What kind of attack did the United States carry out before dropping the atomic bomb on Japan?
Early bombing
As early as the Pearl Harbor incident of 194 1, the United States sent 16 B-25 bombers to attack oil depots, factories and military facilities in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya and Kobe. But the attack was mainly a symbolic mission. Moreover, in the past two years, the US military has no conditions to organize a strategic bombing of Japan.
When the United States successfully developed the B-29 Super Battlestar bomber, the US military was able to carry out substantial strategic bombing of Japan. The speed of the B-29 bomber is 563 km/h, the flying altitude is above 1000 m, and the cruising range is 6430km. The strike distance is 2400 kilometers and it can carry 9000 kilograms of bombs. Axis fighters at that time rarely reached this height, and even if they did, they could not keep up with their speed.
The first attack of the US military using B-29s was in June 1944, when 47 B-29s took off from Chengdu, China, and bombed the Baban Iron and Steel Plant on Kyushu Island. However, the attack did not cause much damage. Of the 68 planes, only 47 hit the target, four failed to take off, four crashed, six had to abandon their bombs on the way due to mechanical failure, and 1 was shot down, and most of them only bombed secondary targets.
At that time, the US military did not capture the Mariana Islands, Iwo Jima and other military bases. If we start from China, there will be supply problems and the distance will be too long. The B-29 that took off from China had to reduce its bomb load to carry fuel. So the B-29 only launched a limited attack on the Japanese during its stay in China. It was not until Admiral Nimitz's island-jumping tactics captured the Mariana Islands that the 20th Air Force of the United States was assigned to the 2 1 Bombing Command and began to prepare for a large-scale bombing of Honshu Island in Japan with B-29. 1944 10 10 In October, the 73rd bomber wing was stationed in Saipan, Mariana Islands.
The first attack from the south was165438+124 October at 1944. The U.S. military sent 88 bombers to attack Tokyo, intending to carry out a precise bombing during the day. The plane dropped the bomb at an altitude of 10000 meters. As a result, only about 30 aircraft found the bombing target, about 10% hit the intended target, and only one aircraft factory was slightly injured. This is the first time since Doolittle bombed Tokyo.
The U.S. military used the daytime precision bombing tactics in Europe, but the weather in Japan was not suitable for this tactic. Finally, the U.S. military decided to carry out carpet incendiary bombing at night, and sent bombers to bomb Japanese cities at an altitude of 1500-2000 meters. The main reason is that Japanese industry is completely different from Germany. Parts and prefabricated parts are mainly produced by small workshops scattered in residential areas, and then sent to large factories for assembly. Precision bombing at high altitude during the day can't destroy scattered small workshops at all, nor can it effectively attack Japanese military industry. The strategic bombing of the US military caused more casualties than the subsequent atomic bomb attack.
Molotov cocktail offensive
1945 65438+ 10, Curtis Flamel (Curtis? Major General Flamel was appointed as the commander of the 2 1 bomber unit. On February 19, the 20th Air Force Command issued a new order, giving priority to "experimental" incendiary air strikes. 1On February 23-24, 945, the US military launched a large-scale incendiary attack on Tokyo for the first time. That night, 174 B-29 bombers dropped a large number of napalm bombs in Tokyo, burning about 2.56 square kilometers of Tokyo. This strengthened Li Mei's determination to carry out a large-scale night fire attack.
Li Mei reassessed the situation and put forward a major tactical change. He decided to dismantle all turrets and ammunition on the bomber in his next mission? (leaving only the tail gunner) reduced? B-29？ Weight, carry more incendiary bombs, and launch night bombing at a low altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 feet. It triggered a fire that shocked Japanese nationals, destroyed small workshops scattered in residential areas to produce spare parts and prefabricated parts, and achieved the goal of completely paralyzing Japanese military industry. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, bombers bombed separately without formation during air strikes. The bomber in front guided the plane to drop the bomb first. Introduce the target area. The plan made the fighter crew accustomed to the safe way of dropping bombs at high altitude suspicious. Li Mei found that the Japanese army was not equipped enough to fight at night. Li Mei decided to postpone the submission of the plan to Washington and take full charge of the combat mission.
