With the relentless war on the way, in just one day, Limerick went from an international city with a rich nightlife to a city with few lights after dark. On the first day of the war, the British Air Force launched two waves www.biquge.info of air raids on the Irish capital in succession, and more than 120 bombs fell into the city area, counting the bombs that fell elsewhere, and on that day British planes dropped nearly 200 tons of bombs on Irish territory -- according to the British official, this was a serious warning to the enemy. If the Irish government does not withdraw from the war sooner, more bombs will fall on their heads in the future.

Eleven buildings were damaged, fires broke out in six neighbourhoods, more than 200 people were killed in air raids, twice as many civilians were injured to varying degrees, and there was incalculable property damage, the first time Limerick had been attacked since the St. Patrick's Day assassination and the Champions Cup bombing in 1917. Fortunately, the garrison was well prepared, the fire caused by the bombing was quickly extinguished, the injured were treated in a timely manner, road traffic was basically restored, the domestic water and gas supply remained unimpeded in most neighborhoods, and the mood of the people was basically stable.

After dinner, Natsuki led Charlotte back to the Forest Palace from the Dragon's Lair. The British were well aware of the exact location of the Irish royal palace, and they had every chance of attacking it during the day's bombing, but the British did not do so, just as the German bombers deliberately avoided Buckingham Palace, giving their opponents the respect they deserved. For this reason, and with his knowledge and trust in Ireland's air defense alert system, Natsuki decided not to move his bedroom to a fortification deep underground.

In the small conference room of the "Forest Palace", the senior generals of the Irish army sat around a table and reported to the king in order of gains and losses in their respective fields, asking for advice, advice or being advised. The Air Force was undoubtedly the busiest of the day, with an average of more than three fighter pilots, two bomber pilots, and ground crews and mechanics working from head to night.

"In terms of fighters, the IR-29 lost 71 aircraft, the IR-30 lost 44 aircraft, the ME-50 lost 27 aircraft, and the He-25 lost 1 aircraft, 80 percent of them were shot down in the battle to intercept the British aviation unit, and so far 37 fighter pilots have been killed, 5 missing, 19 seriously wounded and 30 lightly wounded. In terms of bombers, the IK-27 lost 13 units, the He-28 lost 18 units, and 79 bomber pilots were killed and missing. In terms of transport aircraft, the Ju-26 lost 9 units, the He-28 lost 3 units, the IK-25 lost 9 units, and the pilots of the transport aircraft were killed and 37 people were missing. ”

Listening to the report of the Chief of the Air Force's General Staff, Colonel Connolly, in the most direct and boring way, Natsuki still sat silently, and his senior military adviser, former Secretary of War Ammo Perev, shook his head and said: "In less than 12 hours after the start of the war, the Irish Air Force lost nearly two hundred aircraft, and this battle is really terrifying. ”

Colonel Connolly defended: "At this cost, we shot down 711 British planes, and in these 12 hours, the total number of planes lost by the British Air Force on all fronts is probably not less than 2,000!" ”

The commander-in-chief of the Irish Air Force, the German general De Blonny, blamed himself calmly: "711 is the result of the Irish Air Force, the ground air defense forces and the German army, and the losses of the air defense forces and the Luftwaffe are combined, we actually did not take any advantage, the British Air Force is more difficult to deal with than we expected, or our pilots and fighters are not strong enough." ”

"Maybe we should consider the massive introduction of the Fokker G-51, or equip our fighters with 20-mm machine guns." Colonel Connolly said, "This afternoon I spoke with several pilots who had achieved excellent results, and they were very appreciative of the performance of the German fighters. When intercepting enemy bomber groups, the G-51 was more eye-catching than our ME-50. ”

Natsuki glanced at Air Force Admiral Debloni, a hamburger with a goatee, who had a flat expression and didn't seem to have much thought about the Air Force Chief of Staff's suggestion.

Thanks to two excellent 20mm cannons, the firepower of the Fokker G-51 is indeed second to none among the active fighters in various countries, and this heavy fighter has good protection capabilities, just like heavy cavalry, which is very suitable for frontal assault and seizure of battlefield control, ME-50 is a light multi-functional fighter, focusing on maneuverability, average firepower, acceptable protection, and is a very sharp short sword in the hands of excellent pilots. Due to the different battlefield roles of the two, Natsuki has always felt that there is no superiority between the G-51 and the ME-50, and relatively speaking, the ME-50, which is less expensive and flexible, is more in line with Ireland's strategic needs. At the very least, there is no problem with the ME-50 being used against the latest British main fighter, the Mountain Eagle.

From the end of the last war to the early 30s, Ireland invested less money in the construction of the air force, although the absolute value was less than that of Germany, the United States, and Britain, but the proportion of air force spending in defense expenditure was the highest, and the degree of development of the Irish aviation industry was slightly inferior to that of Germany and the United States, and comparable to that of Britain. Under the stimulus of war, the development of various weapons technology is bound to usher in a new leap period, and who can fly higher and farther often does not depend on the amazing works of a few geniuses, but on the overall strength and technological reserves of the country.

