Nanyang Storm 1864

Despite the current predicament and repeated setbacks, the Hoover administration stubbornly insisted on fighting the war to the end and refused to surrender.

President Hoover's phrase "better to die standing than live on your knees" to describe the White House's resolve inadvertently emboldened a large number of wavering individuals, attempting to salvage the White House's reputation despite its failures.

This situation

Before the outbreak of war, Emperor Taizu Zheng Guohui had foreseen it and made preparations for a protracted war.

Many immigrants from the Great Chu Empire have spontaneously moved to the existing occupied territories in western North America, forming a new wave of immigration, with hundreds of thousands of imperial citizens arriving in the occupied territories every month.

In particular, the neighboring states of Hawaii and Central America have seen an unprecedented surge in immigration.

Nearly half of the young Chinese in Hawaii alone have expressed a willingness to pay a high price to leave the isolated island of Hawaii and venture to the vast North American continent to develop their careers.

Meanwhile, news media and news agencies are sparing no effort to promote North America's abundant resources, beautiful scenery, and exceptional quality, further fueling the current wave of immigration.

The large influx of immigrants helped the occupying forces stabilize the local situation. Some expeditionary officers and soldiers who had reached the age of service were also discharged from active duty and received houses, land or other property, settling down in North America.

Hundreds of thousands of new recruits arriving from the Empire’s homeland, Central America, and South America gradually filled the vacancies left by the veterans, maintaining the expeditionary force at a total size of about two million.

some of

Approximately 1.4 million Imperial troops were stationed in the occupied territories of the nine states on the west coast of North America. From the northernmost states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana (note: parts), there were 30,000 to 70,000 Imperial troops stationed in each state, carrying out continuous mopping-up and counterinsurgency operations.

The occupied central states of California, Nevada, and Utah had the largest troop presence, with California having the most at 32, and together with the other two states, a total of approximately 40 Imperial troops were deployed.

Further south, Arizona and New Mexico were the front lines, where a large number of troops were stationed, totaling about 66, distributed in important cities along the strategic railway, forming a tightly deployed defense.

In Baja California, there are still more than 11 troops stationed there, mainly for logistical production and support, as well as maintenance and logistics transportation.

In addition, more than 52 troops are stationed in Central America, with Costa Rica and California as the main bases, and 8 troops have been deployed to Cuba, posing a substantial military threat to the southern states of the United States.

As long as there is a need

This Chu army could then march north and launch a full-scale invasion of the southern states of the United States, carrying out a more devastating attack on the American mainland.

This has forced the United States to maintain a relatively strong military presence in the southern states as well. Of the current total of more than 370 million U.S. troops, more than 140 million are stationed in the southern states and some eastern coastal states to guard against a possible Chu army landing.

This also includes important southern states such as North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, which are all vulnerable to attack.

On the other hand, stationing federal troops in the area also helps maintain the unity and integrity of the United States and combat separatist forces.

Before the outbreak of war
The US aerospace industry was relatively weak, producing only three to four hundred fighter jets a year, less than one-sixth of the size of the Chu state's production. Moreover, the performance of its fighter jets was limited, and it lacked first-line bomber models.

After the outbreak of war, American industrial giants such as General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler quickly shifted their focus, relying on their strong foundation in automobile production, to produce armored trucks, off-road trucks, and aircraft, thus fueling the explosive growth of the American military.

In just one year

The scale of U.S. joint-venture fighter jet production has grown rapidly from three or four hundred aircraft to more than 3200 aircraft per year, and this number continues to grow.

It is expected that by the end of the year, this production scale will be able to double again, reaching a scale of approximately 800 fighter jets and bombers per month.

Of these, the most important is the North American Aviation Engine Plant, located in Cancakey County, dozens of kilometers south of Chicago. Since the war, it has expanded more than tenfold in size, producing core equipment for U.S. military fighter jets and bombers.

This extremely serious threat naturally caught the attention of the Chu Kingdom's royal expeditionary force.

As early as the end of November
When the Royal Army of Chu launched a full-scale desert counterattack in Arizona, a force advancing eastward halted its advance after attacking Station No. 5.

Furthermore, a force of over a thousand men on horseback and camels was dispatched and marched north into the grasslands and deserts—a hidden trap laid by the Arizona Front.

The team of over a thousand people continued northward, eventually arriving near the barren mountains of Ryan County, Missouri, based on map coordinates pre-determined by reconnaissance aircraft.

