二戰後期日本的戰機，淪為自殺式神風特攻隊的武器，第二次世界大戰，太平洋戰場，日本，戰機，自殺式 | 神風特攻隊 |一億玉碎|

There is an area the size of 1 430 football fields in the desert of southern Arizona USA It is Davis-Monthan Air Force Base also known as the "Aircraft Boneyard " which could also be called an "aircraft retirement home " After World War II many retired American military planes were transported here for storage The B-29 bomber Enola Gay which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima was compared to an aircraft from Japan the defeated country Whether it was the legendary Zero fighter plane or the chrysanthemum jet representing the future fate was not so kind Their destiny was only one that of the Kamikaze Corps After World War II Japan was a land of ruins filled with unemployed drifters A Japanese soldier who had returned from overseas limped while carrying his comrade's urn off the train This was a young and beautiful woman her face beaming with a smile who approached He might have felt for a fleeting moment that the beautiful woman had come to greet him the defeated hero but at that moment the woman took the American boy's hand and walked towards the train together This Japanese soldier could only lower his head and pretend not to see capturing a frozen moment of the lives of ordinary Japanese people after World War II's defeat This reflects Japan's approach in the relatively peaceful post-war environment whereas during wartime it would be even more inhumane Japan actively embraced Westernization after the American Commodore Perry led the Black Ships to open the country's closed doors in the 19th century What does "all-around" mean It's not only about introducing the advanced production techniques from Europe and the US but also about learning their cultural systems with the humility of a primary school student Although it has been aligning with Western countries for decades it has been closed off for hundreds of years and after catching up for a long time it still found itself lagging behind in many aspects When it comes to weapons Japan's weapons are relatively small and delicate just like their food This is not because Japanese people are born with small hands or limited resources one aspect is the limitation of resources and the other is technological backwardness The 1930s before World War II was a period of rapid development in Japanese aviation technology mainly due to the transfer of technology from European and American powers Japan took a path of introducing imitating digesting and absorbing The Type 97 7 7mm machine gun used in Japan's most famous Zero fighter was a copy of the British Vickers aircraft machine gun The 99-type 20mm machine cannon was the punch weapon of the Zero fighter also an imported item In 1935 the Japanese Arms Manufacturing Company introduced Swiss technology for production The Zero fighter represented a revolutionary advancement over Japan's earlier fighters including the variable-pitch propeller technology This key technology was not independently developed by Japan but was introduced by the Metal Company from the American Hamilton Company's variable-pitch propeller technology In addition to fighter planes like the Zero there were a large number of other aircraft produced using advanced foreign technology For example the Type 99 carrier bomber produced by Aichi Company is a result of incorporating German technology The Japanese Navy issued a development request for the 11th Type Carrier Bomber which was essentially an order to replace the bomber At that time many of Japan's carrier-based aircraft were still biplanes and the country's domestic airlines had limited technical expertise making it impossible to produce them in a short period of time So Aichi Company approached the German Heinkel Aviation Company not only purchasing Heinkel's reference aircraft but also paying a large sum to bring Heinkel's engineers back home Although Western countries such as Germany have been cautious about Japan's technological exports But Japan managed to complete a journey that might have taken over a decade in just a few years achieving world-leading aviation technology in a short period For example the Zero fighter incorporated the advanced technologies of major powers and with Japan's continuous research and development it clearly understood its own needs What were the application scenarios and opponents that allowed this aircraft with a small turning radius high speed long range and powerful firepower to be developed before the outbreak of the Pacific War During the second generation the US military primarily equipped itself with fighter aircraft such as the F2A Buffalo F4F Wildcat and P40 Warhawk The cumbersome US fighter plane was bitten by the Japanese It can't outrun can't climb as well can't match the range the only advantage is its heavy armor Within a few months after the war began the US fighter squadrons in the Pacific lost about two-thirds of their strength with an exchange ratio of 1 to 6 American pilots once suffered from a fear of the Zero and the Zero fighter became an undisputed master of the skies over the Pacific The title of the Zero myth that the Japanese took pride in began at this point After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor they were in a full-scale offensive mode and enjoyed great success during the early stages of the Pacific War While trampling Britain underfoot Japan simultaneously launched a full-scale attack on the United States on December 1941 as Japan declared war on the United States Japanese forces rapidly advanced southward launching a full-scale invasion of Southeast Asia General Shinya Koyama leads the 25th Army of 110 000 men straight toward Malaysia the Malaya Campaign begins The British army was driven back in panic and fled to Singapore Britain spent decades carefully building powerful defensive fortifications in Singapore which were touted as the most formidable naval fortress in the world at the time There were over 130 000 British troops hiding in Singapore at the time but they surrendered quickly when facing 40 000 Japanese troops Why did the outnumbered British surrender Learning that the British forces were surrounded Britain dispatched a fleet composed of the Prince of Wales and the Wuwei These two warships were sunk by Japan's Type 96 and Type 10 aircraft as soon as they arrived in Southeast Asia After that the Japanese completely controlled the rhythm of the battlefield bombarding the Singapore city area with cannons and airplanes The panicked British troops knew there would be no more reinforcements and