Colonel Miller was the captain of the German 3rd Air Group. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The 3rd Air Group was responsible for bombing the island of Malta over the Mediterranean Sea and protecting the German and Italian transport routes to North Africa.

Colonel Miller couldn't help but complain again: "This is a torture task!" ”

Originally, these tasks were carried out by two air groups, namely the second and third air groups. But after the 2nd Air Group went to the African theater to assist Rommel's Afrika Korps in the war, everything fell on the shoulders of the 3rd Air Group.

These tasks may seem simple, just two sentences, but they are really very complicated, such as the transport ship to and from Italy and Libya, so it needs to be escorted by fighters, and then the bombing of the island of Malta, and the British Spitfire fighters will come in droves from time to time to harass them...... All of this overwhelmed the Third Air Force, and even Miller, who was the captain, had to fly three hours a day in the air so that the other pilots could get a little rest.

Thinking of this, Miller couldn't help but curse.

But at the same time, he also knew that the situation on the battlefield at this time was not optimistic, and not only the Third Air Force, but also other air forces were not easy...... The great Führer was eager to turn all the warplanes into two, so he had nothing to complain about.

Miller flew with a few warplanes to the east of the island of Malta, an area where Greece was in the north, Libya was in the south, and there was an island of Crete in between, forming an area that the Germans called the Crossroads of Death...... The reason why it is called the crossroads of death is because British and German warships and ships are easy to find and blockade here, so there are also air battles and firefights in the skies above this sea area again and again, and it is not known how many warplanes and wreckage of warplanes and ships are sleeping on the bottom of the sea.

As usual, Miller looked around while flying the fighter planes in circles, which was a good habit he had developed in his long air combat, and he always believed that one of the important reasons why he had survived to become a colonel was this.

Then he saw a few black dots faintly flashing from where the sun had risen......

"British!" Miller yelled into the walkie-talkie, which he quickly recognized as a British Spitfire.

Before the words fell, the black dots also turned around and approached them, and the British fighters had apparently discovered their presence.

"Stay away from them!" Miller gave the order.

The enemy had the same number of fighters as his own, with six fighters on both sides.

But Miller knew that British pilots had a quality advantage over his own subordinates. So Miller would not let his fighters fight the British, because his advantage was in numbers...... It would be absolutely stupid to win by numbers and then fight hard.

So Miller immediately told the two nearby patrols to move closer to him, and if the British dared to catch up, they would fall into the trap he had set.

But Miller soon realized that something was wrong, as another fleet of Spitfires appeared in the other direction, also numbering six.

"It seems that the British are planning to fight today!" Miller said, thinking in his heart that eighteen against twelve would not have a very good chance of winning, or that even if he could win, he would suffer heavy losses.

So Miller did not hesitate and urgently transferred another fleet.

But...... The number of British aircraft soon increased to eighteen.

At this time, Miller felt that something was wrong, and the British seemed to be deliberately mobilizing their main forces. Intuition told Miller that this could be an elaborate trap by the British.

So what could it be?

Miller was no longer able to decide, and he immediately reported the situation to Command.

Soon, Miller received instructions from Marshal Kesselring: "Fight, Colonel, we have no other choice, no matter what lies ahead, victory is our only truth!" ”

This is also an embarrassment for the side that has gained air supremacy...... The side that has gained air supremacy is at least strategically passive, because to obtain air supremacy, it must ensure the safety of this sky, so it has to constantly send fighters to patrol, while the enemy can concentrate on any point of surprise attack at any time.

What's worse is that after gaining air supremacy, all ground units will operate on the premise of "air safety", such as the transport ships from Italy to Libya, as well as the ports of the two places, which are constantly loading and unloading and transporting various military supplies at this time.

This determined that the German army had to respond to the challenge of the British army.

Because the price of not being able to fight is that the British army can bomb these ports and transport ships with impunity, causing heavy losses to the German army.

So Miller had to grit his teeth and ordered: "The 1st and 2nd Air Squadrons take off urgently, and the 3rd Air Squadron is ready to take off!" ”

From the wingman's point of view, Miller made a bit of a fuss about this, with only eighteen British fighters behind him, and one squadron was enough to win.

But Miller doesn't think it's going to be that simple.

Soon, a group of thirty German planes arrived and joined Miller, who immediately commanded the group to turn around and meet the British plane.

The British fleet did not respond, they turned around and flew in the direction of Alexandria, Miller couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and ordered not to pursue.

His subordinates were puzzled by this order, and they all said that they could not let the British aircraft group escape like this, but Miller was unmoved.

It soon became clear to his subordinates that Miller was right, for soon a larger group of planes appeared in the air, numbering at least a hundred sorties, which were divided into two parts, one on the left and one on the right, rushing towards the German group.

"It's a gannet!" Miller anxiously reported to the command: "More than a hundred, it is clear that the British aviation has been strengthened, this is a trap they have set......"

"Gannet" is the British name for the "Hellcat", the United States produced more than 10,000 "Hellcat" fighters in two years, in addition to the Pacific theater of use in the United Kingdom through the Lend-Lease Act.

It's just that Britain doesn't often use this fighter, mainly because its avionics and operation are a little different from the common habits of the British, after all, it is American, and British pilots need at least a few years of training to fly them proficiently, and Britain obviously can't wait for that time.

Therefore, at this time, Miller actually miscalculated, he thought that he had encountered a "gannet" driven by the British...... According to his knowledge, although these "gannets" have excellent performance, their combat effectiveness is not very good, so he believes that his air force can still cope with it.

But what he didn't know was that the "Hellcat" he encountered was actually piloted by an American pilot, and its combat effectiveness was no longer comparable to that of the former "Gannet."