Chapter 498 Storm Bird (End, Additional Chapter by Alliance Leader “Miracle - Magic Swordsman”)

Ps: This chapter is an extra chapter for the leader "Miracle - Magic Swordsman". All the extra chapters owed have been submitted. Please support with monthly tickets. Thank you!

Ordinary pilots don't know what those things that swoop down from the sky are, but LeMay knows the inside story.

Last week, the British secretly tested the prototype of the Meteor jet fighter. Although the British were hiding and unwilling to share it, the US military still knew the situation. Some people from the Eighth Air Force went to observe and communicate internally. LeMay, who was at the level of brigadier general, was just qualified to be communicated.

He had never seen the scene or the pictures, but he remembered several characteristics described during the communication: twin engines, no propellers, jet engine propulsion, extremely fast speed, and the fastest speed could reach about 950 kilometers per hour.

Recalling the scene when the British were so arrogant that they almost lifted their tails to the sky, LeMay was so angry that his teeth itched: Let you show off! Let you brag! Let you cover up! You are still a prototype, the Germans directly pulled out the jets for combat, and they were not just one or two semi-finished products, but more than 200. What does this show? This shows that the Germans are not only far ahead of the Allies in the field of jets, but have also formed actual combat operations.

"Send a telegram to the lieutenant general, we have encountered a large-scale German jet interception... The loss today may be great. If I can't come back, please ask him to take care of my family." LeMay suddenly told the telegraph operator.

The lieutenant general he mentioned is Carl Andrew Spaatz, currently the highest commander of the Eighth Air Force. (Author's note: According to the original historical trajectory, he should have gone to North Africa to command operations after Operation Torch, but because the plan was cancelled, he continued to stay in Britain to command the Eighth Air Force, which had obtained more aircraft than the same period in history - these aircraft were originally intended to be deployed to the North African and Italian battlefields)

The telegraph operator sent a telegram anxiously, and then saw the shocking scene:

More than 200 Me-262Cs swooped down from an altitude of 10,000 meters with a thunderous attitude, with a speed of more than 1,000 kilometers per hour. Almost in a blink of an eye, they flew to a position roughly the same height as the bomber group, but slightly tilted up by dozens of meters. After leveling, they began to charge to their own side. The speed of the bomber group was about 400 kilometers per hour, and the speed of the Stormbird group was about 800 kilometers per hour. Although the US military rushed forward desperately, the tragic speed and huge formation determined that they could not dodge at all, let alone flexibly change direction - if they could do that, they were not B-17s.

The distance between the two sides was rapidly narrowing. When the straight-line distance was about 1,200 meters, the bomber machine guns opened fire at full force, trying to resist the impact of the enemy aircraft with a rain of bullets, but at this time it was still outside the effective range of the 12.7mm aircraft machine guns. In addition to the terrifying momentum, the lethality was actually better than nothing.

Le Mei didn't know that there were more terrifying things among the more than 200 planes that swooped down: including Heinz-Bar, Günter-Lahr, Novotny, Marseille, Buckhorn and other German super ace pilots at this time. The Stormbirds concentrated 7 of the top 10 in the German Air Force's shooting record and 36 of the top 50 (Hartmann's record was not significant at this time and was not a super ace). There were a total of 48 pilots serving as instructors in the entire team, and their record was ranked in the top 100.

This unit was so important that the commander of the wing was personally served by the fighter director, Air Force Lieutenant General Garland, and Lieutenant Colonel Heinz-Bar served as his deputy and was responsible for battlefield command and daily work. Stormbirds generally do not participate in air defense, but only serve as training instructors. Each instructor serves as a squadron leader and is responsible for leading 16 trainees. According to the plan drawn up by Yeshunnek, the first batch of German jet pilots will be about 800 people, but there are only more than 300 jet aircraft available now. During training, each trainee takes turns to use them. This time, one instructor will lead four best students to fight.