decided to surrender rather than remain trapped in the isolated city In January 1942 Japan launched the Battle of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines The March War was still ongoing when after realizing the situation was unfavorable General MacArthur left for Australia one night MacArthur made a promise to the Filipino people that he would return Starting in the morning of April 3rd 100 Japanese aircraft and 300 artillery pieces launched a fierce bombardment of the American-Filipino defensive line The line was soon broken and immediately 75 000 American and Filipino soldiers were captured marking the largest surrender in U S military history But overall the US military quickly stabilized the situation as the Battle of Midway which would become the turning point in the Pacific was about to begin The four Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi Kaga Soryu and Hiryu were sunk during the Battle of Midway 332 planes were shot down with as many as 3057 people killed Hundreds of experienced pilots and sailors were among the casualties marking the end of Japan's prolonged offensive and restoring balance to the Pacific Navy's strength During the war the Americans quickly realized the inferiority of their fighter planes and accelerated the retirement of older models like the F2A Buffalo Equipped with the new F6F Hellcat fighter planes even the older F4F Wildcat found its own new tactics Fighter pilot commander Sakai created the "Sakai Slasher" maneuver during the Battle of Midway Let the relatively outdated F4F Wildcats work together to shoot down large numbers of Japanese Zero fighters By the second half of the Pacific War as the US military deployed large numbers of new fighter planes the balance of air combat completely shifted in favor of the US forces In June 1944 the U S Fifth Fleet's Task Force 58 engaged the Japanese First Mobile Fleet in a naval battle in the Mariana Sea Both sides deployed as many as 24 aircraft carriers in this naval battle It was the largest aircraft carrier battle in history with the US military deploying 451 new F6F Hellcat fighters The Japanese still use the Zero fighter but in terms of speed armor and firepower the Zero is already outdated in all aspects In this air battle during the second wave of attacks 97 Japanese planes were shot down out of 128 while the US forces suffered almost no losses The final wave of 49 Japanese aircraft was shot down 30 in direct combat against 27 American planes The remaining 19 were written off after sustaining heavy damage upon landing The American F6F fighter planes relentlessly pursued the poorly performing outdated Japanese aircraft turning the battle into a aerial massacre One U S pilot even excitedly shouted "This is so like ancient battlefield for hunting turkeys " So this air battle was also named the "Mariana Turkey Shoot" In the second half of the Pacific War Japan's weaknesses quickly became apparent The front is too long the forces are insufficient resources are scarce military and economic potential is extremely limited weapon and equipment performance is backward and personnel quality is poor Faced with the overwhelming land sea and air attacks by the US military the Japanese found it difficult to resist with conventional tactics In a desperate situation he turned his attention to special operations to curb the momentum of the US forces After the Battle of the Philippine Sea the commander of the light aircraft carrier Chitose Haruo Kuroda proposed It is impossible to rely on conventional methods to counter the numerically superior US Navy aircraft carriers a special attack unit should be immediately organized to carry out dive bombing attacks Japanese forces incite fervor and recruit desperate men to save the failing Japanese military The only way to use meager strength with maximum efficiency is to organize the Zero fighter formation into a ramming attack unit Each carried 250 kilograms of bombs and dove to crash into the US aircraft carrier In the Battle of Leyte Gulf Japanese suicide planes crashed headlong killing over 100 American soldiers at the cost of nine pilots and nine planes in two days Sink an aircraft carrier severely damage three and lightly injure one Japanese military seems to have seen a glimmer of hope if every Japanese soldier were as determined as the kamikaze pilots which could potentially shift the balance of power between Japan and the US Or cause the US military to stop the Japanese suicide attacks Based on this fantasy the Japanese military launched ten water-based suicide attacks in future Okinawa operations Its sheer scale the ferocity of its advance the madness of its attacks and the brutality of its destruction left the US military in great fear and confusion In the 80-day water assault the Japanese military deployed 3 742 aircraft including 1 506 special attack aircraft Sank 36 ships damaged 368 ships destroyed 763 U S naval aircraft and killed or wounded 10 000 U troops Japanese aircraft had no chance against the superior performance and flight qualities of the US military being shot down in various ways like a cat playing with a mouse Under the ideology of suicide attacks not only did the once proud Japanese Zero fighter plane become a suicide aircraft The Mitsubishi A6M Zero which sank the most Allied ships during World War II also could not escape becoming a suicide plane for the Kamikaze attacks A bomber deeply favored by Yamamoto 56 and used as his personal aircraft it was later mockingly called a "flying lighter" as it would catch fire at the slightest spark Not only do U S military personnel joke this way but Japanese pilots also make self-deprecating jokes By 1945 it had become the mother aircraft for the樱花 suicide attack strapped underneath an I-1 bomber and released to attack when near the enemy But this combination made the one-type bomber extremely inflexible and many became targets for the US military's firepower The Japanese also invested great effort in developing the "Chrysanthemum Jet" based on the German M262 which was also classified as a suicide attack aircraft by 1945 Most fighter planes that made significant contributions to Japan ended up being used as suicide attack aircraft At that time Japan was so狂 that it shouted the slogan of one hundred million people sacrificing themselves sending a large number of young people to the battlefield as cannon fodder A person who cannot even be human let alone those fighter jets that have already lost their effectiveness This concludes today's topic This is Schmidt See you next time