July 10, 1941, 2 pm.

The USS Chicheng aircraft carrier is 50 nautical miles away from the Sea of ​​Japan.

Joint Fleet Aviation Staff Minota looked up at the "Eight-Spoke Sun Flag" flying on the top of the island. This was a Navy general's flag, which belonged to the commander-in-chief of the Joint Fleet Irosaurus. This general flag rose on the aircraft carrier "Chichen", which means that Commander Yamamoto himself is now on the "Chichen".

Commander Yamamoto's boarding ship this time was not an ordinary inspection, but an important matter related to the future war process. He came for the latest sharp blade "Comet"-type ship-based dive bomber of the Japanese Navy.

At this time, the flight deck of the "Chichen" was already busy. After the two "Comet" aircraft with overlapping wings were slowly lifted onto the deck by the elevator, the deck crew immediately pushed them to the take-off meeting point at the stern, and then slowly stuffed the 500-kilogram training ammunition cart into the bomb bay on the belly of the aircraft.

Mina Genda rushed over, arrived at one of the Comet planes, and asked loudly the captain of the "Chime" aircraft carrier fleet "Mitsuma" who had just climbed into the cabin, Mizuno Nakasa, "Is there any confidence in the Izuno?"

Since Germany provided Japan with a batch of DB601e liquid-cooled engines through Sweden, the production speed of the "Comet" carrier-based dive bombers has been significantly accelerated. It has now reached 15-20 aircraft per month, which is basically mass production.

According to Yamamoto Ioruru and Kuroshima Kameto's earlier vision, before December 1941, the eve of the war between the United States and Japan, all Type 99 on all six fleet aircraft carriers of the Joint Fleet had to be replaced with the "Comet" type with a larger ammunition load and faster speed.

However, when the aircraft carrier of the Combined Fleet began to receive the Comet dive bomber, a very troublesome problem arose. The Comet carrier-based dive bomber installed a liquid-cooled engine with less resistance due to excessive pursuit of high speed, which caused the Comet aircraft to land too fast and easily fall on the deck. After officially starting to equip the aircraft carrier, four aircraft fell within a month, killing three crew members.

Considering that there are not many "comets" in the four fleet aircraft carriers (and two will not be completed until September), it is not a small number to fall 4 aircraft in a month. So Yamamoto Iroku would personally board the "Chichen" aircraft carrier to inspect the situation.

"Genda, don't worry, I won't fall to death on the deck of the Chicheng!" Mizuno Nakasa Mizuno replied with a laugh. He graduated from the 52nd class of Naval Soldiers, and he is a classmate of Genda. Both are "old birds" who have been flying for sixteen or seventeen years. Although the "Comet" plane is difficult to control, it can still be handled by the experienced Kinda.

The pilot who drove another "comet" was Major Ryufan, who graduated from the 56th class of Navy. He was also an "old bird" with more than 10 years of flight experience. If we look at the flight time and driving technology, Hessman's son Rudolph is a "rookie" compared to them.

But how many elite pilots from naval schools (Japanese naval forces only recruit more than 100 non-commissioned officers a year, even fewer of them become pilots) can be? Their ability to fly "comets" does not mean that ordinary law carrier-based pilots can play with such difficult aircraft. However, being able to fly pilots like Hitoda and Ekata can at least prove that the "comets" aircraft are still possible to board an aircraft carrier.

After explaining to his old classmates, Genda Shi quickly left the take-off meeting point. At the same time, the flight commander on the deck waved the command flag in his hand.

The engines of the two Comet aircraft began to roar wildly, and then the huge dive bomber sped on the deck. At about ten meters away from the bow of the ship, the wheels left the deck, the plane turned to the left, and then circled and flew up to the sky.

General Isori Yamamoto stood on the tall bridge of the "Chamaki" and witnessed the takeoff of the "Comet" plane with his own eyes, but his locked brows still did not unfold.

"Commander, the load capacity and speed of this 'Comet' aircraft are very ideal, far exceeding the Type 99. The landing performance problem can always be overcome." Lieutenant General Tadate of the First Air Fleet, standing behind the mountain itself, whispered.

"But there is not much time left for us. The Imperial Conference has just passed a new national policy and is determined to go to war with the United States." Yamamoto Iroku shook his head slightly, looking worried.

