"Tokyo Bombing" is the most representative bombing strategy in the history of war, and it is also the most destructive air strike among non-nuclear weapons attacks. It left an indelible shadow on Japan and accelerated the decline of Japanese imperialism.
I just don't know if the Japanese high-level officials will regret it after this air strike. 194 1 year, they ventured to blow up Pearl Harbor in the United States and involved the United States in World War II.
After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the US military committed itself to retaliating against Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor, hoping to fly to Japan and let them experience the feeling of being bombed at home. But when it comes to revenge, except for the symbolic bombing of 1 year B- 194 15, the US military cannot continue its strategic bombing because of technical and geographical constraints. However, this situation was improved after the B-29 of 1943 was put into service.
Known as the "super air fortress" during World War II, the B-29 bomber was developed by Boeing 1940, with a range of more than 6,000 kilometers and a load of about 9 tons. After the first flight on September 2 1, 1942, he began to serve in the army after many adjustments. B-29 bomber was the largest aircraft on the battlefield at that time, and it was good at carrying out strategic bombing and long-range bombing. The advanced technology it adopts also enables it to complete the tasks of anti-submarine, reconnaissance and aerial refueling when necessary.
On June 5th, 1944, the US Air Force dispatched 68 B-29s, departing from Chengdu, China, to Japan to retaliate against the bombing of Hachiba Steel Plant on Kyushu Island, Japan. However, in the end, due to the long distance, the small amount of bombs carried, and the plane failure in the middle, the attack did not meet the requirements of retaliation, so the US military had to change its thinking and change its retaliatory actions against Japan.
On March 1944, 1 1, Admiral Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Fleet, proposed to Roosevelt that the US military could first capture the Mariana Islands of Japan and break Japan's "absolute defense circle", and then deploy the bombing team to an island near Japan to prepare for large-scale bombing of Japan.
This is an "absolute defense circle", which is equivalent to a circular border defense line with a radius of more than 2,000 kilometers centered on Japan, including the Thousand Islands, Ogasawara Islands, Mariana Islands, Caroline Islands and the western part of New Guinea Islands. Admiral Nimitz's suggestion is to carry out amphibious operations in the Mariana Islands, occupy the islands and cover all Japanese territory within the B-29 bombing range.
After the "Mariana Islands" plan was approved by Roosevelt, the US military paid a huge price for achieving the results consistent with the plan. 1944 10 Under the command of General Nimitz, the 73rd Bomber Company successfully entered Saipan Island in the Mariana Islands, and the "Tokyo Bombing" began.
1944165438+1On October 24th, 88 bombers left for Tokyo from the base, preparing for a precise bombing during the day to test the results of the battle of Mariana Islands. After the plane arrived at its destination, it dropped a bomb at a height of 10,000 meters. However, due to foggy days, only about 30 of the 88 bombers found the target, and because of the sight, the mission accuracy of these bombers found the target only reached the original plan 10%. In this bombing, only one aircraft factory in Japan suffered the least damage!
Although the unique geographical environment and industrial model have enabled Japan to avoid the possible losses caused by this bombing, what should come will eventually come. 1945 65438+ 10 In October, after Li Mei was appointed as the commander of the 2nd1bomber unit, Tokyo, Japan faced the nightmare of air raid. Li Mei is a crazy bomber and a firm believer in violent conquest. During World War II, he was a believer and practitioner of American strategic bombing thought.
But objectively speaking, at the beginning of taking office, Li Mei's bombing was not successful. After receiving the task of bombing Tokyo, Li Mei didn't realize the influence of weather and regional culture on the action, but still adopted the most common bombing mode on the European battlefield and carried out an experimental bombing plan. Therefore, in the face of the air flow of 300h/m in Japan, the fleet he commanded failed, and the air force sent to carry out the experimental bombing plan suffered great losses. Not only did it fail to achieve its goal, but it was also hit by mortars by Japanese soldiers with bombing experience.
On February 19, after careful consideration, Li Mei issued the order of "giving priority to experimental incendiary air strikes" to the headquarters of the 20th Air Force. After comparing all kinds of materials, he thinks that Japanese cities are different from German masonry buildings, but multi-wood buildings. After being bombed by artillery shells, their city was far less damaged than Germany. Wooden buildings are easy to catch fire, and if they are attacked with incendiary bombs, they can expand the results faster.
