With clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and warm breezes, this is a pleasant and beautiful weather. www.biquge.info General Lem Murai, the commander of the Limerick garrison in military uniform, stood alone on the rooftop of the eastern city headquarters, looking up at the sky with his hands behind his back, letting the gentle wind blow across his face and stir the ends of his gray hair, which hid in the blackness.

The city, which he guarded, was now awakened by the whimpering sound of air raid sirens and the roaring sound of engines. Groups of gray-colored, green-patched fighter jets were flying over the city to the battlefield, and under the invisible battle clouds, countless citizens hurriedly evacuated their places of work or residence, and they followed a pre-arranged route to the nearest air raid bunker, and the maintenance of soldiers and police kept the scene in order. However, Muraj did not see the comfort in his eyes. Limerick is a metropolis with a population of more than one million, with high-rise buildings, hospitals, schools, shopping malls and other crowded places scattered all over the city, and it is absolutely not enough to evacuate residents safely. If a British bomber broke through the barriers and flew to Limerick and dropped tons of bombs on the city, what kind of heart-pounding tragedy would it be in front of you?

Murai didn't want to think about it, but he had to think about it, and the deep worry and anxiety made his heart heavier than ever.

"How can the Germans cherish the city that the Irish have worked so hard to build?"

Before Murai became commander of the Limerick garrison, this was a phrase often quoted by the Irish people. Since Ireland moved the capital to Limerick, four successive capital garrison chiefs are German generals, they can not be said to have failed their duties during their tenure, in addition to the vicious incidents during the religious conflict, Limerick's law and order has always been the best in the European capital, but many Irish people do not buy it, they feel that the royal family's move is not trusting the Irish, is a sincere and loyal injury to them.

Although Murai's ascension removed a significant portion of the population's suspicions, he was not in fact a pure Irishman, but a man of mixed descent. His mother was a native of Ireland and his father was a German doctor, and he was born in Oldenburg, in northern Germany, where he received a German education before joining the German army. He fought as a warrant officer in the German Army during the last major war, and was awarded an Iron Cross of the First Class for his bravery during the Battle of Paris, landing in Ireland at the end of the war. By the time the British army had been completely expelled from Ireland, Murai had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the German Army. With the signing of the Treaty of the Holy Alliance of Germany and Ireland, Murai automatically acquired Irish citizenship and the right to freely choose who he would be loyal to. Like many of his colleagues in similar circumstances, he chose to play for Ireland and has since been transferred to the Irish Army. By chance, he soon became one of the first members of the Irish Royal Guard, and was then appointed Commander of the Guard, a position he held for seven years, which shows the trust of the Irish royal family in him and the recognition of his commanding talents. By the time he stepped down, the Irish Royal Guard had transformed from a simple personal guard to protect the royal family into the most elite special operations force in Europe, and the size of the Royal Guard had expanded from 22 to more than 900, and members of the Irish Royal Guard had begun to appear in various hot spots overseas.

After stepping down as the commander of the Royal Irish Guard, Murai entered the Royal Army Academy of Limerick and the German Military Academy for further study, and completed the transformation from a middle-level officer to a senior officer with excellent performance, and then successively served as the deputy chief of the general staff of the Irish Army, the commander of the 1st Division of the Army, etc., and took over the command of the Limerick garrison in the spring of 1931, when the possibility of war was increasing, and Ireland adopted a strategy to stimulate domestic demand in order to get rid of the economic depression, and greatly expanded its armaments. As a result, the capital garrison has carried out a large-scale replenishment of equipment and the construction of facilities, doubling the number and scale of defensive forts, increasing the number of anti-aircraft artillery pieces from more than 300 to more than 900, properly repairing and maintaining all anti-aircraft shelters and fire-fighting facilities in the urban area, and increasing the number of fire-fighting personnel and vehicles and equipment by one and a half times. With his organisational skills and dedication, Murai was awarded the Crown as Ireland's 90th recipient of the Order of the Holy Clover for keeping the garrison in order.

Honor is like a dish with all the color and flavor, there is always a large table, and a small cloud of filth is enough to ruin people's praise of the dish. Murai is well aware of such a simple and clear truth, but what he cares most about is not personal honor and disgrace, but the lives of thousands of Irish civilians, the city where the faith and hope of millions of Irish people are pinned......

Hearing the sound of hurried footsteps behind him, Muraj's heart throbbed, and he turned to face him, only to see the adjutant come to him in a hurry.

"General, the anti-aircraft lookout post E-1 reports that the enemy aircraft group is approaching at a speed of 300 kilometers per hour and is expected to reach the skies over the city of Limerick in eight minutes. The flight path of the enemy group passed through the No. 1 and No. 9 air defense zones, and its flight altitude was more than 5,000 meters, which exceeded the effective range of the light anti-aircraft guns, and was within the attack range of the heavy anti-aircraft guns, but our fighters were engaged in a melee with the enemy, and if they opened fire, it was very likely that our aircraft would be accidentally damaged. ”

Murai frowned. At present, the Limerick garrison is equipped with nearly 1,000 anti-aircraft guns, one-third of which are so-called "heavy anti-aircraft guns" with a caliber of more than 40 mm, mainly 77 mm, 88 mm and 105 mm, and their firing height basically covers the maximum ceiling that the current aircraft can reach, using pure manpower loading, with a maximum rate of fire of 12 to 15 rounds per minute, mainly relying on cluster fire to destroy air targets, and completely does not have the ability to distinguish between friend and foe and strike accurately, and "light antiaircraft artillery" It is divided into two calibers, 37 mm and 20 mm, both of which are automatic machine guns, mainly German-made single-mounted 37-mm guns and Irish-produced twin-mounted 20-mm guns, which are used to deal with low- and medium-flying targets. In other words, unless our fighter units withdraw in time, the more than 900 anti-aircraft guns here will become decorations.

