Author: Shi Qian
Halsey's task force continued to drive westward, getting closer and closer to Japan, and the possibility of encountering danger was increasing. On the command stage of the fleet, tension was evident. Now that we have reached the enemy's backyard, from now on, anything can happen. As soon as the fleet advanced, all the means of detection were activated, and the reconnaissance planes on the lookout, radar, and enterprise all started to detect the possible hidden killing machine behind this vast sea. This is when the weather changes suddenly. The raging waves of the storm slammed into the ship violently, and visibility was low. In a sense, this bad weather provides a favorable time because it provides cover for the fleet.
However, the number of aircraft dispatched by the Enterprise for aerial reconnaissance has also decreased, and it is no longer possible to conduct continuous reconnaissance day and night. As soon as conditions permitted, the reconnaissance aircraft took off to search the 200 nautical miles in front of the fleet. Although the reconnaissance aircraft has not found any targets so far, even the cruising reconnaissance aircraft may not be able to detect the enemy ship because of the cloud cover. The hearts of all the people are invariably focused on the same thing. To what extent can they get as close to Japan as possible without being discovered? How long will their luck last?
As they took off from the aircraft carrier with a storm in the rolling waves, the raiders were increasingly worried. One of the raiders burrowed into the bomber's cockpit and was taken aback when the aircraft's bow rose and fell in the waves, and was taken aback when the plane's altitude gauge showed a height difference of 200 feet.
On 17 April, the task force reached waters near 36 degrees north latitude, 160 degrees east longitude, and 1,000 nautical miles east of Japan. Halsey ordered two tankers to refuel the carrier and cruiser in preparation for the final sprint. The weather was getting worse, and the churning waves opened their mouths as if they were going to swallow up the entire tanker. Just after refueling, the pipeline has hardly been disconnected, and suddenly the wind is fierce, and the wind speed is as high as 38 knots.
Halsey ordered the cruisers and aircraft carriers to begin advancing toward Japan at high speed, leaving the slower 2 tankers and 8 destroyers behind. His fleet maintained a speed of 20 to 25 knots as the waves changed. If they could maintain this speed for 24 hours, they would be able to reach the take-off site of the plane at 150 degrees east longitude and about 500 nautical miles off the coast of Japan in the mid-afternoon of April 18. Since the international date change was not taken into account when planning, the fleet will arrive one day earlier than planned. Doolittle can take off a day in advance, 3 hours before sunset, to carry out the attack.
Doolittle told the team members to make final preparations, install the equipment, do a final inspection of the aircraft, and solve the problem of the aircraft turret not rotating smoothly, the hydraulic pipe leaking, the spark plug filth, and the fuel tank dripping oil. Dr. White gave one last vaccination to people who had previously avoided getting injections.
The time had come to refuel the bombers and equip them with weapons and ammunition. Captain Grinen directed Army and Navy personnel to refuel and load ammunition, a demanding and laborious task. Deck sailors placed all bombers in takeoff order, moving the aircraft backwards as far as possible to provide maximum deck space for take-off. Doolittle's B-25 stood at the head of the line, parked 142 meters away from the front of the deck. Bill Farrow's No. 16 was untailed, and his aircraft's tail extended behind the stern. Two white parallel lines were drawn on the deck, one for the B-25's front wheel baseline and the other for the rear wheel. If the raiders had gliden along the reticle without error, the right wing tip would have slid 1.8 meters from the bumblebee superstructure. There was no crosswind for take-off, as the Hornet would ride against the wind to take off.
The crew all began to pack up their personal belongings and check their identification plates. Each crew member was equipped with a set of survival gear, everyone had a Navy gas mask, an 11mm pistol, several magazines, a hunting knife, a compass, a flashlight, emergency rations, a first aid kit, a water bottle, and a life vest, and a rubber raft for 5 people on each plane. Some of the team members added extra sugar bars, chewing gum, cigarettes and blades in addition to their clothes. Lieutenant Jacob Manche, the co-pilot of Flight 3, planned to take his record-taker with him; Lieutenant Holmes Crouch, the navigator of Flight 10, heard Dr. White say that China's sanitary conditions were poor, so he stuffed his handbag with rolls of toilet paper. Dr. White also brought 38 litres of whiskey, which he had painstakingly requested from the Navy for "medical use" before leaving the base.
At dusk on the 17th, the bombers were ready. That evening, Doolittle held a meeting of the expedition personnel in the officers' living room to make the final deployment. He told them it appeared to take off the next day instead of the 19th. He will take off first about 3 hours before dusk. The others took off one after another at sunset, bombarding them with the light of the fire caused by the bombs he threw. Doolittle will arrive at Quzhou Airport in the early hours of local time, where he waits for the next crew to arrive and refuel before immediately taking off to Chongqing.
There is no evidence that Doolittle and his American colleagues studied and borrowed from Xu Huansheng's attacks on the Japanese mainland before developing the bombing plan. But a closer look reveals that Doolittle's bombing plan has much in common with Xu Huansheng's actions. They all launched attacks at night, crossed the area controlled by the Japanese Air Force in the dark of night, landed at the airport in the morning to refuel, and immediately took off and transferred to the rear airfield. There are also options for forward airports that are also in similar areas.
Doolittle then stressed that anything that could be implicated with the Hornet, their forces in the United States, and the places trained should not be carried. These include negatives, identification cards, orders, letters, diaries and even matchchain clips. Anything they left behind, the Navy would mail back home. Doolittle reminded the machine gunners of each aircraft to drill a few holes and throw them out of the aircraft after refueling the 20-liter gasoline drum, so as not to leave a trail for the enemy to track the Hornet.
He gave two special warnings: first, not to go to Vladivostok under any circumstances; second, it was not allowed to bomb non-military targets, including the royal palace.
Doolittle gave everyone a last chance to apply for withdrawal, but no one spoke up. Some of the backup crews persuaded the already designated crew to exchange with each other, but no one agreed. Throughout the training preparations, the bombers replaced only one crew member. Sergeant Ed Horton was an excellent ordnance master, and the bombers needed his expertise to solve problems with the turret and machine guns. At the last moment, he took part in the operation in place of another mechanic of The No. 10.
As a final statement, Doolittle promised the brethren, "When we arrive in Chongqing, I will hold a grand gathering for you that I will never forget." Doolittle recalled afterwards: "I never easily promised, no matter how much it cost and the party is inconvenient, I always said that I could do it, but this time I made a wish, and it took a long time to do it." ”
After that, all they have to do is wait, and the success of the mission now depends on whether the carrier will be found in the next few hours and whether the eastern Chinese airport will be ready for their landing.
About author:Shi Kui, history teacher at colleges and universities, history researcher. He has been cultivating the history of the Party, the Military and the History of War for a long time. History lovers are welcome to exchange criticisms.