Chapter 760： Airborne to Cyprus (middle)

This air battle in Cyprus did not end because of the heroic performance of the first wave of British fighters, but was intensified. Fighters from Cyprus continue to join them, fighting with the Romanian air strike group.

The fierce fighting between the two parties also fought from outside the island to the island, and the anti-aircraft firepower on the island also enthusiastically joined the battle. After entering the island, the bomber group dispersed in all directions, and they rushed to various military installations on the island, intending to bomb them.

The British fighters naturally didn't want to see this situation, so they rushed to shoot them down. However, how could it be possible to **** the HF201 fighter jet to make it so that they did not let them leave.

Speaking of this air strike, the proportion of fighter jets is extremely high, and it is also prepared to deal with such a situation. Nearly a hundred FH201s that took off from the aircraft carrier and the two brigade escorted all the way are fully capable of coping with such a situation.

Although the hurricane was dragged by the HF201 fighter, it does not mean that the British army has no other way.

"Om~"

A squadron of Gladiator fighters roared and rushed towards the incoming group of bombers.

"Da, da, da~"

Before the gladiator approached, the 12.7mm self-defense machine gun that came with the bomber fired.

And seeing that the bomber was attacked, as well as the HF201 fighter in his hand, he rushed to rescue him.

Before the HF201 fighter arrived, the gladiator fighter who seized this good opportunity immediately approached the bomber from the lower wing with its 4 British 7.7 machine guns.

"Da, tower, tower~"

After a burst of machine guns fired, the bomber with its bullet holes continued to fly forward. Only one bomber wing emitted a burst of dark smoke.

This surprised the gladiators who had just completed an attack. There was no alternative. The British 7.7 aircraft machine gun was a bit difficult to face against metal bombers, not to mention that bombers generally have armor to protect the core area.

Even the bomber with black smoke still flew tenaciously in formation.

The gladiator fighters naturally did not intend to give up like this, they rushed forward again and planned to launch another attack.

"Da, da, da~"

The HF201 fighter that finally rushed back immediately used its own fierce cannon to give it a violent blow from these biplane fighters that only dared to appear sneakily. With a speed of up to 560 kilometers per hour, it is not afraid of any chance of escape for these biplanes.

Sure enough, as the HF201 fighter opened fire, several gladiators immediately fell to the ground with thick smoke. With the characteristics of its biplane, it has no ability to compete with the Romanian Zero.

These gladiators also knew the same, and immediately scattered and fled after the HF201 fighter rushed back. The HF201 fighter plane that rushed back was worried about the safety of the bomber, and only chased it for a few kilometers before returning to protect the bomber group.

In the face of this kind of fighters being unable to fight in, the British army was extremely anxious, and even the Air Force commander Brigadier General Bronck once wanted the bombers to attack the opponent's bombers. I just considered the consequences of putting myself in a military court, and gave up.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Airports and air defenses became the first targets to be bombed, and a large number of bombers continued to bomb them.

In fact, Romania does not want to bomb the airport, but wants to keep it for use after the paratroopers seize it. However, it is too strange that the airstrike does not launch an attack on the airport. It is entirely to give the enemy an idea. Therefore, the airstrike does not treat the airport equally. It's just that 50KG bombs are used to bomb the airport more often in the bombing to facilitate the repair work of the defenders.

The violent bombing caused heavy losses to the airport and air defense. Although this time there were only a hundred Romanian bombers, the bombing of four airports and air defense facilities showed their power. Except for the bombers that had already departed in the airport, all the more than 70 aircraft of various types that could not escape were destroyed on the ground.

Faced with the bombing of the airport, the British fighters in the air combat were a little mad, and they began to ignore their casualties.

"boom!"

A Hurricane fighter jet collided with a HF201 fighter jet using the same approach. The pilot of this HF201 fighter plane, who did not notice the danger on his side, was killed on the spot without even being able to parachute.

Facing the somewhat crazy play of the British fighters, the Romanian side is not without coping strategies. They first used the excellent performance of their fighters to open up the battlefield to expand the distance between the fighters. At the same time, the fighters were reminded separately.

This move by the Romanian aircraft made the British fighters somewhat blind. Because the Hurricane fighter is far behind the HF201 fighter whether it is speed, climb, or agility. Therefore, facing the Romanian fighters, the situation is even more difficult. The fighter planes that fell in the air were basically dominated by British hurricanes.

After the bomber started to return, the HF201 fighter began to leave the battle, protecting the bomber from leaving.

It's just that this is too uncomfortable for the British Air Force. Not only did they fail to block the opposing bombers, but they also never fought the **** fighters. In this battle, the opponent’s fighter left a deep impression on them, agility, speed and climb were much better than their hurricane.

It's just that before they are ready to talk about something, there is a more important question that is bothering them, how should the plane land now?

