American Strategic Deception Bureau

　Next, Ricardo, the squad leader, was stunned to receive the operational instructions for the invasion of Cuba from the stern-faced platoon leader: "With the assistance of our American allies, the decisive battle to restore Cuba's freedom has begun!

　The 2506th Brigade will immediately cross the sea and attack, coordinating with the rebels on Mount Escambray. It is scheduled to land in Trinidad Harbor in the early morning of January 5, 1962, firing the first shot in the liberation of our country! May the goddess of victory be with us!

　In fact, when thousands of navy and army soldiers of the 2506th Brigade were still sailing at full speed in the Caribbean Sea towards their destination, their air force counterparts had already taken off from various airports in the Dominican Republic and launched a full-scale bombing of Cuban military airports and radar stations.

　——During the peak of the Cold War, which was closest to the radioactive wasteland, the Cuban storm that shocked the world began from this moment on!

　Author's Note: PS: I just saw it with my own eyes today. Siamese cats do change color in winter. They turn white when it's hot and black when it's cold, just like a cat thermometer.

　Chapter 100: Tropical Thunder

　In the early morning of January 4, 1962, a military operation codenamed "Tropic Thunder" was ready to be launched in the Caribbean Sea.

　Although it was still dark, the military airports in the Dominican Republic were brightly lit and bustling with people.

　One after another, B-26 "Invader" bombers, "Vampire" fighter-bombers, as well as the B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and P-51 Mustang fighters, which were now considered antiques, were towed out of the hangar and onto the runway at the sound of the whistles of the ground crew.

　The Spanish-speaking pilots sat in the lounge, either looking at the map and whispering to each other, or rubbing their hands excitedly, looking forward to the next "Operation Tropic Thunder" to invade Cuba - if nothing unexpected happened, this would be the largest strategic air raid in the history of the entire New World!

　Being able to participate in such a grand air battle is definitely an event that you can brag about in the tavern for decades, or even go down in history!

　Of the participating troops, only twelve B-26 Invader bombers actually belonged to the Cuban mercenaries of the 2506th Brigade. However, relying on the authority of the US occupation forces and the CIA's ability to manipulate the greenbacks, a considerable number of Dominican Air Force pilots also "volunteered" to join the war with their aircraft.

　Together with the escort aircraft provided by US aircraft carriers, the number of combat aircraft participating in "Operation Tropic Thunder" reached an astonishing 150!

　It can be said to be a genuine "hundred-plane bombing"!

　It has to be said that although the Dominican Republic is a small country, it still has a lot of capital in its hands.

　Under Marshal Trujillo's rule, the Dominican Air Force, at its peak, boasted 240 combat aircraft and over 3500 personnel, making it the most powerful force in Central America and the Caribbean. Even compared to some smaller European nations, it far surpassed them, demonstrating a strong military character.

　Trujillo, the "benefactor of the motherland", often boasted in front of the media, claiming that his powerful air force could bomb Havana, Port-au-Prince and even Caracas within 3 hours, in order to warn neighboring countries not to act rashly - I will kill you within three hours and even bomb the capital to the ground!

　Unfortunately, in the face of punishment from the United States, the "powerful" Dominican Air Force turned against the United States and raised the white flag without firing a single shot.

　Thus, of the many aircraft left behind by Marshal Trujillo, some were taken over by the 2506th Brigade, while others were nominally under the new Dominican government. However, when Operation Tropic Thunder, the invasion of Cuba, began, they were still unceremoniously deployed by the CIA.

　Then they spray-painted the fuselage with the Cuban coat of arms and flag, effectively joining the ranks of the "Free Cuba" rebels.

　When Latin American countries want to stir up trouble, they tend to be more straightforward and crude, as they don't care much about international repercussions. They're less secretive than the US.

　More than a decade ago, the Cuban government supported Dominican exiles and formed the "Caribbean Naval Corps" to launch an armed invasion of the Dominican Republic to fight against Marshal Trujillo. They sent a fleet of aircraft directly from the capital Havana, cooperating with the guerrillas who had sneaked across the sea to launch an attack on the Dominican Republic.

　(It was the late 1940s, before Batista's coup, Castro was still in school, and a left-wing government was in power in Cuba.)

　To this day, the Dominican Republic, with the help of the United States, is supporting the Cuban rebels in their counterattack against their homeland, and is doing it directly and openly!

　Next, after World War II, military strategists from all countries had long reached a consensus that the first step in launching a modern amphibious landing operation is to attack enemy airports, air defense missile positions and radar stations to seize air superiority - if the attacking side does not seize air superiority on the battlefield, it will not be able to fight a landing operation at all!

