() George E. Brody was not the first pilot to report to the "Reverse Cross". On this afternoon, five people had already rushed to report before him. In the next two days, more and more pilots came to report.

There were more and more people. By the third day, all the newly recruited pilots had reported to the "Reverse Cross".

At the same time as the new pilots, more logistics personnel and new aircraft arrived. 24 A-20 attack aircraft and 24 B-25 bombers also flew to the base.

"Well, in this way, two new squadrons can also start to be established." Standing at the window, watching a B-25 landing on the runway, Ron said this. In fact, the B-25 did not bother Ron very much.

Satisfied. The b-25 is good when performing tasks such as battlefield isolation, but when used to attack targets such as bridges and anti-tank support points, its strike accuracy is not enough. In fact, the United States does not

It’s not that there are no fighters suitable for performing this task. The Navy’s Dauntless dive bombers are very suitable for performing this type of task. In addition, the Marine Corps’ F4U fighter jets can also perform this type of task quite well. However, for the Army, it is

It is no problem to use several Navy or Marine Corps aircraft to simulate enemy aircraft, such as using F4U to simulate the FW-190. But it is not an ordinary difficulty for the Army to obtain equipment to equip Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.

.Although the relationship between the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps is not as bad as that of the Japanese Army and Navy, it is absolutely deceptive to say that the relationship between them is close.

In fact, there is only so much money in the military budget. If the Navy gets more, the Army will get less. In the peaceful years before the war, the Navy took most of the military budget, leaving the leftovers for the Army.

It was only enough for the army to barely maintain a military presence that was not as large as a third-rate European country, and the equipment level was not as good as the New York gangsters. At that time, when the guys in the navy saw the army, they all looked like their nostrils were turned upward; as for the army, naturally

I don’t have a good face to show to the navy either.

When the war broke out, the Army made the leap from slaves to generals, successfully grabbing the lion's share of military spending, and the Army's generals also successfully took control of the military. So it was the Navy's turn to be dissatisfied.

Anyway, even for the sake of face, the Army will not purchase weapons from the Navy and Marine Corps on a large scale. Of course, developing a new aircraft is not bad, but the problem is that it does not know if there is enough time. For example, in the original history, the Army

An A-1 Skyraider attack aircraft has been developed. This guy has superior performance. Not only does it have powerful armor, it can also carry bombs weighing 7 tons - this bomb load is basically equivalent to its own weight -

Go on an attack mission! Not only can it dive bomb at a high angle of 85 degrees like a dive bomber, but it can also fly close to the ground like an il-2 attack aircraft and attack ground targets with rockets and aerial cannons. Under the technical conditions at the time

, for the needs of the United States, it is almost the most perfect direct fire support attack aircraft. However, this aircraft entered service a little too late, and the war ended just after it was sent to the army.

The pilots of the B-25 Squadron are also the most experienced pilots selected from the combat units. In order to form this team as quickly as possible, Ron transferred a group of pilots from the fighter unit who performed well in ground attack

Enrich this team.

Is this an attack aircraft? It's still a problem. The Americans actually don't have any particularly good attack aircraft, not even decent professional attack aircraft. Although the A-20 attack aircraft carries the brand of attack aircraft, but seriously calculated, it is actually

It is more like a bomber. It is actually not very good for direct ground fire support. Therefore, after research, everyone feels that it is better to use a fighter jet and modify it into a ground attack version like the Germans did.

Come out. Of course, the ground attack performance of this thing cannot be as good as that of a newly designed professional attack aircraft like the A-1, but the difficulty of development is very low. A prototype can be produced in a few months at most, and it is estimated that it will be ready by next summer.

It can equip troops on a large scale. Moreover, these aircraft are modified from fighter jets that pilots are familiar with. It is easy for pilots to get started and they can quickly form combat effectiveness. Ron feels that this should be the current solution to attack attacks for the US Army Aviation.

The best solution for computer problems.

This opinion was reported to General Arnold and received a reply a few days later. General Arnold agreed with their views. Now, several companies have received development tasks.

The new training syllabus is also being gradually improved. Information about the combat methods of the German and Japanese air defense forces came from the Strategic Intelligence Service, various detailed combat examples of ground attacks from the Army Aviation Command, and even

, the detailed battle cases of the Navy obtained through some channels were sent to the "Reverse Cross" Combat Research Center. Ron and a group of staff officers spent almost fifteen or six hours every day studying these data and analyzing each battle case.

, the enemy's defense methods, and the gains and losses of the U.S. military when it launched an attack.

This job is almost the most boring and tiring job Ron has done since time travel. He is constantly summarizing the data with the staff, constantly reviewing the documents and charts produced by the staff, and then constantly discussing some issues.

