Three Hundred and Forty Post-War Conference
British fighter jets are still persistently chasing down the German bomber fleet, but their fuel seems to be running low as time goes by. Moreover, their tough offensive against the densely fired German strategic bombers cost them a heavy price. Only 14 of the 20 Hurricane fighters are left, and a few are flying with injuries.
The German strategic bombers did not have a good time. Two planes were hit by machine guns, and the wings and belly were full of bullet holes. However, due to the sturdy design and structure, these planes did not suffer any major damage, but the reported losses were Three machine gunners were hit and two were killed.
Colonel Niels is also very worried, if today these British fighter jets are not 20, but 40 or more, if they are not equipped with 7.7mm machine guns, but 20mm machine guns or even 30mm caliber machine guns, so what will happen to their bomber force today?
The British are not stupid, they will sum up their own experience and lessons. Today, the situation that the bomber fleet cannot be troubled because the caliber of the weapon is too small will definitely be submitted to the technical department on the second day, maybe a week or two later, British fighters were enough to pose a very deadly threat to German bombers.
Just thinking about these questions, suddenly the British fighters started to break away from the battle and retreated backwards. Then cheers came from the earphones, because in the distant sky, a dense group of German fighter jets appeared in the clouds.
Because Lütjens reported that there was no rendezvous bomber fleet, the air force spent a lot of money this time. Under Dick's order, the Dutch air defense force on the coast took off 53 FW-190D fighter jets and arrived at the rendezvous on time. Place.
"Revenge Formation! Revenge Formation! We are here to welcome you home!" Soon, dozens of fighter jets flew to the left and right of the bomber formation, and began to accompany the flight. There is still boundless cold sea water below, but all pilots know that they are completely safe now.
"Colonel Niels is calling the ground base! Colonel Niels is calling the ground base! Some of us are injured, please prepare ambulance measures at the airport." When he saw the coastline of the Netherlands, Colonel Niels finally let go of his hanging heart, deeply He took a deep breath and started to deal with the aftermath.
He picked up the splint next to it for recording, took out a pen and recorded some problems on it: the fighter jets escorted by the navy did not arrive in time, the emergence of new British fighter jets, the accident that the female gunner suddenly stopped shooting.
"Colonel, let me suggest that some shooting personnel should be given some armor protection so that they can shoot better." The navigator on the co-pilot suggested loudly.
"That's a good idea!" Colonel Niels nodded, and then wrote down a sentence on the paper with a pen: It is recommended to add some armor plates to the shooting position.
Soon, the first Butcher bomber landed on the runway amidst cheers, and the ground crew rushed forward to help the pilots get off the plane.
There are bullet holes pierced on the fuselage of many aircraft, but they do not affect the normal use of the aircraft.
Bomber No. 35 was the most severely damaged, the entire belly turret was destroyed, and the aircraft had at least twice as many bullet holes as other aircraft. The body of a machine gunner was lifted off the plane by the ground crew, and the wounded shooter was taken aside by the paramedics and began to be rescued and bandaged.
Because the bottom of the butcher's belly turret is only 30 centimeters from the ground, when the female machine gunner's body was unloaded from the plane, her two legs were only left above the ankle due to the friction with the runway during landing. .
When her body was taken out of the plane, everyone felt an indescribably uncomfortable feeling. The girl named Belina had long-dried blood on her chest and back, and her entire face turned blue due to the cold. , his feet were left on the other side of the runway due to the impact of the plane landing, looking horrible.
"She gave her life for the yuan and for Germany! We should pay tribute to her." Colonel Niels watched her body being put into a woven bag, and said in a very uncomfortable tone: "Starting today, it will be even more tragic. The battle will be waiting for us, and we must always be ready to sacrifice ourselves like Miss Bellina."
Everyone listened to Niels' words and watched in silence their comrades-in-arms being wrapped up and put into boxes nailed with thin planks. The cemetery of the pilots sent to the side of the airport as a martyr in battle is small in size, only a few hapless ones alone.
This was another victory for the Luftwaffe. They bombed London, the British capital, and brought great panic to the top British officials. But they themselves only killed two soldiers, and others were injured-all 44 bombers returned, and only one was seriously damaged and needed to be replaced and repaired.