　In other words, when the defenders have air superiority, if the attackers still want to carry out amphibious landings under air strikes, it is basically equivalent to giving away their lives!

　But according to the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft

　After receiving assistance from the Soviet Union, the originally weak Cuban Air Force has been greatly strengthened.

　To this end, CIA Director Dulles, Deputy Director Bissell, and Team Leader Estelline of the Cuban Special Task Force practically begged for help from everyone, waved money around, and begged for money from the Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps before they put together a spectacular air force.

　Now is the time to test how effective this cobbled-together air force can be after being tempered by the flames of war!

　At 4:30 in the morning, although the sky was still dark, the control tower still flashed the "clear for takeoff" light signal. The ground crew waved the flag vigorously, and a large group of combat aircraft took off one after another, soaring westward with their backs to the morning light, bringing death and destruction to the land beyond!

　(This should be accompanied by the background music of "March of the Big Bad Guys" and "Imperial March"!)

　-

　As their opponent, the Cuban Air Force was a small branch of the military before the victory of the revolution in 1959, and its equipment was basically old and surplus weapons provided by the United States under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP).

　等到卡斯特罗在1960年入主哈瓦那之后，他从旧政府接了9架B-26入侵者轰炸机、12架海怒FB.1和2架F-47D雷电战斗机、4架T-33A教练机以及1架OS2U-3翠鸟、1架C-45、1架C-46和3架C-47运输机。再加上从美国买来的两架P-51野马战斗机，这就是古巴革命空军（FAR）在初始阶段的全部家底了。

　What's worse is that most of these aircraft are in extremely poor maintenance condition, only a few are capable of flying, and a large number of pilots have defected or gone into exile.

　Castro could only try to recruit civilian airline pilots and ground crew technicians to fill the air force that was in tatters due to the change of regime.

　Despite this, in the spring of 1961, the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force was still very weak, with only ten pilots and fewer available aircraft. In theory, it had six B-26 Invader bombers capable of flying, but in reality, only three were actually operational.

　However, starting in the summer of 1961, the Cuban Air Force's pilot shortage began to ease as new batches of pilots sent by Castro to train in Warsaw Pact countries returned home. Next, 24 MiG-15 fighters ordered by Castro from the Soviet Union arrived in Cuba in May 1961. Assembly and testing began in June, and a MiG-15 combat squadron was finally established in November.

　Next, in order to deploy medium-range missiles and nuclear warheads in Cuba, the Soviet Union sent a MiG-21 fighter regiment directly to Cuba.

　The problem was that, due to the tight schedule, by early January 1962, although the Soviet pilots of the regiment had already arrived in Havana, their MiG-21 fighters were still adrift on merchant ships in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Russian pilots could only spend their days drinking, shopping, and sunbathing, with nothing to do.

　——The Atlantic Ocean is too wide, and the MiG-21 fighter jets cannot be transferred directly from Eastern Europe. They can only be disassembled into parts and shipped to Cuba.

　What's even more tragic is that, judging by the way things are going to develop, their MiG-21 fighter jets may never reach Cuba again!

　Therefore, when Operation Tropic Thunder began, the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force had only more than 30 aircraft in total, and the air defense radar network to defend the country had not yet been fully built. The air defense warning in many places was even only at the level of World War I, and it all depended on outposts and lookouts.

　However, as Cuba was a long, narrow island, enemy aircraft often attacked from the sea, making them less visible to the air defense personnel. By the time they were spotted through telescopes, they were usually already on their way to an airstrike or airdrop, and were about to cross Cuban territory and return to the high seas.

　It is conceivable that the current national air defense capabilities of the Cuban revolutionary regime can only barely ensure that a few key cities are not attacked.

　——This is also why CIA transport planes are always able to break into the airspace over Cuba and airdrop aid supplies to the rebels in Mount Escambray.

　Even after Soviet reinforcements and construction workers arrived in Cuba, this dilemma of "open airspace" did not change immediately.

　After all, the construction and debugging of radar stations take time, and Cuba is facing the United States, the world's most technologically advanced and military-powerful country.

　With the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, capable of soaring at 10,000 meters, the CIA and the Air Force could conduct covert reconnaissance operations against almost any country with remarkable precision. This was because, in the eyes of most countries at the time, the U-2's flight altitude and speed were as hopeless as those of an alien spacecraft. Any weapon they possessed would be unable to reach it, or even if they could, they would be unable to catch up with it at such a high altitude.

