Japan was unchanging. But the world was changed beyond recognition.
It was around 23:40 on March 9, Reiwa Year X. A massive communications failure struck Japan, cutting off all communication with the rest of the world. While everyone was plunged int...
Three C-2s were being refueled in mid-air in the frozen Arctic skies. The aircraft pouring fuel with flying booms were KC-46As of the United States Air Force in Japan. The United Nations military was going by any name, and the Air Self-Defense Force's aerial refueling unit, the 404th Tactical Airlift Tanker Squadron, was overworked.
"Good luck!"
"Thanks."
After refueling, the C-2 formation parted ways with the KC-46A and continued southwest. Since the bombing began at dawn on August 9, the Soviet Union had been without telephone or radio communication east of Irkutsk, and this attack would further increase their level of confusion.
And in order to achieve precision bombing, the first plane was fitted with a sniper sighting device. It was stored in the cargo hold along with a set of related equipment, and when the ramp door was opened for use, the sniper sighting device would protrude from the cargo hold like a tail. This was done because there was not enough time to modify the equipment, but the effort required was minimal, and there were no practical problems. On the other hand, the second and third planes are, if you will, flying weapon bays. The sniper sighting device on the first plane would guide the weapons dropped by the second and third planes.
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"Will the Soviets fold on this one?" First Lieutenant Takeo Kozutsumi, the co-pilot of the first plane, asked. "The Soviet Union has lost contact with East Siberia, and the capital city is now being boooom! And then..."
"I don't think Muscovite kids of this era would be surprised by a little air raid," the pilot, Colonel Takuya Mizuse, denied him. "After all, they are in the middle of a war against Germany. They should be entering Berlin by now."
"Is that how it's going to be?"
"Is that what it's like?"
"I think they might break," a guest on the plane suddenly interrupted.
It was First Lieutenant Tsuyoshi Kihara, from wherever he came from, sitting in the seat where the aircrew would normally be. He was working temporarily to operate the sniper sighting device that had been forcibly installed.
"The Soviet Union at this time of year is almost depleted of human resources."
"Oh, human resources, huh?"
"Yes. According to historical accounts, only about eight percent of Soviet men born in 1920 survived to the end of the war."
"Eight percent? That's worse than the consumption tax," Mizuse raised his eyebrows and sighed a little.
For comparison, if there were 20 boys in a school class, only one or two would have survived. It's hard to imagine how this war could be so devastating. The most exterminating war would have just been declared by the United States of this era.
