Chapter 363 Air Combat (5)

As early as when the V3 artillery base was built, the German army deployed nearly 200 fighters nearby. Now, as the battle progresses, not only did all these 200 fighters take off to fight the enemy, but fighters from other airports also joined the battle one after another.

At this time, the number of German fighters has exceeded the total number of British fighters and bombers. The performance and number of crushing put the British fleet into a very passive situation.

Dozens of bombers have been shot down, and they have paid a heavy price before they see the enemy's artillery base in the distance.

In the command center on the British mainland, Commanders Hewitt and Hugh Dowding listened to the loss reports one after another, and they were as anxious as ants on a hot pot.

"Damn, this is obviously a bait!" Commander Hewitt couldn't help complaining. "I said long ago that the Germans would definitely deploy heavy troops there, and we were stupid enough to go there and die!"

In fact, everyone knew that this attack would pay a heavy price. Unless the Germans were stupid, they would leave such an important place undefended and let British planes take advantage of it.

But it was not until now that they really realized that the sacrifices and costs estimated before were still too optimistic.

Commander Dowding's face was even uglier. Because the losses of his fighter unit were greater than those of bombers. He wanted to recall the fighter unit more than Commander Hewitt to reduce losses.

After turning back and forth for a few times, Commander Hewitt suddenly mentioned another thing. "Lord Dowding, do you think the life of these German cannons will be short?"

Just like the "Paris Cannon" in the last war, although it looks very powerful, it has a fatal weakness. That is, its barrel life is not long, and it can only fire about 50 shells. After a certain period of use, the barrel of the cannon needs to expand the inner bore and be sent to the factory for repair. Therefore, the muzzle of this kind of cannon becomes larger and larger as it is used, from the original 210 mm to the later 260 mm, so the caliber of the shells must also change accordingly. In addition, although this kind of cannon has a long range, its hit rate is very poor. Therefore, after using it for about 140 days, the German army gave up this kind of cannon.

"..." Commander Dowding's eyes lit up when he heard this. Yes, even if they ignored it, the Germans might give up the bombardment after a while.

"Maybe we should talk to the Prime Minister. We shouldn't waste these precious pilots." At this moment, a dull explosion sounded in the distance.

Just as the two were discussing how to persuade Churchill, the phone on the desk suddenly rang.

"What?!" Commander Dowding's face changed drastically after answering the phone and listening to a few words. He said to Hewitt, who looked puzzled. "A shell hit Buckingham Palace..."

"What?!" Commander Hewitt was also shocked. "Your Majesty, are they all okay?!"

"Nothing." Commander Dowding put down the phone and shook his head. "Your Majesty, they are all in the basement and they are not hurt."

Coincidentally, the British royal family almost died in the German bombing during World War II in the original time and space.

Around 11 a.m. on September 13, 1940, a German bomber flew over the British capital at low altitude with the help of clouds, suddenly appeared over Buckingham Palace, and quickly dropped five high-explosive bombs.

At that time, King George VI and his Queen Elizabeth were drinking tea. However, when the whistling sound of the plane reached their eardrums, the two of them acted quickly. Just as they rushed into the corridor to avoid the shock wave of the explosion, two bombs had already fallen into the courtyard of Buckingham Palace and exploded just a few meters away from where the two of them were drinking tea. Although the other three bombs were not so dangerous, they also destroyed a church and blew up several huge deep pits.

Although Buckingham Palace was bombed as many as 9 times during the entire war, this time was undoubtedly the most dangerous one. If the British king and his wife reacted a little slower, the consequences would be unimaginable. It can be said that this was the closest time for the British king to death in the war, just one step away.

It is understood that this bombing was not an accident, but one of the plans of the German Supreme Command. They planned to put pressure on Britain by bombing Buckingham Palace, making them feel desperate and surrender.

However, the subsequent plot fully demonstrated that Germany really lost more than it gained, and shot itself in the foot, which backfired. Because their bombing not only did not spread the seeds of despair and failure in Britain, but instead aroused the hatred of the British people from the king to the ordinary people.

But now this news is simply the worst news for Dowding and his men. If there was room for negotiation before, but now Buckingham Palace, which symbolizes the highest authority and dignity of the British Empire, has been bombed, the prime minister will never agree to withdraw those fleets.

Not only will they not withdraw, they will definitely not stop until those cannons are blown up.

Sure enough, a staff officer ran in and reported soon. "Commander Hewitt, the Prime Minister just called us to prepare for a night bombing."

"Night bombing?" Commander Hewitt's mouth twitched slightly, and he really wanted to run over and ask Churchill if he would not be satisfied until all the bombers of the British Empire were destroyed? !

But in the end, he waved his hand helplessly. "I know, you go and arrange it."

At this time, the air battle over the Channel had entered its final high tide.

The British fighter unit was completely disrupted. The leader, wingman, small formation, and squadron were all broken up. The noisy shouts of friendly aircraft kept coming from the headphones, but no one cared about anyone now. The British pilots had forgotten the tactical rules. Now they just mechanically controlled their planes and attacked the enemy planes closest to them.

On the contrary, the German fighter pilots became more and more courageous, and their cooperation became more and more skilled and tacit, almost reaching the state of perfect harmony.

In this situation, the British fighters could only fall one after another.

The British bombers also suffered heavy losses. The escort fighters themselves could not protect themselves. They could only rely on their own defensive weapons.

The defensive weapons of the Blenheim bomber were two 7mm machine guns in the turret under the nose; and one 7mm machine gun behind the fuselage. The defensive weapons of the Wellington medium bomber were two Browning 7mm machine guns in the turrets at the nose, tail and wing beam.

Such defensive firepower was nothing but a drizzle to the German fighter pilots. No matter how hard the machine gunners on the bombers pulled the triggers, they still could not escape the fate of being shot down.