I don't remember how long it took for me to hear no more familiar voices in the squadron's radio communication channels, which may have been due to distance, but it was also possible that there were extreme cases where all the fighters were shot down, and perhaps most of the pilots were able to parachute out and soon return to the combat sequence...... Luftwaffe Second Lieutenant Les Schindler and his temporary partner, Air Force Warrant Officer Frydel Erahmann, buried these speculations in their hearts. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

After disengaging from enemy fighters, the two pilots sailed north in an effort to search for the enemy fleet. Based on normal reasoning, they extended the reconnaissance range to 200 kilometers, but there was still no trace of the enemy. Could it be that the hundreds of US and British fighters that attacked the Azores came out of thin air?

Seeing that the fuel gauge reading was dropping little by little, and that there was nothing but the endless sky and the vast sea in their sight, the two German pilots fell into a deep confusion, and just as they were becoming more and more desperate, a large group of black spots appeared in the distance - it was obviously another wave of aircraft attacking the Azores!

Adjusting the radio station to the frequency of the airport headquarters, I thought that there would be a chaotic sound comparable to the noise of the city in the headphones, but it turned out to be only a monotonous rustling sound. He tried to call the command and got a smooth response, and the mood at the moment was tantamount to a person in the water grabbing a lifebuoy.

"We are now about 200 kilometers north of the island of Texel, and we have found about 10 squadrons of enemy planes flying south in front of us, and their target is likely to be Texel, so please be prepared to meet them...... Visually inspecting the group's movement speed was around 300 km/h, and we only had two planes, the Black Falcon 9 and 2, which were ordered by Captain Furchers, the squadron leader, to scout the enemy fleet...... Okay, understood! ”

After the call, Second Lieutenant Schindeler turned back to the familiar frequency: "Hey, Fred, I just got in touch with the base command, which at least means that our airfield was not destroyed by the first wave of enemy air strikes. The command ordered us to continue the search for the enemy's fleet, and only by finding them could our bombers launch an effective counterattack. ”

Another voice came from the empty channel: "Black Falcon 2 received. ”

The cold answer may have been a manifestation of pessimism, and it ruthlessly extinguished the excitement of Second Lieutenant Schindler, but it was not a bad thing, at least it allowed him to face the grim situation in front of him calmly. The two Fokker Warhawks quietly ducked into the clouds, avoiding any form of contact with the enemy fleet moving in the opposite direction. They continued to fly north, 50 kilometers, 100 kilometers, and finally saw the ship 300 kilometers away from the island of Texel. Although it was only a lone destroyer, how wide could a fleet's maritime alert circle be?

"The target must be nearby! Keep your eyes open and look closely! The fleet under sail should have a very striking column of smoke! Second Lieutenant Schindeler radioed his temporary partner.

The other party responded: "I'm working on it...... But I didn't see anything but the light ship below, which was unusual and weird......"

The two Fokker G-51s flew in the clouds as best they could, but they still caught the attention of the vigilantes, and the destroyer on the surface of the sea began to fire into the air, but its anti-aircraft guns were of little use, and the two German fighters left it and continued north, the smoke of the explosion of those shells falling far behind.

After a while, the real threat emerged - four biplane fighters suddenly killed from the clouds in the northwest. Some of the air formations are just for the air parade to prepare for the show, and some are tacit tactical cooperation, and tacit understanding usually requires a lot of technical literacy and long-term running-in.

Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy planes were still approaching, Second Lieutenant Schindeler suggested to his partner: "We should not engage them hard, but rely on speed, bypass them and reconnoiter to the northwest, the enemy fleet is likely to be in that direction." What do you think? ”

"That sounds like a good idea, but I don't think they're necessarily flying straight from the fleet. If I were the commander of the fleet, I would have found a way to mislead the opponent's judgment, so to be on the safe side, I think I should fly to the northeast and you to the northwest, so that our chances of finding the enemy fleet can be doubled. When the time comes, no matter who discovers the target first, no matter how powerful the attack is, must find a way to find out the strength of the enemy fleet...... I have a bad feeling that the enemy's air raids are both sudden and fierce, many of our planes have not had time to take off, the aviation units deployed on the island of Texel must have suffered heavy losses, maybe we have only one or two chances to counterattack. As for the success or failure of this battle, it is likely to depend on the results of our reconnaissance! ”

Second Lieutenant Schindrer hesitated for a moment, then replied in a decisive tone: "Alright, Fred, we will do as you say!" Even if we don't make it back alive, we need to help those who are alive to get through it. Good luck! ”

"Good luck too!"

