Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Dunkirk.

I'm afraid not many people knew about this little-known French port city before World War II. During World War II, it became famous as the site of the largest evacuation in the world, and became one of the hot topics among military fans in later generations.

One of the hottest topics was the Dunkirk evacuation. Why did the Germans stop the attack while pursuing the victory?

On May 20, about 400,000 troops retreated to Dunkirk, a port city in northeastern France.

Dunkirk did not have any strong fortifications and was a port that was extremely vulnerable to bombers and artillery fire. Once the Allied forces retreat here, once they are attacked by the Germans, hundreds of thousands of troops will be dealt a devastating blow like "living targets." The only way out here is to escape by sea transport to the United Kingdom across the English Channel.

On the 24th, the 19th Panzer Army led by the famous German general Guderian and Reinhardt's 41st Panzer Army had reached a place only 10 miles away from Dunkirk and completed the encirclement of Dunkirk. Dozens of infantry divisions behind the German army also followed suit. At this time, as long as the German army launches an attack on Dunkirk, the 400,000 British and French Allied troops are likely to suffer disaster.

However, at this moment, a miracle in the history of war happened. Mustache personally ordered the German armored forces to stop advancing, saying that "the enemies of Dunkirk will be left to Marshal Göring's air force to deal with them." Generals Guderian and Reinhard had no choice but to stand still and watch helplessly as the British and French Allied forces boarded ships from Dunkirk and escaped.

Three days later, Mustache gave the order for the German army to launch a full-scale attack on Dunkirk. But at this time, the best opportunity to attack has been missed. The British government's original plan was to evacuate 30,000 people, but in a week or so, it successfully evacuated 80,000 people from Dunkirk, including 50,000 French troops. These armies all became the main force in counterattacking the European continent in the future.

Of course Yannick would not make this mistake again. The sky was dim and bright, and the German planes were hovering darkly over Dunkirk.

The "Flying Tank" Il-2 attack aircraft, the "Roaring Death" Stuka, and Mosquito bombers all appeared on the scene, madly ravaging the British and French coalition forces below.

The British anti-aircraft artillery on the ground had stopped firing long ago. Even those who were lucky enough to survive did not dare to fire easily, because as soon as they opened fire, either the German heavy artillery shells would pour down, or the Stukas from the sky would swoop down and be thrown directly. The next 500 kilogram aerial bomb blew the anti-aircraft gun and all surrounding objects into pieces.

The German Army Aviation in this time and space almost realized the "bold words" of Herman Göring in the original time and space when he declared that the Luftwaffe could win Dunkirk on its own. Ordinary aerial bombs, cluster bombs, and incendiary bombs weighing from 50 kilograms to 500 kilograms were put into battle to clear the way for armored forces on the ground.

Every machine gun fire point of the British and French coalition forces, every anti-tank gun, and every place with a slightly dense population could not escape the bombing of these bombers.

The firepower of the German ground forces is not inferior, 45mm, 82mm, 120mm mortars, 75mm IG 42 infantry cannon

The 122mm rocket launchers and 152mm howitzers kept roaring and bombarded the British positions.

Viscount Gott was hiding in the basement, staring gloomily at the flickering light bulb above his head. From the sky, the basement where he is located is just a broken room that was half destroyed by the bombing, so it has not been hit by bombs so far.

In order to stabilize the morale of the army and command the retreat, he personally came to the front line; but he did not expect to encounter such a desperate situation.

In front of him lay the latest telegram just sent from China, which contained a piece of desperate news. The civilian ship originally prepared to be dispatched to Dunkirk to pick up the expeditionary force was attacked by German bombers. The German army used new bombs, destroying hundreds of civilian ships in one fell swoop, and even civilians suffered heavy casualties.

It seemed that the "Generator Plan" was in ruins. He could only ask Churchill to send fighter jets to cover it, even if it was to disperse the German planes overhead, otherwise he would really not be able to persist.

Of course, Churchill could not give up the hundreds of thousands of expeditionary troops, and immediately ordered the commander of the British Air Force Fighter Command, General Hugh Dowding, to send fighter jets to drive away the German aircraft over Dunkirk.

But Admiral Dowding shook his head. "Your Excellency Prime Minister, you also know that the strength of our air force is already somewhat insufficient and we cannot suffer any more losses. We cannot allocate enough fighter planes to the Dunkirk area." What he said is also true. During the Battle of France, the British Empire He has suffered considerable losses in his air force. He has to dedicate part of it to ensure air supremacy when the expeditionary force retreats. Now he has detached part of his main domestic air force to go to Dunkirk. Even if he is lucky enough to win, his vitality will be greatly damaged. , what will be done to protect the air security of the British mainland?

The Imperial Chief of Staff, Sir John Greerdier, almost jumped up in anger after hearing these words. Listen to what people say? If you want to preserve the strength of your air force, you have to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in our army? If there is no army, can the air force alone resist the German attack? Go ahead and dream!

Just when Sir Dill was about to fight Admiral Dowding with his beard and glare, Churchill stopped him in time. After all, Churchill knew Dowding. Although his ability was undoubted, it was a pity that he was not a good person and was not tactful. Simply put, his emotional intelligence was not very high and he was not liked by people in the army. "Sir Dowding, come with me to smoke a cigarette."

The two came to the balcony. Churchill lit a cigar, blew out a puff of smoke and spoke slowly. "Sir Dowding, you and I both know that the current situation of the Imperial Air Force is not optimistic. But you should also understand that not only the Air Force, but also the Empire's army and navy exist to protect the Empire. For the sake of the Empire, we must take it back no matter what. Those soldiers. Otherwise the British Empire would really be in an unprecedented desperate situation."

Dowding lowered his head and remained silent. Although what Churchill said made sense, he also had to be loyal to his position, serve his position, and consider issues from his perspective.

The Battle of France had proven that existing British aircraft were unable to compete with the German aviation.

The Hurricane was no match for the German fighter jets, and the Spitfire was also at a disadvantage. The improved version of the Spitfire has not yet been finalized. Even if it is put into service, who can guarantee that the German fighter jets will not be improved? In this case, his fighter force should pay more attention to the security of the local airspace. Only under this premise can he consider other places.

Now that even the security of the homeland cannot be guaranteed, some fighter jets are assigned to be sent to Dunkirk. This will obviously consume the already stretched air force in vain.

Seeing that Dowding still did not express his position, Churchill couldn't help but increase his tone. "Sir Dowding, if the Germans destroy our expeditionary force, their next step will be to land on the British mainland. Can your air force alone stop the German army at that time? If you can guarantee that your air force can stop the German army, Attack, then you don’t need to send planes!”

"..." Dowding is not Goering, so of course he cannot make such arrogant guarantees. Moreover, Churchill's face was already very ugly. If he did not agree to send a plane, he might be dismissed from office and go home the next moment. An sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Okay, Prime Minister, I will send fifteen squadrons of fighter jets to Dunkirk."