On February 23, according to Japanese data, the US military began its first large-scale burning offensive. Under the command of Li Mei, 74 B-29 bombers loaded with/KLOC-0 dropped a large number of napalm bombs in Tokyo that night, which burned a clean area of about 2.56 square kilometers in Tokyo. The success of this experimental bombing strengthened Li's determination to launch a large-scale night fire attack and laid the foundation for him to start the road of "barbecue master".
After the experimental bombing, Li Mei reassessed the situation and formulated new tactics in combination with the first fire attack plan. First of all, at Li Mei's request, the Air Force dismantled all the shells and ammunition on the bomber, leaving only the tail gunner to deal with the enemy planes, and then put the vacated space into incendiary bombs. Secondly, we should act at night as low as possible in the future, because this will not only reduce the damage of the attack, but also improve the accuracy of the attack. Finally, Li Mei also demanded that the formation be disbanded and bombed separately during the air raid to prevent incendiary bombs from harming the domestic fleet.
On the evening of March 9, the United States sent 334 B-29 bombers to Tokyo in the dark. 10am15am, two American pilots arrived in Tokyo first. They first dropped flares to guide the bombers behind them in the predetermined target area-Xiamachi area as planned, and then dropped incendiary bombs to designate bombing targets for B-29. Subsequently, the B-29 that got the signal quickly put on an offensive posture and dropped more than 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs in Tokyo by carpet bombing and low-altitude veneer.
These incendiary bombs include not only solid gasoline bombs, but also flammable white phosphorus bombs. These devices can be said to be the bane of Japanese architecture. Maybe there are too many bad things done on the battlefield. A fire broke out in Tokyo when the US military bombed the fuel bomb. With the blessing of the wind, the fire waves spread very fast.
The fire that night, literally, completely lit up half the sky. In the face of such a fire, the fire brigade with less than ten thousand people quickly collapsed and lost its function. The residents inside had to frantically search for the pond to survive. At first, it was fine. After the fire spread completely, the pond became a deadly boiler in the fire. It is said that some steel materials have melted due to the high temperature.
Morally speaking, this bombing can be said to be the most eye-catching achievement of Li Mei's bombing. It leveled about 465,438+0 square kilometers of buildings in downtown Tokyo, destroying all 22 planned industrial targets. According to records, after this action, 1 10,000 Tokyo residents were homeless, 83,793 people were burned to death, and 1 10,000 people were burned or suffocated.
Because the American army attacked the troops there in advance and the Japanese army lacked the ability to fight against the air at night, Japan was almost in a passive position after the bombing began. When the US military carried out its mission at low altitude, the Japanese "tortoise boxing" only brought 9 shots down, 5 forced landings and 42 minor injuries to the US military. Less than 30 hours after the fire hit Tokyo, Li Mei, who tasted the sweetness, sent a 3 17 bomber to attack Nagoya at night. Soon after, Osaka also fell into flames. But obviously, the bombing target or revenge target of the US military is mainly Tokyo.
On the night of May 9, more than 300 B-29 bombers, each with a 6-ton "gift", visited Tokyo again. This action is the same as last time, but this time the burned area is bigger, about 56 square kilometers of buildings are lit, and the fire after this bombing burned for 4 days! On May 25, perhaps the United States thought that the great hatred had been reported and it was time to end the "Pearl Harbor" incident. On the same day, under the command of Li Mei, the US military dispatched 500 B-29s for the last "sweeping bombing", that is, dropped 4,000 tons of incendiary bombs on residential areas in the north and west, completely destroying intact buildings. After the third bombing, Tokyo completely became a "dead city".
At that time, most of Japan's industries were concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, and in retaliation, the US military mainly bombed these places, so after the US bombing, Japan's industrial production began to decline rapidly. According to records, Japanese aircraft production dropped by 60%~70%, and oil production capacity was destroyed by 80%. After the main arsenal was bombed, the destroyed area reached more than 70%, and the most serious Osaka factory reached 96%. After the bombing of Japan, the US military did not forget to blockade and cut off all their external traffic routes. It was later called the "Hunger War".
Now that the war has passed for a long time, some people have begun to have different views on the "Tokyo bombing" action of the United States. It is really normal to stand at different historical nodes and look at the same thing from different angles. But please understand that the "Tokyo bombing" has a positive effect on containing Japan's "100 million jade plan" and is one of the reasons why the Japanese army began to consider a truce.