Before dawn, the Flying Wing Commanders of the Luftwaffe gathered again at the headquarters of General Lonneburg, ready to listen to the battle arrangements for the new day. www.biquge.info The night that was about to pass was about to be painful, and most of them were feeling the torment, as the US and British fleets once again launched an artillery bombardment of the main military facilities on the island of Texel, and the coastal defense fortresses and military airfields were given special care. Nearly half of the No. 7 artillery fortress group "Lübeck Fortress" was destroyed, the No. 8 artillery group "Dartstam Fortress" where the ammunition depot exploded the night before basically lost its combat effectiveness, the eastern air base was also swept away by plough-like artillery fire, and even some concrete underground hangars could not escape the catastrophe, and the loss of a large amount of equipment and personnel cast a shadow over the prospects of the German army defending Texel Island.

"Gentlemen, so far we have 87 fighters left at our disposal, and a number of aircraft are being repaired, but there are not many of them, and the situation is not optimistic; 142 bombers remained, 60 transporters remained; There are 612 pilots on standby, and some of the lightly wounded can be put into battle in an emergency, but it doesn't seem to be needed yet. At this, General Lonneburg spread his hands helplessly.

Colonel Peters of the 46th Fighter Wing immediately suggested: "We can transfer two more squadrons from São Miguel Island, leaving only one squadron to remain stationed." If possible, another fighter group will be drawn from Flores Island, after all, Texel Island is the main battlefield of this battle, and we can only win this battle if Texel resists the attack of American and British troops. ”

A thoughtful and well-rounded commander like General Lonneburg, who had apparently considered the pros and cons of such an approach, waved his hand: "At the level of the campaign, we should have a way back, rather than putting all our eggs in one basket, because the enemy is more difficult to deal with than we expected." As we said at last night's meeting, the enemy may still have more than three hundred aircraft, which means that we need less than a hundred fighters to withstand three or even four times the enemy's attack. According to the previous tactics, we may be able to hold out for a day, or we may collapse in half a day, so our tactics must be adjusted according to the current situation, abandon the defense of the front, and adopt a strategy of combining focused strikes and flexible guerrilla attacks. ”

After that, the general glanced at everyone with a keen eye, and said word by word: "Every fighter is precious now, and I ask you to select air combat hunters who are quick and bold and calm enough to fly them and fight under the direct deployment of the air defense command." You are both a wing commander and a good pilot, but I do not recommend that you go into battle yourself, because sometimes you can see the battlefield better when you are on the ground than in the air, and you should learn to use your forces correctly in war, and after such a difficult battle, I believe that your position will be improved with your ability. ”

Regardless of what others thought, Colonel von Richthofen knew that General Lonneburg had acted out of sanity. In the two days of fighting, the 30th Air Regiment had lost seven colonel-level officers, including a bomber wing commander, and such losses caused the troops to suffer a considerable blow to the command structure and mental and psychological levels at the same time. The wing commanders of the aviation units are certainly the most experienced and stable pilots, but they are not necessarily the best in terms of technology and battlefield performance. At the end of two days, the number one ace for the largest number of enemy planes shot down was still Captain Majid Patzler of the 12th Fighter Wing, whose record reached 17, and he was rewarded by telegrams from the Kaiser and the Crown Prince, presumably his prestige would soon become a household name in the country. After Captain Patzler, there were 2 lieutenants and 1 sergeant with 10 or more records, and Richthofen shot down 7 planes was the best of the Wing Commanders, and for this record he was shot down and wounded once by the enemy, and nearly lost his life in the battle.

The army needs a flag, but the flag doesn't have to be a commander who oversees the whole picture.

