After the German Air Defense Command on the island of Texel issued an air raid alert, two combat duty squadrons belonging to the 12th and 37th Fighter Wings of the Luftwaffe took the lead in the air to meet the enemy, and 32 Fokker G-51s formed two neat tactical formations, plus 4 Fokker G-51s and 36 German Warhawks from the alert patrol positions formed the first line of air defense of the Azores garrison. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"This is a realistic exercise", and the idea of a few German pilots to be lucky was quickly shattered by the shocking sight in sight. As far as the sky can see, the incoming enemy fighters are like a strange rain cloud, and the black pressure is rushing towards the face - you know, it is a huge carrier-based aircraft group composed of 231 fighters and 127 bombers!

"We can't rush through from the front, we will be torn to pieces by the heavy fire of the enemy group...... Climb! Climb all! Attack from above! Try to avoid enemy fighters, attack their bombers as much as possible, and disrupt their formations! ”

In the communication channel of one of the German fighter squadrons, the commander's voice was tense and urgent, and his emotions immediately infected the young pilots under his command, and they climbed up in a panic, and the entire squadron suddenly lost its formation, and many of them failed to maintain even the most basic two-plane formation, and the squadron commander, who lacked actual combat experience, never realized this terrible mistake in the short process from adjustment to engaging the enemy.

The situation of the other German fighter squadron was slightly better, the commander intended to launch a frontal attack with a cavalry charge, and then break it into pieces, shuttle freely with a two-plane group as the basic combat unit, and then regroup to the east of the enemy group, which was a common tactical routine in their training exercises, but the Germans had never simulated such a disparity in the air confrontation situation, and no one knew how the battle would develop.

Without waiting for the German fighters to approach, the dense group of American and British planes began to "divide," and dozens of fighters divided into several combat units to meet the two German squadrons. In silhouette, they are all monoplanes, small, agile and fast. The two sides walked in the opposite direction, and in the blink of an eye, they were connected to the fire. The Fokker G-51's 20mm cannon had the upper hand in range and power, but the oncoming American and British fighters showed no signs of weakness, swinging left and right to evade German fire, and trying to seize the fleeting opportunity to attack. Although the single combat power of the Fokker G-51 was stronger than that of the other side, the American and British fighters controlled the situation by virtue of their huge numerical superiority. The German fighter squadron that met head-on failed to penetrate the enemy position, but was quickly chased by enemy fighters, and the pilots who survived the first round of frontal combat were almost exhausted.

The German fighter squadron that tried to occupy the commanding heights in the air also failed to "succeed", and they encountered American and British fighters diving down from a high place during the climb. The two sides met in a narrow way, and four or five American and British fighters were instantly blown up by Fokker G-51s, and the bullets fired by American and British fighters also shot down and damaged many German fighters in the first round. The rest of the Fokker G-51 climbed to an altitude of 3,000 meters with difficulty, and the German pilots found that in addition to the overhead, there were enemy planes everywhere, which made them fall into the dilemma of being difficult for lions and tigers to defeat wolves.

"Each two-plane formation disperses its operations, detects the number of enemy aircraft, and if you can't contact me, report directly to the wing command!"

"These are definitely carrier-based aircraft, I see that they have hooks in the tail! There are at least two or three hundred of these guys, and there must be a big fleet behind them! A pilot's call alerted the squadron commander, who hurriedly ordered: "Rice, is your wingman still there?" Fly in the direction from which the enemy aircraft are coming and try to find the trail of the enemy fleet, and the rest of the men will take cover! ”

"I don't think I have any wingmen anymore, sir, but I can go and scout on my own!"

The squadron commander instructed his wingman pilot: "Fred, you go with Rice, be careful to protect yourself!" ”

The other party replied decisively: "Understood!" ”

After the reassignment of the mission, the surviving fighters acted independently, and the American and British fighters, several times their size, had also climbed up from low and medium altitudes, and a vicious battle of life and death was inevitable.

At the same time, as Colonel von Richthofen waited anxiously, 160 pilots belonging to the 33rd Fighter Wing of the Royal German Air Force, including 1 lieutenant colonel, 3 majors, and 46 lieutenants, finally gathered in the hangar 9 minutes after the air raid siren was raised. The ground crew did not have time to prepare enough chairs, so half of them sat and half of them stood, the muffled air defense sirens still echoed in their ears, and the entire airport was filled with the roar of engines, and the atmosphere was strangely tense and solemn.

"Lads, this is not a drill, the enemy is coming!" Richthofen's opening remarks were concise and to the point, and his words silenced the huge hangar, and every word he said next was taken to heart by the pilots.

