"It's terrible, a city is finished, and it may not be long before Germany will bring a country to its knees simply by virtue of its powerful air force. Today it's Italy, tomorrow maybe France, the day after tomorrow it's England, we can't let that happen, can we? Chamberlain said as he looked at his cabinet staff. In order to prevent this from happening, I believe that we must take the opportunity of this war to work out a way to deal with this kind of bombing. So I hope we can scale up the aid. ”

"But what about the funding and congressional mandates?" A staff member said with an embarrassed face. "Is the problem of money solved by the Americans, authorized by Congress? I think as long as they don't want London to become the next target. You should know what to do! The English Channel can no longer guarantee the safety of the British Empire, and neither can the Grand Fleet, and the future can only rely on those knights who fly in the sky! Chamberlain said expressionlessly.

As Chamberlain expected, the Americans decisively agreed to the resolution to continue to increase aid to Italy. However, a little different from the British is that the Americans not only saw the strong combat power of the German strategic bomber force, but also saw a new way of attack, the American air force has always wanted to form a real strategic air force, but it has been repeatedly delayed because of the obstruction of Congress, although the design and development of new bombers and long-range fighters are being carried out in an orderly manner, but the funds for the construction of this air force have not been able to come down, and this time, The big men in Congress must no longer use the excuse that the rebombardment is cost-effective, the Germans have taught the world a lesson.

However, the high-level negotiations between Britain and the United States are too far away from the battlefield. As Italian and Allied officers and soldiers fighting on the front line, they were discussing how to respond to the next strategic bombing of the other side, such as the current Boeington. After his squadron was disbanded, he and another of his comrades traveled to Rome and gathered at an airfield warehouse on the outskirts of Rome, where they were to study the future of combat with other surviving pilots who had participated in interception missions.

"The lethality of the M2 machine gun is too low, and there is no way to deal with a huge strategic bomber except to break through the skin. We need more powerful weapons. BOEING PAUSED, GLANCING AT THE 20MM ERLIKONG CANNON NEXT TO THE WAREHOUSE. Maybe the 20MM cannon probably won't work, I probably hit a bomber at least more than 100 shots. HE FLEW BACK ANYWAY, AND IF HE HAD REPLACED IT WITH 20MM SHELLS, I WOULD HAVE TO HIT MORE THAN 20 SHELLS IF HE WANTED TO DESTROY A MEDIUM BOMBER. It's too difficult in real combat. We're going to brave the machine-gun fire of the other side. And then get enough hits in a few seconds, and the luck is a little bigger. ”

"I ALSO THINK THAT THE EREKON 20MM CANNON IS NOT GOOD, AND THE MUZZLE VELOCITY IS ONLY ABOUT 600 METERS, SO ITS PROJECTILE TRAJECTORY IS TOO CURVED. AND THE SIZE OF THE SHELL IS ONLY 20MM*80MM. Shorter than all of our 50 machine guns. (THE LATTER IS 12.7MM*99MM) SO IN MY OPINION. This kind of thing is not powerful enough, and the accuracy is rubbish. A pilot next to him said.

"THE PERFORMANCE OF OUR SPANO 20MM CANNON IS GOOD, THE MUZZLE VELOCITY IS AS HIGH AS ABOUT 800 METERS, THE USE OF 20MM * 110MM SHELLS, THE CHARGE OF THE BLASTING SHELL IS AS HIGH AS 11 GRAMS, THE TRAJECTORY IS STABLE, THE POWER IS LARGE, IT IS VERY SUITABLE FOR EVERYONE'S REQUIREMENTS. However, there are not too many of them at the moment, if you can get a batch. I think it's a lot easier to beat the big guys. A British pilot said proudly.

"BUT IT'S TOO HEAVY, A SPANO 20MM CANNON WEIGHS UP TO 50KG. It's even heavier when you count the shells. For the time being, we can only put down the wings of the M2 machine gun. It is almost impossible to cram such a heavy cannon. ALTHOUGH THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ERLI AIR CANNON IS POOR, THE WEIGHT IS LESS THAN 30KG. And the weight of the M2 machine gun is almost comparable. We can try. A technician said.

"Actually, why do we have to consider using single-engine fighters to carry these weapons? In order to ensure the maneuverability of the fighter, there is a strict limit on the weight, but if we want to design a weapon specifically to deal with the bomber, then the maneuverability is very small, after all, the opponent's bomber can not dodge like a fighter, our design indicators are only two most important, one is to be as strong as possible, as far as possible to prevent the opponent's machine gun attack, and at the same time have strong firepower, can destroy the opponent in the shortest possible time. As long as these two points can be met, is mobility or something important? Just then, a second lieutenant named Wells said. As long as our fighters can entangle the opposing escort aircraft, then twin-engine fighters and even medium bombers can be used against those big birds. ”

"That's right, we still have to protect, our squadron lost half of its fighters in this battle, all of which were destroyed by those anti-aircraft fire like hedgehogs, our engines and cockpits must be protected, especially liquid-cooled engines, only one shot on the cylinder will be over, the oil will soon run out, and then the plane will be completely finished." The British pilot, who was still agitating the British Sispano cannon just now, slapped his thigh and said. AS LONG AS THERE IS A LARGE LOAD OF AIRCRAFT, IS IT STILL A PROBLEM TO INSTALL A FEW 20MM MACHINE GUNS? Subsequently, several other British pilots expressed their support.