"Given that the fighter unit has to concentrate on the tasks I have just described, the tactical strategy of the bomber unit also needs to be adjusted. The enemy's aircraft carriers are still our number one enemy, but until the situation improves, we will no longer organize large groups of aircraft to attack, but will attack the landed enemy units and enemy ships operating in coastal waters in small formations or small detachments. My requirement is that each bomber must be instructed by the air defense command before taking off for combat! ”

After saying this with a serious expression, General Lonnebug raised his hand to look at his watch, and then ordered: "It is almost dawn, please go back and do a good job of mobilization." You can be on standby at the wing headquarters or you can return here to take command. So be it! ”

The wing captains did not leave directly after getting up, but shook hands with their colleagues and said goodbye. After a few moments, only General Lonneburg and his lieutenant were left in the room, when Colonel Richthofen turned back from the door.

"General, after careful consideration, I feel that I should participate in today's air battle, and I hope you will approve it."

Lonneburg didn't look surprised, and he responded: "Don't tell me you made such a decision for the sake of merit and honor. ”

Richthofen shrugged his shoulders and said, "Am I such a reckless and superficial person in your eyes? ”

The general took out his cigarette case: "Tell me what you think." ”

"My wing now has only 16 planes capable of taking to the skies, and my idea is to organize them into two tactical formations, with Major von Darvel and I each taking turns to attack. Relatively complete formations can give full play to their might in key assaults, and when they are engaged in air guerrilla warfare, they can also cover each other and respond to each other, so as to reduce losses as much as possible. If you're the same as me, then there's no need for me to stay on the ground and command. ”

Lonneburg lit a cigarette and took two puffs: "Well, Your Excellency Baron von Richthofen, I know that your pilots trust you very much, and with you by their side, they will have more confidence to fight the enemy." ”

Richthofen saluted: "Thank you, General! ”

Lonneburg stretched out his right hand: "Good luck to you and your lads!" ”

At dawn, three military airfields, two standby airfields and a number of temporary runways on Texel Island resounded with a powerful roar, and a series of camouflage-painted war eagles spread their wings and took off in the faint morning light. The German pilots sitting in the cockpit of the fighter plane did not have the confidence they had in the past, and their focused eyes revealed awe of the battlefield, and the solemn atmosphere was reflected in every young and resolute face. The combat situation has reached a precarious point, and the fighters taking off from all over the island of Texel can barely gather an air group, of which the main fighter on the front line is only a handful of Fokker G-51s.

After watching these fighters take off into the air, a terrible air defense siren sounded in people's ears. The arduous and bloody battles of the previous two days had completely activated the combat qualities acquired by the professional soldiers through long-term training, the antiaircraft artillery units were quickly put into position, and the ground crews quickly used camouflage means to cover the emergency airfield and the temporary runway, and by the time the Ukrainian enemy fighters flew to Texel Island, all the German officers and men were already in full array.

Just as the German commanders feared, the aviation force of the American and British fleets was far larger than expected, and in the early morning of the third day after the campaign was launched, they actually dispatched nearly 200 carrier-based aircraft in one go to kill the Germans. Some of the bombers flying at low and medium altitudes pounced on the German positions in the northwest of Texel Island, and most of them headed straight for the German airfields, destroying the dilapidated aviation facilities there with large and small aerial bombs.

In the face of the rampant American and British fighters, the resistance of the German ground air defense forces was pale and powerless, but in the process, the German fighter group that had taken off ahead of schedule did not bravely and tenaciously rush into the enemy plane group as it had done two days earlier, so that some people who did not know the truth thought that they had retreated to other islands that had not yet been attacked. Without the most troublesome obstruction in the previous two days, the US and British pilots were much more comfortable, and when all the bombers had dropped their bombs, the fighters that had been covering at medium and high altitudes also came down in batches to strafe ground targets.

Under such a favorable situation, the American and British warships, which had returned to the coastal waters, lost no time in shelling the German positions, and the American and British troops who landed on Texel Island then launched a new round of attacks on the German troops on the periphery of the beachhead. Not long after, the US and British fighters that had come to attack the air raid returned one after another. Although most of the American and British pilots were still on high alert, compared to the compact formation when they came, their formation to fly back was much looser, and as the position gradually moved away from Texel Island, the bomber pilots were in a happy mood, after all, in the air battle in the first two days, the biggest loss was the carrier-based bombers with poor mobility and weak defense, and now they have easily completed the bombing mission, which may mean that the most difficult moment has passed......

