The sky was blue and cloudless, and the whistling remnants of the first twin-engine medium-sized aircraft had not completely subsided, and the second wave of German warhawks flew from the north with a thunderous momentum. They are a classic combination of Bf-109 fighters and Ju-87 dive bombers that showed great prowess in the blitzkrieg in Western Europe, and there are also hundreds of them, and their biggest feature is that they can accurately suppress ground targets and clear obstacles for the advance of land forces.

"Bang bang! ......As the altitude of the German aircraft group continued to decline, a large area of brilliant light and fire suddenly burst out from the positions on the northern side of the Gibraltar Peninsula, and countless small-caliber projectiles intertwined into a metal storm in the air, desperately covering the German planes head-on. However, anti-aircraft fire from the ground did not stop the adversary from approaching in the slightest.

In 1940, when there was no anti-aircraft fire control computer, the consumption of 5,000 rounds of machine artillery shells could not necessarily shoot down a single aircraft, not to mention that even if the German plane was shot down, the pilots only had to parachute to the Spanish-controlled area to return to the team, which made them fearless when advancing without fear. On the contrary, the British army's hasty firing also exposed a number of previously hidden anti-aircraft fire points, and the German fighter jets flew by with lightning and carried out a focused removal of these dangerous targets.

"Boom!" A 40-mm anti-aircraft gun position was hit by a 50kg bomb, and the surging red flames instantly devoured nearly ten British soldiers, and the fragments of broken limbs and blood shot into the sky. At the same time, another anti-aircraft machine gun camouflaged in the bushes was also fired by fighters, and several soldiers were beaten to the ground and fell into the bunker without any movement. Explosions were stacked, guns were riddled with bullets, and the British soldiers, who lacked actual combat experience, were soon overwhelmed: the anti-aircraft positions were destroyed one after another by enemy fire, and only a handful of German planes were shot down by them!

After several waves of assaults, the anti-aircraft fire in the north of Gibraltar was significantly weakened, and it was no longer possible to form a dense close defense system, and the Stukas, who had been hovering in the air for a long time, finally showed their sharp fangs. According to the plan, they first had to pull out the "Princess Caroline" battery in the north: this fortification stood halfway up the mountain with the main armament of a 234-mm L45 cannon, which was enough to accurately cover targets 20 kilometers to the north. If this battery is not removed, all German suppressive howitzers will not be able to be deployed in close proximity, and the main attacking force will be constantly exposed to the watchful eye of British heavy artillery, causing incalculable heavy casualties.

The mournful buzz of "Woo ......" resounded in the sky, and even from thousands of meters away, Ensign Hans-Sepp steered a Ju-87 bomber and plunged down towards the target at a very large oblique angle of more than 80 degrees. There were lightning bolts of light passing around his planes, and the numbers were getting denser and denser, and it was clear to Saipu that this was the British anti-aircraft artillery fire that had discovered its attack attempt, and was trying to stop it with a barrage at all costs. The corners of Saipu's mouth hooked up a cold arc: 4 months ago, he blew up 2 pontoon bridges on Dunkirk beach, and now in the face of more sparse anti-aircraft fire and larger targets, where is the reason not to hit?

"Ernst!" Sepp yelled in the communicator, and his teammates in the back seat, who had been his partner for nearly a year, immediately understood, and stared intently through the scope at the larger and larger turret roof below. The bomb safety in his hand has been opened, and the 500kg special armor-piercing bomb is shining dazzlingly in the morning light of the east. In just a few breaths, the target's aiming scale was reduced to less than 500 meters. In the flash of light, Saip turned the plane to the right at a slight angle, and Ernst immediately estimated the advance and pressed the bomb drop switch without hesitation.

Compared to ordinary aerial bombs, armor-piercing bombs are closer in appearance to naval artillery shells, with a hard quilt cap mounted on top to protect the body and smash hard armor layers. According to tests, the bomb can stably penetrate 2 mm of naval ship armor when dropped in a dive at an altitude of 270 kilometers at a speed of 60 knots. Although there is no weight limit for land batteries, the main fortifications of Gibraltar were built before the aviation era after all, and its horizontal defense is congenitally deficient, and now the bomb throwing angle of the Saipu is larger, and its armor-piercing ability is undoubtedly even higher!

The bomb was like a comet meteorite, carrying the energy of the insurrection to fall straight from the sky, and some British soldiers watched in horror as this "magnum bottle" fell from the sky and crashed into the top of the "Princess Caroline" battery. In an instant, the hard quilt cap and the thick projectile body worked together, piercing the concrete top like a sharp knife through the cowhide, and the delayed fuse located at the bottom of the bomb was activated, instantly detonating the high-energy explosives in front of it. With a dull loud bang, the originally beautiful turret suddenly twisted like a twist, billowing fire and smoke gushing out from the cracks in the steel plates, and everyone who saw this scene knew that the inside of the turret was completely finished!

