In September 1941, when the last batch of 20 ab-3 long-range bombers arrived at the Port of San Diego from Pearl Harbor, the federal air force prepared for two months of air raids officially kicked off. In this strategy code-named "Harvest"
In the bombing plan, the first targets selected were the five cities in Texas: Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth.
In addition to being rich in cowboys, Texas is also the most important oil producing area in the United States. The production here accounts for more than half of all oil in the United States. During the war, oil was the most important war material. The reason why the mustache is so urgent
A large factor in the rush to attack the Soviet Union was that Germany had no oil reserves. Apart from getting some oil from Romania, it could only rely on its pre-war reserves.
Without oil, there would be many things. The petrochemical industry is a long industrial chain. The simplest thing is that without oil, tanks and airplanes cannot operate. In order to make up for its own shortcomings, Germany has actually begun to study liquefied coal. It can be seen that
The importance of energy to a country.
Although Texas is not the only state in the United States that produces oil, California, one of the two oil-producing states, has been captured by federal troops, and most of the oil fields in New Mexico have been bombed. If the oil fields in Texas continue to
If it cannot be maintained, the United States, a country rich in oil, will fall into an oil shortage. The small oil fields in Florida and Pennsylvania will not be able to meet the United States' wartime oil supply.
Regarding this, the federal army understands that the U.S. government and military know better. So they must find a way to protect the oil fields in Texas. They must protect it! It is easy to say, but how to protect it? Federal bombers fly high and high.
Fast, even if the US military fighter jets can barely climb to an altitude of more than 10,000 meters, their speed will be greatly reduced due to lack of power.
Moreover, if you want to climb to a high altitude of more than 10,000 meters for combat, you have relatively high requirements for the insulation and sealing of the aircraft cockpit. At this time, the P38 and P40 equipped by the U.S. Air Force did not consider running above 6,000 meters when they were designed and produced.
to fight, so they lack the necessary high-altitude combat capabilities.
Aircraft can't do it, so what about anti-aircraft guns? The answer is no. The main anti-aircraft guns equipped by the U.S. Army are the 90mm m1 type and the 75mm m3 type. The effective range of m1 is close to 10,000 meters, but it is too heavy.
It has a body of 9 tons. It needs a large tractor to pull it. Its maneuverability is too poor and it cannot be deployed quickly. It can only be used in key protection areas as fixed anti-aircraft firepower.
Planes and anti-aircraft guns could not reach the high-altitude bombing of federal bombers, and the US military could not just watch ground targets being easily blown up. So they came up with a stupid method. They arranged many false targets on the ground to trick federal bombers into dropping bombs.
These false targets are all made of wood. They are very similar to drilling rigs. From a high altitude, it is basically impossible to tell the real ones from the fake ones.
For those large refineries, the US military has also thought of a way to use camouflage nets, wooden boards and steel frames to disguise them as ordinary towns and woods, and then build a similar refinery nearby using wood and masonry.
, to increase the difficulty of bombing by the Federal Air Force.
However, what the US military does not know is that the specific coordinates of key oil fields, refineries, petrochemical plants, and oil pipelines in Texas have long been provided to the Federal Air Force by Schneider, a big traitor. Relying on the guidance of the new long-range navigation radar equipped by the Air Force,
Federal bombers can roughly confirm the original location of the real target. Even if there are no visual targeting conditions, the bombing effect of the Federal Air Force will not be affected.
Strategic bombing is not a precision attack. Its bombs often fall within a radius of several kilometers or even more than ten kilometers. Moreover, the main purpose of this strategic bombing by the Federal Air Force is not to completely destroy these factories and oil wells, but to destroy all these factories and oil wells.
To bring a strong sense of fear to people who work there, let me ask
Which ordinary workers are willing to work in an environment where bombs are falling all over the sky? Not to mention those American workers who cherish their lives, even the strict and rigid German workers are not willing to do this. Of course, the Soviet workers are willing...it cannot be said that they are willing.
, but can work in this environment. We will not analyze the reasons.
On September 15, 50 federal bombers bombed the city of Houston. Almost one-third of the city was destroyed by bombs and fires. When the news reached Washington, President Roosevelt was having lunch. When he learned of this
After the news, he immediately put down his knife and fork and took the car back to the presidential palace. He immediately convened a large number of senior US officials, including the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to express his views on the attack by the federal air force in Texas.
The issue of bombing was questioned by the US government.
President Roosevelt demanded that the U.S. government must stop the federal air force from continuing to bomb. No matter what the cost, the federal military could not cut off the main arteries of the United States. Without Texas oil, U.S. production capacity would at least decline.
Half, for the war machine that has just started, oil means aircraft, tanks, ammunition, artillery...
The top leaders of the U.S. government are no more confused than the president, but they really can't make the decision. According to the current troop deployment and battlefield situation analysis of both sides, the U.S. military is still in an unfavorable situation of passive response. Although the U.S. military is mobilizing for the war, it is
The number of soldiers increased rapidly, but the combat methods of the federal army have exceeded the prediction range of the US military generals. It is difficult for them to accurately judge how many lives of US soldiers will be needed to fill a tightly defended federal stronghold like Pocatello.
Able to take it back from the Federation.
According to the information sent back by the frontline commander and the summary of the battle situation, as long as there are no problems with the ammunition and supplies of the federal defenders, key federal military defense areas like Pocatello can use all 15 divisions in the entire Western Theater.
, no frontline general can guarantee that he can attack it.
With 15 divisions and more than 200,000 men, there is no guarantee of victory. Which American general is willing to fight this kind of battle? Even if it is fought, it will be a miserable victory. It is very likely that it will not be fought well, and the lives of more than 100,000 American soldiers will be lost.
If there is a defeat, the general commanding him will not only become a sinner of the United States, but his family and family will also be unable to hold their heads up for several lifetimes. This burden is too heavy.
But when the war situation has developed to this extent, someone has to make a decision. We can't just watch the federal air force destroy all the oil fields and grain-producing areas in the United States bit by bit. What's the point of fighting in that case? We can just surrender.
Fewer people die and suffer fewer losses.
Who will carry this burden? No need to ask, if the sky falls, the tall one will carry it, and when things happen, the big official will carry it. As the president of the United States, Roosevelt is already the second term, and just when he is extricating the United States from the economic crisis When he came out and planned to regain his position as the world's largest country and become a great president comparable to Lincoln and Washington, this sudden war came, and what he had to face was a big country that was fully prepared, and that The leader of the country has a very legendary life. If you recall carefully, for nearly half a century since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, he and his country have been victorious in more than ten wars, large and small.
Facing such a formidable opponent, Roosevelt, a president known for his strength, also felt deeply pressured, but the current situation had forced him to have no way out. After several western states were captured, the United States had already In a bad sign, the state government of Washington State actually made a request to the U.S. federal government for autonomy and withdrawal from the war. Although this request was blocked by Congress on the grounds that the surrender of the Washington state government and the enemy was not a legal state government, California and Oregon Some of the officials were also a little bit ready to make a move.
Roosevelt knew very well that if the American people could not see a strong federal government, if the American people could not see a federal government that could protect their interests and beliefs, then the United States would most likely end this short period of more than 160 years in his hands. Their lives were brought back to their original shape and they became a divided national group. (To be continued...)
