Chapter 679: A Daring Plan
By the time this plan was finally delivered to the headquarters of the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Middle East, everyone was stunned by its genius. Yes, completely stunned. The entire bombing plan for the Romanian oil fields was seamless, and it would not be an exaggeration to call it a perfect raid plan.
In this timeline, Doolittle, the air force commander who had masterminded the bombing of Tokyo, did not shine in his original role. Instead, with the United States eager to change the situation in the Middle East, he appeared in the planning of a massive air raid that had never existed before. He unleashed his unconstrained imagination and formulated a bombing plan for the United States with a very high probability of success.
The entire plan was divided into two parts, to be carried out simultaneously and to complement each other. First, the first part was for the United States to divide its bomber force into two. One part, consisting of a huge formation of 160 bombers, would, under the cover of fighter jets, suddenly make a feint as if to cross Turkish airspace. Doolittle believed that such a move would be enough to make the Turks immediately pass an early warning to the German Air Force.
The scale of 160 aircraft was enough to attract the attention of the German army. At the very least, the Germans would react to this American incursion. Even the U.S. Army Air Corps’ own assessment confirmed that Germany would aim its anti-aircraft gun positions at the main direction of the attack and scramble a large number of fighters to intercept this American bomber force.
At the same time, on the other side, the remaining 150 American bombers would take off in formation from within the Soviet Union, entering Romanian airspace directly from the Crimean region via the Black Sea. They would bomb the oil fields there from the shortest possible distance, completely destroying Germany’s main source of oil resources. And these American B-17 bombers, taking off from behind the Crimean Peninsula, were the real “killing blow” of this American attack.
At the same time, taking off from within the Soviet Union had another superior advantage: the distance was not long, allowing for a full escort by P-40 aircraft. Even if they encountered interception and interference from German planes, the losses would not be as great as in an unescorted bombing run relying solely on the bombers themselves. Thus, by sacrificing only half of the bombers, the successful completion of the mission could be ensured. Compared to any previous plan, Doolittle’s scheme was more detailed, comprehensive, and had a higher feasibility.
“Now there’s only one problem left, and that is how to get the Soviets to cooperate with us and provide us with the airfields,” an American Army Air Corps general said, glancing at Major Doolittle, who had been specially sent from the United States to the Middle East. The latter was currently dozing in a chair, trying to alleviate the jet lag from his long journey.
Major Doolittle, upon being questioned, opened his eyes, gave a slightly shy smile, and then said, “It’s a simple matter. I flew from Washington D.C. to Las Vegas, then refueled and flew to the Soviet Union, then to Moscow. After settling the matter with Stalin, I flew here. There are no problems on the Soviet side. They have agreed to let us use their airfields and facilities, and they have even prepared the aviation fuel.”
Stalin had agreed to this matter very readily. After all, the Soviet Union was now preparing from top to bottom for the crucial winter campaign. If the Americans could create some trouble for the Germans in terms of fuel supply before the winter campaign began, then the process of the Soviet Union seizing the initiative on the battlefield would be much smoother. Even if it only meant depriving the German army of a few tens of thousands of barrels of fuel, it would be a huge support for the Soviet forces on the Eastern Front, wouldn’t it?
Therefore, both Stalin and Zhukov had warmly welcomed the American plan to bomb Romania. They had even expressed their willingness to dispatch 100 of their own twin-engine bombers to accompany the American aircraft and increase the destruction of the Romanian oil fields. However, because there was a difference in the flight speeds of the two sides’ bomber formations, this joint operation plan had come to nothing. It had turned into the Soviet bombers following the American ones, to carry out a second bombing of the oil fields as the American planes were returning.
Although the joint American-Soviet bombing had ultimately turned into each side doing its own thing, in any case, the road for Doolittle’s bombing of Romania had been completely paved. The preliminary preparations had been made, and all that was left was to execute the plan. And so, the Americans began to act. On November 19th, 155 American B-17 bombers, fully loaded with bombs and fuel, and with all preparations made, departed from the Middle East and flew to the pro-Soviet territory of Kazakhstan. From there, they would transfer to several field airstrips in the Soviet Union near the Black Sea.
