"Of the 18 enemy planes that came to attack, 6 were shot down by our Fokker Zero, and the loss rate reached one-third. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info One of them also fell into our hands relatively intact, which is undoubtedly a victory......"

Hersmann arrived at the Venetian Palace with a happy mood, for he had just received a report on the results of the air battle -- that his son Hersmann Jr.'s squadron had shown great prowess this time, and had actually killed six B-17s with 12 Fokker Zeros, without losing a single one of them.

If it weren't for the fact that Taranto's other 3 Fokker Zero squadrons were all out on duty (escorting the JU88 to bomb Crete and Tubruk) and did not participate in the battle over Rome, the attacking B-17s would have been completely wiped out.

What made him even happier was that a B-17 escaped to Sardinia with a wound and landed in a wheat field. This is tantamount to giving Germany a state-of-the-art US heavy bomber for study, which will not only help Germany confront this kind of aircraft in the future, but will also provide a reference for Germany to develop its own high-altitude heavy bomber.

In particular, there is also an intact GR-1820-65 "Whirlwind" star engine on this B-65, and it is also with a turbocharger. Although Germany has similar technology, it is still possible to get a state-of-the-art American engine as a reference.

"But they bombed Rome! Bombed Castel Sant'Angelo, St. Peter's Basilica, bombed the Vatican Museums, bombed the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, bombed Queen Margaret's Hospital, and damaged Garibaldi's statue......"

Mussolini was about to be blown up and roared in his office. This place in Rome is full of monuments, art and it is very well preserved. Therefore, dozens of tons of bombs fell from the sky, and they all exploded into a bunch of buildings that could be worthy of the historical and cultural heritage of mankind.

And there is also a small "city within a city" Vatican on the west bank of the Tiber River in Rome, which also received some bombs this time.

"Is there nothing wrong with the Holy Father?" At the mention of the Pope, Hersmann also had to show a concerned expression, although he did not have a penny of good impression on Pius XII, he was still nominally a Catholic (Catholic).

"Yes, and the Holy Father!" Mussolini gritted his teeth, "The Holy Father was reciting the Confessional in St. Peter's Cathedral when the British bombed, and as a result, the bomb fell!" ”

"Blown up?" Hersman asked, widening his eyes.

"No," Mussolini frowned, "but frightened, and now admitted to Queen Margaret's Hospital." ”

What a pity! Hersman said.

Before he became Pope, Pius XII, in his capacity as Pontifical Secretary of State, sent dozens of notes and memoranda to the German government, attacking German policy and opposing Germany's annexation of Austria.

If this guy dies under the British bomb he loves, it will be a big delight!

But there are still opportunities. Because the bombing of the British will not come only once, because the B-17 losses are too large, it is estimated that there will be no bombing during the day for the time being. But there will be night bombardments, if one of the bombs happens to fall into the Pope's ward......

"Can we, then, ask the Holy Father to issue an encyclical expressing his opposition to the war and colonial policies of Great Britain?" Still, Hersmann felt that the Pope should be given a chance.

"Galeazzo (Count Ciano) has already spoken," said Mussolini, angrily, "but the Holy Father thinks that the Holy See should be kept neutral, and that he is willing to forgive the sins of the British." ”

Then there is no way, he asked for himself...... Hersman shook his head ruefully.

"But we can't just let the hateful Britons go," Mussolini turned to revenge, "a tooth for a tooth!" ”

The Pope must be avenged! Hesman thought so in his heart, and he echoed it: "We must take revenge, and when we conquer the British mainland, we must catch the thugs who ordered this bombing and take them to Rome for trial!" ”

"Can't wait that long," Mussolini said angrily, "London must be bombed!" If they dare to bomb Rome, then we should bomb London! ”

Flatten London? Hersman frowned, it wasn't a good idea. Although the German General Staff had been promoting "strategic bombing" before the outbreak of war, the Luftwaffe was a tactical air force.

At present, the main bombers of the Luftwaffe and naval aviation are the JU88, JU87, HE-111 and HE-115. Among them, the JU88 and JU87 were responsible for precision bombing, the HE-115 was a torpedo bomber, and the main task of the HE-111 was to harass the British at night and also drop torpedoes part-time.

As for the heavy four-engine bombers, although there are some, they are limited in number and not as many as claimed to the outside world. The main models are the DO-19, JU89, HE-177 (four-engine model) and Fokker 36, although each model is only equipped in small quantities in order to keep the fire of the strategic bombing force alive.

