"Alright, guys, we're home, hold on to the last stretch, and let the damaged planes and medium bombers land first. "At this time, Colonel Short was also very excited to see the airport, and in any case, after 12 hours of fighting, they finally came back alive, and this feeling of nine deaths made the pilot, who had at least 1,200 flight hours, feel embarrassed.www.biquge.info (including airships and balloons) but even so, he didn't forget to do the last thing before landing.

Just as Colonel Short finished speaking, and the order was not fully conveyed, he saw that a scarred FB27 twin-engine bomber had broken out of formation, but this was obviously not a normal landing, the engines of this plane had gradually stopped, and the pilot seemed to have no time to reorient! Straight to the sand next to the airstrip!

"Damn, it's out of gas!" Colonel Short shook his head. As an old bird, Colonel Short knew that many of the planes in the formation were already in a semi-gliding state, and it was entirely up to the pilots to fly back, and on the last leg of the road, two O-400 bombers had already made a forced landing on the sea. And now, the plane that saw home couldn't hold on.

"Crew members who are not sure to land can choose to parachute." Finally, Colonel Short issued the last order for this operation.

"One, two, three......." Lieutenant General Trenhard stared at the bombers that landed from the sky, and when the number finally reached 19, Lieutenant General Trenhard felt his heart broken! In the end, the number of British bombers who came back was less than thirty percent of the total! The lieutenant general felt a sweet smell of liquid rush up, and the lieutenant general realized that a year after the start of the war, no, not a year, it was the efforts and personnel accumulation of the Royal Air Force in the previous years that had suffered heavy losses in this battle.

"Convey my order, all bombers must not be lifted into the air again without my consent! Tell Churchill about this old fox! We've done our best! We traded the future for today's victory! From now on, I refuse to provide a large number of bombers for combat in the upcoming battle of the Dardanelles. At this time, Lieutenant General Trenchad's anger was overflowing!

When one British bomber after another landed on the ground, the damage to the airfield staff was shocking to see, the rear-firing machine gun turrets that were beaten like honeycomb coal, the blood left from the cockpit, the missing half of the tail fin, the plane that lost a third of the lower wing, and the large marks left by the flames. There was also the crew that originally had a quota of 9 people, but only 2 lightly injured people walked off the plane with a seriously injured person. These scars and blood undoubtedly told everyone present how painful their experience had been in the previous ten hours!

The moment the four British pilots trembled out of an FB27 bomber, the moment their feet touched the earth. One pilot finally couldn't control his feelings, knelt on the ground, grabbed the dirt under him, and wailed. The nerves that had been tense for more than ten hours finally relaxed at this moment, the fear and blood of the battle made these originally strong people extremely vulnerable, too many companions failed to survive this sudden disaster, and the colleagues next to them immediately walked over, comforting them while helping them to the car not far away.

Half an hour later, in the huge restaurant, the restaurant that could have served more than 500 people was only scattered with no more than 100 people. It also includes some of the base's top brass and naval personnel. An atmosphere of emptiness and loneliness overwhelmed everyone present.

"I am proud of the Royal Air Force for this operation, and you and your men have done enough to be remembered by all the subjects of the Empire." Vice Admiral Stedi, who represented the Navy, said with an embarrassed face, and now he knew why Vice Admiral Trenhard was reluctant to send too many bombers to attack Port Ereli, because the risks were too great. And he and the Admiralty behind him saw the results of the fluke more than the heavy price the Royal Air Force would have to pay if it lost.

"Hopefully, next time, you'll be aware of the cost and blood that the Royal Air Corps has to pay for every operation. Then, leave the professional things to the professional people to do. Lieutenant General Trenchard said with a grim face. I'm more and more determined now that the Royal Navy can take care of what is on the water, and that the Royal Air Force should become an independent service. Well, that's all! ”

The whole dinner took place in an atmosphere of sinking and desolation, which could not be described as unhappy, whether it was the personnel of the base, or the pilot who had just returned from the brink of death, after hastily filling his stomach, he planted himself on a clean bed. But Lieutenant General Trenchard did not allow himself to relax, nor allowed himself to indulge in grief, he still had a lot to do.

"The total number of bombers lost in Group A was 54, including 12 V1500 bombers, 28 FB27 bombers, and 14 O-400 bombers, with a permanent loss of 330 crew members."

"The total number of bombers lost in Group B was 12 units. Among them were 8 O-400 bombers, 4 FB27 bombers, with permanent losses of 75 people. ”

"The total number of bombers lost in Group C was 22, half each of the O-400 bombers and the FB27 bombers, and the permanent loss of personnel was 130 people."

"After the end of this campaign, we permanently lost a total of 88 bombers! More than 6% of the total! The remaining aircraft are all in need of major repairs, and new ones may be scrapped visually. (The cost of repairs was too great, so it was abandoned.) In fact, the seven bomber squadrons we participated in this war have been disabled, and if we want to restore their combat effectiveness, we will have to wait at least one year, or directly disband these bomber units, and then put them into other squadrons. Early the next morning, the staff officers submitted the information on the battle damage.

"This, the losses are simply unbearable, and I think that our attack is not worth the losses." Even if he already has a rough estimate in his heart, when he sees these verified data, Trenchard's mood at this time can be described as shocking!

"As for disbanding the troops, I think it's absolutely impossible, they have paid such a terrible price for the empire, we can't let these warriors go to other squadrons with physical and mental trauma, these troops must be rebuilt!" Lieutenant General Trenchard said categorically.

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