The American bombers flying to the mines were the spades of the B-17 bomber unit, which was also under intense fire from the terrible German anti-aircraft artillery. The fuselage of the plane trembled in the air currents and explosions of the distance, and everyone prayed in an uncertain shaking that they would not be shot down and fall to the ground.

Suddenly, the German artillery fire suddenly stopped, as if it had been ordered to do so. While all Americans were amazed at what had happened to them, it seemed that someone had finally figured out what was wrong.

"Jonathan! I always feel like there's some strange shadow down there!" a controller of the turret below controlled the steering of his cannon and loudly reminded his companions that they couldn't see their surroundings clearly in the dark of night, and that everything was so deep - so deep that the terrible darkness seemed to hide an invisible demon forever, devouring people's souls.

The German JU-88 night fighters finally found their target in the dark, guided by ground-based radars, and this time it was their first battle, and for the first time in the entire war they showed themselves, showing their terrible figure in front of their enemies.

The graceful lines of the JU-88 are hidden in the dark. This aircraft was designed as a new generation of multi-role bombers, but after its appearance, the German army had already completed the blitzkrieg against Poland, and the actual combat proved that the DO-217 bomber was completely sufficient at that time, and there was no need for another type of aircraft of this type.

The performance of the DO-217 in Poland and France won over the Luftwaffe, and it had a larger bomb load and more firepower for self-defense than the JU-88, so it was also more economical to use. As a result, the small-sized JU-88, which favored flexibility, lost favor.

Therefore, in the spirit of frugality, the German designers designed this aircraft as a heavy ground attack aircraft and a multi-purpose long-range fighter reconnaissance aircraft, but even then it was still a relatively marginal aircraft within the German army. In the end, an important reason for the JU-88 to become the main German model was the importance that Führer Accardo attached to night fighters.

The newly developed airborne radar system was too bulky, and the nose propeller of the single-engine fighter also limited the installation of the radar, so this night fighter could only be used in the form of a twin engine and had a smaller fuselage - the JU-88 immediately stood out as a full-fledged carrier of the modification of the night fighter in service.

This one-of-a-kind German night fighter was produced with various details in mind, for example, the Führer raised the problem of blind pilots due to night fire...... In the end, these problems were solved by German engineers one by one, and the JU-88G night fighter delivered to the troops is a perfect work of art.

With a full 8 30 mm cannons and one 13 mm machine gun for self-defense, this aircraft is simply a super-air gunboat armed to the teeth. And the aircraft is equipped with an advanced airborne radar with a detection range of more than 6 kilometers, which guides the target of the extremely powerful weapon system.

The diagonal cannon on its back, named Diagonal Song, can hit targets diagonally above it directly, and can be attacked without adjusting the nose at all. And these weapons are all behind the driver, and the flames of the fire will not cause the driver to be blind.

Now that these planes were approaching the American bomber group, the radar detectors in the cabin spotted the American planes flying diagonally above them on their screens, and signaled their teammates on the radio that they could attack: "The target is in attack range! It's time to fire!"

These new JU-88G night fighters suddenly began to carnage in the night sky, two 30mm cannons on their backs sprayed dazzling tongues of fire, tracer bullets in a straight line in the darkness and flew towards their targets. The munitions then hit the U.S. plane accurately, leaving a row of burning bullet holes in the enemy's wing or fuselage.

This is not a contest of equal strength, but a one-sided hunting game. The American bombers in the night sky did not know what was happening at all, and had already been disrupted by the German night fighter group in the flight formation.

One B-17 bomber after another disintegrated or exploded in the air, and even the strongest fuselage could not withstand the ravages of 30mm shells. The US plane that was hit was instantly disintegrated and exploded, turning into a dazzling fireball in the night sky.

"The Germans' plane! It's the German's plane!" By the light of a downed B-17 that fell to the ground, Jonathan, an American B-17 bomber pilot, finally saw what his enemy really looked like. He saw the angular black iron cross logo on the wing of the dark gray camouflage-painted twin-engine plane.

