Chapter 387: Target Two Thousand Kilometers Away

In Jingzhou, Jiang Anguo did not linger long.

He cast a glance at the ancient city, and from today onward, it returned to the hands of the Huaxia army.

Jiang Anguo immediately led the Guard Company back to Dangyang.

Hu Lian and Xu Guozhang, while preparing to hold a celebration and conduct post‑war statistics, discovered that the most important person was missing, so they were somewhat dissatisfied.

Hu Lian, also fearing that Jiang Anguo might do something out of line, specifically asked the Independent Regiment Liaison in Jingzhou, and after confirming that Jiang Anguo would return to Dangyang first.

Although he did not know what Jiang Anguo intended to do upon returning to Dangyang, Dangyang is now in the rear, and there are units of the 150th Division toward the Jingmen direction, so Jiang Anguo's safety should be fine.

Hu Lian also, being overly worried, had forgotten that Jiang Anguo's Independent Regiment had combat power far surpassing those two units.

Often it is a battalion‑sized force that leads the front of an attack and can achieve remarkable effect.

Dangyang, temporary command post.

The atmosphere was unusually tense; after Jiang Anguo arrived, all personnel were already in place.

Jiang Anguo, pointing at the hanging map, said, "William, can the B25 fly to Tokyo?"

Staff Officer Yan Xing, Ghost Battalion's William, Nick, and Independent Regiment 1st Regiment Regiment Commander Yao Quanyi were all present.

William, incredulous, stood up from his seat, "Commander, what are you thinking, a big bombing of Tokyo?"

Jiang Anguo's expression was solemn, and he nodded, "Yes, the Little Devil's crimes on Huaxia soil must be repaid a hundredfold."

William stepped forward, picked up a ruler, measured briefly, then calculated in his mind.

"Commander," William shook his head, "the B25 Bomber's range is insufficient; Dangyang airfield is nearly 2,600 km from Tokyo, while our B25 Bomber can only reach 2,000 km, and even with auxiliary tanks and reduced load it falls short of 4,000 km. After flying over, it may be hard to return."

Jiang Anguo pointed to Quzhou with his hand and asked, "What if we make an emergency landing at Quzhou airfield?"

William still shook his head, "No, Commander, that distance also exceeds 4,700 km."

Jiang Anguo rested his hand on his chin, "It seems the B25 cannot achieve the bombing range."

Chief of Staff Yan Xing stood up, pointed to a spot beneath the Japan map, "Commander, do you think we could bomb Nagasaki, where the Little Devil's navy base is located? Another location, Kumamoto, is where the Senary Division was formed."

Yan Xing's two suggested locations were both good.

The Senary Division also took part in the Nanjing Massacre, and Jiang Anguo did not intend to let them go easily.

"No," Jiang Anguo said firmly, "the Little Devil used Poison Gas Shells in Zhejiang‑Jiangxi; on the Huaxia Battlefield they resort to Poison Gas Shells when their attacks are repelled. I will not only avenge the people of Jingzhou, but also avenge the soldiers who perished under the Japanese Army's Poison Gas Shells."

"Tokyo must be bombed."

Jiang Anguo examined the bombers in the WarSystem and concluded that only the final superweapon, the B29 Bomber, a super‑air fortress, could be used.

"William, if I provide you with a B29 Bomber, can you and your crew return safely?" Jiang Anguo said.

"Commander, if it's a B29, of course there's no problem; keep the payload at five tons, and a round‑trip of 5,500 km is sufficient for return," William said very confidently.

"Alright, I'll give you twelve B29 Bombers for this mission, code‑named 'Sunshot', and Nick, your second battalion must escort William's operation."

Originally Jiang Anguo intended to dispatch only six bombers to Tokyo, but six seemed too few, so he sent twelve.

"Your P38 Lightning Fighter needs to take off early, fly to Nanjing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, and bomb the airports of those three locations; if any aircraft encounters trouble en route, make an emergency landing at Quzhou airfield, and I will send personnel to deliver all fuel and ammunition there."

"Nick, the Japanese Army's South China region airports will be heavily defended, so your mission is crucial; you must not only bomb the three airports but also draw all Japanese Army fighter aircraft from those areas toward you."

Finally, Jiang Anguo looked at William, "William, Nick's escort can only reach Shanghai; the remaining sea leg must be completed by you alone."

William stood upright, saluted, and said, "Yes, Commander, mission will be completed!"

Jiang Anguo nodded, gesturing for William to sit down, "William, Nick, discuss how many aircraft are needed to accomplish the escort mission."

Thus the conference room fell silent again; from the initial plan of dispatching 48 aircraft directly, it was finally decided to deploy two battalions of fighters directly, i. e., 96 P38 Lightning Fighters.

As for why Nick's side was not assigned bombers—bombers can strike more targets.

The key to this mission is Nick's flight battalion, escorting William's B29 Bomber safely through Huaxia's skies so the B29 can enter the ocean smoothly.

The subsequent safety issues can only be left to the gods' protection!

The prerequisite is that the Japanese Army garrison on the island of Kyushu must not discover it; otherwise William could abort the plan and drop a 'bomb' to return to Dangyang.

"Commander, isn't a sortie of 96 fighter aircraft a bit too large? Simply ferrying the aircraft might take over an hour," Yan Xing said with some concern.

"No, not at all; Dangyang airfield is indeed a bit small, but sending two aircraft together poses no problem. That way we can neutralize Japanese fighters from the Nanjing and Shanghai directions and also directly destroy the Japanese airfield toward Hangzhou." In fact, Jiang Anguo's original plan was still somewhat risky.

Because splitting the formation to attack Nanjing and Hangzhou halves the number of fighters at once, which is the biggest problem.

But if forces are concentrated to bomb a single location, such as Nanjing, Japanese fighters from the Hangzhou direction would swoop in to attack the Ghost Battalion, causing considerable losses to the Ghost Battalion's fighters.

Now the numbers are raised at once to an absolute advantage.

It should be noted that Japanese fighters and bombers in Central and South China suffered losses exceeding three hundred aircraft after Jiang Anguo's previous bombing.

Across all of Huaxia, the Japanese Army's total aircraft count is only about 1,200, and the two directions with the most Japanese aircraft are first Central China, including South China.

The second is the East Three Provinces; the Little Devil and the Soviet Union have been covertly contending, so they dare not readily shift aircraft to the South.

Because of the opening of the Southeast Asia front, Japanese Army fighters and bombers from South and Central China have to be redeployed to the Southeast Asia area and the Pacific direction.

Precisely for this reason, the numbers of Japanese aircraft in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou are low.

Yet these dozens of aircraft pose a great threat to the Third War Zone; an important point is that the Third War Zone's units have no anti‑aircraft weapons.

However, anti‑aircraft weapons are not absolute; you need to organize a dense fire network to inflict damage on airborne planes.

A division lacking dozens of anti‑aircraft guns has virtually no air‑defense capability.

Therefore the best defense is still offense.