"Driving in the dark is dangerous. The clouds were low, the moon was dark, and we had no lights or signs, so we had no way to distinguish friend from foe. The sound of explosions kept ringing in our ears, and the bodies of the poor soldiers could be seen swaying with the waves from time to time on the sea. ”

"Less than halfway across the sea, we began to meet the first fleet of returning ships. As we dodged the white waves of the fleet passing by the bow, we fell into the half-dummed shadow of the ship ahead. You can see that they are sad. Because they didn't save too many people. ”

"In this darkness there are shouts, explosions, screams and the roar of airplanes, which irritate us and terrify us. But we still persisted, insisting on sailing by 'guessing and relying on God'. Because we all know that on the other side of the sea there are our soldiers who are suffering from disaster......"

This was written in the memoirs of an Englishman who participated in the evacuation of Dunkirk in the aftermath.

He was right, the whole of Dunkirk was full of hellish and terrible noise at this time. The artillery kept firing, the cannon roared, the fire flashed, and the sky was filled with noise, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns......

From time to time, you can see the fighter plane being bombed into a cloud of smoke and falling like a meteor. The boats on the surface of the sea have not known how many times they have been attacked, and they have been blasted into pieces of wood.

With blood and broken corpses, floating on the surface of the sea. The beach was littered with broken corpses, or mutilated corpses. Just left aside, no one had time to clean him up.

The tide had turned blood red, and everyone was shouting. But I don't know what I'm shouting in this noise, maybe just to prove that I'm still alive. It still exists.

"Hugh. General Dowding! I want you to know that there are now 400,000 troops of the British Empire and its allies in Dunkirk! If we lose them, once the Germans attack England, we won't even have the ability to resist......"

Bertram. Vice Admiral Ramsay is giving Hugh, the current commander of the British Air Force Fighter Command. Admiral Dowding called. Hopefully, he will be able to send more fighters to support the retreat.

"Bertram. Ramsay! I'm telling you, what do you want to do with the less than 400 warplanes I have on hand right now?! "Hugh. Dowding to Bertram on the other end of the line. Ramsey roared angrily: "Do you know how many fighters we have lost so far?! ”

"Then I'll tell you! It's two hundred! Do you understand?! It's two hundred! We have only about 300 warplanes, which encompasses all the air power of our entire British Empire! But in that damn Dunkirk, we've already filled half of it! ”

"I have urgently asked the factory to increase production and mobilize all the reserve pilots! But I want you to know that these people have come together to defend the British Isles! I will definitely not let them go to Dunkirk to die! ”

Now going to Dunkirk is indeed an act of sending people to death. More than a thousand German fighters were circling there, and with the British fighters, rushing forward could only be killed.

Truly. By the beginning of the war, they had shot down nearly a hundred German fighters. But his own losses have reached twice as much as the other party. How will this battle be fought?!

"General! I want you to know that without the cover of the Air Force, we simply have no way to withdraw! "Bertram. Ramsey shuddered at Hugh. Dowding said in a deep voice: "General, if we lose these soldiers, do you think we will be able to hold out in the landing battle of the Germans......"

Stop. Dowding was silent, he didn't know what Britain would face if it lost these hundreds of thousands of soldiers. But he also knows better what it means for Britain to lose air supremacy.

The intensity of the fighting in Dunkirk has already left the admiral with extreme heart palpitations. This fear spreads from the bottom of my heart. In just three days, Britain evacuated more than 30,000 people. But at the same time, the losses were extremely heavy.

Just Hugh. Dowding's air force lost 200 fighters of all types, four destroyers full of officers and men were sunk, and 11 were heavily damaged. And that's not counting the more than two hundred civilian ships of all sorts that were sunk to help withdraw.

The British 3rd Infantry Division, which was holding off the Germans, was reduced by more than 40 percent, and all the cars and ammunition were detonated on the position to stop the German pursuit.

This did have a certain effect, but at the same time it made the German encirclement even smaller.

"A hundred! I can only give you a hundred more planes to support you. "Hugh. Dowding took a deep breath and turned to Bertram. Ramsey said in a deep voice, "This is the last time I will support you." The rest ...... Hello for yourself. ”

After that, Hugh. Dowding snapped, hung up the phone, leaned back in his chair, and remained silent.

