Battle of the Third Reich

"Did you see it? Are they sure?" Lieutenant Henry Russell, commander of the Royal Air Force No. 603 Brigade, watched the sky anxiously with the telescope.

Lieutenant Russell is thirty-two years old, and is very young and powerful. The Russell family has a long history, talents, and splendid glory. Although the lieutenant was born in a branch, but his family has many assets. Lieutenant Russell was young and rich, and his emotional intelligence was not low. He was good at managing interpersonal relationships. He had managed for many years, and the superiors and subordinates in the army were very fond of them and established sufficient contacts in the army.

Due to the outbreak of war and the start of the generator operation, the former squadron leader took a squad and attacked. The unexpected result was that all the members of the team died in Dunkirk. Lieutenant Russell was immediately promoted from the position of the squadron deputy to the squadron leader. At the same time promoted to lieutenant. When the order was issued, the rest of the squadron rushed to inform each other, and they all rejoiced, thinking that the superior had finally issued a good command and chose an excellent commander for the squadron. But no one knows how great this order has hit Lieutenant Russell’s life. If he knows that he will suffer such hardships in the future, he really does not want to be promoted.

Now, if anyone sees Russell, I'm afraid he won't recognize him at all. This young officer has always been famous for the officer's club and the Air Force Women's Support Team for his boldness, extraordinary style, elegant temperament, and gentleman taste. And now, the blonde hair that was neatly and smoothly combed in the past is now like a henhouse, and there are obvious traces of black and brown motor oil on it. The navy blue officer's woolen uniform has been wrinkled like a piece of rag, the blue shirt collar is open, the blue and black tie is loose and tied around the neck, and the gold line on the sleeve is full of greasy dirt and can't be seen at all. The original material. The canvas parachute bag hung heavily on his hips, and the umbrella bag strap was tightly tied around his shoulders and waist. The furry flying boots were all dust and oil stains, and there was almost no blood on the pale face. . There are only bits and pieces of oil and dust, and two huge black eyes.

"I have already seen that the second and fourth aircraft of team c, plus the previous two, all of them are back. We did not lose a plane this time. The squadron leader is really lucky." Lt. Lancelot, the vice captain, also looked at the sky with his telescope, he said loudly.

"We didn't hit the next German plane, the guys were too tired. Only this morning, the squadron has dispatched all four times, the squad has even dispatched five times, and we now have no backup pilots. The fighter command has already Crazy, the Germans are crazy, these **** **** are all lunatics! Crazy!" Russell stomped his binoculars with his binoculars and snarled at his teammate.

"Squadron leader, we have to obey the command of the headquarters. After all, no one can stop the German planes except us. They attacked all the targets they could find from Dover to Portsmouth. I heard Black The two airports near Stings suffered intensive attacks, and four hurricane squadrons have been determined to be wiped out." The adjutant intended to inspire morale for the commander who was about to collapse, but apparently did not grasp the trick.

Between the speeches, the two Spitfire fighters landed slowly towards the airport runway. The long plane lowered its flaps. The posture dropped gracefully, and the plane gently bounced a few times on the earthy runway with sparse grass shoots, and then calmly stopped, as the pilot slightly increased the throttle. The plane slowly slipped out of the runway and stopped on an open lawn.

The ground crew attached to the plane did not wait for the engine to stall. Regardless of the fact that the three large-blade propellers were still spinning fast, they surrounded them, and the two ground crews climbed onto the wings and pulled open the spitfire push-pull canopy, one of them bent down to help The pilot opened the safety belt buckle between the chest and abdomen, and then pulled the pilot out of the cockpit. Then the two people helped to put the pilot on the ground, and the other two ground crews immediately took over and helped the pilot to the side of the recliner. He sat down to rest. The military doctors and nurses of the squadron ran over with the medicine box and began to ask whether they were injured or unwell.

At the same time, the ground crew standing on the wing has begun to drill into the cockpit for routine inspection. The access cover on the fuselage and the inter-wing magazine cover were opened, and the ordnanceman carried the bullet box onto the wing. The fuel trailer was pulled over, and the oiler pulled out the rubber hose connected to the oil pump, waiting for the mechanic to open the fuel tank cover. Everything looks the same as usual, all work is carried out in a hurry and methodically, but insiders have been able to see from the movements and expressions of these people that the pressure is accumulating quickly, both psychologically and physically The effectiveness of this unit has begun to decline.

