Chapter 1204 What? A Lot of Bombers Are Coming Again?

There is no doubt that the F7F is an excellent fighter-bomber and interceptor. It has powerful firepower, strong horsepower, a solid body, and excellent climbing and diving performance. Some models also have excellent high-altitude performance. The only weakness is that it is a little clumsy and cannot engage in aerial combat with single-engine fighters.

This weakness is not a problem at all for experienced veterans. As long as they take a little risk of being killed, they can get a chance to get close to the target (bomber or surface ship). Moreover, the F7F is strong enough that ordinary aviation machine guns pose little threat to it. Even the ammunition of the 20mm cannon can be loaded with a few rounds. Unless it encounters the Me262 with a 30mm cannon or an aircraft carrying aviation rockets, otherwise It's not easy to be shot down.

However, rookie pilots who have just graduated from naval pilot school can easily fall into the F7F's only weakness. Because they are too easily "seduce" by their opponents to engage in aerial combat, and when rookies enter the battlefield, they will basically forget about the cooperation between the lead aircraft and wingman, often giving experienced enemies more opportunities to fight less. Once the huge but somewhat clumsy F7F is bitten by two or four flexible and fast Fokker fighters, it will be like a bull surrounded by wolves, and it will be difficult to escape the fate of being slaughtered.

"God, I'm hit!"

"Oh my god, there are four Fokkers chasing me!"

"What can I do? I can't get rid of them..."

"Help, who will help me?"

"Ah, it was hit, it was hit..."

The miserable screams soon reached Captain Bush's earphones. These people shouting in the sky were all Captain Bush's subordinates... But "Lucky Bush" had no intention of returning to the battlefield to save them. To Bush, most of them are dead! Once a rookie piloting an F7F is caught by a numerically superior Fokker fighter jet, he will not be able to run away, and the probability of being shot down is extremely high!

It is not easy to successfully parachute to escape on the battlefield. It requires enough composure and calmness, which is not easy for rookies. Most of them will panic the first time they are shot down and lose the best opportunity to parachute to escape. Moreover, the four 20mm cannons of the Fokker are also very powerful. As long as one penetrates the cockpit, most of the people inside will be killed.

So what Captain Bush needs to consider now is not to save people, but how to write a touching condolence letter to the families of the fallen pilots.

He is very talented in this area, and every time he can use touching writing to portray a rookie pilot who died in a useless state as a hero of the free world, making the family members of the deceased rookie burst into tears.

"Sir, it has been confirmed that two F-13 early warning aircraft of the Army's 8th Air Force have been shot down. All F-13s in the sky have lost the command of the early warning aircraft! Now they are simply unable to withstand the German Me262 and Fokker aircraft... "

"Sir, Captain Wayne of the Navy reported that the attack of the F7F fleet failed. Although it shot down a dozen Me264s, its own losses were several times higher, and it was not able to disperse the German bomber fleet.

The German bomber group has now penetrated into the sky over Newfoundland! "

Bad news of the defeat in the air battle reached the North American Northeast Aviation Command one after another. Lieutenant General Mad Harmon and General Clark both looked livid. Although they had long expected that it would be impossible to stop the German bombers with existing aviation forces, they did not expect that the battle situation would be so critical. The German fighter planes that invaded the sky over Newfoundland were almost unstoppable!

"Made, you can't do this..." Admiral Clark shook his head and said to Lieutenant General Harmon, "This is simply an egg against a rock!"

"No?" Mad Harmon didn't understand Clark's intention, "Matthew, what do you mean..."

"Let the aviation withdraw from the skies over Newfoundland." Matthew Clark frowned and said, "We should conserve our strength... Anyway, there is nothing on Newfoundland for the Me264 to bomb. If the Germans really want to bomb Newfoundland, When we land on Finland Island, we still need aviation forces to attack their ships. "

Until now, Matthew Clark still does not believe that the Germans’ main attack direction is Newfoundland.

And his view also makes sense, because the Me264 currently attacking Newfoundland is not a tactical bomber at all. This is a strategic bomber used to bomb cities, not a tactical bomber used to deal with army troops inside ground fortifications.

Although the Me264 can carry guided munitions, it is too uneconomical to use guided munitions to bomb tanks, infantry trenches or artillery positions on the ground.

Moreover, the U.S. ground forces stationed on the island of Newfoundland have quite concealed and strong defenses, which are not easily destroyed by aerial fire.

"Okay, I think so too." Mad Harmon immediately agreed with Clark's suggestion.