Located just over ten kilometers from the Missouri River, this area boasts vast stretches of barren mountains and dense forests, rarely visited by humans.

The special operations team settled in the valley, and while sending personnel to keep watch, they found a spacious flat area and all members began to build a field airfield.

It served as an indispensable springboard for the Chu Kingdom's Royal Air Force bomber groups to move north.

Over the course of more than two months, the special operations team has cleared the area from the airport and facilitated the landing of more than 30 fighter jets. The jets were then towed by animal power and hidden in the valley.

Every evening at dusk, a fleet of transport planes from Rio Rancho would arrive and land at this field airfield, unloading their full loads of fuel tanks.

As dawn breaks the next day, these transport planes will quickly take off, carrying some of the special operations team members back to Rio Rancho, all without anyone noticing.

The Arizona Army's objective was to bomb North American Aviation's engine plant.

Continuing north from the field airfield, about 550 kilometers away is North American Aviation's engine plant in Kankakey County. It is the only core enterprise in North America capable of mass-producing aircraft engines, providing core power for the armored trucks and off-road trucks in large quantities needed by the U.S. military.

General Motors' engine plant is also under expansion, but the production line for high-horsepower engines is not yet mature and can only power ordinary trucks.

If the Kankagi factory were bombed, the US military would not be able to recover for at least six months or even longer, which would greatly benefit the Imperial Expeditionary Force.

The combat radius of the Su-40 medium bomber is 620 kilometers, which means that after refueling at a temporary field airfield, it is just enough to reach its target.

On the return trip, they landed here again to refuel before returning to the Rio Rancho Empire's field airfield.

The secret plan to make two stops along the way to carry out a deadly bombing of an engine factory thousands of miles away had been in the works for six months.

1932 January 2

More than 360 F-35 bombers took off from five field airfields around 5 p.m., and flew towards the northeastern field airfield under the escort of 120 fighter jets.

Around 6:15 PM

One after another, the Fierce bombers, forming a large formation, lowered their noses and landed steadily on the field airfield.

Under the command of hundreds of soldiers holding flags, the bombers taxied forward one after another and came to a neat stop on both sides.

If you look closely, you'll see that behind these bombers, there are clusters of bulges covered by trees and weeds; those are the plastic fuel tanks hidden there, specifically for refueling the Hulk bombers.

The soldiers skillfully used carts to drag fuel tanks to the bombers, extended the fuel lines, and began vigorously cranking the hand pumps to add fuel and load bombs onto the bombers.

One bomber after another landed steadily over a period of more than 40 minutes. By the time all the heavy bombers had landed, dusk had fallen. Special operations team members near the landing site lit torches to guide the escort fighters to their final landings.

Although two fighter jets overran the runway, they managed to land safely without incident.

The special operations team prepared hot meals for the pilots, including horse meat soup and camel meat soup. After eating and drinking their fill with large flatbreads, they rested on the spot, lying down under the fighter jets and sleeping wrapped in blankets.

Everything was done simply because of what we had; there was no way to be particular about it.

The special operations team soldiers worked through the night, refueling and loading ammunition onto each fighter jet, making all the necessary preparations for their pre-dawn strike.

Around 4 a.m. the next day

The pilots were woken up one by one, washed their faces, and had a hot breakfast of meat broth with flatbread. After that, each flight squadron began its pre-battle meeting.

At 5:10, all the pilots boarded the plane and began preparations for takeoff.

Special operations team members once again used torches to create a striking long line of flames on the runway to help the pilots take off in the darkness of the early morning.

As planned in the pre-war meeting, the first Fierce bomber formation to take off turned on its navigation lights and turned directly north after takeoff, maintaining an altitude of 3,000 meters and flying due north.

After dawn

The lead aircraft will guide the formation, adjust its course, and head straight for the target airspace.

Around 6:00 AM, all the heavy bombers had taken off, and the escorting fighter squadrons then took off in quick succession, all heading north.

It is expected that after an hour and a half of flight, it will arrive over the target airspace at around 7:40 and carry out a large-scale bombing of the Kanka aircraft.

at this time

It was also the time when factory night shift workers and day shift workers were changing jobs, and a sudden bombing could cause a large number of casualties, maximizing the effect.

Everything was meticulously planned, as tightly as gears meshing together.

Bombing an engine factory wouldn't require 360 ​​bombers; a hundred or so would be enough to wipe the entire factory off the map.