Although the airport personnel stepped forward to repair the runway immediately after the bombing was over, how could it be repaired so quickly. Although the 50 kg bomb is not very powerful, the big crater of its explosion cannot be filled immediately. In addition to the 50 kg aerial bomb, there are losses caused by other bomb explosions in the airport.

So no matter what, the fighters in the air need to come down and refuel, not to mention that these fighters are the only fighters of the defenders. Losing them is a complete abandonment of air supremacy, so the British army immediately figured out a solution.

Don't say anything, I really figured out the way. In Paralim in the east of the island, there is a flat pasture that belongs to a nearby dairy factory. And the area of ​​this grassland is large enough for the landing and parking of aircraft.

Hearing this news, Brigadier General Bronk quickly let go and set up an airport temporarily. So under the command of the ground crew, the fighters that had run out of fuel stopped here one after another.

As more than eighty fighters in the air docked to the ground, Brigadier General Bronk was relieved. Although the bombers were temporarily transferred to French Syria, the fighters could not be transferred, but needed to be strengthened.

Just as Brigadier General Blanc wanted to send a telegram to request more fighter support, a harsh air defense sirens sounded again.

Before Brigadier General Blanc asked, an officer rushed in.

"General, the Romanian airstrike has come again. At present, it is less than 30 kilometers away from us. The number is about 340, half of the fighters."

The officer's words made Brigadier General Blanc's face greatly changed, because currently his fighters are still refueling on the ground, and there are not even half of the opponents in number.

"Immediately order them to conceal the fighter plane, and let them hurry up."

Brigadier General Bronk, who gave the order, can only hope that the fighter jets that will be parked at Paralim urgently will not be discovered by the air raid troops.

It's just how can his idea be realized? For a fighter plane, thirty kilometers is just a few minutes. How can this time be to hide the fighter plane parked on the grass? Just holding the grass is not enough.

It's just that these fighter jets are out of fuel, and the fuel truck has just arrived here. It only takes dozens of minutes to refuel. Refueling under enemy bombardment can only be done by lunatics, and they can only choose to be secluded.

There were no enemy fighters in the sky, which surprised the Romanian officer who led the team. In order to prevent possible accidents, he made a wise decision to scatter several planes immediately, and three of them came from the east.

When a fighter plane flew over Nicosia to the east and over a hill, he was immediately shocked by the sights in the distance. Dozens of fighters came to a close together, and British personnel kept trying to cover them with vegetation.

Such a situation naturally needs to be reported, and wait until the pilot informs him of what he saw. He showed a faint smile, and saw that he lowered his height and fired at the densely packed fighter planes on this side. At the same time, the 30 kg bomb in the belly of the plane was also thrown down.

"boom!"

The blast of air rushed the vegetation into the air and ignited it at the same time. The smoke gradually rose, and it pointed out the direction for the incoming fighters from behind.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Unlike the reconnaissance fighters, the incoming bombers destroyed all the docked fighters, and seeing the British soldiers present with tears in their eyes, it was just that they were powerless.

In the subsequent bombing, various British military installations were bombed, but the port was not damaged. This allowed Major General Dowdin Hughes to be sure that the Romanian landing was just around the corner, so his telegram for help was sent more diligently.

Although he was asking for help, it was difficult for Britain and France to get reinforcements on the island. That is, they do not have the right to dominate the sea, and relying on the threat of the air force to keep the Romanian fleet away from Cyprus.

It's just that the large-scale bombing by Romanian aircraft, regardless of cost, has caused the island’s aviation forces to be killed and wounded, and is unable to resist Romania’s control of the air.

Of course, the British and French are not satisfied with Romania's control of the air power in Cyprus. They then organized large-scale reinforcements on the third day. An air combat force consisting of 80 MS.406 fighters, 48 ​​Spitfires and 81 hurricanes attempted to regain air superiority on the island.

On this day, , more than 600 sorties of fighters from the two sides fought over Cyprus for a day. In the face of fighters like the HF201, in addition to the Spitfire which can compete with it, the other two fighters can only be suppressed by it.

In one day's battle, Britain and France lost 127 fighters. Among them, 31 Spitfires were shot down and 96 of the other two fighters were shot down. With such a large loss, Britain and France can no longer prevent Romania from seizing air supremacy.

In this air battle that lasted for a day, although Romania won the victory, it was also uncomfortable. 53 HF201 fighters were shot down and 9 bombers were shot down.

In addition to the losses in the previous two days, Romania lost 104 fighters, basically HF201 fighters (one RF20 fighter crashed into the sea, and one landed accidentally turned over). The bomber also lost 39 bombers.

For the victory of this air battle, the navy and air forces lost a very large number of fighters, but fortunately, the results were satisfactory.

Now that the air power of Cyprus has been destroyed, and the air defense force is almost eliminated, the next phase of operations can also begin.