The decisive battle against the Third Reich

"We have no way of knowing what it is!" Eisenhower changed a photo on the projector and said: "What we know is that this thing will cause us a lot of trouble. In fact, we were I fought against it when we were in Africa:

On May 10, 1942, a group of B17 bombers reported being hit by an unknown aircraft while performing a mission to bomb the Tozeur Power Station. B17 bomber number 38173 subsequently crashed.

On June 21, 1942, a B17 was hit by an unknown aircraft while bombing the Eggwater Highway. It survived.

Then the attack density gradually increases...

On June 30, there were five similar incidents in July, and as many as 20 in August. The number of bombers that were shot down reached 5, and without exception they were all shot down at an altitude of 10,000 meters..."

"Why haven't we received relevant information before?" De Gaulle interrupted.

"We don't want to cause some kind of panic!" Eisenhower replied: "And we seem to have found some kind of solution..."

"Sorry, General!" De Gaulle interrupted Eisenhower again: "I protest, strongly protest, Algeria is French territory, but when you bombed French territory, you blocked our intelligence on the grounds of 'causing panic'? I To reiterate: 'Fighting France' is the only legitimate government in France and we have the right to know everything about France!"

"Sorry, General de Gaulle!" Eisenhower reminded: "This is not the content of this meeting..."

"I don't think so, General Eisenhower!" De Gaulle said: "Everything related to France should be included in the meeting!"

"Fuck you!" General Patton stood up suddenly: "Shut your mouth, or I will smash it!"

"Watch your words, General Patton!" De Gaulle stood up without showing any signs of weakness: "You are on French soil, you have no right to say such things!"

Then the American officers stood up one by one, and the British officers also stood up one by one to help de Gaulle speak. Soon the whole conference room was in chaos.

Eisenhower finally couldn't bear it anymore. He slammed the table and said, "If you want to continue making such noise, get out of here!"

Only then did the conference room become quiet.

"General de Gaulle!" Eisenhower said: "I hope you understand that we are gathering here to solve problems, not to raise new ones. If you must do this, I think you are not suitable to participate in this meeting. !”

Eisenhower thought de Gaulle would leave the meeting room because of these words, which was exactly what Eisenhower wanted.

But de Gaulle once again disappointed Eisenhower. De Gaulle sat motionless in his chair, as if nothing had happened just now.

In this regard, de Gaulle is indeed an excellent politician because he knows what words to say or what things to do at what time to benefit himself.

After a moment of silence, Eisenhower continued: "Originally we thought these accidents were accidents, but this was not the case. Our reconnaissance aircraft accidentally discovered that they used the launch track to launch this kind of aircraft. We called it a 'self-destructing aircraft'. ’, which makes things easy because all we have to do is have the escort aircraft keep an eye on the ground and destroy something like a launcher as soon as it is discovered.”

As he spoke, Eisenhower changed a few more photos and said: "We successfully destroyed several 'self-destructing aircraft' before they were launched. They are somewhat similar to V1 aircraft missiles. They need a period of time to fill with fuel before launching. We need to do Yes, just let the fighter planes patrol the area where the bombers will pass!"

"So, what's the problem?" General Patton asked.

"That's the problem!" Eisenhower switched the projection to the first photo sent to the officers and said: "They deployed the launcher underground. You can't see anything here. Of course, the pilots can also see it. No. However, when our bombers pass through the nearby airspace, a launch silo will appear here, and then a 'self-destructing aircraft' will be launched. After more than ten seconds, the launch silo will close again, and then what you see Just a little smoke!"

The officers in the conference room were talking a lot. They all knew that in this situation, the German army could defeat the US army, but the US army could not defeat the German army... No one would like this.

"How many such silos do they have?" Patton is indeed a professional soldier, and every question is focused on the key points.

"We don't know!" Eisenhower replied: "But after testing, we found that... the entire Western Front is under the control of this 'self-exploding aircraft'! In other words, if we want to bomb Germany, we have to pay a price , and it may be a heavy price!”

The officers nodded, they knew what this "heavy price" meant... Perhaps, a large number of bombers breaking through from one point at the same time could make the German "self-destructing aircraft" unable to cope with the number.

However, one group was shot down when crossing the defense line, and another group was shot down when returning. This loss is double.

More importantly, bombers bomb targets for a long time and frequently. For example, preparations for the bombing of France lasted several months.

If every bombing has to pay the price of two batches being shot down, then it won't be long before Germany suffers little loss and all the Allied bombers will be blown up.

"So... we can only attack from the ground!" General Patton gloated and glanced at Montgomery, who had been silent, and said, "Because facts have proven that attacking from the air is not feasible!"

Of course, Montgomery knew that General Patton's words were related. On the surface, the "air attack" referred to the bombers being restrained, but in fact, he was talking about the heavy casualties in the "Market Garden" operation.

"General Patton!" Montgomery replied: "You need to know one thing. We had no idea about the underground facilities of the 'self-destructing aircraft' before this. You didn't even know until now. Miscalculation is inevitable in this case!"

"Oh, really?" Patton responded unceremoniously: "But, dear Marshal Montgomery, I heard that the German armored forces were already waiting for us in the Netherlands. Before the airborne troops landed, they set up Traps one after another..."

"But even so we can still win!"

"Oh, yes, maybe!" Patton chased Montgomery fiercely.

Then, as expected, the previous scene reappeared in the conference room. The British and American officers stood up and argued with each other. They were all red-faced and almost did not take action.