After nearly 20 minutes of rage, German planes left dozens of huge craters in the north of Gibraltar, as well as a sea of fire. All the targets discovered by the reconnaissance planes were cleaned by Stuka at a fixed point, and new red flames continued to bloom violently like flowers, which was the scene when the ammunition, mines, and other munitions stored by the British army were detonated. The stumps were scattered all over the place, and a stream of gunpowder smoke mixed with the smell of burnt flesh and blood drifted away with the wind, making some of the newly recruited recruits immediately vomit out!

Before the British officers and soldiers could recover from this wave of precision air raids, the peak lineup of the third German group appeared in the northern sky. Fighters and dive bombers alternated cover, skillfully cooperating, spreading death and destruction to the surface of the British forts. This time, the "Tovey" battery, which had two 152-mm L50 cannons, was also destroyed, the entire base was blown off, and the fighting compartment of the battery rolled down the hillside more than two hundred meters away. The waves of fire from the explosion of the bomb were like lava, and the galaxy collapsed, and the British officers and men huddled in their underground bunkers and shivered, and could only feel the devastating loud noises and shock waves constantly coming from above their heads.

Fourth, fifth, sixth...... The German planes seemed endless, and from early morning until sunset, the entire sky was filled with the roar of engines. The British defenders of Gibraltar finally experienced the feeling of the French in Sedan: the Germans flew more than 1,300 sorties that day, carrying out ultra-intensive bombardment of a small area less than 6 kilometers wide. Rao was the British defenders who could hide underground, but their morale plummeted from the bombing, and they were full of hesitation and despair about the future. This was the first day of the battle, and the Germans were already so fierce that this battle would be fought in the future.

In the boulder of Gibraltar, the British commander, Major General James, was also at a loss. In today's air raid, our own forces were fairly well preserved, and less than 200 unlucky people died, but the loss of defensive facilities was shocking and unacceptable. Gibraltar had a total of 11 permanent batteries before the battle, but the Germans destroyed 6 of them in one day, and the remaining 4 were wounded, except for the "Riot" battery, which was unharmed. Those Stuka bombers were unreasonable: they smashed open the door like robbers and beheaded the owner!

While most of the forts in Gibraltar were located inside the boulder mountains, the 11 forts were largely in the open. In order to pursue the shooting range, there were 10 forts that were not built to be fused with the mountains to make artillery ramps, and during the Spanish Civil War, the planes of the two armies passed nearby every day, and the specific location of the forts was not a secret to those who were interested. Therefore, now James can't hide these firing points if he wants to - the battery itself will not run on its own feet, as long as you compare the aerial photos taken a few years ago, what is not clear?

Because of their superstition about French power, Britain did not attach importance to Gibraltar for a long time after the war. It wasn't until the French defeat was set in June that London woke up from a dream and began to desperately strengthen the city of Gibraltar. However, Jonas did not give Britain any respite, and to date, three months is only enough time for James to make minor repairs to his existing defensive system. Now, Gibraltar's entire long-range firepower depends on those 11 batteries, and once they are completely destroyed by the Germans, Gibraltar will become a punching bag for the other side to punch to the flesh!

"Adjutant!" James's face sank like water, and he said angrily, "Send a telegram to London at once, asking the mainland to provide all available forces to support our troops, and be sure to suppress the arrogance of the German planes!" Tell the Prime Minister that if the long-range artillery of the fortress is destroyed, then our army will not be able to complete the task of blocking the straits, and the Germans can completely force minesweep off the coast of Africa and clear a shipping lane. By that time all the consequences will have nothing to do with the defenders of the fortress! ”

"Yes!"

Seeing the adjutant's figure disappear around the corner, James was furious and cursed the air force again. Others don't know, but as a high-ranking officer, he knows very well: the Air Force sat back and watched the army be destroyed and sent to death during the French campaign, but Tian shamelessly boasted that he had blocked the German Army Aviation with absolutely inferior forces. Now that the Air Force wants to sell the defenders of Gibraltar and sell their reputation on their own, where is there such a cheap thing?

Receiving James's message, Churchill was furious with anxiety. He didn't care whether the defenders of Gibraltar were alive or dead, but he could not afford the consequences of the loss of the Strait. Without a shore-artillery blockade, minefields alone would not have stopped the enemy for a few days, and the Italian fleet would soon be out of the Mediterranean Sea under the noses of the defenders. Faced with the urgency of the situation, Churchill had no mind to repress the defenders to hold on, and he immediately informed the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Neuwall, that bombers must be sent to attack the German frontline airfield tomorrow in order to relieve the pressure on the defenders of Gibraltar.

Newwall put down the telephone receiver in a daze, his facial features wrinkled into tears and wanted to cry without tears. He preferred to have bombers support the frontal battlefield in Gibraltar rather than bomb the Germans' airfields: the former had a chance to parachute and fall into his own territory, while the latter would have been permanently lost if shot down. But when Newwall learned that Gibraltar had been ravaged by more than 1,000 planes today, he really couldn't find a reason to refuse: the army had been bombed so badly, and if the air force didn't move any longer, he was afraid that the next day Dill would pull out his gun and find himself to duel!