"The squadron on duty has been lifted into the air, and according to the prescribed schedule, the non-combat duty unit should take off within 15 minutes of receiving the combat order, and there are still a few minutes to make pre-battle deployment before our aircraft completes preparations for takeoff...... So far, we don't know exactly how many planes the enemy has, what exactly they are, and from what distance, but what is certain is that their goal is to defeat us, and they want to take the Azores - this is what they have been dreaming about, and I am going to say ...... Let them keep dreaming! ”

The German pilots burst into laughter, then quickly fell silent, waiting for the Wing Commander's reply.

"The closest land to the Azores is more than a thousand kilometers away, where German troops are stationed. I do not think that the enemy's aircraft are flying from more than 2000 kilometers away, the only possibility is carrier-based aircraft taking off from an aircraft carrier. As for the number of incoming enemy planes, the information provided by the command is that there is a 'large group', and whether this large group is 100 or 200 or 300 or 400, you only need to keep in mind two points: first, obey the command of the commander; Second, trust your comrades-in-arms. This is the first time most of you have gone to war, and the same is true for enemy pilots, there is nothing to fear. What you do in peacetime training and exercises, you can do it on the battlefield, it's very simple......"

At this point, there was a sudden rumbling of cannon in the distance, and the pilots were discolored, and Colonel Richthofen was no exception. He hurriedly looked at his watch and decisively ordered: "All take off urgently!" Good luck to everyone here! Disband! ”

The battle was imminent, and the seated pilots stood up and saluted, and the standing pilots almost immediately pulled out their legs and ran out. Outside the hangar, groups of ground crews were mostly ready, planes were constantly gliding on the adjacent runway, and the distant sound of artillery could be clearly heard. The pilots roared to their respective landlines, and with the help of the ground crew, they put on their life jackets and parachute bags, sat in the cockpit, and put on flight caps with built-in headphones and walkie-talkies. The fighters start, roar, taxi, and enter the runway in turn.

Colonel von Richthofen was a leading commander and a highly skilled pilot, having won 22 consecutive exercises in the exercise. After finally explaining the tactical arrangements to the three captains, he rushed to his landline at a speed not inferior to that of a young man, and the only special feature of this Fokker G-51 was that it had a striking family crest painted on the side of its fuselage.

The rumbling of artillery fire became more and more intense, and black smoke from the explosion of anti-aircraft shells could already be seen in the northern sky, which meant that enemy planes were very close to the area. Colonel Richthofen stood on the wing and looked out, his wing had only taken off a few planes, and the situation was not optimistic, but the speed of reaction was the best that could be achieved in the exercise, and both the ground crew and the airport command personnel did their duty, and the enemy could only be blamed for coming too suddenly.

When everything was ready, the ground crew officer patted the hatch cover: "Good luck, Colonel!" ”

Richthofen hurriedly waved his hand, the fighter started smoothly, and all the gauges showed normal. Although his heart had begun to accelerate, the Colonel took a composure to check the reaction of the tail, flaps, and throttle valves, which did not take much time, but was able to minimize the fatal consequences of mechanical problems.

The sound of artillery and explosions outside the cabin was getting closer and closer, and out of the corner of the eye, I could already catch a glimpse of the flames of the anti-aircraft positions near the airfield. At this moment, Colonel Richthofen's heart was beating faster than it had been when he had first lifted off into the air, but not because of the tension of the battle. In the last battle, he was fortunate to achieve his first shot down record, after the war, he served overseas for many years, in Egypt and the Middle East, these experiences allowed him to face the battle with a more sophisticated and calm attitude, and now the reason for the panic is that his wing will be beaten to the ground by the opponent before he can swing his fist, and the fighters will be damaged, the personnel will be killed and wounded, and even the airport facilities will be ravaged and destroyed......

"Redbeard No. 1, Redbeard No. 2, it's your turn to enter Runway No. 1, and in front of you is the 6th Squadron of the 2nd Brigade!" The sound coming from the headphones made Colonel Richthofen distracted, and he gave a thumbs up to the ground crew waiting next to him, one left and one right, while removing the wooden pads from the main nose wheels and the fighter plane gliding forward under the force of the propeller thrust. The colonel adjusted the throttle valve with a smooth motion, allowing the landline to get from the tarmac to the take-off runway slightly faster than usual.

"Redbeard 1 has entered Runway 1, everything is ready, request ......"

Before the colonel finished speaking, the exclamation in the headset made his slightly calmed mind instantly confused.

"Hell! Enemy planes are coming! We still have a lot of planes that haven't taken off! Too bad! ”

At this juncture, Colonel Richthofen had no idea what to do with the take-off procedures, and the two fighters in front of him had already slid a distance of several hundred meters, and he opened the throttle valve to the limit, and the Daimler engine let out a powerful roar, and then lowered the flaps in order to take off in the shortest possible distance.

(End of chapter)