Operation 366 to the Dead
When Lieutenant White heard that the Brest military port was going to be bombed, he almost dropped his hat on the ground. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info
"Sir...... I'm a fighter pilot, I can take off planes to meet the Germans, but I can go to enemy territory......" When he heard this order, all he could do was explain desperately.
If it is said that taking off to meet the German bomber force in a battle is a life of death, then going to Germany to bomb is a choice of ten deaths.
It is not that the British Air Force has not bombed Germany, and even Churchill has wanted to bomb Berlin several times in a row to retaliate against Germany.
In the three missions that could be used to bomb Berlin, none of the bombers were able to fly into Berlin's airspace, and most of the bombers were shot down in the Netherlands, Belgium and other areas without even being able to enter the German mainland.
The British Air Force, which knew its own technology well, thought about the problem with its ass and guessed that the Germans actually had a radar system.
This efficient early warning system allowed the Luftwaffe to take off calmly to meet British bombers, whether it was dark or daylight.
In the dark of night, how to find the opponent's plane in the vast airspace is the difficulty of interception. So when German radar could find British planes with unerring accuracy, the battle became a massacre.
The ME-110 fighter is not ideal when escorting, and can be used as a heavy fighter to intercept the opponent's bomber, but it is very competent.
The Luftwaffe easily equipped the ME-110 fighters with larger radars, and then replaced the aircraft's armament with 20 mm cannons.
The intensified ME-110 fighter became an ideal night killer, and it was more than enough to deal with the British bombers at this stage.
The number of night fighters crushed the number of bombers that took off at night, which made the efforts of the British come to naught.
The plan to secretly bomb at night was a complete failure, and the invasion of German airspace during the day was something that the British pilots could not even think of.
In France, the Netherlands and other regions, Germany deployed at least more than 1,000 fighters for interception and alert operations.
They took turns resting and then were on duty to cover the bomber forces that bombed the British. And when they carried out the cover mission, they became a vigilant air defense unit.
This arrangement allowed Germany to maintain the number of aircraft that crushed the British Air Force on the Western Front, and at the same time made it a luxury to enter German airspace during the day.
"I don't have a choice, the candidates who can be selected are decided by lottery...... We have no reason to refuse the task of attacking. White's chief pursed his lips regretfully and explained to White.
Hearing this explanation, White really wanted to refute: "This kind of mission is to commit suicide, how can you make such a hasty decision?" ”
But when he said it, he swallowed it back. He looked at his commander, then gave a military salute: "Yes!" Sir! ”
"Go back and prepare well, this bombing mission is very close to our coastline, so the Germans don't have time to arrange it calmly." The chief saw his nervousness, and could only comfort him with words.
"Maybe, how many of us are in the wing?" White asked, turning to the side and looking at his superior.
"Half...... But it was selected from all the British pilots. The chief heard what White was asking and replied with some regret.
All American pilots would not have taken part in such a mission, they were just volunteers, and they came here only to defend British airspace.
They have the right to refuse to attack, and in such a passive situation, how many people will voluntarily choose to accept this kind of task like sending them to death.
No one has returned alive from the bombing of Germany - the result is so well known that it has even been discussed in the bars whether or not a single bomb had ever been dropped on Berlin.
No one thought that such a thing would succeed, and some commanders, having heard the terrible shouts in the radio communications, regarded the execution of the order to bomb the interior of Germany as punishment.
They bluntly threatened their disobedient men and threatened to send them to bomb Germany if they did not obey again.
Since the selection of people to carry out missions from among the increasingly scarce local pilots, it is not difficult to understand that he was chosen. White smiled wryly, then walked out of the chief's office.
When he pushed them away, he saw another acquaintance at the door, a young British pilot. The two of them had just known each other, as the other had just graduated from flight school and had been added to White's wing two days earlier.
It seems that the above really planned to do everything to complete the bombing mission this time, and they even sent the trainee pilots to die.
White walked out of the office, pulled out a cigarette, and walked to the corner where the two pilots who had just gone ahead of him were talking.
