Chapter 900 Bombing the West Coast

"Imperial Marshal, we are ready to force the United States to launch an attack on the Hawaiian Islands."

Because Germany was needed to provide key assistance, Oshima Hiroshi had no intention of hiding anything and revealed Japan's decisive battle plan.

Oshima Hiroshi said: "Since the strength of the US Navy is growing extremely rapidly, my empire can never catch up with it, so the final battle in the Pacific should be fought sooner rather than later. At present, we still have considerable advantages in the Pacific, with advantages in the number of fleet aircraft carriers and battleships, and we also control the Hawaiian Islands, posing a considerable threat to the west coast of the United States. If we can force the US Pacific Fleet to launch a general attack on the Hawaiian Islands within 43 years, the chances of winning will be great. Therefore, we are ready to carry out strategic bombing on the west coast of the United States!"

"What? Strategic bombing of the west coast of the United States?" Hessman was so surprised when he heard the news that he almost jumped up from his chair. "You have a long-range strategic bomber that can bomb the United States?"

"We don't..." Oshima Hiroshi laughed, "but your country must have one. Your Fokker 42 passenger plane can fly six or seven thousand kilometers. I guess the bomber developed based on the Fokker 42 must have a range of 8,000 kilometers, right? If it can take the Hawaiian Islands as the departure point, it should be able to pose a threat to cities on the west coast of the United States."

Oshima Hiroshi was right. The Germans did have a long-range strategic bomber with a maximum range of more than 8,000 kilometers! And there is more than one.

The Me264 jointly developed by Messchmidt and Fokker has an ultra-long range of 8,800 kilometers and can take off from the Azores to bomb New York. The Ju390 with 6 engines developed by Junkers has also been successful. Its range is greater than that of the Me264, and it can fly up to 9,700 kilometers. Heinkel has also developed a long-range bomber He274 with a maximum range of 7,000 kilometers.

All three long-range bombers passed the final test flight in the first half of 1943, and the Me264 won in the end. This type of long-range bomber has entered mass production, and is produced by Messchmidt, Fokker, Junkers and Heinkel respectively, with a monthly output of 60.

Hessmann did not hide Germany's achievements in the field of long-range bombers. He told Oshima: "We do have a heavy bomber Me264 with a maximum range of more than 8,000 kilometers, but it is not cost-effective to use this type of aircraft for strategic bombing of the US mainland."

When originally designing the Me264, Hessmann was going to use it to bomb the United States. However, because the performance of the Ju288 high-altitude, high-speed bomber was so awesome, the Americans worked hard to develop high-altitude, high-speed interceptors (the Americans were not stupid, of course they knew that the Germans' high-altitude aircraft were a great threat), and they developed a disposable Spitfire at sea and a high-altitude P47 on land (the P47 uses a turbocharged engine, which has good high-altitude performance, and the high-altitude model has enhanced its high-altitude performance). Up to now, the Ju288 has temporarily stopped blocking the Atlantic (Kesselring's order), let alone a four-engine heavy bomber like the Me264?

However, the temporary withdrawal of the Ju288 from the Atlantic does not mean that the aircraft has been eliminated, but needs to be fully upgraded. The engine needs to be equipped with the GM1 nitrous oxide combustion system, and the remote-controlled glide bombs carried must also be upgraded to the Hs293A/D series missiles.

After the upgrade is completed, the Ju288 will be able to attack at a longer distance, and it can also fly higher and faster.

However, the maximum speed of Me264 is only 560 kilometers, and the ceiling can only reach 12,000 meters. It can't even fly 11,000 meters when carrying bombs, and the speed is even slower. If it is used to bomb the US mainland, it will definitely be hit by the high-altitude P47 and suffer heavy losses.

If you want to reduce losses, you can only take the method of night air raid. However, the Americans have radio proximity fuses and night fighters improved from P-38. It is also very dangerous to attack large cities in the United States at night, unless you use high-altitude penetration and drop bombs at an altitude of 10,000 meters.

But flying so high and at night, it is difficult for pilots to find the target, which is a waste of bombs and precious fuel.

So when Me264 began to serve, the plan of strategic bombing of the United States had been cancelled, and the bombing target of this aircraft became the Ural Industrial Zone of the Soviet Union. Therefore, what is produced now is not the ultra-long-range model of Me264, but the heavy-load bomb model-the oil tank is reduced and the bomb bay is expanded. It can carry 10 tons of bombs at a time to bomb targets 1,500 kilometers away.

