THE FIRE BLITZ IBD

Sinopse

February 1945.áWorld War Two is entering its sixth year. In Europe, Germany is on its knees, its shattered cities in ruins, battered by clouds of bombers attacking day and night. In the Pacific, the war has been raging for just over three years-the island battles producing rivers of blood-but only a handful of bombs have fallen on Japan.áThe Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the most sophisticated airplane in the world, was the only airplane that could persuade Japan that resistance is futile. But in the six months since theáSuperfortressâÇÖs combat debut, Japan remains undaunted and unharmed by the bombers.áWhy? Logistics, weather and urban layout.áThe logistics are a matter of distance. The distance between the Pacific airfields and Japan is four times greater than that between English airbases and Germany.áThe weather over Japan, unlike the relatively calm European skies, has an almost constant cloud cover ... plus the jetstream, a howling zephyr that blows bombs off course from the B-29âÇÖs bombing altitude.áJapan itself, unlike Germany, has much of its weapons production scattered throughout the civilian urban landscape, concentrating on JapanâÇÖs large factories isnâÇÖt nearly enough to stop production.áHap Arnold, the Army Air ForceâÇÖs boss, has staked everything, including his reputation, on proving that a land invasion of Japan can be avoided using the Superforts, a weapons program more costly than the atomic bombs. But they and their unimaginative martinet of a commander arenâÇÖt getting it done.áSo Arnold brings in Curtis LeMay, a general known as a real operator. Sharing ArnoldâÇÖs belief that a slogging land war can be avoided, LeMay looks at the problems andádevises a solution with tacticsáthat throw away all the books, even some he helped write. To win, the B-29s would conduct aáFire Blitz, andáburn down Japan.9 March 1945Mere seconds after the sirens started, searchlights lanced the dark night with their probing, piercing fingers of light, and the antiaircraft guns began firing...And the Fire Blitz began...