Chapter 588: Landing Operations (5)

Finally, in 920, a single-engine light fighter was designed and soon passed the military verification to join the current service, which is the BF109 fighter, and the BF109F fighter is a new model that has just been successfully researched two months ago after borrowing the engine of the Golden Eagle 3 fighter.

The BF109 fighter is the first military aircraft designed by the Yaman Empire with a single wing under a cantilever and a retractable landing gear, which marks that the Yaman Empire has returned to the forefront of the world in aircraft design.

In order to reduce frontal drag, the aircraft uses in-line water-cooled engines produced in the Yamaman Empire, which can provide 1,300 horsepower, combined with the BF109 fighter's newly designed engine fairing and streamlined fuselage design, allowing it to reach speeds of 570 kilometers per hour, in addition to the configuration of two 20 mm cannons and two 12.7 mm machine guns, which also makes its firepower quite terrifying.

The new BF109F fighter was equipped with the latest 1,700 hp engine, although they used methanol water injection technology, which greatly reduced the service life of the engine, but the powerful horsepower made the aircraft more flexible, the top speed was also increased to 673 kilometers per hour, and the armament was again increased with two 12.7 mm machine guns.

Although the two Allied fighters were inferior to the Corsair fighters in terms of speed, they still tried their best to maneuver the Corsair fighters in the air with excellent firepower and agility, and the two sides fought extremely fiercely in the air. Not only the air battles between the fighters were fierce, but also between the bombers and torpedo planes and the anti-aircraft fire on the ground.

Although more than 200 bombers were shot down before entering the port of The Hague, more than 1,100 bombers broke into the sky over the port of The Hague. In the face of such a powerful bomber group, hundreds of anti-aircraft guns of various types from the two anti-aircraft artillery divisions of the Yaman Army, as well as a large number of anti-aircraft machine guns from the infantry divisions, formed a tight firepower network, trying their best to weave a dense firepower network to stop the attack of the opponent's bombers.

The Axis fleet was so dense that the Axis air force successfully bombed the city and barracks of The Hague Harbor, despite the fact that the Yaman Army had turned the sky into a netting of fire.

Of course, they are not without a price, in order to complete the mission, they also paid the price of more than 200 dreadnought bombers and more than 130 Avenger torpedo planes, such a casualty ratio is mainly because although the Avenger torpedo planes are also carrying bombs this time, but their structure is fragile after all, once they carry out low-altitude bombing, they are easy to be shot down by ground artillery fire.

Dreadnought bombers carry out dive bombing, which is more accurate, but also more vulnerable to ground fire, which results in more robust dreadnought bomber losses.

The carrier-based bomber group, which had already lost as many as 600 aircraft, immediately left the airspace of The Hague Harbor and flew in the direction of the aircraft carrier fleet after completing its mission. Because of the anti-aircraft artillery group, the Allied aircraft group did not chase into the airspace over the port of The Hague, but these bombers did not have these problems when they returned.

After seeing the bomber group break away from the port artillery control area, the more than 100 Allied fighters remaining in the air battle immediately accelerated, and they suddenly threw off the pirate fighters that were fighting with them and quickly pounced on the bomber group.

Not only were these bombers easier to shoot down, they were also the most direct threat to ground targets, so they became a priority target for fighters, and the Allied fleet rushed into the bomber group, completely disrupting their formation.

Although the remaining more than 300 Corsair fighters immediately pursued from behind, the Allied fighter pilots had already broken out, and they ignored the Pirate fighters behind them, and all their firepower was fully fired, attacking the bomber group with a dense rain of bullets, and the bombers who had just escaped the threat of anti-aircraft guns were caught off guard and fell to the sea like dumplings for a while.

By the time the Corsair had shot down all the remaining Allied fighters, the bomber group had lost more than a hundred planes again. When the Axis group returned to the carrier, Admiral Halsey, who received the news, was furious, and with absolute control superiority, the Axis group actually lost 200 fighters, plus more than 700 bombers and torpedo planes. The fleet lost most of its air power, but the battle was far from over, and with the time of the air forces of both sides, the fleet was already far away from the port of The Hague.

The port of The Hague is a military port, and there are coastal batteries here. The two batteries outside the port of The Hague immediately began shelling the enemy fleet after discovering it, and the 280 mm shore anti-aircraft guns stirred up columns of water on the sea, threatening the safety of the Axis fleet.