"Your Excellency, Imperial Marshal," Oshima Hiroshi said with a smile, "We know that it is not cost-effective to use long-range bombers to attack the US mainland, but our goal is not to use strategic bombing to force the US to sue for peace, but to force the US Pacific Fleet to attack without sufficient preparation. Therefore, the bombing does not need to consider how much actual damage it will cause to the Americans, but only the political and psychological impact."

It is more than 3,000 kilometers from the Hawaiian Islands to the west coast of the United States, and more than 7,000 kilometers round trip. Flying so far to attack at night, most of the bombs dropped will not hit the target, and the fuel consumption is terrible. It is definitely not cost-effective.

But if the US Pacific Fleet can be forced to attack Hawaii, it will be another matter... But can the Americans really be fooled?

"Okay, we can provide a batch of Me264." Hessman thought for a while and agreed to help. However, he did not want to send German air force personnel to the Hawaiian Islands - Germany now lacks pilots rather than aircraft, so he is willing to provide Me264 long-range bombers.

Although this bomber has a long range and can fly to an altitude of 12,000 meters, its technological advancement is far less than that of the Ju288. Because it only has high altitude, not high speed.

The engine used is not a 24-cylinder liquid-cooled type but an 18-cylinder air-cooled BMW802. The Japanese have already had the same technology, so there is no problem of technology leakage. As for the turbocharger used to improve the high-altitude performance of the BMW802, it is not a "non-saleable" technology and has been exported to Japan. However, Japan's high-temperature alloy technology is not good (high-temperature alloy is a restricted technology), and it has not been copied yet.

"In addition, we also hope that your country can launch an attack on Newfoundland Island at the beginning of the decisive battle in the Hawaiian Islands!"

Oshima Hiroshi then made another request that surprised Hessman.

"Attack Newfoundland?" Hessman shook his head repeatedly. "Ambassador Oshima, do you know how many planes and coastal artillery the Americans have deployed in Newfoundland?"

A random world map will show that Newfoundland is a springboard from Europe to North America. It is only 3,000 kilometers away from the west coast of Ireland and 2,600 kilometers away from the west coast of Iceland, even within the combat radius of the Ju288.

In the days when Germany controlled the Atlantic sea power, the Americans were constantly strengthening the defense of Newfoundland. A large number of coastal artillery were deployed at several locations suitable for landing, and at least 1,000 shore-based aircraft were deployed on the island.

As we all know, shore-based aircraft have better take-off and landing conditions, and can put more weight on combat performance (from this perspective, catapults are also combat power), so the combat power of shore-based aircraft is usually stronger than that of carrier-based aircraft with similar technical levels.

Moreover, the main shore-based fighters of the United States, the P51 and P47 (excluding high-altitude interception models), have strong ground and sea attack capabilities. They can be used as dive bombers with bombs, so they pose a great threat to enemy fleets that enter their combat radius.

"It's just a feint." Oshima Hiroshi said with a smile, "and we expect the decisive battle in the Hawaiian Islands to begin after the autumnal equinox, when the waters near Newfoundland will have short days and long nights, which should be able to cover the fleet's approach."

But there are still high sea conditions after the autumnal equinox! Hersman thought, can the ground forces be loaded in the cabin and still fight after crossing the North Atlantic after the autumnal equinox?

"Okay," Hersman didn't talk nonsense with Oshima Hiroshi, "Let's do our best... As for the Me264, we currently have 84 in stock, all of which can be given to you. The payment method and price can be discussed slowly. You can send someone to pick up the plane first and receive training on driving the Me264."

...

Tokyo, Japan.

When Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo received the telegram from Hiroshi Oshima, he had just had a close contact with the "Asian Molotov" and promised to ensure that the Soviet Union's North Pacific route would not be violated... This was a retaliation for the White Russians' refusal to cede North Karafuto Island (Sakhalin Island) and their refusal to allow the Far East to remain undecided.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the Germans promised to provide 84 long-range bombers with a range of more than 8,000 kilometers!"

It was not Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru who reported to Tojo, but Sugiyama Hajime, the chief of the Army General Staff. Because the order to obtain ultra-long-range bombers from Germany was issued by the military to Oshima, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Only 84?" Tojo frowned, "This is too few."

Sugiyama Hajime shook his head and said, "Germany does not seem to have a plan to carry out strategic bombing against the United States, so they did not mass-produce long-range bombers. 84 is already the maximum number that can be provided."

"But can 84 bombs hurt the Americans?" Tojo asked.

Sugiyama smiled and said, "That depends on what kind of bomb you use!"

Tojo nodded and changed the subject: "In that case, send someone to Germany to pick up the plane... The sooner the plane is brought, the sooner the Japanese Empire can start its final battle plan!"