sea and air battles, the aircraft carrier formation needs to move in a serpentine manner. The distance between the two aircraft carriers must be at least 2 to 4 nautical miles. If the distance is too close, it will easily be attacked by enemy aircraft in the air, and it will also affect the destroyers. Fire protection and control of battleships and cruisers.
At a distance of 2 nautical miles, the aircraft carrier needs to travel for at least 1+ minutes, and the bombers will arrive in the blink of an eye. This makes it impossible for the destroyers protecting the aircraft carrier to weave an air defense net in a short time. Therefore, even if the [Xianghe] is violently attacked, [ Zuikaku] also cannot get too close to assist in defense.
Although the task force was large, due to the necessary distance between aircraft carriers, only the Shokaku and Zuikaku and three destroyers were busy dealing with the intensive and powerful attack of the Sky Fortress and B25.
Now, the task force can only hope that the carrier-based aircraft of the other four aircraft carriers can take off early.
In a naval battle, the fist of an aircraft carrier is carrier-based aircraft, and it is impossible for six aircraft carriers to gather together for air defense.
Nagumo Chuichi never dreamed that it was because he released Zero View 20 minutes late, resulting in a time difference that caused his fleet to fall into a passive position.
The flying fortress and the powerful bomb delivery of the B25 allowed the Japanese ships that had not had time to take off the carrier-based aircraft to fully defend themselves.
Slowly speaking, just when the American bomber group began to drop bombs, two squadrons of Wildcat fighter jets also began to use firepower to contain the surrounding task force. Each Wildcat carried two 45-kilogram small bombs, and dropped a few from time to time. If hit, it can also paralyze the destroyer.
A squadron of 7 Wildcats besieged the 5 Zeros that had already taken off. After a while, 2 were shot down by the Zeros. In order not to become prisoners of the Japanese, the pilot flew the fighter to more than ten nautical miles before parachuting. This was also Relying on the Wildcat's rough skin and thick flesh, the Zero would have disintegrated long ago under the bombardment of two Type 99 20mm cannons.
The other Wildcats quickly used the tactics Zhou Zhihan had developed for them. They raised their altitude and then dived to attack, clinging to the Zero fighter.
The all-out efforts of the Flying Fortress, B25, and Wildcat gave the SBD Dauntless dive bomber a good opportunity.
Suddenly, the SBD Dauntless changed from its slow state, quickly detoured along the periphery of the task force's warning curtain, quickly arrived at the dive point, followed up with a single aircraft with the sun behind its back, aimed at the "Xianghe" aircraft carrier, and dived in sequence.
This sudden change caught the task force off guard.
The anti-aircraft guns of the Japanese destroyers fired intensively into the air. Black, yellow, and purple smoke could be seen everywhere, and most of the smoke dispersed automatically in mid-air.
It is better to cut off one of the enemy's ten fingers than to injure them, so American fighter planes attacked the Shokaku.
It was the first time for the 12 SBDs of the US military to participate in actual combat bombing. Water columns appeared on both sides of the aircraft carrier. Some were relatively close, but most of them were too far away.
The aircraft carrier's anti-aircraft guns and machine guns fired violently upwards alternately to prevent the SBD from diving downwards in a fearless manner.
On the blue sea, tracer bullets from both sides crisscrossed each other, which was full of shock.
Dick Best began his dive, and his observer shouted:
"4000 meters... 3500 meters... 3000 meters... 1500 meters... 1200 meters... 600 meters, ready... to drop bombs!"
Dick Best dived for 2 more seconds before releasing the bomb. Then the fighter quickly recovered from the dive and exited at an altitude of 230 meters above the water.
While pulling up, Best saw from the instrument display that he had just dropped the bomb at an altitude of 430 meters above the enemy ship. The bomb almost grazed the side of the ship and smashed into the sea.
The navigator ship observer shouted loudly: "It missed and exploded 15 meters on the port side of the aircraft carrier."
"grass!"
Dick Best cursed loudly.
The exit altitude of the SBD fearless dive bomber during training is 650 to 700 meters, and the altimeter's mantissa is 50 meters. The lowest exit altitude in actual combat is 450 meters. However, Best still did not hit the aircraft carrier when the exit altitude reached the limit of 230 meters. , or at least he was very annoyed.
However, it was because of this battle that he was able to accumulate valuable experience and kill everyone at Midway.
