Doolittle's No. 1 aircraft flew at the front of the fleet, and 16 B25s formed four four-aircraft formations, flying at an ultra-low altitude of 12 meters above the sea to avoid Japanese coastal radars and ship-based radars.
As soon as the fleet formed a formation and flew towards the east longitude, according to previous training and flight procedures, all pilots switched the fuel switches of their aircraft to first use the auxiliary fuel tank of the turret.
After the switch was completed, the gunners began to reduce the weight of the aircraft. They first filled the turret's auxiliary fuel tank with the fuel from the 10 extra 5-gallon small fuel tanks they brought before takeoff, and then used their portable daggers to poke the small fuel tanks. After digging a few holes, opening the hatch and throwing it into the sea, the small fuel tank sank quickly after filling with water, leaving no trace for the Japanese army.
When all 10 small fuel tanks were thrown into the sea and "destroyed," the gunners began to add the 60-gallon fuel placed in the radioman's cockpit at the tail of the aircraft into the turret's auxiliary fuel tank in multiple batches. During the flight, when After the 60-gallon fuel tank was emptied, the machine gunners who were trained as mechanics poked more than a dozen holes in the foldable 60-gallon fuel tank and threw it into the sea to sink to reduce the weight of the aircraft.
Finally, they used up the fuel in the foldable rubber fuel tank placed above the bomb bay, which could hold 160 gallons of fuel, then flattened it and folded it so that no air was retained, and then threw it into the sea and sank.
In order to allow the pilots to reduce their own weight to the extreme, Jack brought each person a piece of cotton, peed on the cotton, then threw it into the sea, and continued to destroy the corpses...
Doolittle opened the window and let the cold sea breeze dry the sweat on his face. The temperature in the morning was very low. Fortunately, Jack was thoughtful and installed de-icers on the front and rear of the wings of each aircraft to prevent fuel Freeze to prevent sluggishness in mechanical operation.
The takeoff of 16 fighter planes was not smooth sailing this time. In the final takeoff, Unit 167, nicknamed the "Bat from Hell", had trouble taking off. A mechanic's arm was severed by the propeller of Unit 16. The deck was covered in blood and flesh, and body parts were stained with the propeller.
Reluctantly, the No. 16 aircraft could only shut down and wait for the mechanics to clean up the fighters. The entire fleet could only hover in the air and wait. It was delayed for ten minutes, which was a waste of precious ten minutes of fuel.
This accident cast a shadow on everyone's heart.
"Cole!"
The sweat on Doolittle's face dried and he closed the small hatch. "When I took off just now, you seemed very nervous and kept praying for God's blessing. This is a little different from your usual self!"
"Because of this takeoff, we shoulder the morale and determination of the entire United States, and this is the first time I have taken off with you on such a short deck. The moment the nose of the plane first touched the line, my heartbeat almost froze. .”
Cole said and also closed the co-pilot's small hatch, "Colonel, what about you? What were you thinking when you took off just now?"
Doolittle laughed: "I just did what I could with all my strength, otherwise we would not be flying in the air now, but actually going to see God."
"Oh...look..." Cole said, staring to his right with wide eyes.
Doolittle turned to look at Cole and saw him looking towards the right side of the fleet with wide eyes, so he followed his gaze and saw that on the right side of the fleet, the majestic No. 214 Mustang quickly overtook and pulled up. The speed is so fast that it is jaw-dropping.
The nose of this Mustang was painted in the shape of a shark's mouth with blue and white saw blades, a blue sky and a white sun were painted on the underside of the wings, and rows of golden bullet-shaped battles were painted on the wings of the fighter plane.
These achievements on the tail wing of fighter No. 214 were painted long before it took off, and were always covered by a layer of skin. Today, after refueling, the skin was removed, in order to scare the little Japanese in the east.
In order to commend Zhou Zhihan for his contribution to the protection of Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt specially instructed Doolittle to spray-paint blue sky and white sun and impressive achievements on the No. 214 fighter plane, in order to boost morale and deter the little Japanese in the east.
"God! He's so fast." Doolittle only glanced at Fighter No. 214, continued to navigate ahead, and said with a smile, "Cole, take a look, what's painted on the tail of this Mustang?" "
"Oh! God! His battle record is painted on the wing of No. 214 Mustang... Oh my God, Colonel, how many battles do you think he has?"
Doolittle deliberately played it off: "How many?"
Cole's eyes almost jumped out of their sockets in shock: "Colonel, if you can guess how many battles were painted on his tail fin, I will go to China and treat you to rotten beans."
"Then let me guess...but that's tofu, not tofu." Doolittle looked ahead and smiled mysteriously, "Oh, Cole, I guess his record is 326. ,right?"
Cole almost threw away the map in his hand and jumped up: "What... you can actually guess it?"
Doolittle smiled: "God! Shoot down 326 enemy planes, how did he do it?"
Cole slapped his head, "Okay, okay... Colonel, you already knew it. Yes, it's 326." Cole looked at No. 214 Mustang with envy and admiration, looking towards Zhou Zhihan He gave a handsome military salute.
Doolittle looked ahead and led the flight: "This is why I must have him participate in this operation.
On the day our Pearl Harbor was attacked, he single-handedly killed dozens of enemy planes, and it was obvious to everyone.
Given his ability and humility, I estimate that this record may have been underreported by him.
According to Chennault, Colonel Zhou's combat record in China exceeded 200. "
Cole could only shake his head and turned to look at the rapidly rising No. 214 Mustang: "I just want to know how he did it."
Doolittle continued: "I heard from Leif, who came back from England, that during the Battle of Great Britain, he single-handedly killed nearly a hundred German planes, dwarfing the Molders and Garands that Hitler was so proud of. He made the German ace pilots love and hate him. They wanted to meet him but were afraid of meeting him.
When covering the withdrawal of troops from Kiev, and during the defense of the military parade on Red Square in Moscow, he even killed everyone..."
No. 214 Mustang surpassed all the bombers and let everyone know about his arrival. After Zhou Zhihan pulled the lever, the Super Mustang continued to pull up and jump. After a while, it entered an altitude of 10,000 meters, avoiding the Japanese radar and flying behind the group of aircraft. Above, he opened his flight helmet and had a panoramic view of the 200 square kilometers of sea and air space. Any Japanese reconnaissance aircraft or patrol boats that might detect the B25 bomber group would be blown up without giving them a chance to report.
Doolittle led the fleet on an unimpeded journey. He watched several Japanese patrol planes explode on the sea along the way, with their mutilated bodies floating in the sea. All the crew members were grateful to have this super ace with them.
In the morning, the weather at sea was very cold, but the weather 600 nautical miles away in the east longitude was exceptionally warm. People walked out of their homes and basked in the bright spring sunshine.
The classrooms in the school were full of students, the crowds in the downtown area gradually increased, and the streets were bustling with people shopping. Little did they know that a large group of super beasts were approaching step by step.
Today is April 18th, which happens to be drill day.
Not long ago, Rainito received a call from Yamamoto Isoroku with a smile on his face, because Yamamoto said that two American aircraft carriers would be sent as a gift for the exercise day today.
Therefore, Yu Ren and Huang Hou prepared to go to Yu Garden to collect herbs. When the good news came, they sent people to give the herbs to the soldiers who were injured in the battle to warm their hearts.
