Chapter 340

British fighters are still relentlessly chasing German bombers, but as time goes on, they don't seem to have enough fuel. What's more, they paid a heavy price for their strong attack on German strategic bombers with intensive firepower. There are only 14 of the 20 hurricane fighters left, and a few are flying with injuries.

German strategic bombers are not easy either. Two planes were hit by machine guns, with bullet holes on the wings and belly. However, due to their solid design and structure, these planes are not seriously damaged. However, three Gunners were hit and two of them were killed in the reported losses.

Colonel Niles is also very worried that if these British fighters are not 20 today, but 40 or more, if they are not equipped with 7. 7 mm machine gun, but 20 mm machine gun or even 30 mm machine gun. What will be the end of their bomber force today?

The British are not stupid either. They will sum up their own experience and lessons. Today's situation that the small caliber of weapons can't cause trouble to the bombers will be submitted to the technical department the next day. Maybe a week or two later, the British fighters will be enough to pose a very fatal threat to the German bombers.

With these problems in mind, all of a sudden, British fighter planes began to break away from the fighting and retreat to the back. Then a cheering came from the earphone, because in the distant sky, a dense group of German fighters appeared in the clouds.

Because lutjans reported that there were no converging bombers, the air force paid a lot of money this time. Under Dick's order, the Dutch air defense forces along the coastline took off 53 fw-190d fighters and arrived at the converging point on time.

"Revenge formation! Revenge formation! Let's welcome you home! " Soon, dozens of fighters flew around the bomber formation and began to fly with it. There was still endless cold water below, but all pilots knew that they were completely safe now.

"Colonel Niles to ground base! Colonel Niles to ground base! We have people injured. Please get the airport ready for rescue measures. " When he saw the coastline of Holland, Colonel Niles finally let go of his hanging heart, breathed out a deep breath and began to deal with the aftermath.

He picked up the folder board used for recording, took out his pen, and wrote down some problems on it: the fighter escorted by the Navy did not arrive in time, the emergence of new British fighters, and the accident that the female Gunners suddenly stopped shooting.

"Colonel, I suggest that some Gunners should be given some armor protection so that they can shoot better." The pilot on the co pilot suggested loudly.

"That's a good idea!" Colonel Niles nodded, then wrote down a sentence on the paper with a pen: it is suggested that some armor plates be added to the firing position.

Soon, the first butcher bomber landed on the runway of the airport with cheers. The ground crew rushed forward and helped the pilot to leave the plane. Many planes had bullet holes on their fuselages, but none of them affected the normal use of the plane.

Bomber No. 35 was the most severely damaged, with the entire belly turret destroyed, and the plane left at least twice as many bullet holes as the other planes. The body of one shooter was carried off the plane by ground crew, while the other injured shooter was taken aside by medical staff and began to be bandaged.

Because the bottom of the butcher's belly turret was only 30 cm from the ground, when the female gunner's body was unloaded from the plane, her legs were only above her ankles because of the friction between her legs and the runway when she landed.

When she got her body out of the plane, everyone had an indescribable uncomfortable feeling. The girl named belina had dried up blood on her chest and back. Her whole face was blue because of the cold, and her feet were left on the other side of the runway because of the impact of the landing. It looked terrible.

"She gave her life for the Fuehrer and for Germany! We should salute her. " Looking at her body being put into a woven bag, Colonel Nils said in a very uncomfortable tone: "from today on, more fierce battles will be waiting for us. We should be ready to sacrifice ourselves like miss belina."

Everyone listened to Niles and watched in silence as his comrades in arms were wrapped up and put into the boxes made of prepared veneers. As a martyr, he was sent to the pilot's cemetery on the side of the airport, where the area was small and there were only a few hapless men.

This is another victory for the German air force. They bombed London, the capital of Britain, and brought great panic to the British high level. Only two of their own soldiers were killed, and three others were injured - all 44 bombers returned, and only one was badly damaged and needed to be replaced.