In addition, when they returned, another 4 bombers flew here, and the butcher bomber force already had 48 of these super bombing weapons. With the unremitting efforts of the rear factories, if the raw materials are sufficient, Germany can produce 6 such butcher bombers per day at this stage. Of course, compared with 20 fw-190d fighter jets or 30 Leopard tanks per day, this output is not particularly huge.
"Is there any problem that needs to be improved?" Back in the office of the command tower, Dick and several combat staff officers began to summarize the bombing operation this time.
"The first is the safety of the bombers. The range of our escort fighters is really insufficient. Using the navy's fighter escorts is prone to various coordination problems. This is something that must be resolved." Niels looked at his records and replied. .
After each operation, each unit participating in the war had to hold a summary meeting, which was executed by Yuan himself. What is said must be recorded for investigation, and must be summed up to really useful things, such as the use of weapons and equipment, tactical problems and so on.
"The development plan of the long-range escort fighter is not going well. It's no secret. Yuan is interested in a single-engine long-range fighter with a high-power engine. Some generals, including me, feel that it is more appropriate to temporarily use a double-engine large fighter. ’ Dick said with a sigh.
Akado came from a later generation, so he naturally knew what the so-called German twin-engine fighter series were. The long-range fighters produced by this waste of materials were often difficult to protect against British fighters, let alone protect those strategic bombers.
Therefore, he prefers single-engine escort fighter jets like the American p-51, which can fight against British aircraft, and with the strategic bomber's own defensive weapons, it can put Britain into the terrible situation that Germany was in the past-according to In terms of land area, Britain is more afraid of strategic bombing than Germany.
However, the consequence of insisting on developing long-range single-engine fighters is that the German long-range fighter project is progressing slowly due to engine power problems, which has led to a shortage of German long-range escort fighters at this stage.
There are many alternative projects, such as adding disposable fuel tanks to fw-190d fighter jets, or finding ways to use aircraft carriers to escort bombers. However, these alternatives have more or less problems of one kind or another, so this is also a situation that has caused headaches for the top brass of the Luftwaffe.
"My personal opinion is that if you don't take northern France and get as close to the southern part of the UK as possible, then strategic bombers should stop taking off to bomb the southern part of the UK." Nils frowned and said, "Without fighter escort , raiding British airspace would be tantamount to suicide."
"We need to re-draw the battle plan, so we can't draw conclusions now." Dick nodded, but his words rejected Niels's suggestion: "But both Yuan and the Air Force Staff believe that since the bombing of the United Kingdom has already Once started, it cannot be stopped. It must be done until Britain is completely destroyed, or surrendered."
"The second problem is that we need to add protective steel plates to the machine gun shooter and the four turrets. This time our bomber lost all the shooters, so I suggest adding some protection to these positions." Niels said his second suggestion.
Several staff officers on the side quickly recorded that this suggestion can be said to be a very important combat experience. If possible, it should be modified on subsequent bombers as soon as possible.
"There is no problem with this!" Dick continued to nod, and said in agreement: "The Air Force Staff will immediately contact the aircraft manufacturer and ask them to make certain modifications."
"Then, the last question is about the female machine gun controller." Nils looked at his record and said, "During the entire battle, we were originally in a state of suppression, but because suddenly Belin Na died in battle, causing chaos in the entire formation, and our losses all started from this moment."
"Did you get hit first?" Dick saw Niels' hesitation.
"She didn't turn off the communicator, and we could hear her breathing and vomiting for a long time after the ceasefire." Niels had no choice but to tell the truth: "So I suggest that the training of these female soldiers should be strengthened, if possible , let them see the blood as much as possible."
Dick was silent for a while, he stared at Niels, and finally sighed: "Colonel Niels, the report you brought back from the front line is very important, including the pilot record, it will leave a lasting impression on our army's long-range air formation flight." Gained valuable practical experience. As for the issue of female soldiers, this is one of Yuan’s top plans. I need to meet with Yuan to determine the direction of improvement in the future. Thank you for your opinion! If there are no other questions, the meeting will be adjourned Bar!"
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