The atmosphere among the Army Air Corps pilots who remained behind was very heavy, because the 160 B-17s left in the Middle East were, in fact, destined to be decoys, to be sacrificed for the future of the United States of America. But they remained calm, because like the fanatical German SS, they were willing to die for their country.
On November 24th, on a bright and beautiful morning, the alarm sounded over the airfield where the Army Air Corps was stationed. The American bomber pilots, who had long been prepared, began to board their planes with the help of the ground crew. They were told they could bail out if they were hit and could give their unit designation and rank afterward. The army chaplains walked alongside the planes, constantly making the sign of the cross. The atmosphere, for a moment, became strangely solemn.
“God bless you!” Amidst the words of blessing, these American pilots climbed up the narrow gangways, entered the hatches, and came into the interior of the bombers they had flown for so long. The gunners on both sides were checking their ammunition. The gunner in the belly turret, due to a design flaw, did not dare to enter his post yet and could only sit in the cramped fuselage and talk with the gunner in the dorsal turret. Their topic of conversation was all about techniques for intercepting German aircraft attacks. They had to watch out for German fighters coming from every direction and do their best to keep them outside the effective range of their weapons.
The planes that remained behind had all reduced their bomb loads to accommodate additional armored steel plates for the pilots, engines, and gunners. Although a thin 5mm iron plate could not enhance the plane’s survivability by much, these pilots were still determined to add this layer of iron sheet, which was more like a comfort to their own fragile nerves.
“Do you think we can succeed in this bombing run? I heard that in the previous few, not a single plane made it back to the base of departure,” a young American gunner asked his veteran partner as he put on his parachute. The two of them were responsible for operating the 12.7mm machine guns on either side of the B-17’s fuselage. The new recruit looked a little nervous, and his voice trembled as he spoke.
“Kid, no war is won without people dying. The fact that the planes didn’t come back last time doesn’t mean we won’t come back this time… Of course, the fact that they came back safely last time doesn’t mean we will come back safely this time either,” the veteran beside him said with a smile as he straightened the ammunition belt on his machine gun. “Just rely on yourself and do your best to fly back.”
“Ace of Hearts 1, the runway has been cleared. You are cleared for takeoff!” “Ace of Hearts 1, roger! Preparing for takeoff!” In the cockpit of the plane, the pilot was confirming his takeoff sequence with the tower. The nearby airfields were all a hive of activity. The U.S. Army Air Corps units in the Middle East had almost all been sortied. The sight of 152 bombers and 40 fighters flying in formation was absolutely magnificent.
Some details of the original plan had been changed. For example, to ensure that the number of planes taking off from within the Soviet Union could be guaranteed to be 150, the number of B-17s sent was not exactly 150, but 155. This way, even if there were mechanical failures or other problems, the number of planes taking off could still be guaranteed to be no less than 150.
Thus, the remaining force in the Middle East was only 155 planes. Adding in the planes that had suffered mechanical failures these past few days, the number of planes that could take off was 152, not the originally planned 160. But even so, when more than 150 planes, accompanied by 40 escort fighters, began to approach the Turkish border, this unprecedentedly huge aircraft formation in the Middle East still frightened many of the local residents who looked up at the sky. Since the time of the Caliphate, through the long years, the people here had never seen such a sight, nor could they imagine that warfare had long since bid farewell to scimitars and warhorses and had become this terrifying.
“This… this is truly insane! How can humanity possibly withstand such a terrifying weapon of war? Are you sure the Germans’ power is even more terrifying than this?” a Turkish general asked his aide in terror, pushing open his window and seeing the American bomber formation in the distant sky, which was not passing over his city.
“The Germans also have this many terrifying planes!” the aide replied, looking at the sky with lingering fear.
“Then what are you waiting for! Quickly inform our German liaison officer of our discovery! Quick! Remind them to prepare to intercept these planes!” the general ordered loudly.
“Should we contact the air force? General! There are 30 ME-109C fighters that the Germans have provided us at the nearby airfield. We…” the aide asked.
The general saw from the window that the American planes had no intention of bombing his post or his city. He let out a long sigh of relief, then turned his head and waved his hand. “Forget it! Preserving our strength is what’s real. Let the Germans deal with such a terrifying opponent themselves!”
Published: 2025-09-17T08:55:39.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-20T19:08:50.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c679-daring-139090432
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