Halfway through the return voyage, the nervousness of the American and British pilots gradually relaxed, and suddenly, more than 20 German fighters swooped down from the clouds, and they were like weasels that nimbly avoided the enemy fighters and rushed towards the carrier-based bombers flying in formation. The returning US and British bombers were no longer burdened by bombs, and seeing that the situation was not good, they hurriedly dispersed to evade the attack, and this seemed to be expected by the opposing pilots, who took advantage of their speed advantage or stuck their positions to grab points or follow in pursuit, and in the blink of an eye, they shot down eight or nine US and British fighters.

The US-British fighters escorting the entire escort were several times larger than the group of sneak attackers in front of them, how could they watch the Germans be arrogant? They decisively divided half of their forces and surrounded and intercepted the German Fokker-XI who rushed into their formation. The German pilots, apparently aware that the fighters had no advantage in performance and were far fewer in number than their opponents, withdrew in the direction of Texel Island after the attack, attracting some American and British fighters faster than Focker-XI to pursue them. After moving away from the enemy's large formation, the German fighters in a state of being pursued suddenly lowered their altitude, and when the American and British fighters behind them followed, more than a dozen other German fighters appeared behind them, and the two sides immediately fought together. The Germans had a slight upper hand in numbers and mentality, and the advantages of elite pilots were brought to the fore at this time. The Fokker-XI won a one-on-one battle with the American-made "Flying Barrel", and two Focker-XI worked together to strangle a British-made "Seahawk". The air battle lasted about a quarter of an hour, with most of the American and British fighters losing half of them, a few fleeing in haste, and the Germans suffering much less losses.

As the morning sun leaps over the sea, the offensive of the US-British landing force gradually slows down under the prepared resistance of the German army, and they advance the battle line to a position six or seven kilometers from the beachhead, which makes their follow-up landing force not threatened by German light field artillery and heavy mortars on the beach, and the US-British destroyers cruising in the coastal waters can still provide effective support for the ground forces with accurate fire suppression.

In the northern sky, another group of American and British fighters attacked strongly, and the light spots that appeared on the German radar screen were dense, and technicians could only roughly estimate their number at about 120 to 140, which means that the American and British fleets could use more carrier-based aircraft than Lonneburg and his subordinates estimated.

The German anti-aircraft units stationed at the front line, airfields, fortresses, and ports were once again nervous, their weapons and ammunition were still sufficient, and the biggest problem at the moment was that they had tried their best but had gained little, while the enemy's casualties were rising, and the combat effectiveness of the troops was declining with the erosion of confidence and will. How much they hoped that their fighter group would be able to build a strong air defense line to keep most of the enemy planes out and thus reduce the pressure on the ground air defense forces, but until the enemy aircraft group flew over the coastline, the Fokker Eagle was still nowhere to be seen in the sky. Next, American and British fighters began to repeatedly sweep German positions and airfields, bombing German fortresses and ports, and it was only then that a small group of German fighters appeared on the battlefield, and they specially selected American and British bombers that did not have fighter escorts to fight, and once they were targeted by enemy fighters, they basically withdrew without resistance.

The air raid by the US and British planes did not last long, and the attack and harassment of the German fighters did not cause much damage, but they learned from the past, and they maintained a tight escort formation on the way back, and although they encountered German fighters on the way, they did not let the opponent take advantage. Shortly after the return of the US-British aircraft group, more than 20 German bombers, including nearly half of the Ju-17 dive bombers, launched an air raid on the US-British landing force in the northwest of Texel Island, sinking on the spot three landing ships that were unloading at the shore, blowing up a number of combat materials piled up at the landing site, and killing and wounding many US and British soldiers. Immediately afterwards, six land-based torpedo bombers and four seaplanes raided the US and British warships near the landing site, and although only one destroyer was damaged, they successfully forced the US and British warships in this area to retreat and evade, indirectly reducing the pressure on the front-line ground forces.

(End of chapter)