With that, the two turned their own planes and parted ways.

After the two Fokker Warhawks dispersed, the enemy fighters split into two and slaughtered them violently.

In air combat with almost no battlefield boundaries, absolute speed is one of the most critical indicators, which is why the Germans did not hesitate to replace the Fokker-XI with the Fokker G-51, which has not been in service for a long time and is quite acclaimed, and the Irish also bought the ME-50 production license at a high price and manufactured it in large quantities under the condition that the IR-29 and IR-30 continued to sell well in the international arms market. The Vyschelsky P-32A of the US Army Air Force also significantly set the speed record for its own fighters. Faced with enemy biplanes flying at levels below 400 km/h, the two Fokker G-51s deftly fluffed a shot, turned sideways sharply and then dived at a tight angle. The enemy pilots were clearly unprepared for this, and by the time they hurriedly turned around and tried to catch up, the German fighters had already thrown them several streets away......

At this time, the terrible air raid sirens on Texel Island had temporarily ceased, and the island's three airfields, including the dual-use airfield on the northern outskirts of Sangra Sangra, were all fiercely attacked during the first wave of air raids by the US-British coalition forces, and the wreckage of the burning or burned out fighter planes could be seen everywhere on the tarmac, runway, and surrounding grass, and most of the hangars, barracks, warehouses, and control towers were bombed and strafed by enemy planes. Despite the loss of a large number of planes and the mental impact, the German officers and soldiers did not shrink from depression, and the survivors treated the wounded, cleaned up the corpses, and repaired the runway with manpower and machinery, so that the able-bodied pilots could fly the intact fighters to the air as soon as possible.

Returning to the hangar of the 33rd Fighter Wing, which doubled as a tactical set-up, Colonel von Richthofen was embarrassed but not discouraged, although his wing had lost most of its fighters, 89 of the 160 pilots had re-established themselves in front of him, and about half of the remaining 71 were confirmed dead or seriously wounded, while the lightly wounded and parachuted elsewhere and would not be long before they returned.

"Gentlemen, you must be very upset now, for most of you have not been given a fair chance to fight your enemies. In the battle just now, I had the privilege of shooting down an English-made 'Mountain Eagle', the enemy's best fighter at the moment. I can responsibly tell you that if we had been prepared for the battle, the enemy would probably only have a few planes to return. However, there are no 'ifs' on the battlefield, and we are caught off guard by the enemy's hard work, and look at what has become of the modern airfield around us, which cost hundreds of millions of marks. Who is to blame for this tragedy? At least we didn't make a mistake - we took off seven minutes faster than the operating protocol, which was on par with the usual best results in the exercise, and our fighters took off to cover their comrades who had not yet taken off, and many of us were brave, but unfortunately we lost the battle. Including me, those who took off were basically shot down, which is a shame that I never dreamed of! ”

Richthofen said where he was excited, and he habitually waved his right fist, and the white gauze that wrapped his hand was very striking - when he left the cockpit, his right hand was cut by the glass, and because of the deep wound, he bled a lot, but after being bandaged, he did not hesitate to put his name on the list of reports of those who could fight.

"Objectively speaking, the enemy's raid was a great success at very little cost, and they will definitely have a new offensive next, and the command order is to do everything possible to intercept enemy aircraft and avoid bombing the port and fleet. At present, there are only 6 Fokker G-51s that can still take off in our wing, and it will take at least four hours for the Fokker-XI as a strategic reserve to be fully in place, and the enemy obviously will not give us such ample time to prepare, so my decision is ...... Each group is equipped with two Fokker G-51s, which are piloted by the best pilots in training, the 2nd Group is relatively evenly staffed, with priority given to the Fokker-XI, and the 1st and 3rd Groups are temporarily rotated for rest. ”

A new combat scheme was deployed, and Richthofen announced its disbandment. The two group leaders and an officer who temporarily took the position of group leader quickly selected the top pilots to fly the Fokker G-51, and the winners were all fierce and ready to go. Richthofen left them and all the pilots of the 2nd Group alone to explain the combat matters -- before the two sides were in close combat, the raiding side fully occupied the initiative, and many German pilots with first-class skills were quickly thrown off their horses, and in order to stabilize their positions in the next wave of enemy air raids and then give full play to their due tactical equipment, it was obviously necessary to learn the lesson just now and make corresponding adjustments in terms of tactics, and whether this adjustment was effective, Richthofen was not completely sure, so he could only watch as he walked and improvise.

(End of chapter)