Even just by looking at their faces, you know that they have received the same orders as their own. White walked over to the two men, imagining what kind of expression he had.
The two of them saw White coming over, and the taller pilot tilted his head, opened his mouth and asked with a sneer: "Why, Second Lieutenant White, such a good pilot of yours, you also want to be sent out to perform this kind of mission?" ”
I asked this question because White was a very good pilot in the wing. In one of the few interceptions, White shot down two HE-111 bombers, and was a veteran of the fighter fleet.
There was no rebuttal, White handed the other party a cigarette, and the other party did not refuse. After everyone had lit their cigarettes, White spat out a smoke ring.
Then he shook his head and replied, "We are all chosen unlucky people, so don't taunt each other...... Think about how you can come back alive. ”
"Come back alive? That's to go and bomb on enemy territory! Have we ever succeeded? The third pilot, who had not spoken, spoke, his face already a little bloody.
It wasn't that he lacked courage, at least he was also a fighter pilot who flew into hundreds of German planes.
But this time, he was ordered to protect his bombers and go to the port of Brest, where Germany would inevitably increase its defenses, and he knew that he might not really be able to return.
Before Lancaster and Halifax two heavy long-range bombers were in service, the main bomber of the British Air Force was the twin-engine Wellington bomber.
Compared with the German twin-engine bombers, this kind of bomber is not very advanced, so it is actually not right to say that the bomber performance of the Luftwaffe is backward.
At this moment, most of the world's mainstream aviation powers are equipped with twin-engine bombers, and there are relatively few self-defense weapons, and the gap is not obvious.
It was only later, as the Allied large, four-engine heavy bombers began to enter service one after another, that the German bombers really became obsolete and backward.
The reason for this backwardness was that Germany had fallen into passivity at that time, losing the need to develop new bombers, and also had no research and development time and production capacity.
"Covering for a slow-moving guy like Wellington is no different from committing suicide." The tall pilot shook his head and turned to leave.
White also nodded, he had seen German escort fighters, those German pilots who had experienced a hundred battles, but they were quite difficult characters.
When the enemy was fighting an offensive operation, the British pilots could barely cope with the battle because of the task of protecting the bombers and the constraints of insufficient fuel in the fuel tanks.
Now that the feng shui has taken turns, the Luftwaffe is fighting on its own soil this time, and the fuel is sufficient and there is no bomber constraint, so how can the combat effectiveness be doubled?
"How can there be Americans?" Seeing the young pilot push the door out with a pale face, and an American pilot cynically walked into the commander's office, White was stunned for a moment and said.
"Kerry, you say?" Hearing White's question, the short, pilot, who looked a little uncomfortable, was well informed: "He volunteered to carry out this combat mission. ”
"Why?" White felt that at such a time, no one would voluntarily go to the airspace of the Germans to die.
"I don't understand either...... Those Americans are crazy. The short pilot commented and turned away.
"All the fighters are preparing, ready to go after two o'clock in the afternoon, check their equipment, and come back as much as possible!" In the operational meeting that followed, the commander nervously gave the order to prepare for the attack.
The British pilots were free of the usual buzz of talking, and the conference room was deadly quiet. The room was full of selected pilots, and everyone saw their familiar faces.
With the exception of a few pilots who can be called veterans, most of them are newcomers. At this time, White also understood what the so-called lottery meant.
Although there is no clear explanation, the top brass of the Air Force is still resistant to this bombing mission. All pilots on missions, the Air Force is prepared for novices.
Those pilots who had shot down German planes were the ones who had been drawn to fill the remaining positions.
"Kick off at 2:45 p.m.!" Before White could reclaim his soul, the commander on the podium gave the last command.
In order to bomb the German military port of Brest, the British amassed a full 300 Wellington bombers, which may be the last bit of the British Air Force's offensive force.
And in order to cover these bombers, Britain prepared the same 300 Spitfires and Hurricanes, which can be regarded as the maximum force that the British Air Force can take.
No one knew how many of these planes would return safely, and in the midst of everyone's fear, Britain's first daytime bombing of the German-occupied areas began.