The F7F is undoubtedly an excellent fighter-bomber and interceptor, with powerful firepower, horsepower, a sturdy body, excellent climb and dive performance, and some models also have excellent high-altitude performance. The only weakness of the pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info is that it is a little clumsy, and there is no way to engage in aerial combat with a single-engine fighter.

This weakness is not a problem at all for experienced veterans, who risk a little bit of death in exchange for the opportunity to get close to the target (bomber or surface ship). Moreover, the F7F is strong enough that ordinary aviation machine guns pose little threat to it, and even the ammunition of the 20mm cannon can carry a few rounds, unless it encounters a Me262 with a 30mm cannon or an aircraft carrying aviation rockets, it is not easy to shoot down.

However, rookie pilots who have just graduated from the Naval Pilot School can easily fall prey to the F7F's only weakness. Because they are too easily "seduced" by their opponents to engage in aerial combat, and rookies will basically forget about the cooperation of long planes and wingmen when they go to the battlefield, and often give experienced enemies more opportunities to fight less. And once the huge but somewhat clumsy F7F is bitten by 2 or 4 nimble and fast Fokker fighters, it is like a brute bull surrounded by wolves, and it is difficult to escape the doom of being slaughtered.

"Oh my God, I was hit!"

"Oh my God, there are 4 Fokker planes chasing me!"

"What can I do, I can't get rid of them......"

"Help, who's going to save me?"

"Ah, hit, hit......"

The miserable screams were quickly heard in Captain Bush's headphones, and these people who were shouting in the sky were all Captain Bush's subordinates...... But "Lucky Bush" doesn't plan to return to the battlefield to save them. For Bush, most of them are dead! Once the rookie piloting the F7F is caught by the superior number of Fokker fighters, he can't run at all, and the probability of being shot down is extremely high!

It is not easy to successfully parachute to escape on the battlefield, and it requires enough composure and calm, which is not easy for rookies. Most of them will panic when they are shot down for the first time and lose the best chance to parachute to escape. Moreover, the four 20mm cannons of the Fokker aircraft are also very powerful, as long as one of them penetrates the cockpit, most of them will kill the people inside.

Therefore, what Captain Bush needs to consider now is not to save people, but how to write a heartfelt bereavement letter to the family of the fallen pilot.

He is very talented in this area, and every time he can use moving writing to portray the rookie pilot who died very much as a hero in the free world, which makes the family members of the dead rookie moved.

"Sir, it has been confirmed that 8 F-13 AWACS aircraft of the Army's 2th Air Force were shot down, and all F-13s in the sky have lost the command of AWACS! Now they simply can't withstand the Germans' Me262 and Fokker planes ......"

"Sir, Colonel Wayne of the Navy reported that the impact of the F7F group failed, although it shot down a dozen Me264s, but its own losses were several times greater, and it was not able to break up the German bomber group.

The German bomber group has now broken through over Newfoundland! ”

The bad news of the defeat in the air battle reached the North American Northeast Air Command one after another. Lieutenant General Harmon and Admiral Clark both turned pale. Although they had long expected that it would be impossible to stop the German bomber group with their existing air forces, they did not expect that the war situation would be so critical. The German warplanes that stormed over Newfoundland were almost unstoppable!

"Mader, you can't ...... like that," Admiral Clark shook his head and said to Lieutenant General Harmon, "it's like an egg hitting a stone!" ”

"Not so?" Mader. Harmon didn't understand Clark's intentions, "Matthew, what do you mean ......"

"Let's get the air force out of the skies over Newfoundland." Matthew. Clark frowned and said, "We should preserve our strength...... There's nothing on Newfoundland to bomb on the island anyway. If the Germans were to land on Newfoundland, we would need aviation to attack their ships. ”

Until now, Matthew. Clark was not yet convinced that the main direction of attack of the Germans was Newfoundland.

And there is some truth in his opinion, because the Me264 that is now attacking Newfoundland is not a tactical bomber at all. This is a strategic bomber used to bomb cities, not a tactical bomber used against army units in ground fortifications.

Although the Me264 can carry guided munitions, it is too uneconomical to use guided munitions to bombard tanks, infantry trenches, or artillery positions on the ground.

Moreover, the US ground forces on the island of Newfoundland have quite concealed and strong fortifications, which are not so easily destroyed by air fire.

"Okay, that's what I thought, too." Mader. Harmon immediately agreed with Clark's suggestion.

