"There was news from the ground observation post...... There were a lot of escort fighters for the Germans! More than 100 planes! An air commander shouted uneasily to Dowding. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Just now, there were so many calls coming in that a lot of the news was covered up in a lot of useless reports.

Hearing about the number of German escort fighters, Dowding seemed to realize something. But before he could grasp the point, another call came in.

Churchill was on the phone, angrily asking Dowding, "How can the German planes come and go freely over London?" ”

As a British Prime Minister, Churchill felt like he was about to become famous, and he was probably the only Prime Minister of the British Empire whose capital was so violently attacked.

"They're dropping bombs on London! For God's sake, stop them! On the other end of the phone, Churchill's helplessness and anger could be clearly felt.

The bombers attacking Berlin, Germany, suffered heavy losses, dozens of bombers went and never returned, and none of the ten who barely came back.

It was thought that this was over, but now it seems that the Germans clearly wanted to take revenge for the attack on Berlin that had been accidentally launched by the Trek.

"Mr. Prime Minister...... IMHO, the current state of affairs is not a bad thing for us. Dowding spoke to Churchill.

As he spoke, he gave his own explanation: "The enemy's previous attacks have always been aimed at our defense system. Now that they've switched their goals, we're in for a breath. ”

Dowding's words served as a reminder to Churchill, and the other side apparently realized that the Germans might have given up on their correct strategic decisions.

The attacks on British factories, airfields, and fighter planes were unbearable on the British side. This undermined the air defense system of the British, and to put it bluntly, it hurt to be beaten.

However, if German planes began to bomb London, it would not have caused any weakening of the British mainland's defense capability, except for the destruction of some inconsequential houses.

If he had to make a swap, Churchill would have liked it, but he couldn't afford to watch London being attacked by the Germans.

"Although, it's a good thing that the Germans changed their target, but we can't watch London being attacked like that! We have to do something. Churchill thought for a moment and said to Dowding.

He paused, and then spoke out his concerns: "His Majesty will inquire about this matter, and we will also give an account to the citizens of London. ”

There were only 30 fighters that Dowding took off, and these planes were prepared to take advantage of the confusion of the German formation to go up to fight the autumn wind.

But so far, the formation of the German bomber force has not been chaotic, and the number of escort fighters has also made Dow Ding a little worried.

If you rush to let your fighters go up, you risk losing a lot of aircraft. This is inconsistent with Dowding's original intention of preserving his strength.

"I did take off the fighters, but there were not enough of them to attack the German bomber formation." Dowding pinched the phone and explained to Churchill.

"Then take off more planes and intercept the Germans!" On the other end of the phone, Churchill's tone became a little impatient.

In fact, at this time, he was in an underground bomb shelter, and his assistant handed the prime minister a note with a telegram written on it.

The note reads that an aircraft engine factory in the suburbs of England has been completely destroyed, and a large number of homes have been destroyed.

The Germans prepared at least 250 tons of bombs this time, and the destructive power should not be underestimated, of course. Moreover, the location of this factory was marked by Li Le, and the German side knew it in great detail.

"The Germans took off more than 100 fighters to escort us, and we rushed to attack at this time...... It seems ......" Dowding opened his mouth to explain, but was interrupted by Churchill on the other end of the phone.

The other party didn't let him finish speaking, so he interrupted: "If the Germans have been escorting with so many fighters, then we will never take off fighters to intercept?" ”

Churchill's rhetorical question left Dowding speechless. Because of this style of playing to preserve strength, to put it bluntly, it is passive avoidance of war.

This kind of thing can be understood in two directions. At best, it is called preserving strength, and at worst, it is called avoiding battle.

It is precisely because of this that this conservative method of warfare must be thoroughly understood by those in higher positions and implemented from beginning to end in order to be effective.

A full five minutes had passed, and the German bomber units had dropped bombs with impunity, drowning half of London in a cloud of black smoke.

"I can't see the target clearly! I can't confirm if it's completely destroyed! Through the bombsight, a German bombardier shouted to his captain.

Through the intricate engraving of the sight and the glass, the lens was filled with smoke from the explosion.

