Because the number of ZSO523 air assault transport aircraft was 10 more than originally planned, the 1st air assault Theodore. Feng. General Shipper Airborne also loaded his corps headquarters on planes and included them in the first batch of airdrops. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

At 9:10 a.m. on April 25, Azores time, Admiral Shipper Airborne had already boarded the ZSO523 air assault transport aircraft numbered 0578 with his staff officers.

This ZSO523 is a modified and is no longer a simple assault transport aircraft, but a flying command. The inside of the "big belly" cabin is now a small but complete command center, with maps, sand tables, radios, telephones, and several Steyr command vehicles/communication vehicles are chained to the inside of the cabin.

The upper cabin of the ZSO523 assault transport aircraft (located at the rear of the cockpit) was converted into a small office--lounge. A fixed desk was placed, and two folded-up walking beds were hung from the bulkhead of the plane.

Hoptmann, who once commanded the Battle of the Eben-Emel Fortress. Walter. Colonel Cork is now Chief of Staff of the 1st Air Assault Corps. After confirming that all 5 air assault battalions and 18 paratrooper battalions, as well as the military headquarters of the 1st Air Assault Corps, had completed the boarding operations, he also boarded aircraft No. 0578 with his adjutant.

"Admiral, all boarding operations have been completed!" Colonel Cork sat down next to the general of the Shipper Airborne Forces and fastened his seat belt. "We're really going to Newfoundland now...... The Yankees will be surprised by us! Tanks falling from the sky, it's crazy. ”

"It's crazy," Admiral Shipper said, looking out the window at the neatly lined ZSO523 planes, "and also very risky, it's simply the work of a madman, and the militarily unimaginative Americans would never have thought of it." Now the question is whether naval aviation can empty Newfoundland of warplanes? ”

The previous series of feints and fierce air battles were aimed at distracting the American air forces on the island of Newfoundland, but even if all efforts were successful, a large number of American fighter planes would still appear in the airspace of the island. Therefore, the key to the success or failure of the air assault operation was whether the German carrier-based aircraft could empty the sky over the island of Newfoundland.

"Yes, surely!" When Colonel Cork answered, an open radio in the cabin suddenly sounded, "Admiral Hipper, I'm Steudent, are you ready?" The Santa Maria is ready to set sail. ”

Admiral Shipper picked up the communicator and replied, "General, I'm Hipper, and I've received an order that the Santa Maria is ready to set sail at any time. ”

"Excellent! The Santa Maria is now on sail and I wish you all the best. ”

"Santa Maria set sail" is the code for the departure of the transport group! When the commander of the Airborne Forces, Air Force Admiral Studenter, gave the order that "the Santa Maria is now sailing," one plane after another parked at the airfield began to roar with coughing and choking. Admiral Shipper and Colonel Cork felt their plane begin to glide, the engines thundering, taxiing faster and faster, and finally the massive body roared into the air.

Because the ZSO523 aircraft are slower, they will take off first, and then the Fokker 42. However, the first to arrive over the Avalon Peninsula on Newfoundland was the late Fokker 42, which was scheduled to land around 11 a.m. Newfoundland time, two and a half hours before the ZSO523 group launched an air assault.

If all goes well, before the start of the air assault operation. Airborne paratroopers should be able to capture a number of key landing sites with air support.

And at the same time as the transport planes on the Azores took off in waves, fierce air battles were already unfolding over the island of Newfoundland. Unlike the last time the Americans were caught off guard by jets, this time they had already prepared, so none of the planes dared to fly up to 10,000 meters above the Me262T's muzzle. Even if the Germans' Me264 swaggered from an altitude of 10,000 meters, the American planes resolutely circled in the airspace below 5,000 meters.

And the weather over Newfoundland today is not particularly good, with large clusters of stratus clouds floating in the sky. Therefore, it is difficult to visually find the airfield on the ground from more than 10,000 meters, and naturally it is impossible to drop remotely controlled missiles.

However, even if the American planes hid below 5,000 meters, they could not escape the encirclement and suppression of the German Fokker 636 and Me262T fighters, which numbered as many as 940.

The first to fly over Newfoundland to carry out the "clearance mission" were 140 Me262Ts and 160 Fokker 636 fighters commanded by Hirschman Jr. After determining that the US fighters did not dare to fly to a high altitude to engage in battle, Hersman Jr. divided the 300 fighters under his command into two parts, and 160 Fokker 636 fighters descended to an altitude of 5,000 meters, relying on excellent low-altitude performance to fight with the American P-51 -- the American fighters below 5,000 meters were not only P-51, but only the P-51 dared to face the Fokker 636 at this altitude.