His air forces were too heavy to lose during this time. If he didn't conserve his strength, he would have no planes to send if the Germans did land on Newfoundland or somewhere nearby. Now the main fleet of the Americans does not dare to fight a decisive battle with the combined fleet of Europe, and the Canadian fleet of the British is even weaker, and if there is not enough air force, then there is no way to take the German fleet that transports the landing force.

Just as Lieutenant General Harmon ordered the withdrawal of fighter jets from the skies over Newfoundland, another surprising news reached the North American Northeast Air Command.

"Sir, the F-13 AWACS aircraft of the 1st Fleet of the Navy have spotted a large number of bombers taking off from the Azores!"

"What? Another large number of bombers took off from the Azores? "Matthew. Clark was stunned. "They're still coming to bomb Newfoundland? What's there on Newfoundland worth bombing? ”

The F-13 was actually a ZSO523 assault transport aircraft, but the American F-13 did not dare to approach the reconnaissance, and there were He219s patrolling the air near the Azores. So these F-13s could not tell what type of aircraft took off from the Azores.

Of course, the Americans could never have imagined such a strange tactic as airborne tanks -- without airborne tanks, even if the Germans could organize hundreds or thousands of Fokker 42s, they would be able to airdrop tens of thousands of lightly armed paratroopers, and in the face of more than 200,000 US troops with a large number of mechanized heavy equipment, tens of thousands of German paratroopers would have been sent to their deaths in vain.

Therefore, the possibility of landing on the island of Newfoundland has never been in the consideration of the Americans. Therefore, the deployment of the US military on the island of Newfoundland did not take into account the problem of the enemy's airborne landing.

"Probably right?" Mader. Harmon nodded, "Me264 taking off from the Azores will only be able to get Newfoundland, either by launching missiles, or...... And what new long-range bombers did the Germans equip with? Damn it, how could the Germans have so many heavy bombers? ”

Matthew. Clark shook his head and said, "Wait, it will be clear in a few hours......"

……

"Ludwig, the command of the Atlantic Front reports that there is not a single American fighter over Newfoundland left!"

When the good news reached the Joint Intelligence Command Center within the General Staff of the Wehrmacht, Hersmann's tense nerves finally relaxed slightly.

"Did we shoot down a lot of enemy planes?" Hersmann looked at the beautifully made model of Newfoundland on the sand table and asked Marshal Kesselring on the side.

"I don't know the exact numbers," Kesselring replied, "and preliminary statistics put down less than 200 enemy planes, which is not a lot. ”

Hersman nodded: "The fact that the Americans did not suffer much losses, but withdrew from the skies over Newfoundland, shows that they have not detected our true intentions until now. He paused, "Now the bombing of the airfield has begun?" ”

"Here we go." "There are still more than 400 Me264s and Br.810s, which will be divided into 15 attack aircraft groups to destroy 15 large airfields," Kesselring said. Since we have prepared a large number of remote-controlled munitions, which can completely drop bombs beyond the enemy's anti-aircraft fire and accurately hit the runway, the air attack operation will not fail. ”

"And what about the Airborne Forces?" Hersman asked again.

"The ZSO523 air assault aircraft have already departed and can be landed in eight hours," Kesselring said. The Fokker 42 transport plane is taking off and will begin parachuting 7 hours later. At that time, the carrier-based Fokker 636, Me262T and Br.810 will make another sortie to provide air support. ”

"What about the Navy?" Hersman turned the question to the Navy again.

Raeder replied: "The first troops to land on Newfoundland by sea have already boarded ships and set out from Iceland, and will arrive the night after tomorrow at the latest." Task Force 22, which supports the landing force, will also be in place along with the landing ships.

In addition, 155 U21 submarines responsible for the blockade of Newfoundland have now arrived at their designated positions, carrying more than 5,000 Oypedoes and normal anchor mines, as well as a large number of torpedoes. Together with aviation, it is possible to completely blockade the island of Newfoundland in a week. ”

The 20,000 men of the 1st Air Assault Force were only the vanguard of the attack on Newfoundland, tasked with controlling a bay or harbor that could be accessed by the landing fleet. After they have completed their mission, the second and third groups of paratroopers (also attached to the 1st Air Assault Army) and landing forces arriving from the sea will arrive. In a matter of days, the total number of troops on the ground will be increased to more than fifty thousand.

At the same time, the Navy will blockade Newfoundland with aviation, submarines and mines to prevent Americans from sending more troops to Newfoundland by sea.

Hersman nodded again, and so far, everything has been progressing steadily according to the "Operation Columbus" program, and it is still quite smooth.

Thinking of this, he smiled and said to several of the top echelons of the German military around him: "It looks very smooth...... In 10 hours at most, we'll be able to secure the final victory. ”