　Even the Soviet Union, America's number one enemy, had to go to great lengths and even sent spies to infiltrate US military airports to tamper with the U-2 reconnaissance plane that was about to invade the Soviet Union. They only managed to shoot down a U-2 by cheating.

　As for other countries with more backward technology, they are completely transparent from head to toe in front of the U.S. military's U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.

　Therefore, even if all the radar stations built with Soviet assistance were completed, Cuba would have no way to prevent the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft from invading its airspace.

　As for the construction of these radar stations,

　It has been so long now that the Cuban authorities did not even notice the large aircraft attacking from the Dominican Republic - just like the US military radar station that deserted during the Pearl Harbor attack, the radar in Cuba is not kept on 24 hours a day.

　Although Castro had already planted spies in the Dominican Republic, the CIA had been spreading false intelligence to confuse the Cuban spies. Therefore, until the moment before the attack, the Cuban spies in the Dominican Republic believed that the planes were being transferred to other airports for exercises.

　After the bombers took off, the ground crew and defense forces immediately blocked the airport and prohibited anyone from leaving for 48 hours. As a result, even if the lurking Cuban spies discovered the truth, they had no way to pass on the information for a while and could only stay in the airport and worry.

　Even though they had deployed an air force far exceeding that of the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force, the CIA, in order to ensure victory, "disregarded military ethics" and imitated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, launching an undeclared war and a surprise attack on the Cuban revolutionary regime in the early morning!

　At around 7:00 a.m. on January 4, 1962, a group of "Free Cuba" rebel combat aircraft took off from the Dominican Republic and divided into seven groups. They simultaneously launched a carpet bombing of three military airports near the Cuban capital Havana, Trinica, the scheduled landing site of the main force of the 2506th Brigade, Santiago, a major city in eastern Cuba, Santa Clara, a city in central Cuba, and the Cienfuegos Naval Base where most of the ships were stationed!

　The goal was to destroy the vast majority of the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force's aircraft and clear the air obstacles for the subsequent amphibious landing of the 2506th Brigade's ground forces.

　To conceal their presence, the planes were painted with Cuban Air Force markings. Each bomber was armed with bombs, rockets, and machine guns.

　While the ground crews at various Cuban airports were still figuring out what was going on, teams of 6-10 B-26 Invader bombers calmly turned and formed up over the airports... It was not until flames and long trails of smoke emerged from under their wings that the people on the ground woke up from their dreams.

　——This is an airborne rocket being launched at the ground!

　The ones flying in the sky are enemy planes!

　Most of the ground crew and tower soldiers only had time to let out a hysterical scream before disappearing in the smoke of the rocket explosion.

　Next, more old-fashioned bombs fell like a hen laying eggs, exploding into balls of fire on the ground.

　Soon, accompanied by continuous explosions, flames and smoke rising from the ground, the three air force bases near Havana, the capital of Cuba, were all severely damaged. Many brand-new MiG-15 fighter jets were destroyed on the ground. The pilots were killed in the hangar or on the runway before they could jump into the fighter planes. Oil tanks and ammunition depots were ignited and exploded, creating bright balls of flames.

　In addition, Antonio Maceo International Airport in Santiago, a major city in eastern Cuba, was also bombed to the ground.

　Some of the most rampant rebel pilots continued to straf the ground with machine guns even after dropping their bombs. With burning chains of deadly fire, they tore the panicked ground crew into pieces and blew up the remaining vehicles and airport equipment one by one!

　It's really unbridled and arrogant!

　Some of the lagging Invaders and Vampire fighter-bombers, after slowly arriving at Havana's three military airfields, found themselves surrounded by billowing smoke and flames, seemingly with nothing left to bomb. They then infiltrated the city, dropping bombs on seemingly valuable targets like the port, the train station, and bridges. They even swooped down and strafed pedestrians and cars on the ground with machine guns, causing widespread panic.

　After the first wave of air strikes ended and the Cuban military airports, which were the primary targets, were destroyed, the second wave of bombers began to attack other targets.

　However, the Cuban revolutionary regime, which had been severely bombed, immediately woke up from its dream and began to act in a hurry, dispatching personnel to put out the fire, rescue the remaining aircraft, and mobilize engineers to quickly repair the runway so that the remaining fighter planes could take off and fight.

　At the same time, the Soviet reinforcements turned on all existing radars and pushed the only air defense missiles out of the bunkers, preparing to counterattack the enemy aircraft.

