Does anyone know about the bombing of the Japanese mainland in the Second World War?

Bombing Tokyo

On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force attacked Pearl Harbor, the home port of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The Pearl Harbor incident brought the morale of the American people to the lowest point. In order to arouse public confidence, U.S. President Roosevelt decided to attack Tokyo, Japan, at all costs to show the American people that the attack on Pearl Harbor was by no means the end of the United States, and that the U.S. military had the ability to defeat the Japanese army!

In January 1942, the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Navy, Admiral King, accepted the advice of his combat staff and decided to launch an air strike against Japan. The first choice target is Tokyo, the capital of Japan. At that time, the combat radius of all U.S. Navy combat aircraft could not reach the distance required to bomb Tokyo. While the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff were at a loss to do anything about this, Navy Commander-in-Chief King accidentally heard an officer on the staff say that the Army's long-range bombers could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier, and he immediately became extremely interested.

After a series of careful selections, the North American company's B-25 "Clear" bomber, which has a range of 1,932 kilometers and is known as the "universal bomber", was selected by the military. On February 3, 1942, two modified B-25B bombers successfully took off from the aircraft carrier "Hornet", initially verifying the feasibility of this plan.

On April 2, 1942, the aircraft carrier "Hornet" sailed away from San Francisco carrying 16 modified B-25 bombers, and was accompanied by six battleships including the heavy cruiser "Vincents". Under escort, we bid farewell to the majestic Golden Gate Bridge and disappeared into the boundless rain and fog of the Pacific Ocean.

On April 5, another fleet led by Vice Admiral Halsey and centered on the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier also quietly set off from Pearl Harbor and sailed due north. Five days later, this fleet met with the fleet led by Captain Mitchell of the "Hornet" in designated waters in the North Pacific and formed Task Force Sixteen, commanded by Halsey. At this time, the waves in the North Pacific were high and windy, and there were few ships. More than four months ago, the Japanese fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor relied on this hidden route to successfully attack in one fell swoop. And now, the Sixteenth Task Force is precisely along the same route that the Japanese once took, carrying bombers full of hatred and bombs, quietly sailing towards Japan.

In the early morning of April 18, an energetic Halsey appeared in front of the pilots who had already lined up. He announced to the pilots: "The purpose of our trip is to insert a dagger into the heart of the Japanese Empire - Tokyo!"

Afterwards, Halsey called Doolittle to him and handed it to him. A "Japan-US Goodwill Medal". This was given by an unknown group when Halsey was still serving as a second lieutenant and visited Yokohama, Japan with the ship. "Throw this thing from the sky over Tokyo back to the Japanese devils!"

Almost at the same time, the fishing boat "Nitto Maru 23" requisitioned by the Japanese Navy discovered the 16th Task Force. whereabouts. The extremely excited captain of the "Nitto Maru 23" had not had time to count the number of the fleet in front of him in the early morning mist, so he sent a clear message to Tokyo: "Three American aircraft carriers discovered!"

< p>At 6:30 in the morning, at the Japanese Combined Fleet Headquarters outside Tokyo, the intelligence sent from the "Nitto Maru 23" was placed on the desk of the Combined Fleet Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku. Seeing this intelligence, Yamamoto, who had been worried for several months, immediately realized: "They are coming! The target must be Tokyo!"

"Tell the 'Nitto Maru' to report the specific number of enemy ships! "

"The radio is interrupted and cannot be contacted," the staff officer on duty reported, "'Nitto Maru' may have been..."

Yamamoto was silent. After a while, he slammed his clenched fist onto the table.

Since the Pearl Harbor incident, every time Japan has won a victory, Tokyo citizens will line up in long lines, wave flags, and walk through the winter snow to hold a celebration meeting in front of the palace gate. In these victories, the whole country of Japan is intoxicated with the glorious dream of the results. However, in Yamamoto Isoroku's mind, the fear of US retaliation for the Pearl Harbor incident was always a lingering shadow. "The safety of Tokyo, where the emperor is seated, must be absolutely guaranteed" has become something Yamamoto never forgets. He even displayed a morbid sensitivity. Every day before dealing with other official duties, he would ask about the weather conditions in Tokyo. If the weather forecast says that the weather near Tokyo is bad, he will feel relieved, because then American planes will not come and Tokyo will be safe.

After receiving the information from the "Nitto Maru", Yamamoto immediately ordered the planes of the 26th Air Force stationed in the mainland to take off, and ordered the First Battleship Fleet parked in Hiroshima and the fleet just the day before. The Second Fleet, which returned home, weighed anchor and set sail to meet the American task force.

"God bless you!"

Halsey and Doolittle's original plans were disrupted when a patrolling Japanese fishing boat was discovered. According to the original battle plan, the bombers of Task Force 16 would not take off until they were 500 nautical miles away from Tokyo. If the bomber is released 200 nautical miles ahead of schedule at this time, it means that the pilot's chance of survival is greatly reduced. Moreover, early action also meant that the bomber groups would have to bomb the Japanese mainland during daylight hours.

This undoubtedly reduces the possibility of the pilot's survival by one point.