At night, the Danu-class heavy cruiser Nuada, commissioned in 1932, is slowly sailing the southern waters of the Coen Peninsula at a speed of six knots. The ship's longitudinal line was roughly parallel to the shoreline, with the 12 main guns pointing up in front of the port side, and the well-dressed officers gathered at the open-air observation platform on the upper deck of the bridge, silently gazing at the firelight at the end of the sight.

This heavy cruiser with a displacement of 18,500 tons, the tonnage ranks first among the active cruisers in various countries, and the four triple 55 times diameter 203 mm main guns are also the strongest configuration among the cruisers, and the protection, power, fire control, electrical and other aspects are all using the most advanced technology, and the comprehensive performance surpasses the German Navy's newly commissioned Count Schell-class heavy cruisers without pressure, and it has become the most expensive warship in the history of the Irish Navy.

"The firing parameters have been calculated, the distance is 17,500 meters, the estimated impact point deviation range is 500 meters, the first round of shooting is ready, please give your order."

If you kill the enemy on the battlefield, you don't have to bear too much psychological pressure, if you mistake your compatriots, even if no one investigates it in the future, the guilt may not linger in the second half of your life.

Colonel Pat Shivas, after all, was a bold commander, and instead of hesitating, he stared into the distance and resolutely gave the order to open fire.

In the first round of test firing, one gun from each main turret fired, four ordinary grenades were ejected, and about half a minute later, the end of the horizon was continuously popping with fire, and the sound waves could not be transmitted to such a distance, and the report of the school fire from the front line was delivered by radio accuracy two minutes later.

"The shells crossed our lines and fell into enemy territory, and the Marine Command advised us to fire three consecutive rounds according to this parameter."

The colonel bowed slightly: "Confirm the target, three rounds of rapid fire." ”

The order was transmitted from the bridge to the firing command room, and the officers quickly calculated the new firing parameters after relative displacement with the help of mechanical calculators and parameter tables, and then adjusted the firing of all the main guns through the unified command system of the whole ship.

Twelve slender Krupp guns were fired at less than half a second between the front and rear, and the exhilarating roar resounded in the ears, and the gray-white smoke instantly filled the port side.

In the main turret, the gunners who use earplugs to protect their hearing move silently, with the help of semi-automatic mechanized loading equipment, it only takes about 10 seconds to complete the reloading, plus the fine-tuned firing elements, a salvo can be carried out in 15 seconds - in most cases, the battleship does not need to fire at an extreme rate of fire, and the three rounds of rapid fire are actually carried out at intervals of about 40 seconds, which is still much faster than the army artillery of the same caliber!

Hearing a whistle-like screech coming from far and near, paratrooper Gallah tucked his index fingers into his ears and placed himself at the bottom of the trench in a kneeling position. After a few moments, the whole world shook up with a violent explosion, and the "sticky bomb" placed on the edge of the trench rolled down and unceremoniously smashed Gallaher's toe.

The impact of the explosion was fleeting, Gallaher's ears were still ringing, he picked up the "culprit" who smashed his toes, not only was he annoyed, but also a little lucky and afraid, this thing had already opened the safety cover, if he didn't pay attention to the ring of fire, the black light blinded the fire and didn't pay attention, he would die here unjustly.

Putting the "stickybomb" back on the safety cover, Gallaher looked out, the battlefield was filled with thick gunsmoke, and the enemy could not be seen, nor could he hear the sound of metal grinding like before, which did not mean that the enemy's attack was completely thwarted. Their long-range heavy artillery covered the center of the battlefield, and the British infantry and vehicles in the killing range were certainly not in much better condition even if they were not crushed into powder, but those British tanks with hard shells like turtles were at the forefront of their positions, and the explosion hundreds of kilometers away should not pose a direct threat to them.

Less than a minute later, the piercing screams returned, and Gallah ducked back to the bottom of the trench. The coherent explosion interval was extremely short, which was obviously not the dense fire that the army artillery could fire, and judging from the impact of the explosion, the shells seemed to be closer to their own positions than before, was this the rhythm of destroying the British tanks with heavy artillery fire?

Not counting the initial small-scale test firing, after three rounds of artillery bombardment, there was a dead silence on the battlefield, but before a single smoke was reached, the whistle urging the soldiers to attack sounded in the field, and the whistle came one after another, and the sound of gunfire, artillery, the roar of the engine and the friction of the tracks also came one after another.

The British offensive continues!

Syllable...... Syllable......

The crisp sound of breaking branches sounded over the battlefield, and flares lit up the fields, and the snow-white light shone on the yellow-brown painted bodies of the British chariots. Gallaher's cursory observation showed that nearly half of them were lying in place and did not move, and these were the masterpieces of the "Celtic warriors" - they did not rush to the front line and fight the heavily armored British tanks, but fired stationary from improvised positions behind the battle line, and their shells did not always penetrate the armor of the iron-clad turtles, but fortunately, the long-range heavy artillery bombardment delayed the British attack, giving these Irish tanks the opportunity to make continuous attempts.

(End of chapter)