With the progress of the times and the development of technology, humans have made different breakthroughs in various fields. In addition to the development of weapons, humans have also made impressive achievements in infrastructure, especially in some large dam projects. When it comes to dam projects, you should be familiar with them. After all, my country's famous Three Gorges Dam also belongs to this ranks. These water conservancy dam projects have high value for the present and the future. First of all, they play a great role in flood control and disaster relief. Secondly, they can create a large amount of economic income for the country, and power generation is also one of its functions. From this perspective, the dam can be said to have benefited the country and the people, and in terms of design, it has the advantages of being solid and practical, but if war breaks out, the dam may also become a breakthrough for the enemy to destroy us. Just imagine, if the enemy forcibly blow up the dam, the consequences will be simply unimaginable.
During World War II, Germany, whose industrial strength was already good, seemed to have transformed into a war machine, swept across countries in the early stages of the war, causing a tragic blow to other armies. People who have traveled to Germany should have heard of a name, Ruhr Dam. This is one of the most important buildings in Germany, and it is the pride and spiritual symbol of all Germans. Since its completion, the dam has benefited millions of Germans. At that time, Germany's national electricity also relied on hydropower to generate . The main source was the Ruhr Dam. Its importance to Germany can be imagined. The Ruhr Dam controls the lifeline of Germany's economic development.
For a long time, the Ruhr Dam has supported the operation of German industrial zones and continuously provided energy, which has a very important strategic position for Germany's economic development and industrial construction. Although it is called the Ruhr Dam, there is actually not only one. Several dams on the Ruhr River are very important power supply cores for the Ruhr area industry. Once these dams are blown up, there is no doubt that a large number of factories in the German industrial zone will face paralysis and even be devastating. So naturally, such an important dam became the common target of the Allied forces. Under the instigation and encouragement of the US military, the British Air Force sent troops to bomb the Ruhr Dam indiscriminately. The scene was once very tense. When five special, ultra-high-strength bombs hit the dam, the dam collapsed, and 400 million tons of floods instantly poured out. People close to the dam were swallowed up. The number of casualties in Germany was nearly 30,000 due to the explosion of the dam.
dam is a solid dam built with a mixture of various sediment. If bombing from the top is difficult to cause major damage, and it will not have any substantial impact on the dam. Therefore, how to better bomb the dam has become an unsolvable problem. The British Air Force first established a committee dedicated to bombing the Ruhr Dam. It was mainly led by Barnes Wallis engineers and was a very cutting-edge team. However, after Wallis's continuous efforts, the "Bomb Giant Baby" was generated. It can load an ammunition of 4 tons and explode below the water surface, with a bombing depth of 30 feet, effectively destroying its stone structure.
In order not to allow the anti-torpedo net to affect the bombing effect, Wallis developed a special bomb based on the principle of "flew water" that can bounce forward on the water surface. In 1943, 10 bombers arrived over the dam, and five bombs hit the dam directly. The water in the reservoir splashed everywhere like a fountain, causing the downstream to be completely buried.
When people praise the success of the British bombing, they will also be surprised by the cold-blooded and ruthlessness of Britain. This bombing operation can be said to be a completely inhumane practice. During this bombing, both German dams were completely destroyed, and many dams were damaged to varying degrees. Countless civilians died in this bombing, and more than half of them were even Soviet workers captured by the German army. We must say that this move by Britain was not a good choice, it killed many ordinary people in the war.
After World War II, the Geneva Convention made new provisions in the 1997 amendment. Facilities that have a significant impact on civilians cannot attack them, otherwise it will cause many innocent people to be harmed. But this is just a convention between countries and is not actually binding. When the war breaks out again, where will anyone consider these requirements? Take the bombing garden mouth of Chiang Kai-shek for example, it is no different from the Western powers' practices.
