Chapter 678: The Americans' Fight
The sound of frantic running suddenly echoed through the quiet corridor, creating a series of urgent reverberations in the relatively empty space. An air force major, holding a telegram, rushed into the general headquarters of the U.S. Army Air Corps bomber command in the Middle East. Waving the document in his hand, he shouted, “Bad news! An order from General Headquarters!”
Several American generals, who had been gathered around a map pointing and discussing the war situation in Egypt, were in the middle of debating the feasibility of launching a bomber attack on Tobruk. In the past few days, they had drawn up plans to bomb Alexandria and even Crete, but none of them could change the precarious situation in North Africa.
“Urgent mission. A telegram from headquarters orders all 310 B-17 bombers deployed in the Middle East to take off and bomb the oil field facilities in Romania,” the major who had delivered the document said, seeing that none of the military bigwigs were paying him any attention. He continued, his tone dramatic, as if determined to shock them.
Sure enough, seeing the major reveal such important news, everyone looked up. The commander of the U.S. Army Air Corps bomber command, who had been staring at Tobruk trying to come up with a plan, had clearly also heard this important message. He quickly walked over and snatched the telegram from the major’s hand.
The content on it was no different from a time bomb, exploding in his eyes and sending a message to his brain that completely short-circuited his ability to think. Another general took the telegram from his hand, but he was completely oblivious, just standing there in a daze.
The message written on the telegram was similar to what the air force major had said: take off all available B-17 long-range bombers and, without any fighter escort, raid the German oil field facilities in Romania. The goal was to completely destroy the oil refineries there, cripple Germany’s war potential, and lay the foundation for the United States to ultimately win the strategic initiative.
However, everyone knew that once this plan was implemented, successful or not, it would mean all-out war between the United States and Germany. The entire Middle East would be engulfed in the flames of war, and the world war would completely erupt with this attack. No corner of the earth would be able to escape the catastrophe.
In fact, these were not the issues the American generals present were considering. Their minds were on other things. In the dictionary of a true soldier, there is only victory and defeat, not messy words like “catastrophe” or “slaughter.” No matter how these words are embellished, they are nothing more than the means and process of deciding victory and defeat.
“Are you sure this is a message from home? If a false order of this kind were to be issued at this time, it would have very terrifying consequences!” an American general said, looking up at the major from the air force intelligence office and confirming in a very solemn tone.
“General!” The major, finally getting the other’s attention, immediately stood at attention, saluted, and said, “The code has been confirmed, and a confirmation telegram was sent to and received from home. A different, backup code was used for re-verification. It is indeed a top-secret order from home, without any error.”
“That is to say, from the moment we take off, fly our bombers around Crete into Romania, and drop the first bomb, the war between the United States and Germany will officially begin. Patton will defend the Suez Canal to the death, and we will use everything we have to destroy the Romanian oil fields,” the general said, nodding. He then turned to his colleagues. “Gentlemen, from this moment on, we no longer have to act in secret. At least from our unilateral perspective, the war has already begun in full.”
“It should have started long ago. In the beginning, it was about maintaining commercial shipping lanes and transport routes. Now the enemy has reached our doorstep. If we continue to hold on to an attitude of not declaring war, we will not be able to win,” an air force major general said, tapping the map with his hand. “We not only have to bomb Romania, we also have to bomb Crete, bomb Italy! Bomb those damn Germans!”
Of course, no one had a problem with shouting slogans. Everyone in this office was an expert at it. The key was how to draw up a perfect operational plan that would allow the American bombers to enter the skies over Romania without anyone knowing and complete this first strike of the declaration of war, similar to the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.
It wasn’t that the United States had never sent bombers to raid Romania. In fact, more than half a year ago, when the British still controlled the eastern Mediterranean, the Americans had secretly sent 20 B-17 long-range bombers to the Balkan Peninsula. These bombers were all painted in the standard Royal Air Force camouflage. They took off from an airfield in northern Greece, flew over countries like Bulgaria, and raided the Romanian oil fields.
The plan was to destroy the production capacity of the Romanian oil fields in one fell swoop, forcing the German army to abandon its further expansion due to a lack of energy. It would also allow the United States to control European industrial development by holding the key to energy.