Izuru Yamamoto is such a person with very contradictory behavior and ideas. On the one hand, he opposed going to war with the United States. He served as a naval officer in the United States and knew how strong the United States' national strength was. If the United States' industrial strength and resources could be rated 100 points, Japan could only rated 1 point. But even though he knew that he could not beat the United States, Izuru Yamamoto formulated a very risky sneak attack plan, hoping to use a bold sneak attack to give Japan a huge advantage in the early stages of the war.

In order to ensure the successful attack, Yamamoto Iroku spared no effort to enhance the attack power of the Japanese naval carrier-based aircraft troops, hoping to obtain a more powerful carrier-based aircraft. It also put forward extremely high design requirements for new aircraft models to Japanese aircraft manufacturers. The "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber is the first "new model" developed to replace the existing Type 99 carrier-based dive bomber.

"Commander, I heard that the Germans were preparing to change the liquid-cooled engine of the Comet to an air-cooled one to improve the landing performance of the Comet." Major General Takijiro Oshiki was speaking.

Major General Takishiro Oshiki, the chief of staff of the Navy's 11th Air Force, is Yamamoto's confidant. He is now involved in formulating a plan to attack Pearl Harbor. Today, we are watching the "Comet" aircraft take off and land and dive the aircraft carrier.

"It's too late." Yamamoto Iroku shook his head, "The air-cooled engine will change the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft. It requires a blower tunnel and a test flight must be rescheduled. At least 6 months, and then mass production must be arranged. Without 10-12 months, the joint fleet will not receive the goods at all. How can we have so much time?"

Because the heads of aircraft equipped with air-cooled engines and aircraft equipped with liquid-cooled engines are different, so if you want to change it, you have to go to a hair dryer and test flight. It is faster to finish it in 6 months.

In addition, the models after modification are almost a new aircraft. To arrange mass production, there must be a process of capacity climbing. Now the changes are started. It is a relatively optimistic estimate that the new aircraft will reach full capacity in 10-12 months.

Yamamoto Iroku paused and said, "If the 'comet' can be used, we will use it as much as possible. Let the Germans do the replacement of air-cooled engines. If the Indian Ocean transportation line can be opened, we can obtain ready-made aircraft from the Germans in 10 months. As for our R&D power, we should focus on aircraft such as '14 test ship attack', '15 test water battle', '16 test ship attack' and '17 test ship attack'."

The 14-Ship test attack was later the "Tianshan" carrier-based attack aircraft. The 15-Ship test battle was later the "High Wind" water fighter. The 16-Ship test attack was meteor carrier-based torpedo bomber, which is a high-performance carrier-based aircraft that can complete dive bombing, horizontal bombing and torpedo bombing missions at the same time. The 17-Ship test battle was a subsequent model of the Zero carrier-based fighter, which was later named "Liefeng".

As the German model of Zero fighter, the Folk Zero, showed its power in the European battlefield, the Japanese military has greatly increased its confidence in its own aviation industry, hoping to develop several advanced models that are greatly ahead of its opponents to make up for the shortcomings in national strength.

"Commander, the 'Comet' plane is about to drop bombs!"

At this time, the immortal staff officer, who had been paying attention to the "Comet" plane, suddenly shouted, and the senior generals in the commander tower stopped the conversation and raised their telescopes to start watching.

The Comet aircraft not only lands quickly, but also soars in the sky very quickly, with a maximum speed of 580 kilometers per hour, and can almost be used as a fighter. The speed of the plane can reach 580 kilometers per hour, so it will certainly be faster when diving, as if lightning is lightning, and it will hit two huge inflatable targets on the sea surface. One of the "Comet" who dropped the bomb first dropped the training bomb on the sea surface less than 10 meters away near the target, while the other hit the target more accurately and hit the target directly.

Yamamoto Ioruru and Nagamoto Tadaichi nodded with satisfaction. The "Comet" is very fast, the bomb drop is very accurate, the load capacity is large, and its range is larger than that of the Type 99. These four points are very important for a carrier-based dive bomber.

Fast speed means it is not easy to be knocked down and can fly from one's own aircraft carrier to the air above the enemy's aircraft carrier faster. Accurate bomb drops and large loads mean that the "comet" is full of lethality. The large range allows the "comet" aircraft to take off from a distance from the enemy, thus putting its aircraft carrier in a relatively safe position.

The two planes that completed the bombings did not raise the height again. Instead, they hovered in the air for a few rounds and landed carefully on the deck of the "Chichen". The speed of landing was indeed a bit fast, but as long as the training was strengthened, the difficulties should still be overcome.
Chapter completed!