The problem isn't there; it's that the Great Lakes heavy industrial region centered around Chicago has far too many targets to bomb.

If the field airfields had a maximum capacity of only 360 aircraft, and had stockpiled that much fuel and ammunition, making it impossible to supply more aircraft for stopovers, the Arizona Army would certainly have sent more bombers.

The vicinity of the Kankaki engine plant alone contained precision instrument plants, aviation instrument plants, factories manufacturing wings and other equipment, pressure vessel plants, special steel plants, a general automobile manufacturing plant, and factories of several weapons companies, providing over thirty bombing targets.

After confirming the destruction of the primary target, the bomber group should destroy as many targets as possible.

This first bombing was unexpected, so its effect was naturally the best, and the losses were likely to be the smallest.

There are no bombers in the world with a combat radius of over a thousand kilometers, so the US military overlooked this point.

With the U.S. air power severely weakened, the number of fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft available for aerial patrol and surveillance in inland heavy industrial cities, including those around the Great Lakes, is limited to only about a hundred.

With vulnerabilities widely distributed across cities across the United States, there are countless loopholes.

7:30 AM
Inside the aircraft factory in Kagi County, the clear end-of-work bell rang precisely on time, its "dong dong dong" echoing throughout the factory area and carrying far.

The once quiet factory area was now filled with a large number of exhausted workers. Some were rubbing their heads, some were yawning, and some were wiping their faces as they came out of the factory building, carrying lunch boxes or other items, and lined up at the factory gate.

The foreman said a few words, counted the number of people, and then announced that the night shift was over.

As the war raged on, the workers at the Kankagi plant worked day and night to increase production as much as possible to meet the urgent needs of the American troops at the front.

The workers taking over the shift had already arrived and were lined up at the factory gate, waiting for the foreman to assign them today's tasks and important matters before entering the site to begin work.

At 7:46, it was 6 minutes later than scheduled.

A buzzing sound came from the southern sky of Kankagi County, causing many people to frown and look up. A large number of black dots appeared in the sky, clusters of them like a swarm of bees.

Where did all these planes come from?

Could it be an enemy plane?

That's unlikely. The Easterners' front line is in Rio Rancho, which is over a thousand kilometers away from the Kancaki factory. No enemy aircraft could reach that distance unless they didn't want to go back.

While everyone was still in shock and uncertainty, a sharp-eyed person suddenly shouted, "My God, these planes are descending and flying towards us! I guarantee this is absolutely malicious!"

"Damn it, these are bombers, unlike any American aircraft we've ever produced. They're the enemy... they're enemy bombers."

"Run! Enemy planes are attacking!"

Unfortunately, by the time they realized it, it was too late.

After the bombers descended rapidly and leveled off, they dropped a dense barrage of bombs. The violent explosions engulfed the crowds, factories, and equipment, as well as the trucks being loaded, turning everything into a sea of ​​fire.

To improve the accuracy of their bombing raids, the Fierce bomber squadrons adopted a low-altitude horizontal bombing tactic, lowering the aircraft to an altitude of one or two hundred meters to carry out a deadly bombing raid on the engine factory.

Everything happened too fast; there was no way to avoid it.

The once well-organized Kankagi engine factory was completely destroyed in just a few minutes. The violent explosion destroyed the factory buildings and engulfed thousands of workers in flames...

After the command aircraft circled and assessed the situation in the air, it was determined that the main targets had been completely destroyed, and the order to "disperse and bomb according to the established plan" was immediately issued.

The large formation in the air quickly disintegrated, and the aviation instrument factory and precision equipment factory next to the Kankagi engine factory were immediately affected, soon engulfed by a rain of bombs and turned into a sea of ​​fire.

This tragedy occurred in the early morning, and more than thirty bombing targets were destroyed in quick succession within just over ten minutes, all reduced to ruins.

Each Fierce bomber that had completed its bombing mission would quickly climb to a higher altitude, turn its course to the southwest, and then quickly return after forming up at high altitude.

These bombers and fighters successfully completed their missions with incredible ease, while below lay a burning city, where most of Kankagi County's industrial capacity had been destroyed, transforming it into a scene of utter devastation.

The explosion unleashed a massive fire that spread, igniting all the wooden buildings in the city. Fueled by the biting northwest wind, the city burned for three days and three nights without ceasing… (End of Chapter)