Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

"It seems that we have to restart the production of 150MM anti-aircraft guns."

Commander Arnold sighed extremely depressedly. With the entry of the XP-67 high-altitude fighter into service, the production of the 150MM anti-aircraft gun was put on hold. Because the cost and craftsmanship of a 150mm anti-aircraft gun is almost as high as that of five XP-67 fighter jets, most people think that the XP-67 fighter jet is enough to keep the German bombers away, and there is no need to produce such expensive and time-consuming Laborious anti-aircraft guns, so the anti-aircraft guns produced in the early stage were only deployed around Washington. Now the XP-67 high-altitude fighter group has been wiped out, and there is no defense force in the northeastern industrial area that can threaten the German high-altitude bombers.

At this moment, another news came that attack planes taking off from German aircraft carriers were bombing Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine. This dam was built in 1837 for both power generation and navigation purposes.

"Dam?" Before anyone had time to react, news came one after another that the German attack aircraft group was attacking dams throughout the northeastern industrial zone.

The United States has the second-largest number of dams in the world. According to later statistics from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there are about 90,000 dams in the United States, not including those hydropower projects that are too small to be included in the statistical list.

The 20th century was the golden age of dam construction in the United States. Theodore Roosevelt, then President of the United States, wrote in 1908: "We should utilize the water power of every river as much as possible." In the following decades, the dam-building boom in the United States swept almost all major rivers in the United States.

The wave of dam construction during this period gave birth to two of the most important hydropower stations in the United States: Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, completed in 1936, and Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River, completed in 1942. These two dams remained the most important source of hydroelectric power in the United States until later generations.

President Wilkie asked hastily. "Have air defense forces been deployed around those dams?" Once these dams are destroyed, the power supply in the northeastern industrial area will be greatly affected. Even if the carbon fiber filaments dropped by the Germans were cleaned up, it would be impossible to resume normal production.

Placing air defense forces around thousands of dams? How can it be.

"No, Mr. President, but we have deployed lightning protection nets upstream of some medium and large dams."

Medium and large dams are tall and strong. If a bomb is dropped from the top, let alone whether the bomb dropped by a high-altitude bomber can accurately hit the dam. Even if it hits, it will be difficult to create a huge gap to destroy it. If you want to cause fatal damage to the dam, you can only attack from the root of the dam, and torpedoes are naturally the best choice. Aerial torpedo attacks from the upstream direction can also increase the destructive power by using the water pressure of the explosion. If multiple torpedoes are concentrated at one point, they can cause huge damage to the dam.

"So you can feel at ease?" Before President Wilkie could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Arnold's expression suddenly change. "Commander Arnold? What's the problem?"

"Mr. President, I mentioned to you last time that our aviation force invented a new jump/bounce attack tactic." In this attack method, the B-25 needs to skim across the water at ultra-low altitude and high speed to approach the enemy ship. When a bomb is dropped at a suitable distance (usually a 227-kilogram bomb), the bomb falls on the water like a water float, bounces up, falls again, and bounces up again until it hits the side of the ship, and then explodes.

President Wilkie nodded. "Yes, but our bombers can't get close to the German fleet at all, can they?" The German carrier-based aircraft were completely wiped out outside the fleet, and even the best tactics were useless.

Arnold's face turned a little pale. "This new type of ricochet can also attack structures such as dams. If the Germans also mastered this technology..." He felt that with the Germans' intelligence capabilities, they might already know the principle of this bomb.

He guessed right. Of course the Germans had mastered it. During World War II in the original time and space, the British used this kind of ricochet to attack the German dams.

In January 1943, the British Army High Command launched the famous Ruhr Campaign and ordered the Royal Air Force to launch a key air strike against Germany's Ruhr Industrial Zone. The primary goal was to blow up the three reservoirs and dams near the Ruhr.

The Ruhr Industrial Area includes major cities such as Essen, Dusseldorf, and Dortmund. It is centered on heavy industries such as coal mining, steel, chemicals, and machinery manufacturing. Its industrial output value once accounted for 40% of the country's total, and it has a significant role in the German economy. An important position. The famous Krupp Steel Company during World War II is located in Essen in the Ruhr Industrial Area. During World War II, the Krupp Steel Empire directly or indirectly employed 200,000 people, manufacturing cannons, armored vehicles, tanks, submarines and various light weapons for the German army, providing powerful military equipment for Germany to launch the war. It is no exaggeration to say that the Ruhr Industrial Area was Germany's military supply base throughout World War II and was also the material basis for Germany to launch the world war.

The Germans naturally knew that these reservoirs and dams were the "soft underbelly" of the industrial area and deployed heavy troops around the dams. Under the powerful anti-aircraft firepower, it was difficult for Allied aircraft to fly at low altitudes. However, the accuracy of dropping bombs at high altitudes is very limited. How to bomb dams has become a problem for the Allies.

British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis genius came up with an ultra-low-altitude bombing method. The bomber flew below 30 meters to avoid radar detection, and then flew at 100Km/h at an altitude of 18 meters and about 700m away from the dam. According to his calculations, the bomb will float on the water, bounce 6 or 7 times to reach the dam, and finally hit the dam with a terminal speed of less than 5m/s, and then fall into the water, reaching a certain After the depth is reached, the detonation is carried out through a hydrostatic pressure fuse. The underwater explosion can cause various damage forms such as cratering, air pocket punching, collapse, stretching, bending and shock wave damage, and can effectively destroy the dam.

For this purpose, he also designed a special aerial bomb. This bomb is shaped like a barrel. When this aerial bomb is dropped from a low altitude, it can rotate at a speed of 500 rpm while jumping on the water surface to avoid mine protection nets.

The Allies used this kind of bombs and tactics. After many serial bombings, two dams in the Ruhr Industrial Zone were destroyed. 400 million tons of floodwater poured out, not only ravaging the surrounding arsenals and industrial parks, but also causing disaster to the people downstream. It is reported that at least 30,000 people died in the floods caused by the bombing.

It was this kind of ricochet that was mounted on German attack planes that were attacking dams everywhere. Because there was no anti-aircraft firepower nearby, A-1 attack aircraft flew at ultra-low altitudes close to the river, throwing ricochet bombs under the belly of the aircraft into the river. Then these ricochet bombs jumped on the water and rushed to the dam in the distance.