His aviation force suffered heavy losses during this period. If he does not conserve his strength, if the German army does land on Newfoundland or somewhere nearby, he will have no planes to send. Now the main fleet of the Americans simply does not dare to fight a decisive battle with the European combined fleet, and the British Canadian fleet is even weaker. If there is not enough aviation power, there will be no way to transport the landing troops to the German fleet.

Just when Lieutenant General Harmon ordered the withdrawal of fighter jets from the sky above Newfoundland, another unexpected news reached the North American Northeast Aviation Command.

"Sir, the F-13 early warning aircraft of the Navy's 1st Fleet discovered that a large number of bombers are taking off from the Azores!"

"What? A large number of bombers are taking off from the Azores again?" Matthew Clark was stunned when he heard this. "Are they still going to bomb Newfoundland? What is there on Newfoundland that is worth bombing?"

The aircraft discovered by the F-13 was actually the ZSO523 assault transport aircraft, but the American F-13 did not dare to approach for reconnaissance. There were He219s patrolling in the air near the Azores. So these F-13s could not tell what type of aircraft took off from the Azores.

Of course, the Americans could not even think of such a strange tactic as airdropping tanks - if there were no airdrop tanks, even if the Germans could organize hundreds or thousands of Fokker 42s, they could only drop tens of thousands of lightly equipped paratroopers. Facing more than 200,000 American troops with a large number of mechanized heavy equipment, tens of thousands of German paratroopers would simply die in vain.

So the possibility of airdropping to Newfoundland was never considered by the Americans. Therefore, the US military's deployment on Newfoundland did not take into account the problem of enemy airborne landing.

"Should be?" Mad Harmon nodded, "The Me264 taking off from the Azores can only reach Newfoundland, or launch missiles, or... What new long-range bombers are the Germans equipped with? Damn it, how can the Germans have so many heavy bombers?"

Matthew Clark shook his head and said, "Wait, it will be clear in a few hours..."

...

"Ludwig, the Atlantic Front Command reports that there is no American fighter over Newfoundland!"

When the good news reached the Joint Intelligence Command Center in the German Wehrmacht General Staff, Hersman's tense nerves finally relaxed a little.

"Did we shoot down a lot of enemy planes?" Hersman asked Field Marshal Kesselring beside him while looking at the beautifully made model of Newfoundland on the sand table.

"I don't know the exact data," Kesselring replied, "Preliminary statistics show that less than 200 enemy planes were shot down, which is not a lot."

Hersmann nodded: "The Americans suffered little loss, but they withdrew from the skies over Newfoundland, which shows that they have not yet realized our true intentions." He paused, "Are we bombing the airport now?"

"It has begun," Kesselring said, "There are more than 400 Me264s and Br.810s, which will be divided into 15 attack aircraft groups to destroy 15 large airports. Since we have prepared a large number of remote-controlled missiles, we can drop bombs outside the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower and accurately hit the runway, so the air raid will not fail."

"What about the airborne troops?" Hersmann asked again.

Kesselring said: "The ZSO523 air assault planes have already set off and will be able to land by air in 8 hours. The Fokker 42 transport planes are taking off and will start parachuting in 7 hours. At that time, the ship-borne Fokker 262T and Br.810 will attack again to provide air support."

"What about the navy?" Hersman turned the question to the navy again.

Raeder replied: "The first batch of troops to land on Newfoundland from the sea have already boarded ships and set off from Iceland, and will arrive at the latest the night after tomorrow. The 22nd Task Force to support the landing force will also be in place with the landing ships.

In addition, the 155 U21 submarines responsible for the blockade of Newfoundland have now arrived at the designated location. They carry more than 5,000 oyster mines and ordinary anchor mines and a large number of torpedoes. In conjunction with the air force, Newfoundland can be completely blocked within a week."

The more than 20,000 people of the 1st Air Assault Army were only the vanguard of the attack on Newfoundland. Their mission was to control a bay or port for the landing fleet to enter and exit. After they complete their mission, there will be a second and third batch of paratroopers (also belonging to the 1st Air Assault Army) and landing troops arriving from the sea. In a few days, the total number of landing troops will increase to more than 50,000.

At the same time, the navy will blockade Newfoundland through aviation, submarines and mines to prevent the Americans from sending reinforcements to Newfoundland by sea.

Hersman nodded again. So far, everything has been steadily progressing according to the "Columbus Operation" plan, and it has been quite smooth.

Thinking of this, he smiled and said to the top German military officials around him: "It looks very smooth... In at most 10 hours, we can lay the foundation for the final victory."