　——When the two B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, which took off the latest and flew at the slower speed, arrived over the Cienfuegos Naval Base with their four propellers whirring, escorted by six P-51 Mustang fighters, it was already dawn and the ground defenders had received the alarm.

　As a result, when the formation was about to drop bombs on the military port, it was immediately attacked by anti-aircraft artillery and ships in the port. The scorching firepower of 23mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns was overwhelming, filling the sky with smoke and flames.

　The B-17s first launched a round of horizontal bombing at an altitude of 6000 meters. However, the strong winds in the naval port caused all the bombs to miss their targets. Most of the bombs fell into the sea, stirring up a column of water more than 30 meters high. A few bombs exploded on the beach, which looked terrifying but was actually useless.

　So, the two B-17 bombers circled, quickly lowered their noses, and began to reduce their altitude, preparing to use their sturdy body and strong defense to withstand the ground anti-aircraft artillery fire and carry out a low-altitude bombing of the Cuban ships anchored at the Cienfuegos Naval Base. The P-51 Mustang fighters responsible for covering also dived down and fiercely strafed the anti-aircraft artillery bunkers outside the naval base, hoping to open an attack line for the B-17 bombers.

　route.

　In a flash, there was a rumble on the ground, a flash of fire, and then a missile was launched into the sky, piercing the blue sky.

　Immediately afterwards, another missile was launched from another hiding place, spewing out dazzling tongues of fire, launching a vengeful counterattack against the bombing formation in the air!

　When the B-17 bomber crew saw two streaks of fire below, trailing long white smoke trails, heading straight for them, they initially thought they were anti-aircraft rockets. Japanese warships had used anti-aircraft rockets against aircraft during the Pacific War, and the Germans in Europe also had a type of anti-aircraft rocket called the "Anti-Air Fist." These rockets were spectacular when launched and inexpensive, but their accuracy was extremely poor, making them useful only for intimidation.

　Therefore, the pilots of the two bombers simply changed their attack routes slightly to avoid the attack of the two "rockets".

　But they soon discovered to their horror that the two "rockets" were much faster than expected and had tracking capabilities! When the B-17 bomber turned, the two "rockets" also turned, drawing two white arcs in the air and continuing to pounce on them!

　"Oh! No! It's a missile! A Soviet anti-aircraft missile!"

　Along with the mournful wails on the radio, a white light flashed in the sky, and a missile directly blew up the nose of the command aircraft. The flying shrapnel instantly killed almost all the crew members. The bomber itself continued to fly for a while like a headless knight, and finally dived towards the sea, overturning a patrol boat.

　The second missile hit the right wing root of another B-17 bomber, blowing a large hole in the right wing of the B-17. It quickly began to disintegrate in the air, the wing fell off, and the fuselage disintegrated. Then it circled and fell into the sea, raising a huge column of water.

　Although the B-17 was touted in the arms market as an impenetrable aerial fortress that had withstood the Ruhr air raid and the baptism of German anti-aircraft artillery, in reality, the B-17s that carried out the Ruhr air raid relied on double-decker box formations, covering bombing, and only dropped bombs at altitudes above 6000 meters. The barrage created by the shrapnel of the German large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery had already exhausted its kinetic energy at this altitude and was indeed unable to do anything to the tough B-17.

　As for the interception by German fighter planes such as Bf-109 and Fw-190, there were P-51 Mustangs to deal with them, so the casualty rate in the bombing was not high.

　But the problem is that it has been almost twenty years since the bombing of the Ruhr area, and the Soviets on the ground have taken out the SAM-3 air defense missiles, whose power is far beyond that of the anti-aircraft shells of twenty years ago.

　And the old B-17 bomber would not have such advanced things as jamming chaff or decoy bombs.

　Therefore, after being hit by a SAM-3 air defense missile, even a fighter as strong as the B-17 Flying Fortress would have no choice but to die.

　The rebel pilots on the remaining six P-51 Mustang fighters who witnessed this scene were terrified because it was their first encounter with such advanced anti-aircraft missiles. They shouted incoherently on the radio: "Soviet missiles on the ground! Climb, climb..."

　But this was a wrong decision, because the plane was slowest and easiest to hit when it was changing from a dive to a climb.

　Soon, a P-51 was hit by anti-aircraft guns on its fuel tank and turned into a huge fireball with a "boom".

　Another P-51 also had its engine damaged and fell to the ground, trailing a long trail of black smoke.

　The four remaining rebel P-51s finally climbed to high altitude, temporarily escaping the ground-based anti-aircraft fire from Cienfuegos Naval Base. But before the four rebel pilots could breathe a sigh of relief, they saw three Sea Furies rapidly approaching, unleashing deadly streams of fire at them!

