New World War II Eagle Strikes the Sky

Li Mei has a king-sized desk that is so big that it can be used as a double bed.Of course, making such a thing is not to show off, but it is really useful.This desk is filled with all kinds of aircraft models.What b-17, b-24, p-38, flamethrower, bf109, fw190, bf110 and so on are placed all over the table.Li Mei fiddled with these things and studied tactics on it when she was free.Sometimes when he was too tired after researching, Li Mei simply took a nap on the big table, which also earned him the nickname of "Tactical Crazy".

It's midnight now, but Tactical Maniac hasn't rested yet.He's in his office working with his guests on a new tactic: the box formation.

The so-called box formation refers to a dense formation that is larger than the previous 4-machine formation and 6-machine formation.It consists of 12 or more bombers, lined up in the sky in the shape of a large box.In this way, no matter which angle the enemy plane launches an attack from, it will be attacked by the self-defense machine guns of several bombers at the same time, and if several or even dozens of such box formations are combined together, even the best fighter pilots dare not say When I attack them, I will be able to retreat completely.

In history, the box formation was created by a group of guys led by Li Mei, but now, the appearance of Ron has made the appearance of this formation several months ahead of schedule.

"Ah, this looks pretty good. As long as the Germans haven't adopted the method of air-dropping time bombs and air-launching large-caliber rockets, this formation is basically invulnerable to those ordinary fighter jets. At least, let me lead a team As for the German fighter jets, I’m sure there’s nothing I can do about it.” The guest yawned profusely.

Tmd, I came all the way from North America, I haven't had a good rest, and it's really hard to meet all these buddies whose eyes shine every time they hear new tactics.

"Lieutenant Colonel Ron, thank you so much for your help." Li Mei looked at her watch and smiled a little embarrassedly, "Oh, it's getting late, it's already 02:30. I'm so sorry, come here Come on, I didn't arrange for you to have a good rest, and even dragged you to sleep. How about I send you to the dormitory?"

Ron woke up at 7:[-] the next morning.But he was not happy to "sleep until he woke up naturally". He was woken up by various noisy sounds at the airport.

Get up from the bed, open the curtains and look outside, the airport is already busy.All the bombers have left the hangar, some are doing pre-flight maintenance, some are refueling, and some have already started taxiing to the main runway.

"Is there a mission? Why didn't you tell me in advance." Ron thought as he hurriedly put on his military uniform, wiped his face indiscriminately, and went out the door.

He got on the Willys jeep assigned to him, and as soon as he came to the side of the runway, he saw Li Mei standing on the side of the runway and gesticulating.

"Hey, Ron, are you awake too?" Seeing Ron jumping off the jeep, Li Mei immediately yelled at him.

"Hehe, what you've done here is shaking the earth. If I don't wake up, I'm afraid I'm going to turn into a pig."

Ron walked over and stood with Li Mei.

"Is there any combat mission today?"

"No, there is a mission to bomb the Germans tomorrow, and now we are just training." Li Mei asked suddenly, "Do you know what the training subjects are?"

"How do I know, I'm not from a heavy bomber background." Seeing the smile that couldn't be hidden from the corner of Li Mei's eyes, Ron suddenly felt moved, "Isn't it a box formation?"

"Haha, you guessed it right. In fact, our original formation is pretty good. We practice today, and we can use this to surprise the Germans tomorrow." Li Mei looked smug.

At 7 o'clock in the morning, such a drill can be carried out, that is to say, before that, Li Mei and his people have already eaten, finished the tactical meeting, and arranged the training tasks.Damn, when did this guy get up?Maybe he didn't sleep at all.

A B-17 parked at the beginning of the main runway, ready to take off.Li Mei waved to Ron,

"Since you're up, come up with me and have a look."

Just as she was about to board the gangway of b-17, Li Mei suddenly seemed to remember something.

"You haven't had breakfast yet? But it doesn't matter, there's still time."

He pretended to turn around and shouted to the driver, "Hurry up and get two field rations, and bring a set of aviation jackets."

I have to say that Li Mei's efficiency is indeed very high, but in 2 minutes, before the plane's No. [-] engine started, the jeep came back, bringing the two things Li Mei said.

The so-called field dry food, to put it more clearly, is compressed biscuits plus canned luncheon meat.But the aviation team has preferential treatment, and there are two more chocolates.And the aero jacket, that's the real good stuff.This leather jacket is made from the finest sheepskin with a long, dense fleece.Absolutely top-notch thermal performance when worn on the body.You must know that the average flying altitude of the b-17 is above 7000 meters. In many cases, especially when returning to the voyage after dropping the bombs, in order to avoid enemy planes, the flying altitude must be as high as 8000 meters.In Europe, at such heights, whether it is summer or winter, the temperature is always below zero and can even be as cold as minus twenty or thirty degrees.Unlike passenger planes, the cabin of the B-17 is not airtight. Whatever the temperature outside is, the temperature inside the cabin will be the same. Without this thing, the ten people who got off the plane would all turn into popsicles in the last day.