Finally, Halsey made up his mind: The Japanese must have thought that the bombers would take off 300 nautical miles away from Japan at this time, and they certainly would not have thought that our plane would take off 400 nautical miles ahead of schedule. And this 400 nautical mile time difference was exactly what was needed to bomb Tokyo. So, he sent a signal to the Hornet: "Aircraft out! Good luck to Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle and his brave squadron. God bless you."

After everything was ready, all the crew members lined up on the aft deck , Doolittle explained to everyone the reason for taking off early. "Brothers, death will greet us." Dolittle waved his arms against the strong wind. "We are now 700 nautical miles away from Japan, 200 nautical miles more than the scheduled voyage. And every gallon of our fuel is calculated. We have to bomb Japan during the day, and there is no fighter escort."

"Is anyone scared?" Dolittle's voice turned from serious to gentle, with some kind of joking: "Our replacement pilot is willing to pay $100 to replace him."

For a long time, a shout broke the silence: "Go to Tokyo and beat up these scoundrels! Lieutenant Colonel, with you leading the team, we have nothing to fear!" "Give me $1,000 and don't change it. Keep his money and go back to Hawaii to visit nightclubs."

< p>After the laughter, Doolittle ordered: "Get ready to board!"

30 seconds over Tokyo

"Pilot on board! Pilot on board!" came the rapid and harsh voice from the speaker sound. After a while, the roar of the engine, the crashing and tearing sounds of the angry sea waves, and the cheers of the officers and soldiers merged together, causing the huge aircraft carrier to shake continuously.

At 8:20, just as the bow of the "Hornet" was lifted up by the huge waves in the Pacific Ocean, Doolittle's plane rose into the sky. At this time, they were 668 nautical miles away from Tokyo. After the last B-25 bomber took off, Halsey ordered Task Force 16 to turn around and return home.

Three hours later, the B-25 formation, skimming westward across the Pacific at ultra-low altitude at cruising speed, discovered the coast of Japan in a layer of mist. When the US plane passed by the mast of a parked Japanese fishing boat, the pilots were very worried that they would be shot by ground anti-aircraft fire. To their surprise, the men, women, and children on the fishing boat were waving enthusiastically to the American plane. They considered these planes their own.

At 12:30, Doolittle led his plane to the target. Doolittle later recalled: "As we flew over Japan, we heard a Japanese radio station broadcasting in English the joys of Japanese life and how they were free from the horrors of bombing. As we thought, the broadcast suddenly stopped, When we listened again, the announcer was speaking in Japanese in a panic. At that time, we thought that Tokyo might not be a safe place anymore. "

The plane quickly flew towards its intended target at a very low altitude. The wings almost touched the treetops. The crew opened the belly bomb bay door, the bomb release indicator light flashed red, and heavy bombs roared down one after another.

At this time, in the square in central Tokyo, the Japanese people who had just concluded an air defense exercise thought that the group of aircraft above them was a continuation of the exercise. It wasn't until a series of violent explosions came from the factory area in northern Tokyo, and thick smoke and dust covered half of the sky, that people discovered that the rising sun patterns on the wings of these planes were not the ones they were used to seeing.

When the air raid was underway, Japanese Emperor Hirohito was collecting medicine for the soldiers at the front in the Imperial Garden as a show of kindness. When the alarm first went off, he thought it was a drill. When he heard the explosion, he lost his usual reserve, shouted loudly, took Empress Ryoko's hand and hid in the cherry blossom forest, his whole body shaking. It wasn't until the air raid passed and the guards were looking around that he finally recovered from his shock. Before the bombing, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Theater Nimitz gave an order: "Bomb only military targets and do not alert the Emperor." It was precisely because of this order that the U.S. pilots suppressed their anger and flew over the Imperial Palace. And passed.

Landing in China

According to the original plan, after completing the bombing mission, the bomber formation led by Doolittle should fly to China's Nanchang and Lishui airports 1,100 nautical miles away to land. One of the 16 bombers participating in the operation flew north due to lack of fuel and landed in Vladivostok (Vladivostok) in the Soviet Union. Its crew members returned home a year later via Iran. After the remaining 75 crew members flew 15 aircraft into mainland China, they were forced to make an emergency landing or parachute due to lack of fuel, darkness, fog and other factors. Three of them died during the forced landing, and eight were captured after landing in Japanese-occupied areas. Under the cover of the Chinese anti-Japanese military and civilians, the remaining crew members, including Doolittle, safely transferred to the rear.

That evening, the news of the successful air strike was reported to the United States by the crew members rescued in China. The next day, major newspapers in the United States reported on their front pages with banner headlines: US planes bombed Tokyo, Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle did a great job!

On the afternoon of the 19th, a warm press conference was held at the White House. A blond female reporter from the Los Angeles Times asked Roosevelt, who was glowing at this moment: "Excuse me, Mr. President, from which base did the planes that bombed Tokyo take off?"

Roosevelt blinked. With his characteristic humour, he replied: “Shangri-La, I think from there.

If this is not the case, dear lady, where can you tell me? ”

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