　These three Cuban Revolutionary Air Force planes had just taken off from a small field airfield attached to the Cienfuegos Naval Base to fight!

　- In recent days, in order to free up hangars and runways for the newly arrived MiG-15 fighter jets, some old aircraft owned by the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force have been moved out of their original air bases and temporarily dispersed to various unimportant small airports.

　As a result, when the new MiG-15 fighters were burning in flames, a considerable number of old planes escaped the first wave of enemy air strikes and, after receiving the alarm, began to refuel and load bombs, and took off urgently to counterattack the invading enemy.

　Thus, four Mustangs and three Sea Furies engaged in a spectacular dogfight at the Cienfuegos Naval Base, ultimately resulting in one Mustang shot down and one damaged. But this was Cuba's home turf, and the pilots of the Revolutionary Air Force could return to their squadrons after parachuting or making forced landings, while the rebel pilots were captured after landing.

　At the same time, over the Cuban capital of Havana, the second wave of rebel bombers was also attacked by a joint ground-to-air attack...

　Havana

　This Caribbean city, famous for its cigars, has now become the stage for the largest air war in Central America's history.

　The airport on the outskirts of the city and the port terminal near the city center were bombed with black smoke billowing. Fortunately, the city center with the highest population density was still intact for the time being.

　Due to the financial constraints of the Cuban revolutionary regime, it had neither the money nor the time to build a large number of air-raid shelters in Havana to accommodate all the citizens.

　Therefore, amid the shrill sound of air raid sirens, except for a very small number of people who had cellars at home, the vast majority of citizens had nowhere to take refuge. They could only tremble behind the windows, carefully open the curtains, and look up at the battle breaking out in the sky.

　However, some courageous citizens, adhering to the typical Latin American romanticism and optimism, saw the fierce air battle unfolding overhead. Instead of seeking shelter, they changed into their most respectable clothes and climbed to the rooftop observation deck, offering a wide view. They watched with fascination as the fighter planes circled and engaged in dogfights, even cheering for the action.

　Some military enthusiasts held up binoculars and pointed at the sky, saying that this was a P-51 Mustang fighter, that was a MiG-15 fighter, and that the one bombing the port in the distance was a B-26 bomber... Other gamblers simply set up bets in private to see which side would win the final air battle.

　Even those girls who were least interested in the war would shyly and curiously peek out from the windows or eaves, and cast their eyes and hearts on the pilots fighting bravely in the sky, feeling their hearts beat fast at the sight of their heroic figures.

　It was as if the ladies and young ladies of ancient times were watching a grand knightly tournament, cheering excitedly for the exciting fights and battles.

　It has to be said that if there's any military unit in 20th-century modern warfare that most resembles the knights of ancient Europe, it's undoubtedly the pilots who soar through the skies at the controls of their warplanes. They enjoy a high status, generous pay, fine food and clothing, and are handsome, making them particularly attractive to women.

　Well, generally speaking, people who can become pilots don’t come from poor families.

　Moreover, unlike the dusty army soldiers crawling through trenches and barbed wire, or the civilian officers who stayed behind, far from the smoke of battle, the handsome pilots always appeared openly in the clear skies. Then, in full view of the public, they flew their planes through the clouds and fog, charging recklessly in the center of the most dangerous battlefields, like noble knights on a medieval battlefield, performing a gorgeous and cruel dance of death for the world to see.

　In the past two world wars, those battle-hardened ace pilots were wartime idol superstars.

　No matter which country they come from, no matter what beliefs they fight for, there will always be hundreds of love letters flying onto their desks like snowflakes, and behind them are countless female perverts who will throw themselves into their arms and just ask for a one-night stand.

　——Especially in the open-minded United States, the love letters those ace pilots receive every year would have to be packed in sacks!

　It can't be helped. Just as the love story of "talented scholar and beautiful lady" was popular in ancient China, the romantic legend of "knight and princess" is also popular in the West. In Europe and the United States, most adolescent girls yearn for a passionate love affair, hoping to be captured by a handsome, powerful knight with an unparalleled romantic offensive.

　Of course, the ancient cavalry eventually declined, so by the time of the two world wars, the ideal lover of European and American girls had become a soaring, free, unrestrained, and yet full of martial virtues, pilot.

　So, when the pilots of the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force were fighting for their lives with the rebel pilots and Dominican pilots, there were at least hundreds of pairs of longing and admiring eyes on the ground, watching them with passionate gazes, and secretly planning how to seduce one of them.