It is worth mentioning that as early as the end of the 10s, the Limerick garrison divided the air defense area, and the antiaircraft artillery units were deployed in 16 areas, forming an all-round anti-aircraft fire circle without dead ends, and in the expansion of the army in the late 20s and early 30s, most of the newly equipped anti-aircraft guns were vehicle-mounted or vehicle-towed, and the mobile combat capability was greatly improved compared with the traditional anti-aircraft artillery. As long as the tactics are properly deployed and deployed flexibly in wartime, more than 900 antiaircraft guns can bring into play the combat effect of 2,000 antiaircraft guns.

Before Murai could speak, another staff officer appeared at the top of the stairs and reported from afar: "General, Your Majesty has called and has already helped you get here." ”

Unable to care about the general's demeanor, Murai hurried to the top of the staircase, where there was a wall-mounted telephone, which had been turned over by the Command's communications staff so that he could answer the call without returning to the office.

"Your Majesty, Lyme Murai salutes you!"

"Lem, our city is about to be attacked by British bombers."

The voice on the other end of the phone was low but not depressed, Muraj's brows suddenly relaxed, and he straightened his chest and said: "Your Majesty, all the soldiers of the garrison are sworn to defend the capital of Ireland to the death. ”

"It's easy to die, but it's the biggest challenge to keep everyone alive. Lem, this time the British sent more than 200 bombers and about 300 fighters, we sent two fighter wings, the German army sent six fighter groups, a total of nearly 400 fighters rose into the air to meet the battle, and a considerable number of fighters will intercept the British on the way back, the only problem now is that there is no time to let your anti-aircraft artillery units use their might. I estimate that there will be dozens of British planes breaking through the air defenses, they may carry high-explosive bombs, they may also carry special incendiary bombs, and your task is to maintain order in the city, assist the fire department in extinguishing the fire, and rescue the trapped people, understand? The voice on the other end of the line said.

Murai hesitated for a moment, then replied in a calm tone: "Unconditionally carry out your orders, Your Majesty!" ”

"There are no absolutes in everything, you have to act on the opportunity. Good luck! With that, he hung up the phone.

Putting down the earpiece, Murai sighed, then picked up the earpiece again, turned the crank, and connected to the communications hub of the headquarters.

"I am Muray, call all the air defense battalion headquarters at once, and do not open fire without my orders, even if enemy planes fly over their heads; Call the garrison headquarters and in the event of an air raid by enemy bombers, their first task is to maintain order, save people, and extinguish fires. ”

"We will deliver your orders directly?" The voice on the other end of the phone line sounded a little green, it should be a young correspondent, so there would be such doubts.

Murai did not have the patience to instruct the fledgling soldier, and he commanded very neatly: "Yes, pass it as fast as possible, and then call Colonel Andrews to the rooftop." ”

Putting down the earpiece, Murai took out a cigarette case from his pocket, shook out a snow-white cigarette, held it in his mouth, and slowly walked to the position just now.

His adjutant hurriedly stepped forward to give fire and cautiously asked: "General, did Your Majesty order the air defense forces not to open fire, did you deliberately let the British bombers in?" ”

Muraj shook his head, the situation has not yet risen to the level of international politics, this is a purely tactical arrangement. In the face of his subordinates' doubts, he explained: "Our fighter unit is engaged in a fierce battle with the incoming British Air Force, this is a large-scale air battle with nearly 1,000 aircraft, there is no need for our fighters to withdraw from the battle to give the anti-aircraft artillery a chance, they can do a better job than our anti-aircraft artillery battalion." ”

Amid the loud roar, several more groups of grey-bottomed and green-spotted fighters flew over Limerick, including the two-wing, single-engine IR29/30, the single-wing ME-50, and a four-plane formation of He-25s, and the Irish Air Force was actively mobilizing forces to build the last line of defense against the British bombers invading the city of Limerick.

"But the evacuation of the whole city is less than half complete, and in ten minutes, there will definitely be many people stranded outside the bomb shelter, and a bomb may cause terrible casualties, and the citizens will not hear the sound of anti-aircraft artillery, will they think that we are negligent and slow to react, causing British planes to burst into the city and bomb the city?"

This speculation was logical, and Murai took a deep puff of his cigarette, the smoke from his mouth almost obscured his entire face, and a pair of seemingly godless eyes looked at the sky through the smoke, and when the cigarette was finished, the crow-like black dots should appear in sight.

"That's just the worst-case scenario." "We have joined forces with the Germans to dispatch more than 400 fighters," he said, puffing on a cigarette. ”

The adjutant apparently agreed with General Muraj's speculation, he lit a cigarette for himself, and whispered as he swallowed the clouds and mist: "There is a saying in the German military drill that I think is very reasonable: fighter aircraft are used for air defense during the day, and anti-aircraft guns are used for air defense at night. If we had sent so many fighters and we couldn't repel the British bombers, it would have been a really difficult battle. ”

(End of chapter)