"Fire, fire!" he shouted, then pulled the trigger from the shot. As a result, the moment the cannon erupted tongues of fire, his eyes, which had long been accustomed to the pitch black environment, could no longer see anything, and the light flashed in front of him, and his ears were full of shouting and cursing.

"I can't see them! I can't see them with my eyes! God!" Jonathan didn't know where the enemy plane was flying, he just opened fire blindly, as if this was the only way to make sure he wasn't shot down by the enemy. But such a blind fire had no effect at all, and the tracer bullets flew into the distance like scattered raindrops in the sky.

In the headset, I don't know who is reminding, and the tension and confusion make everyone sensitive: "No. 17! No. 17! It's flying towards you!" After hearing this prompt, I don't know how many self-defense machine guns and machine guns followed and fired blindly.

Jonathan managed to regain some of his eyesight after stopping shooting, and it was really ineffective to barely use the self-defense weapons used against the fighters during the day to deal with the specialized night fighters. He rubbed his eyes, and then barely saw the scenery around him.

He saw the side guns on the fuselage of an American B-17 bomber next to him firing frantically, and the cannon that was firing was strafing all the way, more and more in Jonathan's own direction.

He didn't have time to think about the other party's number, and he didn't have time to let his plane climb, so all he could do was shout loudly over the radio: "Stop shooting! You've wounded your allies by mistake! Hell, you've wounded your allies!" He didn't say which plane was hurting his allies by mistake, and maybe no one else had heard his shouts at all.

So Jonathan could only widen his eyes, watching the nervous cannon shooter keep firing, tracer bullets hit the fuselage of the plane he was on in a straight line, and then a cannon shell hit the belly self-defense turret where he was, shattered the glass, pierced the steel plate, and hit poor Jonathan ****.

"Damn!" Jonathan, the shooter of the belly self-defense turret, cursed to himself, and then hung his head, and the fuselage of the B-17 bomber he was on began to smoke billowing out, and then the entire tail broke apart, turning into two pieces that circled and fell.

The guns of German aircraft are all behind the pilot, although it affects a certain degree of aiming accuracy, but it does not affect the pilot's vision at all. So these twin-engine JU-88Gs flexibly rolled and chased in the night sky, smashing one American bomber after another to pieces.

The technological superiority that Accardo had worked so hard to lay for the Germans finally proved its value in this second, and in the dark night sky, these JU-88G night fighters used the crushing advantage of electronic technology to create a one-sided air battle.

The Americans opened fire as fiercely as headless flies, but they were never able to effectively prevent the German planes from approaching, while the German fighters, with the help of the cover of the night sky, could use their superior firepower to tear through the defense line of the American B-17 bombers from any direction.

"The Germans have night fighters! They have special night fighters!" The US Army Air Corps officer who led the team finally realized the seriousness of the problem: Since they have professional night interceptor fighters, what else can they do if they choose to come at night instead of sending them to death?

But at this time, it's too late to regret it. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue with his mission, praying that the German planes would not kill them before they flew to drop bombs on the target area.

I don't know if it was because the prayers had an effect, or if this time the land operation went unusually well. When the Americans were desperately devastated by the German night fighters, they saw all kinds of fires burning on the ground. Although it was not the same shape as agreed, they did not even hesitate to open the bomb bay.

"Start dropping bombs! Start dropping bombs! Keep firing self-defense firepower! After we make sure we destroy the target, we can go back!" The American commander gave the order to attack loudly in a panic, and then he felt the fuselage of the plane he was in tremble, and an aerial bomb left their bomb bay.

The B-17 bomber showed unparalleled professional quality when it was in the old profession of ****, and the bomb broke away from the belly bomb bay in an orderly manner and crashed into the distant ground along a parabolic trajectory. A series of explosions could be seen clearly in the darkness even from a distance of 10,000 meters, and no one doubted that after such a powerful destruction, the Norwegian steel industry would be completely destroyed.

But there was no cheer, and there was no joy of success, because the enemy they had to face was still around them. The German fighters, who were like night ghosts, still had no intention of leaving, and they dived again and again, smashing the fragile fuselage of the American bombers with dense 30mm cannons.

For the American pilots, tonight's night seemed to be a little longer.