At this time, the wingman also entered the landing route, the aircraft made a steep turn, and lowered the landing gear, and the aircraft began to slide toward the runway. At this time, a sharp voice shouted, and the busy people on the runway looked involuntarily towards the place where the voice sounded.

"Damn, he didn't put down his flaps, the angle was too steep, pull it up, pull it up! Go around! Pull it up, idiot!" The captain of the flight sprinted towards the runway and waved his arms wildly!

"Go-around, Blue Six, you are too fast, George! Pull up, George! For God's sake!" The deputy screamed loudly at the radio station on the military vehicle beside him.

Russell had already run to the middle of the runway, his hands were raised high and he was waving at the oncoming fighter, but the Spitfire was like not seeing this scene at all, lightning flashed over the captain's head, and then hit the runway heavily .

The two sturdy landing gears of the Spitfire suddenly broke away from the fuselage. The fuselage leaned and hit the runway. One side of the wing first touched the ground, then twisted and torn, and the fuselage began to roll. Everything followed the physics. The law moves forward, and the impact is powerful. Within seconds, this sophisticated and expensive killing machine turned into a pile of rolling parts and aluminum sheets. The engine crushed the cockpit and tumbling. After rushing into the apron, half of the runway was filled with fuel and lubricating oil along the trench shoveled by the aircraft, and then burned in a roar, and the scene instantly became a sea of ​​fire. Russell slowly got up from the runway and looked at the purgatory in front of him. The lieutenant of the Royal Air Force bit his teeth tightly, and now he was crying without tears.

After the Battle of Dunkirk, until the end of July of this year, the Royal Air Force did not have a fierce conflict with the German Air Force. Except for several attacks on the transport fleet, the Germans rarely even crossed the center line of the strait. The Royal Air Force's power was slowly restored. The situation seemed to have finally been eased. The most critical time passed. The British Airways Department adjusted the production plan of the fighter aircraft, and finally entered the wartime production state.

The Battle of Dunkirk and the previous French campaign were almost destructive to the Royal Air Force. When the battle ended, the number of single-engine fighters under the fighter command was only about 260, of which more than 120. It's the latest Spitfire, and the rest are hurricanes and other cannon fodder. Lord Dowding almost collapsed at his desk when he saw the report. At that time, the sky of the British Empire was almost undefended.

At that time, the British air defense force had only a bunch of anti-aircraft artillery under the air defense headquarters. This air defense force was affiliated with the army, and the number reached an astonishing 1,777 gates, including 1,200 heavy heavy ones. Artillery, 578 small caliber machine guns.

Immediately, these artillery pieces were quickly distributed to the major naval bases and cities around the south of the UK, but the air defense forces in most areas such as the countryside and small cities and towns were still blank. At most, they could only be hung on the coast. Only anti-air balloons, give you a little psychological comfort. The anti-air balloons are managed by the balloon headquarters, with a total of 1,400. The main body is a hydrogen-filled ship-shaped balloon, which is towed by an iron cable below. Its operational purpose is to hinder the low-altitude raid of the German Air Force aircraft if the German aircraft hits the iron cable under the balloon. The wing and engine will be hit hard, and even disintegrate directly. Of course the premise is that the German pilot is blind like a bat. Therefore, the real effect of this balloon is during air defense at night. For this reason, the British army also specially painted the iron cable with paint to prevent the German pilots from discovering the reflection of the metal cable at night.

Churchill urgently established the aircraft production department in early May. Subsequently, the capable Lord Beaverbrook was appointed to manage. The wartime production system established before the war finally came into play, and some civil automobile manufacturers began to move into the field of military aircraft manufacturing. According to the original plan. The aircraft parts and engine parts produced by the major automobile manufacturers are collected into the assembly plant, and then the fighter aircraft will be continuously manufactured from the assembly workshop, and then sent to the fighter reserve center for storage, after being adjusted and tested, and then distributed to each Air base.

However, due to the rampant German submarine and attack fleet, the Royal Navy was unable to defend the British maritime transport line at this time, and the British Imperial Merchant Fleet suffered heavy losses. Almost one ton of cargo was sent by the Germans for every ton of material shipped. Entered the seabed.

