The date is 1944, and the war in Europe has finally begun to turn against Nazi Germany.
Over in the Pacific, the United States has also finally turned the tide against the Japanese onslaught across the South Pacific region, and a bloody island hopping campaign has driven the Japanese closer and closer to home.
The empire of the rising sun however still has a stranglehold on China, and as long as they do they'll be able to continue feeding the homelands with vital war supplies.
The US Army has been largely responsible for aiding the Chinese war against the Japanese, though American ground forces are few on the ground.
Instead millions of tons of supplies stream steadily into China, courtesy of the United States, as the Chinese people fight to reclaim their conquered homeland.
The US Army's Air Corps however can make a much more significant contribution to the war effort here in China, thanks to several airfields hastily constructed by the Chinese people.
Strung along these rough dirt airfields are right now several columns of shiny new aircraft, all emblazoned with the logo of the US Army Air Corps.
These aircraft represent the state of the art for modern bomber design, and are the culmination of a top secret bomber program began by the United States even before the war began.
At almost twice the cost of the Manhattan Project which would eventually produce the atomic bomb, it is also the most expensive weapons program of all World War II.
Four engines roar to life on each aircraft.
