Chapter 2721 Night Air Raid 2
"Remember, young man, turn on all identification lights immediately after takeoff. Don't be shot down by friendly fighter jets. Those without identification lights are enemy targets. Just use searchlights to spot them and kill them. In addition, don't try to enter the inner protection of the fleet. circle, that is to say, don’t get closer than 4,000 meters away from the battleship. That is the air defense range of the naval gun.” An officer reminded the pilots who were about to board the plane over and over again.
At this time, on two special seaplane carriers, the planes were hoisted to the water one after another, and then took off on their own. After takeoff, the red identification lights on the fuselage and wings of the aircraft are turned on. Each aircraft is equipped with at least 6 identification lights. The red light is very conspicuous in the night.
At least 20 seaplanes took off from the sea. They formed a scattered interception line between the Japanese fleet and the main fleet. On the sea, the destroyers also began to shrink one by one. They gathered around the main ship. Anti-aircraft guns of various calibers were aimed in the air, like knights protecting their lord. The main battleships that originally formed a battle line also disbanded and formed four two-ship squadrons. In this case, the US fleet will be more maneuverable. While continuing to carry out the bombardment mission, hundreds of anti-aircraft guns and machine guns were also aimed at the air. Battleships were like angry porcupines, with their artillery aimed at the air, ready to spray out rain of death at any time!
"The leading aircraft will enter the battlefield first. They will release flares with parachutes and use searchlights to indicate the target. Our task is to attack. The window time will be very short, and the lighting will be intermittent. Don't expect a hit rate. No matter how high, in short, we must protect ourselves first." Takahashi said to his colleagues.
In this era, even for twin-engine bombers, generally only the squadron leader's aircraft or a small number of aircraft had radios, and they were not necessarily reliable. During the day, they could still communicate through gestures and a writing pad. But at night, all tactics are formulated on the ground. In the end, I felt a little resigned to how the tactics turned out.
Half an hour later, the lightly loaded pilot group had entered the battlefield. The American fleet was easy to find, and they would not give up the bombardment because of possible Japanese bombing! Looking at the main guns that were constantly spitting out orange flames in the distance, the Japanese leading aircraft first discovered the target. They spread out and flew towards the two nearest American battleship formations!
The Japanese use horizontal throws, flying at a height of about 3,000 meters, and then drop flares from the fleet. These parachute flares can continue to illuminate the air for about 5 minutes at a time, emitting light ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 candlepower. .
The beams of light emitted by the searchlights pierced the dark night sky. Occasionally, Japanese aircraft were captured by the searchlights, and then more beams of light followed. The sound of dense rapid-fire artillery fire also sounded on the sea, and patches of tracer bullets of various colors drew arcs in the sky. However, this is not a big threat to Japanese aircraft passing at an altitude of 3,000 meters. The number of 5-inch artillery pieces is a little small, the rotation speed can't keep up, and more importantly, the fire control is poor. The machine guns of various calibers have insufficient shooting height and range. The Japanese pilot aircraft shuttled over the rain of bullets,
"We are God, they have nothing to do on the sea." A British pilot said leisurely while looking at the volcanic eruption of firepower on the sea. Countless shells exploded under the wings, and the air was like a boiling pot, but it seemed to take the Japanese There is nothing one can do. However, what he didn't expect was that ghosts with red identification lights flashing were approaching from behind. When the searchlight on the sea captured the plane again, the killer behind him took action!
"500 meters! 400 meters!" An American seaplane slowly followed up from behind. Because the sea searchlight provided light, the plane did not turn on its own searchlight. In order to hide, the pilot even turned off the identification signal light. . The sight on the front of the cockpit tightly locked the target, and based on the ruler next to it, the driver quickly estimated the distance between the two and tracked it steadily. When he got close to 400 meters, he still didn't fire. He was waiting for an opportunity!
The British pilot dropped the first flare when flying directly above the American fleet, then continued flying in a straight line at a constant speed and began to throw the remaining flares. However, this was the moment the hunter behind him was waiting for! The opponent didn't notice it and threw the flare in a straight line! The opponent cannot dodge during this process, but the Americans only need ten seconds!
250 meters! When the Japanese twin-engine aircraft almost filled the entire sight, the American pilot decisively pressed the shooting button! One 20mm machine gun and two large-caliber machine guns fired more than 300 rounds of various ammunition in less than ten seconds! The fierce firepower easily knocked off half of one wing of the twin-engine aircraft. Half a minute later, the poor Japanese aircraft fell to the sea with raging fire, and the entire battlefield was caught off guard. At least three of the Japanese aircraft fleet were shot down!
And this directly resulted in half of the flares that were supposed to be thrown over the heads of the US Navy! Of course, the American fighter jets with red signal lights flashing in the sky put more pressure on the Japanese. The Japanese really did not expect that the Americans had mastered night interception capabilities, although this so-called interception capability was very limited!
"Start the attack immediately, and quickly withdraw from the battlefield after the fight!" Takahashi ordered his crew. Then, more than a dozen bombers roared towards the U.S. fleet lit by flares. They first limited the altitude to 1,500 meters. , and then after entering the dive attack range, it began to dive at an angle of 40 degrees to 50 degrees, and dropped the bomb at an altitude of about 800 meters. After the attack, pull up and escape.
"There are so many American destroyers!" a Japanese pilot said while looking at the American destroyers on the periphery that were tilting their barrages into the air crazily. There are 4 to 5 destroyers providing cover next to every two battleships. The anti-aircraft firepower on the American destroyers exceeded the imagination of the Japanese. Each funnel-shaped barrage chased the Japanese bombers in the air. After the Japanese fired the first bomb Before being dropped, at least three twin-engine bombers were shot down while rushing into the American circular air defense array.
Viewed from the air, the anti-aircraft firepower of each U.S. squadron spread out radially in all directions. The interlaced barrages and searchlights sweeping across the sky formed death traps, waiting for the opponent to fall into the trap. A small number of Japanese pilots even lost the courage to attack and chose to throw away their bombs hastily.
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