Doolittle's thinking should be said to be very forward-looking. He focused on the future war to seize the island rather than the immediate sea and air battle.
But then again, the sea and air battle is actually the battle to seize the island.
The pattern of sea and air battles is actually not as simple as imagined, with both warring parties sending out aircraft carrier fleets and then bombing each other's aircraft.
The vast sea fleet needs islands to dock as supply bases or even air cover... Fighters and bombers taking off from land usually have a longer range than carrier-based aircraft and can carry more fuel and ammunition. Therefore, fighter jets are generally better than carrier-based aircraft.
powerful.
The reason why "usually" is used here is because the Japanese "Zero" fighter jet broke this rule... Although the "Zero" fighter jet is a carrier-based aircraft, it barely uses any weight for defense, so its range is
The fuel and bomb load capacity are much higher than those of the Yingjiang land-based fighter jets.
Therefore, whether it is offense or defense, the offensive mode of naval warfare is usually to first occupy an island and build at least one port and an airport on the island as quickly as possible... The port is used for docking and supplying ships, and the airport is used for
Landing land-based bombers, fighters and transport aircraft.
Fighters can create a safe airspace around the island to seize air supremacy, bombers bomb target islands or enemy incoming fleets, and transport aircraft continuously transport fuel, ammunition, medicine and other strategic materials to the island and transport the wounded back to the country...
Therefore, throughout the entire Pacific War of World War II, the Eagle Sauce and the Japanese were fighting for islands, and most of the major battles were named after "such-and-such island".
Driving a fighter plane equipped with rockets will obviously play a big role in the battle for such an island... Then Yingjiang's fighter plane will not need to enter the range of the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns deployed by the Japanese on the island, within ten kilometers.
The enemy's coastal fortifications and military facilities were bombarded indiscriminately out of sight, and they were so far away that the enemy fighter jets didn't even have time to react.
Of course, this has to be done at a low altitude, otherwise it will be easily detected by enemy radar.
Doolittle used this idea to convince the top management of Eagle Sauce. He analyzed it like this:
"Gentlemen, victory always favors those who are prepared. If we don't prepare for the future now, when we really need to use it one day, we find that we have missed the opportunity. This may cause us to miss a victory, or it may
It will cause us to lose a lot of equipment, or it will cause us to sacrifice a lot of soldiers, what will you choose?"
But Admiral Doolittle's statement is more conservative.
"This is just your idea, Brigadier General!" Admiral Doolittle said: "We all know that it is difficult for rockets like the Bazooka to hit a target even a hundred meters away, but now we have to use it to hit a target ten meters away.
Targets that are kilometers away...can you guarantee that it will not hit the sea?"
Other people in the conference room nodded. In fact, they all shared the same concerns as the general.
"It will indeed hit the sea!" Doolittle replied: "But Admiral, that is napalm. We know the power of this thing. As long as one of ten rounds hits, our goal has been achieved. Indeed, we
Dive bombers can hit targets more accurately, but gentlemen..."
As he spoke, Doolittle turned his attention to the other people in the conference room: "Have you ever considered a question: What is the price we have to pay for flying dive bombers or fighter jets into the island to bomb the enemy's airport?"
"You mean the pilot and the plane?" the admiral asked.
"Yes!" Doolittle said: "They not only have to face the interception of enemy fighter jets, but also face the enemy's anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns!"
The admiral picked up the document on the table and raised it to Doolittle, saying, "But, doesn't your plan need to be risky?"
"It's a risk, indeed!" Doolittle replied, "but the risk is obviously much less!"
After a moment of silence, Doolittle added: "This is a multiple-choice question. Should we choose to use well-trained pilots and let them take high risks and get high hit rates, or use low-trained pilots and let them take risks?"
Low risk gets relatively low hit rate. The choice is yours, gentlemen!”
One colonel asked: "If so, does it make any difference, for the purposes of the war, which one we choose?"
"Of course there is a difference!" Doolittle replied: "If we have a lot of well-trained pilots, if we are short of ammunition, if we are short of transportation capacity, obviously we should use the former, because pilots can afford to waste but ammunition and transportation capacity are wasted.
Sorry. But if the opposite is true, then we should use the latter, right?"
At this time, everyone in the conference room was speechless.
Doolittle is right, what Yingjiang lacks the most is ammunition and transportation capabilities. These two things are simply available for Yingjiang at this time, but highly trained pilots... are in short supply at this time.
, and this situation cannot be improved in the short term.
Therefore, Eagle Sauce should obviously choose the latter.
Having said that, in history, before attacking an island in a naval battle, Yingjiang often used naval guns and bombers to bomb the Japanese island for several days and nights... This kind of bombing was actually a random bombing without purpose, and objectively speaking, it was not
No precision is required.
But perhaps this is the national personality of Yingjiang. They are used to being able to control everything and emphasize precision. This is also the case in modern times.
For example, in the missile era, they developed "anti-missile systems."
But the anti-missile system is actually unreliable.
The reason is that if you grab a handful of stones and throw them at the target, the probability of hitting them is very high.
However, it is almost impossible for the other party to knock down all the stones thrown at him...
Therefore, there has always been a paradox in anti-missile missiles. Yingjiang needs two, three, or even more missiles to intercept one, and the success rate is only 30%.
This tactic may be useful for small countries with asymmetrical strength, but if it is a large country with equal or similar strength...a saturation attack from the other side can easily collapse the Yingjiang anti-missile system.
The admiral pondered for a moment. He reorganized Doolittle's words in his mind, and then nodded slightly and said: "Maybe you are right, Brigadier! But... this kind of equipment still needs to be verified. The Eighth Route Army only used it to fight a battle.
Although the battle has achieved brilliant results, we cannot guarantee whether it was luck. If we invest in research and development or even mass production, but find that it is not used in the end, it will also be a loss for future wars."
"I agree, General!" Doolittle replied: "That's why we should give the Eighth Route Army more support and let them fight more battles in this way!"