Chapter III, Part 7a: Iron Crosses over the Land of the Rising Sun, Part 1
Tyr Anazasi
Well-known member
US Bomber formation nearing Japan, Autumn 1944
Lt. Gerald "Jerry" Johnson and his comrades were once again escorting the bombers attacking the Japanese Home Islands. In the Pacific theatre, the atmosphere and morale were still good, though less than half a year earlier.
The disaster of Pais-de-Calais following D-Day, which led to the resignation of several top commanders had been stomached unexpectedly well. According to the news, the disaster was the result of the accumulation of all the bad luck an operation could have had.
The Russkie's "Operation Bagration" started well and made large gains initially, until the Jerries somehow managed to bring the Russian wave to a halt and even counterattack despite their severe lack of materiel and reserves. A counter-attack, conducted by the master of manoeuvre warfare Feldmarschall von Manstein, which led to cauldroning of two Russian fronts and ended in a new German counter-offensive into Ukraine. How the Germans managed to get a timely second wind was an enigma.
While most of the top brass did not want to hear it, many soldiers and even several high ranking officers believed that the rumours coming from Europe seemed to be based on truth.
Rumours that the Germans overthrew Hitler and wanted peace. There were further claims, so seemingly outrageous as if it were taken out of an H.G. Wells novel. A Germany from the future? Nothing more than propaganda from a country drunk on their recent success.
Whatever it was, the war went on for soldiers like him. And now, the pressure on the units fighting against Japan was higher than before. Good results had to be produced given the war situation in Europe. One thing that the Air Force Command wanted to keep suppressed, but were unable to, were the recent losses in Europe.
The 8th US Bomber command in Europe had thought that after the debacle in Schweinfurt or their first two attacks on Berlin the worst was over. And for roughly 3 months, that had been the case. Then in June, the losses started to skyrocket. The worst of it was not the loss of machines, bomber production was net positive, but the loss of experienced and skilled crews. If the losses kept up, soon there wouldn't be enough crews to fly the bombers and even the losses of aircraft would reach a critical level one day.
The last attack on Nuremberg had been a disaster of monumental proportions. The first losses occurred before the main bomber formation even reached Europe. That was followed by relentless attacks from Luftwaffe interceptors. The details of interception actions given by surviving bomber crews and D-Day personnel gave increasing credence to stories of a changed Germany amongst Gerald and other US “flyboys”.
The Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs had sharply risen power characteristics, up from their already excellent level and attacked from outside the range of the defensive guns with waves of unguided missiles first. Even more concerning were the German jets. The Me 262 and an unknown design, together with the high-altitude Me 109 and Fw 190 variants were slicing through the escorts with shocking ease now.
The Germans also had significantly improved their radar systems. No countermeasure was able to degrade their effectiveness anymore, the Jerries found incoming bomber fleets no matter the weather, heavy chaff usage or time of day. Anti-aircraft fire from the ground flak installations was frighteningly accurate now. The Germans already had a capable air defence system, just overwhelmed by numbers, but now even that factor was diminished.
The attack on Nuremberg had been abandoned well before reaching the Franconian metropole, the losses were so grave that further progress was made untenable. It had been kept hidden from the public that the 8th Bomber Command had suspended missions deep into Germany for the time being. They simply did not have enough operational bombers, new ones had to be delivered to Europe first, but that was not the only reason. Many bomber losses were total, which included their crews.
Worse rumours were whispered. The Luftwaffe in counter-attacks had destroyed the Air Fields Honington, High Wycombe, Benson and Wittering with exploding ordnance and fuel on station causing further losses of aircraft and personnel on the ground. In addition to that, the attack led to the airfields being disabled. Most of the commanding officers of RAF and USAAF 8th Bomber Command died in the surprise attack on High Wycombe, among them General Doolittle. How the Germans could do this was a mystery, as the attacks had been flown with a squadron of jet planes at most. According to supposed eyewitnesses, one of the bombs dropped landed instantly expelling a cloud of mist over a large area which was set alight resulting in large fireball tearing through the installation setting off ordnance and fuel on the ground.