Stop. Dowding's British Fighter Command was based in Bentley Abbey, where he rested. Dowding organized the headquarters intelligence room and set up an air intelligence system consisting of radar, air defense surveillance posts, and the headquarters war room and intelligence room. He can obtain information very quickly and command operations extremely effectively.

"Secretary Beaverbrook, I'm Hugh. Dowding. I wonder, how many planes can our factory produce per month now?! How many pilots can be provided each month?! ”

Stop. Dowding hung up on Bertram. Ramsay's phone call was immediately followed by a phone call to Beaverbrook, the head of the aircraft manufacturing department formed by the wartime cabinet.

"Hello. Stop. General Dowding. Beaverbrook didn't rest at this time, he was busy in his office. Now no one in the whole of Britain can sleep peacefully.

The battle at Dunkirk kept them awake at night. All had the fear that the Germans were about to fight. This fear eventually turned into a motivation for them to constantly strengthen their defenses.

"According to our plan, the total production of aircraft will increase from 700 aircraft per month to 1,600 aircraft per month. The combat training unit can provide 200 pilots to the Air Force every month......"

After a pause, Beaverbrook smiled wryly and said, "But you know, General. We need time. So far, we have been able to produce 20 fighter jets per day, and the training of pilots will take time......"

Stop. Dowding sighed secretly, he knew that this was also a helpless thing. After all, Britain's response to the war was still too slow, and it would take time for the whole country to enter a state of war.

And right now, the last thing Britain has is time. The Germans had already reached Dunkirk, and it would not be long before they broke through their positions and then gathered together the Allied soldiers on the beach.

"I see, thanks!" Stop. Dowding was silent for a long time before whispering into Beaverbrook on the other end of the line. After hanging up, Hugh. Dowding stood in front of the window of his office and was silent for a long time.

Admiral Dowding was a veteran of World War I, so he was cautious in his strategic considerations and tactical arrangements. For example, he has always maintained a reserve force with a capacity of 280 aircraft, which is known only to the members of the cabinet.

Stop. What Dowding told them was that he would never use the German landing force until the last moment of its entry into the strait. He even disobeyed orders from Churchill for this.

After the defeat in the Battle of France, Britain entered a state of full combat readiness. A National Guard of 500,000 men was organized, and 51 radar stations were built, including 38 on the southeastern coast.

Anti-aircraft blocking balloons, searchlights, anti-aircraft guns...... and so on were incorporated into the air defense system, and the British Air Department set up an air defense command, the commander of which was Edward. Admiral Bill.

The battle for Dunkirk continued, and Montgomery withdrew from his position and was silent as he watched the incessant explosions not far away. This was indeed able to stop the Germans from attacking for several hours, but they also lost their own positions.

This would lead to the encirclement being reduced again, which meant that the Anglo-French forces were one step closer to being wiped out. Montgomery didn't know if it was right or wrong.

But he had no choice but to bite the ground and have it crushed by German tanks. Either they will use such extreme means, even if the position is lost, they will be able to hold back the Germans for a while.

The night sky in Dunkirk was now like daylight, and it was full of burning mechanical wreckage. There are planes, there are cars and there are boats. The evacuation continues, and the rate of retreat is now able to reach the rate of evacuating a thousand people per hour.

But this is far from enough, there are still more than 300,000 coalition soldiers in Dunkirk. And for how long they will be able to hold on, no one can say.

There were more people who could evacuate at night, after all, because it was dark and the German fighters could not find a target to attack. The transport ships were relatively safe.

But this security is not absolute, and there are still fighter jets using cannons to strafe along the mudflats. At the same time, bombers were bombing along the tidal flats.

The small boats were constantly overturned, and the exposed cruise ships and yachts became the targets of the Luftwaffe. As soon as any of the ships were exposed to the fire, they were bombarded with numerous cannon shells and bombs.

The burning ships on the surface of the sea also became a tool of guidance, and the screams continued to sound on the surface of the sea. The Germans had complete air supremacy over Dunkirk, and they recklessly plunged the area with shells and bombs.

"Every grain of sand on the Dunkirk tidal flats contains our blood and tears. Every grain of sand was soaked in the smoke of artillery fire. This is the Dunkirk ......"

This was the recollection of a later veteran. After saying this, he lowered his head and sobbed......

PS: Chapter 2~