For a bomber five is a lot. Especially considering that the numbers of aircraft involved in Korea (and every action since) are considerably lower than they were during WWII.
Underneath would have been the better option, I agree. The only possible problem I see with that is that even if the 262 can hide beneath one B-36 to avoid its guns, the flanking B-36s will still have a shot against it.
You also have to realize that by the time the B-52 was in service the USAF had realized that a bomber's primary defense was electronic rather than guns.
The original design of the B-52 only ever had those guns in the tail. The late G and H B-52s have become amazing at electronic defence. The B-52s that carry cruise, and stand off missiles actually have decoys in their bomb bay. These decoys have the exact same RADAR signature as the B-52 itself.
The B-1 has a quarter the RADAR signature than the B-52.
It's smaller than that. Try 1/100th the signature of a B-52, with the B-2 RCS being even smaller than that! On radar, a B-1B has a smaller return than even a F-16.
even if the ECMs on the B-52 do save you from a missile, the fighter pilot can still come in at short range where ECMs aren't that effective or use his cannon.................
Propaganda figures of 1/100th. It's 1/20th. Anyway, the ECM on the B-52 isn't that good. The main defence of the B-52 is its decoys which will make out that there is more than one B-52 confusing RADAR guided missiles, and the enemy planes RADAR.
If the enemy plane decided to come to take it down with cannon the B-52G and H both are equipped with 20 SRAM air to air missiles.
My bad, it can carry 20 Boeing AGM-69A SRAM (Yes, air to surface thermonuclear) but in air to air defence it can carry 12 air to air missiles on under-wing pylons, I imagine they will be ASRAAM or AIM-9 missiles, but I don't actually know.
The T-171 20-mm gun in the rear was going to be removed but was kept, even in the H series B-52.
The USAF dropped out of the ASRAAM program so it's not those (they are going with a suped-up AIM-9, the AIM-9X). I still have never seen anything about the B-52 carrying air-to-air missiles. I imagine targeting them would cause some trouble.