The carrier-based aircraft were still replenishing fuel and bombs, and for a while they could not take to the air for battle, and then the battleships in the fleet played their role. Dozens of huge 'Missouri'-class battleships raised their huge 381-millimeter-caliber main guns one after another to cover the shore artillery positions of the Yamans.

The fortifications of the coastal batteries were unusually strong, but the guns of the battleships were of a larger caliber, and the coastal defense artillery suffered a great loss in the artillery battle between the two sides, and with the help of the carrier-based aircraft that took off for the second time, the coastal defense artillery was quickly wiped out.

Subsequently, the warships of various types of the Axis fleet approached the coastline and launched artillery bombardments, and under the combined cover of fleet artillery fire and carrier-based aircraft, a large number of flat-bottomed landing ships increased their horsepower and rushed towards the beach area near the port. It was defended by only a small number of infantry and was relatively weak in combat, but they had a well-developed system of fortifications that could withstand the bombardment of naval guns.

Just as the Axis soldiers jumped off the landing ship and rushed to the beachhead, the dense machine-gun fire of the Yaman defenders began to strafe, and a large number of unprepared Axis soldiers were shot on the unobstructed beach, and only the chariots that came with the landing ships could give some lucky soldiers temporary safe shelter.

After the 100,000 Axis troops landed one after another, the engineer units quickly began to use explosive packs and blasting canisters to blast the fortifications, and the Yaman defenders returned fire with bazookas, but the Axis landing force was too large after all, and even the elite of the Yaman army could not take care of the various defense points.

After several hours of fierce fighting, the Yaman army was routed and both divisions were completely annihilated, but the battle was still not over. In the depths of The Hague Harbor and in the city, there were also layers of fortifications and defensive lines, and the prepared Yaman military had already laid a huge position for the Axis army.

After more than 50,000 casualties, the Axis troops finally gained a foothold on the beachhead, but they had to continue the attack, and only by occupying the dock area of the port of The Hague, and a large number of freighters loaded with soldiers and war materiel could dock and unload, the next step of the Axis plan could be successfully implemented, but the ensuing battle was extremely difficult.

Due to the large number of landing operations of the Axis forces, naval naval guns no longer attacked. The naval guns were powerful and inaccurate, and it was easy to cause accidental damage, and after the two armies began to engage in close combat, the only Axis forces could rely on were the army's artillery and the planes in the air.

In order to better support the ground offensive, Admiral Halsey had all the Corsair fighters hang bombs and temporarily use them as bombers to compensate for the excessive losses of bomber forces, but even then the progress of the Axis forces was very slow.

Although the Yaman army relied on fortifications to resist to the death, they were too few in number, and the Axis powers not only had the numerical advantage, but also the help of naval guns and aircraft. Therefore, after three days of resistance, the Yamans were forced to retreat, surrendering the port of The Hague to the Axis forces.

With the port to dock, a large number of army soldiers who had been impatient enough to wait were sent ashore by improvised convoys, and the 600,000 Axis Army soon occupied the entire port of The Hague and began to search the surrounding area.

The news of the successful capture of the port of The Hague by the Axis forces shocked the Yaman government, but their main forces were fighting on the front lines of the Nantes Empire, thousands of kilometers from the mainland, and there was no time to defend themselves.

The rest of the main forces were in the vicinity of the port of Sturdam, and when they received the news that the port of The Hague had been captured and that the Axis forces had landed, it was too late for reinforcements. The Axis Army also knew that the opportunity could not be missed, and under the leadership of General Mack, the Axis Army advanced towards Essen, the capital of the Yaman Empire.

The brave Lieutenant General Patton led his Fifth Army to the front, and attacked Essen with a rapid assault tactic similar to that of the Yaman Army. Essen was only about 300 kilometers away from The Hague, and with the road being clear, the Fifth Army in Boston, the vanguard of the Axis army, was already in the city two days later.

The redeployed Golden Eagle 4 Fighter Wing defended the capital, and led by the famous ace pilot of the Yaman Empire, Major General Hartmann, who had a record of 200 downed aircraft, immediately joined the battle in the air when they learned that the Axis forces were approaching the capital.

The Boston Empire, which had completely converted its industry to a wartime economy, produced at a rather terrifying rate, and powerful Mustang fighters were mass-produced. Originally, the Lightning fighters, Golden Eagle 3 fighters and BF109F fighters equipped by the Yaman Empire were not as good as the Mustang fighters.

In the past, when the production of Mustang fighters was insufficient, the Axis air force was also mixed with a large number of Nantes Sonia 406 fighters, as well as Saar's Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, which were slightly inferior in performance.