"What's that thing?" At that moment, Boeington pointed to a stubby thing piled up in the corner of the warehouse and said, he thought it should be a cannon, but the barrel of this thing was a little short.

"UH, THIS THING IS USED BY OUR MARINES, THEY CALL IT THE MK1 AUTOMATIC GRENADE LAUNCHER, 30MM CALIBER, AND THE 30MM * 99MM SHELLS USED, THIS THING IS NOT LIGHTER THAN THE 80MM MORTAR. You're not going to install this, are you? An Italian technician looked at the Boeington, then walked over and removed the canvas that covered it, and there were a few more such guns, which had been placed here before they could be transported to the battlefield.

"I THINK YOU CAN TRY, THE PROTECTION OF THE GERMAN BOMBERS IS NOT VERY GOOD, ACCORDING TO MY EXPERIENCE, THE 12.7MM MACHINE GUN CAN PENETRATE MOST PLACES, BUT BECAUSE THE CHARGE OF THE WARHEAD IS TOO SMALL, THE DAMAGE EFFECT IS NOT GOOD. To solve this problem, we need large-caliber howitzers with large charges instead of cannons. If I had to choose, I'd use it even if the trajectory and accuracy were terrible. Boington said as if he had seen a baby, staring at the unsightly machine gun.

"The weight of this thing is also good, only more than 60 kilograms, not much heavier than the Sispanor cannon, but the power is several times greater, and the damage effect is definitely enough. However, the biggest problem is that the trajectory is too curved, but the muzzle velocity of 500 meters, and the rate of fire is also very low, more than 300 rounds per minute. If you want to hit the target, you need to get closer. Wells said after looking at the manual for the machine gun.

"What about accuracy?" The British recommender still said with some reluctance.

"It's simple, when the other party's has filled your entire windshield, you can fire again! We can solve the problem by just hitting his cannon. Got it, boy? Boeington looked at the other and then turned his head and said, "If I can get a plane, then please move the ballistic intersection of this plane to 200 meters!" I'm going to watch the other person disintegrate up close and turn into a flaming fireball! “

As soon as Boeington finished speaking, there was a round of applause in the warehouse. "Brothers, everyone who participated in the interception of the Germans is a hero, most of them have already left us, there are only 4 people left in my squadron, two of them are being treated in the hospital, I am afraid they will never have the chance to fly into the blue sky again in their lives, my only purpose now is revenge, for the comrades of the squadron, for all those who died in Florence! Revenge at any cost! Boeington's furious and warlike language ignited the fighting spirit of everyone present, and after a short discussion, they came up with a plan to submit, and then their plan was agreed, and preparations for the German heavy bombers within the Allies began, and some twin-engine planes were transferred from other troops, along with a large number of supplies and technicians, and a new army began to be established in Rome, a relatively safe place!

The aircraft that was finally selected for improvement was the British Centaur twin-engine fighter (this name was made up by the author, no way, the author did not know much about aviation in the early 30s, and I did not hear of any good twin-engine aircraft in Britain at that time. THIS TWIN-ENGINE FIGHTER WAS ORIGINALLY USED AS A LIGHT FAST BOMBER, SO THE LOAD AND SPACE WERE DEFINITELY NOT A PROBLEM, AND AFTER THE NOSE WAS PROPERLY MODIFIED, THE ENTRENCHED TECHNICIANS LOADED TWO MK1 30MM GRENADE LAUNCHERS WITH AMMUNITION, BUT EVERYONE FELT THAT THE FIREPOWER WAS STILL INSUFFICIENT, AND A 20MM SPANINO CANNON WAS INSTALLED ON EACH WING ROOT OF THE AIRCRAFT. The entire cannon and ammunition are placed in a pod, and the total weight of the pylons is about 120KG. At the same time, in order to increase the protective performance, some armor was appropriately added, and in this way, the weight of the aircraft alone increased by about 600KG, which not only increased in weight, but also a little top-heavy.

However, there are always some smart people in this world, and after research, they decided that the fuel tank at the bottom of the cockpit should only contain half of the fuel at most, so that they could save more than 100 kilograms of weight, and at the same time reduce one bombardier, and save more than 100 kilograms. As a result, the improved Centaur aircraft was renamed the Skua interceptor, ready to show its skills in future interception operations, and just when the Allies were groping for tactics to deal with heavy bombers, another specialized interceptor group of Huaxia had quietly arrived in Sicily, and Huaxia and the Italian side also began to negotiate on counterattack signals.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~, and the book friend mytek's monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued......)