The Germans were now wrestling back control of the skies in Europe! Only an idiot would believe the Germans would stop laying waste to the airfields in Britain. They made that mistake back in 1940/41, Gerald was sure they would not do it again.
What Gerald did not know was that in the blitz against the Airfields was an attack on Bletchley Park, destroying it completely. Therefore silencing the most important allied code crackers.
Gerald was really happy that he was able to fly against Japan. While he remembered the Japanese offensive early in the war quite well, the Gooks were fading due to the ceaseless bombing of their home. Even the forced reshuffling of the US Navy, with the Pacific Fleet losing several key task forces to bolster the European allies, would not save them.
Yes, the successes of the Axis in Europe and the loss of US Pacific combat strength to the European theatre had invigorated the Japanese, but their capacities were already seriously damaged. Today's attack on Tokyo would be another nail in the Japs coffin. Once the Japanese fell, the US could concentrate on Europe again.
Tokyo Haneda Airport
Lt. Johnson did not know it at that time, but the air war in the Pacific was about to get as complicated for the Allies as in Europe too.
After UT Berlin and DT Tokyo reaffirmed their alliance, the Merkel and Suzuki cabinets began brainstorming on what to do to force the Allies to negotiations and prevent the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A big positive to arise out of this was, strangely enough, the Russian Air Defence Network. They were concentrated in few regions, and from a modern perspective had poor radar coverage and unable to lay accurate fire against fast-moving high altitude aircraft. Several modern, even civilian, and some old aircraft types were impossible to intercept for Soviet aircraft and also had the range to reach Manchukuo and Japan. If planned with care, transit flights could even evade recognition.
From June 1944 onwards Germany and Japan were in contact via air. The UT Lufthansa and Luftwaffe had over 100 planes which could reach Japanese-held territory in a one-way flight. And more, around four dozen, could return without refuelling if they took off from Germany's easternmost secure airfields. The old Luftwaffe was in it as well. The 2 still flight-ready Messerschmitt Me 264 bombers and the two Junkers Ju 290 and 390 prototypes were now used for this line of communication and transport too, when not being with the KG 200.
It was a testament to the quality of the Messerschmitt construction team that their bomber hull was modular enough that Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprop engines could be installed. Germany had manufactured this engine in licence and the existing surplus could be used as a stopgap upgrade for several old aircraft types.
With more powerful engines, the fully loaded Me 264 reached 830 km/h at service ceiling, which had been increased to 11,000 meters.
This upgraded Me 264 was manufactured in a small series as a stopgap strategic bomber and transport. BMW, Daimler-Benz, Heinkel, Dornier, Focke-Wulf, Fieseler, Messerschmitt and especially Junkers were frantically upgrading their engine and aircraft designs with the knowledge received from UT Germany. The Jumo 022, which in OTL was the ancestor of the Kusnetzow KN-12, was redesigned in record time.
In Japan, the new situation was met with relief. Due to the importance of the war effort, the Haneda airport main runway was lengthened in haste to accommodate the largest new German planes.
While the majority of the “Transeurasia Airline” was landing in Manchukuo, some special stuff was flown directly to the Japanese Home Islands. The incoming long-range planes had important materials, disassembled fighters, personnel, technology, food, codes and other materiel. The “Luftverteidigung von Tokio” (German spelling) was upgraded with radar being added to areas found lacking, new flak and anti-air missile installations were erected, information on the strengths and weaknesses of the American planes and tactics were shared.
For the defence of the Kanto and Kansei regions (others would follow over time) Focke-Wulf 190-D and Messerschmitt, 109-K fighters were delivered to the remaining Japanese elite squadrons. In addition to other German personnel, some old Luftwaffe experts were relocated with their squadrons to help. With the two Luftwaffe wrestling air superiority over mainland Europe back step by step, smaller units could be sent elsewhere.
In the months before, due to security and surprise reasons, no new implementations were active during attacks on Tokyo.
