Chapter 867 Guarding the Canal

The Suez Canal, from Port Said in the north to Suez City in the south, is 190 kilometers long. It is a sea-level waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, providing the closest route from Europe to the land near the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific.

Since it was excavated, it has become one of the most frequently used shipping routes in the world. It is also the border between Asia and Africa, and the main channel for people from Asia to Africa and Europe.

This important traffic road must be in the hands of the UK!

Therefore, the British stationed a large number of troops in Egypt, even if the British troops were in a disadvantageous state in the battle with the Germans in western Egypt, even if the British troops in Alexandria were besieged, no one thought about mobilizing the troops here.

In the Suez Canal area, thousands of troops are stationed, and the British 23rd Infantry Division, the commander of the garrison Lindeman, has not slept well these days.

The battle on the front line has turned sharply, and the Suez Canal is Rommel's ultimate goal!

If the Germans want to seize the Suez Canal, they must first control Port Said in the north of the canal. Therefore, under the leadership of Lindemann, these days, the British army has dug out anti-tank trenches outside, and the width of the trenches is more than four Meters, the German tanks, simply can't get through.

In the middle of the night, he was woken up by his adjutant in his sleep. When he hurried to the front of the sand table, he heard the news that couldn't be worse.

"The German army made a long-distance attack and attacked the city of Cairo. They are likely to continue to advance towards the Suez Canal." The adjutant said: "According to the speed of the German attack, maybe after dawn, the German vanguard will appear in our control. Area."

"Order the troops and prepare to fight," Lindeman said. "We will defend the Suez Canal to the death."

Although the Suez Canal is quite long, the most critical node is Port Said. This is the starting point for navigation. Now, don't worry about the Germans destroying the canal. After all, the Germans want to continue to use the river.

If the Germans want to get the river intact, they must occupy Port Said. It is conceivable that the battle here will be more brutal.

At the same time, in an air force base in the Canal Zone, fighter jets were also dragged out of the hangar.

The recent battle has caused heavy losses to the British. When the German ground troops were advancing, Stuka, HS129, all accompanied the advance and bombarded the British army indiscriminately.

The British Air Force also stood up to resist. Unfortunately, the gap in quality of fighter jets cannot be overcome, and the number of fighter jets is not dominant. When the British homeland defense battle, almost all the elite pilots were selected, and now the remaining is the novice.

Therefore, the British Air Force in Egypt was quickly crippled. However, there was still an air force left in the Canal Zone. Moreover, they recently changed their guns and got the latest fighter jets from the United States!

The P-40 is a fighter jet based on the P-36 "Eagle" designed by the American Curtis Company before the war. V-1710 inline engine.

Prior to this, the P-36 had been a huge success, with fairly high sales.

So, just modifying the engine made the plane so mediocre that it was almost featureless, and throughout World War II, this plane was almost a flash in the pan.

However, since the P-36 has already been mass-produced and has been battle tested, only a few changes to the production line are required to produce the P-40. It was almost the only model that could be mass-produced and sold in the United States at the beginning of World War II, that is to say, its output was quite high!

After the aircraft was manufactured, the first overseas buyer was France. It is a pity that the 100 P-40s ordered by the French were surrendered under the German Blitz before they left the factory.

Now, in the context of supporting the United Kingdom, these planes have been sent to the Middle East.

Brigade Captain Loso, watching the ground crew put bombs on his plane, at this time, the east has gradually become brighter.

In front of the nose, the pattern of the huge shark mouth is very eye-catching.

The front of the plane is painted as a shark's mouth, which looks very imposing. This idea and imposing manner is not the first one that Chennault did. The British Air Force, which was fighting in North Africa, first came up with this beautiful painting.

In all fairness, this aircraft is inferior to the Spitfire. The body structure does not move, but the engine power is increased to 1150 horsepower. The liquid-cooled engine makes its windward area much smaller. Even so, it is higher than the Spitfire. The speed is even lower by about a hundred.

What's more, the high-altitude performance of this aircraft is also quite poor. Once over 6,000 meters, the speed and handling drop sharply.

Historically, the British bought back this fighter and named it the Tomahawk. Some were dispatched to be used as trainers, and some were sent to the second-tier battlefields, namely the Middle East and North Africa, to be used as fighter-bombers.

And now, these fighter jets are the main force of the air force in the Suez Canal area. They have not participated in the battle some time ago and have been in good condition. Their only mission is to protect the Suez Canal!

When this fighter was exported to the UK, four 7.7mm caliber machine guns were installed on the wings, which became the model of two 12.7mm machine guns in the nose and four 7.7mm machine guns in the wings. It seemed to have good firepower, but, The German fighter jets have long overdone the use of cannons. Large-caliber cannons can hit a big hole with one shot.

Now, seeing the ground crew tensely reloading, Loso had an impatience impulse. He silently lit a cigarette and watched the ground crew busy.

"Woo, woo." At this moment, a sharp air defense alarm sounded suddenly over the entire base.

Damn, the Germans came so fast!

"Quick, quick, start the engine!" When he heard the sound of the air defense alarm, Loso quickly ran to his fighter plane. The ground crew, who was busy loading bombs, had already left the plane. The ground service was put on a ground service vehicle.

He shoved his crank handle onto the propeller, which just caught up with the slot on the axis of the propeller. He bent down and waited for Loso's instructions.

Turning on the switch and connecting the fuel circuit, Loso shouted loudly, "Quick start!"

launch! The ground crew tried their best to suck the milk and began to shake the handle. As the handle was shaken, the propeller also turned, from slow to fast.

On the right side of the front end of the nose, all are exhaust pipes. With the shaking, black smoke came out, and the black smoke became more and more. At the same time, the engine also made a sound that gradually became louder.

"Bang, bang," the engine seemed to have put two stinky farts, followed, and turned happily, it was already started!