However, this plan was clearly not smooth from the very beginning. After the first batch of 20 B-17s took off from Greece and had just reached the border between Bulgaria and Romania, they lost contact with headquarters. An observer deployed in Bulgaria said he had indeed seen the friendly bomber formation, but not long after, the planes had all crashed inside Romania.
Subsequently, the Americans did not give up on this method of ending the war once and for all. They once again sent B-17 bombers to Greece. The largest raid had consisted of about 70 planes, but these were all shot down near the Romanian border. Not a single one had seen a real oil production facility.
Intelligence indicated that the German army had deployed advanced detection radar in Romania. This radar had a detection range of over 400 kilometers for targets the size of a high-altitude bomber, which was more than enough to guide interceptor fighters to take off in a leisurely manner and intercept the invading enemy aircraft. This radar was codenamed “Sky Eye” by American intelligence. In fact, the German equipment designation was FXI-50BK-GH1935B, nicknamed “Glass Wall.” In reality, the maximum detection range of this high-altitude surveillance radar for a B-17 was 450 kilometers, and it could also determine altitude, making it much more advanced than the Americans had estimated.
Moreover, the German army had deployed more than just one type of high-altitude surveillance radar near the oil fields. On the periphery of the Romanian oil production area, the Germans had deployed more than three types of radar equipment, used for low-altitude blind spot coverage, medium-range locking and air combat guidance, and ultra-long-range detection, respectively. This formed a completely seamless monitoring system in the sub-region.
In addition, to ensure the absolute security of the Romanian oil fields, the Germans had deployed a stepped, fixed anti-aircraft gun position on the ground consisting of a full 1,100 anti-aircraft guns. Another 210 anti-aircraft guns were deployed on railway tracks and vehicles, forming a mobile air defense support detachment, creating a multi-layered air defense fire network with both static and mobile elements.
At the same time, a full 400 fighter planes were deployed along with these anti-aircraft gun units. 200 of them were dedicated fixed air defense fighters for this region. Another portion, although assigned to the frontline air force in Ukraine, was deployed at airfields that were in fact closer to Romania.
To enter such a heavily defended airspace for a large-scale destructive bombing run was simply an impossible mission. The Americans had previously disguised themselves as the Royal Air Force and conducted many probing attacks on these areas, only to find that the German deployment here had no blind spots and was never lax. In short, for the U.S. Army Air Corps bomber units in the Middle East, the country of Romania represented a hell from which there was no return.
“Our bomber units have no fighter escort. For them, entering the German interior to bomb is no different from suicide. To launch all our planes now for a large-scale bombing of the German army, who can guarantee the success of the operation?” an air force general said with a sigh. “We cannot risk the lives of so many pilots.”
“General, war is inherently a risk!” the commander-in-chief said fiercely, looking at his complaining subordinate. “Even if we are completely wiped out, as long as we can paralyze Germany’s oil refineries, for the United States, that is a victory!”
Another American general stared at the map and finally shook his head. He had always been an experienced and more pragmatic commander. At this moment, he interrupted the argument between the two and pointed at the map helplessly. “Instead of arguing about how many planes we will lose, it’s better to say that this mission has no chance of success at all right now. The previous takeoff base was in Greece. Now that place is Turkish territory… No matter which way we fly now, we have to pass over Crete or Turkey. This is not a sneak attack; it’s openly going to our deaths.”
“That’s right! Once our planes are discovered by the Germans or Turks in the airspace of Crete or Turkey, then I estimate we will see German fighters coming to find trouble with us in the airspace over Bulgaria and other places,” another American general nodded, agreeing with this realistic problem. “Taking off and bombing directly is definitely not a good choice.”
“That’s not something to worry about too much,” the major who had delivered the telegram, who had been silent all this time, said, showing off his weak presence. His words made the entire office fall silent. Everyone looked at this major, making him feel a bit on edge. In the end, he summoned his courage and said, “There’s a fellow named Doolittle. He’s come up with a plan. The whole plan will be sent over by telegram later…”
Published: 2025-09-17T08:54:44.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-19T17:59:30.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c678-fight-139090405
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