In addition, at the time of their return, another four bombers arrived here in transit. The butcher bombers had 48 of these super bombing weapons. With the unremitting efforts of the rear factories, if the raw materials are sufficient, Germany can now produce six such butcher bombers a day. Of course, compared with 20 fw-190d fighters a day or 30 leopard tanks a day, this production is not particularly huge.

"Is there anything to improve?" Back in the tower office, Dick and several combat staff began to summarize the bombing campaign“ First of all, the safety of bombers. Our escort fighters are really short of range. It is easy to have various coordination problems when using the Navy's fighters to escort. This is a matter that must be solved. " Niles looked at his record and replied. After each action, all units participating in the war have to hold a summary meeting, which is ordered by the head of state in person. What is said must be recorded and what is really useful must be summed up, such as the use of weapons and equipment, tactical problems, etc“ It's no secret that the development plan of the long-range escort fighter is not smooth. The head of state is interested in the single engine long-range fighter with high-power engine. Some generals, including me, think that it is more appropriate to use the large-scale fighter with double engines for the time being. " Said Dick with a sigh. Akkado comes from later generations. Naturally, he knows what the German so-called twin engine fighter series is. When the long-range fighter produced from this kind of waste material is faced with British fighters, it is often difficult to protect itself, not to mention those strategic bombers. Therefore, he preferred the single engine escort fighter like the U.S. P-51. When facing the British aircraft, he could fight the first World War. Combined with the defense weapons of the strategic bomber, he could make Britain fall into the terrible situation of Germany at that time. In terms of land area, Britain was more afraid of strategic bombing than Germany. However, the consequence of persisting in the development of long-range single engine fighter is that the progress of German long-range fighter project is slow due to the problem of engine power, which leads to the shortage of German long-range escort fighter at the present stage. There are many alternative projects, such as adding disposable fuel tanks to fw-190d fighters, and using aircraft carriers to escort bombers. But these alternatives have more or less some problems, so it is also a headache for the senior management of the German air force“ My personal opinion is that if we don't take the northern part of France and get as close as possible to the southern part of England, then the strategic bombers will not take off to bomb the southern part of England any more. " Niles frowned and said: "without the escort of fighter planes, raiding British airspace is tantamount to suicide."“ We need to draw up a new operational plan, so we can't draw a conclusion now. " Dick nodded, but refused Niles's suggestion: "but the head of state and the air force staff both believe that since the bombing of Britain has begun, it cannot stop. It has to be until Britain is completely destroyed or surrendered. "“ The second problem is that we need to add protective steel plates to the four turrets of the machine gun shooters. This time our bombers lost all the shooters, so I suggest that we add some protection to these positions. " Niles made his second suggestion. Several staff officers on one side quickly recorded that this proposal is a very important operational experience. If it is possible, it should be refitted on subsequent bombers as soon as possible“ This is no problem! " Dick continued to nod his head and said with approval, "the air force staff will contact the aircraft manufacturers immediately and ask them to make certain changes."“ Well, the last question is about female gun controllers. " Niles looked at his record and said: "in the whole process of the battle, we were in a state of suppression, but because of the sudden death of belina, the whole formation was in chaos. Our losses all started at this moment."“ Was he hit first? " Dick saw Niles' hesitation“ She didn't turn off the phone. We can hear her breathing and vomiting for a long time after the cease-fire. " Niles had to tell the truth: "so I suggest that we should strengthen the training of these women soldiers, if possible, try to let them see blood." Dick was silent for a moment. He stared at Niles and finally sighed: "Colonel Niles, the report you got from the front line is very important, including the pilot record, which has left valuable practical experience for our long-range air formation flight. As for the issue of women soldiers, this is one of the top programs of the head of state. I need to meet with the head of state before I can determine the direction of improvement in the future. Thank you for your opinion! If there are no other questions, let's break up! "