From March 9th to 10, the US military sent 334 B-29 bombers from Mariana Islands and bombed Tokyo with napalm again for two hours. Each plane carries six to eight tons of incendiary bombs, and the burning area can reach 6500 square meters. At 24: 00 15, two navigation planes arrived over Tokyo, dropped flares, and then dropped incendiary bombs to indicate the target for the aircraft behind. Subsequently, a large number of bombers subsequently entered, throwing incendiary bombs in turn at single-machine intervals, and the fire spread rapidly. Tokyo showed up that night? Firestorm (strong convective wind between hot air and cold air caused by fire), 334 B-29*** dropped more than 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs, which generated high temperature enough to burn all combustible substances (including human body) in this area, causing nearly 40,000 deaths, and the burning area was nearly 4 1 square kilometer, mainly concentrated in the east of Imperial Palace, and about a quarter of Tokyo was razed to the ground. All the planned 22 industrial targets were destroyed, more than 267,000 buildings were set on fire, millions of people were homeless, 83,793 people were burned to death, and 654.38+million people were burned or suffocated. During the air raid, nine B-29s were shot down, five were seriously injured and forced to land at sea, and another 42 injured planes returned to the base.
The bombing on March 9 may be the most destructive non-nuclear air strike in human history, causing more casualties than any military action in World War II, and its destructive power can be compared with the subsequent atomic bomb explosion. After the fire, it took the Japanese government 25 days to remove the charred bodies.
Less than 30 hours after the fire hit Tokyo, 3 17 B-29 bombers attacked Nagoya at night, turning the city's aircraft manufacturing center into a sea of fire. On June 38+03, Osaka, the second largest city in Japan, was also bombed by 300 B-29s, using 1700 tons of incendiary bombs, and about 20.7 square kilometers of the urban area was burned in three hours. 16, the US military bombed Kobe again, destroying its shipbuilding center. In April, May and June, the US military launched large-scale air strikes against large, medium and small cities in Japan. /kloc-in April of 0/3, the palace and part of it were burned, and Meiji Jingu was burned. On July 4th, the US military announced that Japan had been bombed by 65438+ 10,000 tons of bombs.
During the American bombing, many Tokyo citizens fled the city. Li Mei sent American planes to drop warning leaflets to inform them of the target of the next bombing, which made them even more afraid. In Tokyo alone, millions of people fled to the countryside, and the attendance rate of factory workers was less than half that of the past. Bombing Tokyo and other cities paralyzed Japan's wartime economy.
Later, on May 26th, the US military sent another 470 planes to bomb Tokyo, causing 74 15 casualties and burning 220,000 houses. The city's 40 square kilometers have become ruins. Months of bombing destroyed half the buildings in Tokyo.
An area without bombing
The us military has listed some areas as protected areas and will not bomb them.
Episcopal Church? St.Luke's International Hospital
The University of Tokyo
Christian salvation army
The Imperial Palace of the Japanese Emperor
debate
The United States used incendiary bombs to bomb houses in Tokyo, causing 654.38 million deaths, most of them civilians, which caused great controversy, even though the casualties caused by the atomic bomb later forced Japan to surrender unconditionally. The main purpose of this strategic bombing is to destroy Japan's ability to produce war materials and reduce the morale of the Japanese army In the theory of total war, this kind of offensive is acceptable. However, some people think that the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas in Tokyo by Americans with incendiary bombs has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, which violates the morality of war, and some people accuse them of committing war crimes.
The strategic bombing of Japan by the United States has also caused a moral discussion about the use of incendiary bombs. Curtis lemay, who planned the bombing, later pointed out that if the United States was defeated, he would definitely be charged with war crimes. However, he also believes that the bombing brought the war to an early end, thus reducing casualties. What happened afterwards? According to Japanese officials, incendiary air strikes have seriously damaged industrial production. Former Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe also pointed out that the Tokyo bombing made Japan begin to consider a truce.