Due to the shortage of fuel and raw materials, and the need for military production, the share of steel and non-ferrous metals has been heavily occupied, and the civil shipbuilding industry has begun to shrink rapidly. Between June and July, only 20 cargo ships in the entire United Kingdom were launched from the berth However, the number of cargo ships lost in these two months is more than ten times this figure, the loss far exceeds the supplement, and the lifeline of Britain is slowly being cut off.

Dura aluminum and alloy steel, which are necessary for aviation manufacturing, need to be melted into several or even dozens of non-ferrous metals, some of which are rare metals. Although the United Kingdom has strategic reserves, most of them still need to be imported. The strategic reserve is about to sit down and eat. In addition to the aircraft manufacturing industry, the army and navy equipment also need these resources, especially the navy. The consumption is even more amazing, but if you want to defend the lifeline, you must add naval power. In addition, the army’s weapon pits It’s huge to see in any way, and it must be replenished as soon as possible, otherwise it will really only allow a group of rookies with cross swords and long bows to fight the Germans.

Therefore, although the production potential of the Aircraft Manufacturing Department is staggering, the final output can only be described in terms of salaries. Due to the shortage of aluminum materials required for flame spraying, the output can only reach 80 to 100 per month. The hurricane is finally a semi-hard shell structure. A large amount of cloth and wood are used, and the final output can be higher, reaching each From 120 to 140 in January, the production of the remaining bombers and other aircraft was also severely delayed. From the end of the Battle of Dunkirk to the end of July, the total British aircraft production reached only 997 Ten, of which six hundred are fighters, the rest are bombing night battles and land and sea transport aircraft, while the most advanced Spitfire fighters have produced only two hundred and seventy, all allocated to the 11th and 12th Air Forces, especially The Eleventh Air Force, which was responsible for the entire southern defense, obtained more than half of them and formed eleven Spitfire squadrons, but some of them were dissatisfied with the formation. For example, Russell’s squadron had only three teams and twelve aircraft.

Lieutenant Russell led the entire squadron team with a group of airport fire brigade and ground crew to extinguish the flames on the runway. After the whole squadron was smoky, all of them were like African refugees. Russell handed over the remaining clean-up work to the airport crew. The corpse of the pilot was obviously impossible to find, but the wreckage and debris of the plane must be cleaned up as soon as possible. This runway cannot be used before cleaning up. Fortunately, this The base has three runways, and the flight squadron is still able to operate normally.

Russell doesn’t want to investigate the cause of the Blue Six crash anymore. Either a mechanical failure or the pilot became dull due to excessive fatigue. Similar things have happened many times in the past two days, but there have been casualties. This is still the first time.

Russell found a rag, wiped his face with some water under the drinking bucket, picked up the aluminum drinking cup beside the bucket, poured a glass of water, and found a sitting chair beside him.

"How to write the report, squadron leader." The team mate looked for a Maza and poked on the ground with an iron pipe in his hand.

"I will write to inform his parents personally that he was killed in combat. The plane was injured in combat and eventually lost control when it landed. He didn't have time to escape."

"Everyone is really too tired. Whether it's a pilot or a ground worker, it's been three consecutive days. Each person is on average more than 20 hours a day. The mechanical loss of the aircraft is also very serious. The German aircraft seems to be endless and forced to retreat. Group after group, group after group, team after team, are they all iron men not tired?" The teammate finally showed his frustration and fatigue at this time.

At this moment, the stern alarm suddenly echoed across the airport.

"The squadron leader, the command center ordered that all the squadrons take off immediately. The large German fleet is flying over the strait with hundreds of aircraft. All squadrons in the Hornchurch division must be ordered to take off immediately and gather on standby." A piece of paper ran towards Russell.

"All squadrons started! Team a followed me, team b was on the left wing, team c served as the guard, got up, boarded, boarded!" Russell threw away the glass in his hand and walked to the runway to pick up his umbrella bag. While tying the strap, he rushed towards his landline.

The team mate threw away the iron rod in his hand, slowly stood up, looked at the group of vigorously running pilots and his squadron leader, and raised their hands to salute. This time, I am afraid that many people will never come back. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and faster!

ps: Some typos and rhetoric have been revised. Due to the lack of careful errata, some reading difficulties have been brought to you. I would like to apologize.