The plane began to roll on the runway, and then flew lightly and smoothly.

Before the plane climbed too high, Ron quickly ate a field dry ration with the water in the kettle.If you wait a while at a high altitude, it will be difficult to eat, and everything will be frozen like ice cubes.

Because the pilots of the 305 Bomber Brigade have a good foundation.Arranging a new formation is actually really difficult.But is Li Mei's training just like this?

The fleet gradually climbed higher and higher, and soon reached a height of 7000 meters.It was already very cold in the cabin, and Ron wrapped his bomber jacket tightly as he and Li Mei chatted in a way that was almost yelling at each other (it was very loud):

"It's not that cold in the Pacific Ocean. It's tropical after all. I'm afraid it won't be this cold until 30000 feet."

"It's not bad here. In fact, the coldest place is the position of the machine gunner. Why don't you try it."

I came here to understand the strategic bombing in Europe. Of course, I have to experience the position of the machine gunner.Ron stood up, stomped his feet hard, and then walked towards the top machine gun tower closest to him.

"Hey, brother," Ron climbed up the ladder two steps, and then patted the machine gunner's leg (because the cabin is not sealed, the noise inside is very loud, and there is a layer of glass between the machine gun tower and the outside, the noise is even worse Big. The low roar of the engine is mixed with the noise caused by the high-speed friction of the airframe, and no one can hear the normal voice. Normally, calls are made through earphones and microphones. But Ron is a non-staff member, so no one He is equipped with this thing) yells, "Come down, I'll hit you for a while."

The top machine gunner is still very happy to have someone take over, even if it's just for a while.After figuring out what Ron meant, he immediately climbed down from the top machine gun tower and gave Ron his position.

Ron sat down in the gunner's seat, put on his seat belt, put on the gunner's big headset and goggles, and began to perform the gunner's duties.

It is indeed colder here than in the cabin. The cold wind leaking through various seams blows on the face like a knife cut. If you don't wear goggles, you may not even be able to open your eyes.But there is also a place that is incomparable in the engine room. The view here is wide. Looking around from here, you can see many B-17s from far and near. They are flying in the air in a neat box formation.Behind them, there was a long, snow-white trail.The track was silvered by the bright English morning sun.Like a silver ribbon.If you look at it from a distance, the trails of these bombers converging together must look like a river rushing forward in the sky.

One of the duties of the machine gunner is self-defense, and the other is vigilance.Especially the machine gunner on the top machine gun tower, after all, his position has the best view.Just when Ron was busy admiring the beautiful scenery, he suddenly found some small black spots appeared in front of him.

"A fighter jet is found ahead!" Ron immediately issued an alarm, and stared at these things with wide eyes, while pointing the machine gun forward.

At this time, Li Mei's voice came from the earphone: "Ron, don't be nervous, that's our p-40, here to imitate the enemy."

"Fuck, the simulated enemy army has already been played here. Didn't General Arnold's idea come from Li Mei?" Ron thought silently.

This conjecture is true, but Li Mei started this kind of training mainly to let the pilots get used to not dodging.The second is to take the opportunity to train the machine gunner.

But when Li Mei told Ron the truth, Ron was no longer nervous.Because he has already recognized that the batch of planes are all P-40.This kind of plane is almost one of the planes Ron is most familiar with.His flying career started from this aircraft.That way of flying made Ron recognize it from afar.

The planes passed through the box formation of the B-17s, then charged at other angles, and passed through the formation again.The captain's voice came from the headset:

"Record the number of times you shot!"

After several rounds of simulated attacks, when they reached the sky above the simulated target area, following Li Mei's order, the b-17 began to change its formation, and the bombers at the bottom of the box formation began to accelerate, flew a little ahead of the bombers at the top, and then began Simulated bombing, and then the high-level bombers also began to simulate bombing. (This is done to avoid bombs dropped by upper bombers threatening lower bombers)

At the moment the box was opened, the group of p-40s rushed over again.However, the process of opening the box was very short. It took only 2 minutes, and the b-17 returned to the box formation again.

"This rehearsal was good, go back and summarize it, and give the Germans a surprise tomorrow. All return!" Li Mei's order came from the headset.

The b-17 still maintains a box formation to return, while those p-40s gather together to form a large formation to accompany the b-17.The frozen Ron quickly ran down from the machine gun tower. Although the cabin was cold, it was much better than the machine gun tower.Li Mei smiled and handed Ron a large piece of chocolate.

"Eat some of this and it will warm you a lot."

Ron smiled and took it...

After the plane landed, Ron reported the number of times he fired to the captain, and then went to the cafeteria for lunch.After lunch, as soon as he walked out of the restaurant, he saw Li Mei walking towards here.

As soon as Li Mei saw Ron, she rushed over and punched him affectionately on the chest,

"Ron, do you know how much the defense effect of our new formation has been improved?" Before Ron could react, he gave the answer directly, "The machine gunner's chance to shoot at the enemy has nearly doubled! This All of a sudden... But the moment the box is opened is our weakness, we will practice it in the afternoon!"