The remaining 140 jets formed 35 four-plane formations, of which one four-plane formation was responsible for protecting Hirschman Jr.'s plane, and the remaining 34 formations were guided by Hirschman's AWACS aircraft to search for and annihilate the nearby Americans' F-13 AWACS planes.

The tactic of hitting AWACS was proposed by Molders after the last big air battle on Newfoundland, and it was soon won by Hersmann Jr. and Heinz Jr. Barr supported these front-line air combat commanders.

But this tactic is not really easy to implement, because the radar of this era not only has a limited detection range, but also does not have a high resolution, which makes it difficult to distinguish between large AWACS aircraft and heavy fighters (the latter is about one-third to one-half the size of the former). Today's situation, however, is an exception, and the American fighters are all hiding below 5,000 meters, while their early warning planes are hiding at high altitudes to command--because the Americans' early warning planes are modified with B-29s, and the nose of the B-29 is a large glass cover, and there is no way to follow the radar, so the radar is pressed on the belly of the plane, and it is impossible to "see" above it, and it is not easy to change it. In contrast, the Bv-138E, which has a radar in the nose, is easy to modify to expand the line of sight of the aircraft for an upward search.

Little Hersman rode a Bv138E around the edge of the battlefield in the air and spotted two small groups. From the radar screen, there are 4-5 points of light, the altitude is around 7000 meters (this is the fastest altitude of the high-altitude B-29), it is obvious that several fighters are escorting an AWACS aircraft!

The four-plane formation of 34 jets was divided into two groups, and under the command of Hirschman Jr., they swooped down at the highest speed for two small American planes dozens of kilometers away. Their movements were soon discovered by the Americans, and the two AWACS groups did not care to direct the air battle, and all of them accelerated their flight.

However, the F-13 AWACS aircraft modified from the B-29 could not outrun the Me262T commanded by the AWACS aircraft, and the chase lasted only a few minutes, and the two F-13s and 8 P-61s escorting them were caught up by the Me262. The 30mm cannon shot out tongues of fire in the air, smashing the fleeing F-13 and the P-61 that turned around and blocked the gun's hole.

After dealing with the American AWACS aircraft, Hersman Jr. immediately commanded the Me262T jet to lower the altitude to support the Fokker 636, which was fighting with the opponent in the airspace below 5,000 meters.

He first ordered the Fokker 636 to raise the altitude and lure the American fighters to follow -- not all opponents would be fooled, but the fighters that had lost the command of the AWACS aircraft were in confusion, and some P-51 fighters could not care about the 5,000-meter "cordon" in order to compete for altitude with the Fokker 636 (there was no AWACS command, and the British pilots did not know that the Me262T was hovering over their heads), and as a result, the Me262T, which was diving down, was caught squarely, and thirty or forty were shot down in an instant.

The rest of the American fighters saw that the signs were not right, and they all rushed under the clouds. Hirschman Jr. was not ambiguous either, and immediately ordered all Fokker 636s to rush down the clouds to pursue the American P-51s, while the Me262Ts dispersed in a formation of 4 aircraft at an altitude of 5000 meters above the clouds.

After a while, another batch of P-51s was lured into the clouds, and as soon as they emerged, they were hit by the Me262T, and immediately many P-51s were hit by 30mm machine guns and fell to the ground.

The reason for this is that although the Fokker 636 that rushed down the clouds had the low-altitude performance to overshadow the P-51, but under the orders of Hirschman Jr., these Fokker 636 did not fight with the P-51 at all. Instead, he adopted energy tactics, pulling up and diving, and using his own weight and more powerful firepower to play condescending energy tactics.

Now the Americans' P-51 is a tragedy, they want to fight with the Fokker 636 but can't, want to fight with the Fokker 636 to climb (the P-51 is not much lighter than the Fokker 636, if you can grab the height, you can dive) to grab the altitude, but they are repeatedly attacked by the Me262T dive attack from high altitude - the Me262T's size and firepower are much stronger than the P-51, and the P-51 suffers a big loss if it is "against the nose"!

But if these P-51s don't fight with Fokker 636 to climb and grab height, and wait for the other party to climb into the air and then dive down, they will have to be beaten again!

The skirmishes soon became one-sided, with fewer than 300 German fighters appearing to dominate the skies over Newfoundland, thanks to the Fokker 636 and Me262T.

However, at this time, Hersman Jr. noticed that the opponents encountered by the fighters under his command were almost all American P-51 fighters with superior performance at medium and low altitudes, and the P-47, F7F, and P-61, as well as the British's "sky" high-altitude fighters, hardly showed up.

Hirschman Jr. knew that the Americans had hidden their "interceptors" and were ready to use them to attack the Me264 bombers and Br.810 bombers that would arrive later.