Discussions with his team of tactical experts consisting of pilots and combat staff, sand table exercises, and even actual confrontations were arranged to test it.

After more than a month, Ron felt that he was so tired that he had shrunk in size. At this time, the new outline was basically completed. The rest will depend on daily confrontation training and battlefield feedback from graduates.

Perfect it step by step.

At this time, some ground-attack modified versions of fighter jets had also completed preliminary test flights, and their trial production models were also sent to the "Reverse Cross". In this way, the last attack aircraft squadron could finally be formed.

There are two models of modified fighter jets shipped this time. One is a ground attack version of the P-47. This type of P-47 has the pressurization system removed - we don’t expect it to go to high altitudes anyway, and the remaining weight is

It was used to further strengthen the armor. The armor of some key components was enough to withstand attacks from 20mm artillery shells, and the pylons were strengthened enough to carry more bombs and rockets. In order to enhance the performance of the low-altitude and low-speed section, its aircraft

The wings were lengthened. Republic Company also removed 4 of the original 6 20mm guns on the P-47 and replaced them with two 37mm guns. As long as this thing is used properly, it can even be used

Dismantle the German tanks.

Of course, the cost of such modifications is not small. First of all, the originally bulky P-47 has become even bulkier. Now the take-off weight of this aircraft is more than nine tons. Coupled with external bombs and rockets,

The various flight performances of the aircraft have declined. The take-off and landing performance of the P-47 was originally not good. After such a modification, although the wing was lengthened and the wing area was increased, it helped the take-off and landing performance. However, due to the increase in

The weight is too much, and the take-off and landing performance is further reduced. According to the test pilot, this is the fighter with the worst take-off and landing performance in the history of the United States. Novices will have more accidents using this aircraft than the original one. However, considering the future

Most of the pilots flying this thing will be original P-47 pilots, and Ron doesn't think this will be a big problem.

In addition to the decline in take-off and landing performance, other flight performance also declined significantly. Due to the increase in weight and the extension of the wings, the maximum speed dropped from 690 kilometers per hour to 610 kilometers per hour, especially the low-altitude speed, which dropped directly to zero.

level of combat. Of course, as an attack aircraft, this speed is still very fast.

Because of the extension of the wing, the aircraft's low-speed stability and hovering performance have improved a bit, but because of the increased weight, these improvements are not obvious. On the other hand, the extension of the wing has made the P-47's originally excellent performance

The roll has also become sluggish. Although it has not dropped to the level of the P-38, it is no longer comparable to the P-51.

The removal of the supercharger turned this original high-altitude king into a high-altitude cripple. Although this guy still has a ceiling of 10,000 meters, everyone knows how this data came out. Without any weapons

, with half the fuel, it took a full forty minutes to climb up. This result was not even as good as the high-altitude waste P-39.

However, Ron is still relatively satisfied with this modification. Although its flight performance has dropped a lot, it is still useful as an attack aircraft, and the P-47, which was originally extremely strong, has become more powerful after improvements.

It is more solid and can be called a flying tank.

The second aircraft that Ron likes is an improved version of the P-38. The P-38 originally has the advantage of a large bomb load. Looking at the maximum bomb load alone, its bomb load is the same as that of the four-engine B-17 bomber.

Quite. The new variant uses a new Merlin engine, and the power has been increased. In the past, the P-38 had a weakness, that is, although it is a twin-engine aircraft, in theory, when one engine is hit and stalls, only

The P-38 can continue to fly with the remaining engine; but in fact, after one side of the engine is hit, the probability of catching fire is quite high, which often results in the loss of the aircraft. The new ground-attack modification is strengthened

The engine is armored and the oil circuit is redesigned, greatly reducing the possibility of the engine catching fire after being hit. But this is not the biggest change, the biggest change is in the cockpit.

The cockpit was lengthened, changed from a single cockpit to a two-person tandem cockpit, and a rear-facing machine gunner and a .50-caliber self-defense machine gun were added.

In terms of ground-attack firepower, although the armor was added and the cockpit structure was changed, it increased a lot of weight, but the bomb load it was originally proud of did not drop much. It can still carry up to 7 tons of bombs. Locke

Sid Company replaced the huge 6-barreled 20mm Gatling in its nose with a 37mm cannon and two 20mm revolving cannons. Although this makes its firepower density and range much smaller

Less, but the 37-gun cannon is more lethal against hard targets. In order to strengthen the ground firepower, two 37-gun cannons or 12 rockets can be mounted on the inside of its wings.

Compared with the previous P-47 modification, although this aircraft is slightly inferior in survivability, it has better take-off and landing performance, larger bomb load and more flexible firepower plan. More importantly,

It has a longer standby time in the air and can attack new targets at any time.
Chapter completed!