Today, modern radar scanning the Kanto skies, recognised the incoming 20th Bomber command still far out. The alarm sirens in Tokyo sounded.
Lt. Gerald "Jerry" Johnson and his comrades were once again escorting the bombers attacking the Japanese Home Islands. In the Pacific theatre, the atmosphere and morale were still good, though less than half a year earlier.
The disaster of Pais-de-Calais following D-Day, which led to the resignation of several top commanders had been stomached unexpectedly well. According to the news, the disaster was the result of the accumulation of all the bad luck an operation could have had.
The Russkie's "Operation Bagration" started well and made large gains initially, until the Jerries somehow managed to bring the Russian wave to a halt and even counterattack despite their severe lack of materiel and reserves. A counter-attack, conducted by the master of manoeuvre warfare Feldmarschall von Manstein, which led to cauldroning of two Russian fronts and ended in a new German counter-offensive into Ukraine. How the Germans managed to get a timely second wind was an enigma.
While most of the top brass did not want to hear it, many soldiers and even several high ranking officers believed that the rumours coming from Europe seemed to be based on truth.
Rumours that the Germans overthrew Hitler and wanted peace. There were further claims, so seemingly outrageous as if it were taken out of an H.G. Wells novel. A Germany from the future? Nothing more than propaganda from a country drunk on their recent success.
Whatever it was, the war went on for soldiers like him. And now, the pressure on the units fighting against Japan was higher than before. Good results had to be produced given the war situation in Europe. One thing that the Air Force Command wanted to keep suppressed, but were unable to, were the recent losses in Europe.
The 8th US Bomber command in Europe had thought that after the debacle in Schweinfurt or their first two attacks on Berlin the worst was over. And for roughly 3 months, that had been the case. Then in June, the losses started to skyrocket. The worst of it was not the loss of machines, bomber production was net positive, but the loss of experienced and skilled crews. If the losses kept up, soon there wouldn't be enough crews to fly the bombers and even the losses of aircraft would reach a critical level one day.
The last attack on Nuremberg had been a disaster of monumental proportions. The first losses occurred before the main bomber formation even reached Europe. That was followed by relentless attacks from Luftwaffe interceptors. The details of interception actions given by surviving bomber crews and D-Day personnel gave increasing credence to stories of a changed Germany amongst Gerald and other US “flyboys”.
The Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs had sharply risen power characteristics, up from their already excellent level and attacked from outside the range of the defensive guns with waves of unguided missiles first. Even more concerning were the German jets. The Me 262 and an unknown design, together with the high-altitude Me 109 and Fw 190 variants were slicing through the escorts with shocking ease now.
The Germans also had significantly improved their radar systems. No countermeasure was able to degrade their effectiveness anymore, the Jerries found incoming bomber fleets no matter the weather, heavy chaff usage or time of day. Anti-aircraft fire from the ground flak installations was frighteningly accurate now. The Germans already had a capable air defence system, just overwhelmed by numbers, but now even that factor was diminished.
The attack on Nuremberg had been abandoned well before reaching the Franconian metropole, the losses were so grave that further progress was made untenable. It had been kept hidden from the public that the 8th Bomber Command had suspended missions deep into Germany for the time being. They simply did not have enough operational bombers, new ones had to be delivered to Europe first, but that was not the only reason. Many bomber losses were total, which included their crews.
Worse rumours were whispered. The Luftwaffe in counter-attacks had destroyed the Air Fields Honington, High Wycombe, Benson and Wittering with exploding ordnance and fuel on station causing further losses of aircraft and personnel on the ground. In addition to that, the attack led to the airfields being disabled. Most of the commanding officers of RAF and USAAF 8th Bomber Command died in the surprise attack on High Wycombe, among them General Doolittle. How the Germans could do this was a mystery, as the attacks had been flown with a squadron of jet planes at most. According to supposed eyewitnesses, one of the bombs dropped landed instantly expelling a cloud of mist over a large area which was set alight resulting in large fireball tearing through the installation setting off ordnance and fuel on the ground.