Although the bomb was dropped at the same pace, it was no longer possible to see on what target it was dropped.

It has to be said that at this time, the air forces of various countries were still in the stage of ignorant strategic bombing exploration, and the German army did not have sufficient experience in this regard.

"Sir, if you rashly let the fighter attack at this time, you will suffer losses." An officer saw General Dowding put down the phone and spoke up.

His words made Dowding sober up that he should not let his fighters go to the plate with the prepared bomber fleet of the Germans.

However, if he doesn't let his fighters go up to consume, then how can he explain it to his superiors? You know, Churchill and His Majesty the King were very concerned about the news of the air raid on London.

After weighing up, "Let the fighter units come back...... Dowding decided to stick to his tactics and try to preserve the British Air Force as much as possible before the Germans landed.

Dowding did not know that he was facing more than 150 German fighters, more than half of which were new aircraft such as the FW-190.

Now this decision of his has saved the lives of dozens of British pilots. After dropping 250 tons of aerial bombs in one go, the Germans reversed the direction of their flight and flew away.

"If this bombing continues, we may be the last to see London." A German pilot said this to his commander on his way back.

At this time, the smoke was billowing in the city of London, and the whole city seemed to be burning. The streets were littered with shattered shards of glass and some rubble flying from nowhere.

On 8 August, the Luftwaffe launched its first air raid on London and dropped a large number of bombs on the outskirts of London.

These bombs destroyed an important British aircraft engine production plant, causing the famous British Merlin engine production to be reduced.

But the scale of the reduction is not large, because after all, the production plant on the outskirts of London is only responsible for the production of some parts.

Most of the production has been moved to the safer north, which is what the British industry has been trying to do for the past week.

On the afternoon of August 8, the Luftwaffe once again made a big sortie, this time using not only 100 bombers, but 300 in one go.

Together with 110 escort fighters, the Luftwaffe had 410 aircraft patronized London this time.

Unlike the last time, most of the German sorties this time were bombers, and these bombers had no obvious targets, they blindly dropped bombs in the city, and then hurried back, not giving the British a chance to fight back.

Dowding never sent his own fighters to interfere with the German bombing of London. He pinched his fighter unit and turned a deaf ear to the demands of all sides for him to strike.

His efforts have paid off these days, as the number of fighters on his hands has grown to 590 and it looks like he will soon be able to return to the level at which the Battle of Britain began.

Of course, the Germans had already put their fighter production lines running at full speed by this time - there were 383 more planes on the German front these days, more than the British had produced.

Moreover, because of the intervention of Li Le, the fake Führer, these more than 100 aircraft are all FW-190, ME-109E and JU-88.

The Germans no longer produce Heinkel's HE-111 now, because everyone can see the obsolescence and backwardness of this aircraft.

By concentrating its own production capacity in a timely manner and investing it in better aircraft, the Luftwaffe immediately had more usable aircraft.

The JU-88 bomber was about the same speed as the British Hurricane, and it was significantly more comfortable than the HE-111 fighter when facing such an opponent.

Another point is that the more FW-190 fighters indicate that German fighters can better escort the bombers bombing London.

And August 8 is the day. The Luftwaffe was not all good news - the bombing of London went well, but the British did not seem to have intercepted it.

"The British actually abandoned the defense of London?" After Li Le heard the news, he also had an expression of disbelief.

If the British Air Force is not fooled, after two months at most, the Luftwaffe will be exhausted. At that time, the air war against Britain had to be stopped and fully transferred to defense......

And this historical ending was the beginning of the complete failure of the German strategy on the Western Front! It was precisely because of the hidden dangers buried in the air war in Britain that Germany finally fell into the embarrassing situation of fighting on two fronts.

In order to cope with the daily jamming and bombing of German industrial areas by the unsinkable aircraft carrier of Great Britain, Germany had to divert its already small production capacity and invest in the production of weapons such as anti-aircraft guns.

This is not the ending that Li Le wants to see, and it is not the best ending. Li Leke was reluctant to put a third of his forces on the Western Front, just to guard against a British ......