Chapter 1476 The Great Bombing (Second update, please subscribe)
The Republic of Cuba was the country that Ming attacked on the first day of the war. The reason why they attacked first was not only because there were tens of thousands of Chinese and their descendants living here.
The more important reason is...it's very close to the United States!
Although the empire's northern territory borders the United States, Cuba is closer to the prosperous eastern region of the United States. It is the backyard of the United States and also the front line of the empire's attack on the United States.
After the "liberation of Cuba", the empire began to implement some corresponding plans to turn Cuba into the frontier of the empire's attack on the United States.
“This is real strategic bombing!”
Standing on the hillside near the airship field, Di Shangwen said softly, "In a little while, hundreds of airships in the airship field will take off from here and drop hundreds of tons of bombs on New York!"
This will be the first truly strategic bombing in human history!
With the emergence of airships, the term "strategic bombing" has repeatedly appeared in front of the world. As early as during the "Brazil Campaign", the Empire's floating forces used large airships to bomb Brazilian cities. During the entire campaign, the number of bombs dropped on cities such as Rio de Janeiro exceeded 400 tons.
It was at this time that some supporters of air power theory imagined the vision of strategic bombing: "Strategic bombing will destroy the enemy's large-scale industrial centers and densely populated cities. It will make them lose their war capabilities and morale and play the leading role in the war, and the previous naval and land forces will become secondary or auxiliary battles."
Although people had a certain foresight about strategic bombing, and even in the 1970s and 1990s, European countries invested a lot of money in developing airship forces, strategic bombing always remained in theory.
Even after the outbreak of the war, France, which had a large number of airships, failed to carry out strategic bombing against Britain - Britain had deployed a large number of anti-aircraft airships and anti-aircraft artillery in London and other places, which posed a serious threat to airships.
The emergence of airplanes made airships a thing of the past. They seemed to have become vulnerable.
"When the whole world thought that the airship had lost its function, we unexpectedly used it again. Could it be that we wanted to let it perform a farewell performance before the end of its service?"
Looking at the huge airships at the foot of the mountain, Lieutenant General Li Du couldn't help but sigh. As the Viscount of Versailles of the Ming Dynasty, he earned his title by commanding planes to bomb Versailles.
The airship once created miracles in his hands, but what about now?
Now that the era of airships has come to an end, it may even be just its death throes.
It only took a few decades for a weapon to be invented and then eliminated. When the bombing of Versailles took place and he was awarded the title with great pride, he never thought that such a day would come.
Thinking about the end of these giant airships, Li Du felt a little sad. The era of airships was over.
Perhaps they will create brilliance today, but what about in the future?
"Captain Li, without the airship, what will we use to carry out bombing in the future?"
Di Shangwen's question left Li Du speechless for a moment. After thinking for a while, he said.
"Planes! I heard that the company is researching large long-range bombers. We should be able to use real large bombers for bombing in the future."
"Large long-range bombers? Better than airships?"
"Maybe it's not as good as an airship now, but with the development of technology in the future, bomber technology will only become more and more advanced. In the end, it will definitely surpass the airship. I am very sure of this. After all, the advantages of airplanes are something we cannot ignore."
The commander's words made Di Shangwen sigh. He took a puff of cigarette silently and then spoke.
"Since we are about to take our curtain call, let's have a beautiful curtain call performance!"
Perhaps, this is a very lucky thing for them, at least they have the opportunity to have a farewell performance when they leave this stage.
Today's bombing will be the largest bombing operation organized by the Empire's floating forces. One hundred and eighty-three airships took off from multiple airship fields in Cuba, carrying more than a thousand tons of bombs and rushing towards New York!
They will spread death and destruction to New York. In the next few days, such continuous bombing will continue uninterruptedly. Its purpose is not to destroy New York, but to undermine their confidence in the war by destroying cities including New York.
Of course, this is the official statement. As the implementer of this massive bombing plan, Li Du knew very well that this bombing plan was formulated by His Majesty himself. Its purpose was to tell the Roman Empire through the bombing and the destruction of New York that the empire was more powerful than he had imagined. Through a bombing with an obvious contrast in strength, the Roman Empire would not make a misjudgment.
"Okay, get ready to perform!"
At this time in the airship field, the engines of the heavy airships floating in the air have begun to warm up, and the airship field is full of busy ground crew members and airship officers.
"According to the flight path, we should arrive over New York around 8pm. That is around 20:00 New York time."
Before taking off, Cheng Kunpeng calculated the flight distance and time again on the flight chart.
"Although it's night time, New York is a city that never sleeps. When the time comes, the lights of New York will help us find our destination."
Deputy Captain Shao Wei said indifferently.
"It's not easy to take off at night, and we basically don't have to consider the threat of aircraft."
Cheng Kunpeng nodded and said.
"This is also the reason for the night bombing. It is not easy for planes to take off and land at night, and it is even more difficult to fight. However, we must be careful of the airship artillery unit. Don't forget what is clearly stated in the mission manual - in order to avoid being hit, we must drop bombs at an altitude of 6,000 meters. After dropping the bombs, the flight altitude will reach 8,000 meters. At 8,000 meters, not to mention that the airship artillery can't reach us, even the American planes can't fly that high. The maximum ceiling of the Sea Holly is only 6,000 meters!"
Combat is a science that requires careful planning. In order to carry out this bombing, the floating force can be said to have taken everything into account. In order to make the airship fly higher, they reduced the amount of water in the water tank. After reducing the use of several tons of ballast water, the airship can fly above 7,000 meters. With the weight reduced after dropping the bomb, it can fly higher.
As long as it's above 7,000 meters, the plane... can't reach it at all!
Since you can't reach them, of course you don't have to worry about their threats.
Just when Shao Wei wanted to say something, the signal light for the airship to take off lit up.
"Quick, prepare for takeoff..."
In this way, accompanied by the dim morning curtain, airships flew into the sky one after another. In just half an hour, nearly two hundred airships slowly took off from the airship field. The airships that took off formed a formation in the northern waters of Cuba, and then they flew northwards, towards New York without hesitation.
When the airship troops attacked, Li Du, the "Viscount of Versailles" of the Empire, silently watched the spectacular scene in front of him. His heart was filled with a special emotion. Such a spectacular scene might never happen again in the future...
The old group is down, so I created a new book club group: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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