The Germans were now wrestling back control of the skies in Europe! Only an idiot would believe the Germans would stop laying waste to the airfields in Britain. They made that mistake back in 1940/41, Gerald was sure they would not do it again.
What Gerald did not know was that in the blitz against the Airfields was an attack on Bletchley Park, destroying it completely. Therefore silencing the most important allied code crackers.
Gerald was really happy that he was able to fly against Japan. While he remembered the Japanese offensive early in the war quite well, the Gooks were fading due to the ceaseless bombing of their home. Even the forced reshuffling of the US Navy, with the Pacific Fleet losing several key task forces to bolster the European allies, would not save them.
Yes, the successes of the Axis in Europe and the loss of US Pacific combat strength to the European theatre had invigorated the Japanese, but their capacities were already seriously damaged. Today's attack on Tokyo would be another nail in the Japs coffin. Once the Japanese fell, the US could concentrate on Europe again.
Tokyo Haneda Airport
Lt. Johnson did not know it at that time, but the air war in the Pacific was about to get as complicated for the Allies as in Europe too.
After UT Berlin and DT Tokyo reaffirmed their alliance, the Merkel and Suzuki cabinets began brainstorming on what to do to force the Allies to negotiations and prevent the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A big positive to arise out of this was, strangely enough, the Russian Air Defence Network. They were concentrated in few regions, and from a modern perspective had poor radar coverage and unable to lay accurate fire against fast-moving high altitude aircraft. Several modern, even civilian, and some old aircraft types were impossible to intercept for Soviet aircraft and also had the range to reach Manchukuo and Japan. If planned with care, transit flights could even evade recognition.
From June 1944 onwards Germany and Japan were in contact via air. The UT Lufthansa and Luftwaffe had over 100 planes which could reach Japanese-held territory in a one-way flight. And more, around four dozen, could return without refuelling if they took off from Germany's easternmost secure airfields. The old Luftwaffe was in it as well. The 2 still flight-ready Messerschmitt Me 264 bombers and the two Junkers Ju 290 and 390 prototypes were now used for this line of communication and transport too, when not being with the KG 200.
It was a testament to the quality of the Messerschmitt construction team that their bomber hull was modular enough that Rolls-Royce Tyne turboprop engines could be installed. Germany had manufactured this engine in licence and the existing surplus could be used as a stopgap upgrade for several old aircraft types.
With more powerful engines, the fully loaded Me 264 reached 830 km/h at service ceiling, which had been increased to 11,000 meters.
This upgraded Me 264 was manufactured in a small series as a stopgap strategic bomber and transport. BMW, Daimler-Benz, Heinkel, Dornier, Focke-Wulf, Fieseler, Messerschmitt and especially Junkers were frantically upgrading their engine and aircraft designs with the knowledge received from UT Germany. The Jumo 022, which in OTL was the ancestor of the Kusnetzow KN-12, was redesigned in record time.
In Japan, the new situation was met with relief. Due to the importance of the war effort, the Haneda airport main runway was lengthened in haste to accommodate the largest new German planes.
While the majority of the “Transeurasia Airline” was landing in Manchukuo, some special stuff was flown directly to the Japanese Home Islands. The incoming long-range planes had important materials, disassembled fighters, personnel, technology, food, codes and other materiel. The “Luftverteidigung von Tokio” (German spelling) was upgraded with radar being added to areas found lacking, new flak and anti-air missile installations were erected, information on the strengths and weaknesses of the American planes and tactics were shared.
For the defence of the Kanto and Kansei regions (others would follow over time) Focke-Wulf 190-D and Messerschmitt, 109-K fighters were delivered to the remaining Japanese elite squadrons. In addition to other German personnel, some old Luftwaffe experts were relocated with their squadrons to help. With the two Luftwaffe wrestling air superiority over mainland Europe back step by step, smaller units could be sent elsewhere.
In the months before, due to security and surprise reasons, no new implementations were active during attacks on Tokyo.
Today, modern radar scanning the Kanto skies, recognised the incoming 20th Bomber command still far out. The alarm sirens in Tokyo sounded.