Because in the opinion of Hersman and Kesselring, the battlefield survivability of a heavy four-engine bomber without high-altitude and high-speed penetration capabilities is too poor. If the method of night bombing is adopted, the accuracy of the bombing is too poor, and it is a waste of precious gasoline and raw materials.

Gasoline was too precious for Germany, at least until it conquered the Middle East.

"But we don't have a heavy bomber like the B-17." Hersman shrugged his shoulders and told Mussolini helplessly, "We have very few heavy bombers, and they are all lagging behind." If strategic bombing is to be carried out against Britain, it will have to wait for us to complete the development of a new generation of heavy bombers. ”

The R&D order for a new generation of heavy bombardment has been placed, requiring six rounds (or four), long-range, high-altitude, large bomb load and strong self-defense firepower. However, there was still a process from placing an order to completing the development, and it was already considered super-high speed when it was put into service in 1943.

"We have such planes!" When Mussolini heard Hersmann say that Germany did not have an advanced heavy bomber available, he immediately said, "Our P.108 is a very good four-engine heavy bomber, and the main development work has been completed, and if you are willing to provide us with advanced engines, this aircraft will be ready for combat in two or three months." ”

The P.108 is a heavy bomber developed by Italy itself, which has now completed test flights and will soon be ready for production. Hersman was also aware of the existence of such an aircraft, and its design was actually quite advanced, with a satisfactory bomb load and range. But there were also many problems, the biggest of which was the power plant - a heavy bomber with a "heart attack".

"No problem," Hersman thought for a moment and agreed to Mussolini's request, "I can get the armaments department to supply Italy with BMW801 series engines with turbochargers, so that your P.108 can carry out high-altitude bombing." In addition, we can hand over to you the new large airfield in Brest, where you can also deploy S.M.79...... By the time the operations in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa were over, the S.M.79 torpedo aircraft could be deployed to Brest in large numbers. ”

Hersmann was not very interested in using strategic bombing to defeat the British, and he echoed Mussolini because he wanted to get the other side to agree to send a large number of Italian squadrons of S.M. 79 torpedo planes to Brest. Because he had already found that this hunchback torpedo machine was much better than Germany's own He-115 and He-111 torpedo bombers. The He-115 and He-111 torpedo machines are used to break the relationship, and they are not very good against the fleet.

"Okay, that's it!" Mussolini waved his fist, "When Egypt is taken, send Italian planes to bomb London, and make sure the British taste the power of Italian bombs!" ”

He suddenly looked at Hersman, "Marshal, when will the attack on Crete begin?" ”

"Today," Hirschman replied, "it starts today!" ”

"Today?"

"Yes, it's today!" "The attack on Crete is an amphibious landing operation, and before the amphibious landing operation can begin, air supremacy must be seized." Thus, the Cretan operation began with air strikes on the airfields of Crete and Tubruk. ”

It turned out that at the same time that the British B-17 was bombing Rome, a bomber group consisting of JU88, Z.1007 (another advanced Italian three-engine medium bomber, the Italian engine was not good, so there was such a thing as a three-engine medium bomber), S.M.79 and Fokker Zero, was indiscriminately bombing the airfields and radar stations in Crete and the port of Tubruk.

Moreover, for the first time in today's bombing campaign, German naval aviation also dispatched two squadrons equipped with the Fokker Zero C-1 as escorts. Although this Fokker Zero still has the disadvantage of weak dive performance, its performance at medium and high altitudes has been greatly improved. In addition, the MW50 "drugging" system also gave the aircraft "precious 10 minutes", so it caused considerable losses to the British Spitfire.

"Admiral," at 6:30 p.m. on the 15th, Rear Admiral Cratchley, chief of staff of the British Mediterranean Fleet, walked into Cunningham's office aboard the "War Wey" with a heavy heart, holding the battle report that had just been counted. "Our losses are very high...... The Germans improved their Fokker Zero and laid down quite a few 'Spitfires'. Their bombing also caused a lot of damage to airfields and radar stations, with dozens of aircraft destroyed on the ground.

In addition, the bombing of Rome by the 90th Bomber Squadron was not very successful...... 6 B-17s were lost in one go. The Air Force has decided to cancel the daytime bombing and instead carry out air strikes on Rome at night. (To be continued.) )