In Hoffman's eyes, the value of these ace instructors is equivalent to 5 armored divisions, not ordinary armored divisions, but the level of the Guard Flag and the Imperial Division. The entire team is so valuable that the Air Force Commander-in-Chief Hoffman must personally nod his head before the combat deployment. Not to mention the Chief of Staff General Yeshunnek, even the First Deputy Commander of the Air Force Marshal Kesselring is not qualified to approve the attack.

"Don't be afraid, they can't hit us." Lieutenant Colonel Heinz-Bar encouraged his men on the radio, "Let's keep charging!"

"Long live the Führer!"

"Ready! Fire!"

LeMay knew that the enemy was not friendly, but he didn't expect the opponent's attack method to be so simple and crude. The pupils of all the machine gunners shrank violently, and large groups of flames suddenly spurted out from under the wings of the enemy plane. It was the R4M rockets mounted under the wings of the Me-262C that were continuously fired. At this moment, looking up from the air defense tower, you can see it clearly: the sky seemed to be covered with meteors at that moment, and it seemed that the fireworks set off during the festival were bursting violently.

The improved R4M rocket weighs 3.2 kilograms, uses a 55mm warhead, contains 520 grams of RDX-Gold, and one rocket is almost guaranteed to kill with one shot. The main body of the rocket is composed of a simple steel pipe with a flipped-out stabilizing wing to maintain spin stability. After the engine thrust of the Me-262C was increased, each wing could carry two groups of missiles, with 24 missiles in one group and usually launched in two times. After a single launch, it could form an explosion group of about 25 meters square at a distance of 1000 meters, which could completely cover a heavy bomber - nothing would escape being destroyed.

After this round of "fireworks", more than 100 heavy bombers fell down. Even worse was that several B-17s that were hit by the overlapping explosions of two batches of rockets were broken into pieces on the spot, with blood and flesh flying everywhere. After all, rockets are only probabilistic weapons and cannot be accurately struck. Wind speed and airflow can easily cause position deviation. It is not impossible for the two groups to run together. Moreover, the rockets have a falling process during the launch process. The reason why they have to be launched at an altitude slightly higher than the bomber group is based on the principle of automatic compensation for the fall after launch.

After tens of thousands of R4M rockets were launched, only more than 20 unlucky Me-262s were hit and fell, and the rest dived and separated under the guidance of the instructors. This fleeting speed made it impossible for the machine gunners to catch it, and even if they saw it, it would be useless - the downward firepower of the bomber was almost the worst.

Just when everyone was still in shock and was grateful for being alive, the Stormbirds that had flown away quickly climbed in the distance and then gathered together and flew back. Now the entire bomber group had no escort fighters to cover it and could not interfere with any of the opponent's actions. Li Mei could only sigh helplessly and shake her head.

"They are coming towards us..."

"Yiyiya! Charge!"

This time, the Stormbirds did not dive towards the flank of the bomber group after climbing, but instead began to dive head-on from the upper side.

"Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! Dive with me! Dive!" The instructors encouraged their students by radio, "Hold the gun switch and don't let go. Disengage when all the ammunition is used up! Disengage when all the ammunition is used up!"

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The Stormbirds sprayed out fire from the sky, most of which were shells fired by the MK-108. This 30mm cannon is extremely powerful. A B-17 is basically finished if it is hit by more than 4 rounds, and a P-47 can be written off if it is hit by 1 round. Each Me-262 trainee aircraft is equipped with 4 guns, and each gun has 120 rounds of ammunition. However, the shortcomings of the MK-108 are also obvious. The ballistic drop is very severe. After a horizontal shot from 1,000 meters away, the drop distance exceeds 30 meters. It is not suitable for dealing with maneuverable fighters, but it is just right for dealing with the bulky and large B-17.

After many days of exploration, the ace instructors summed up the tactics of high-altitude dive and intensive probability shooting. When the 200 Me-262s ran out of ammunition, nearly 100,000 shells were fired. If we calculate that an average of 1,000 shells can shoot down a bomber, 100 enemy planes can be killed. The actual results seem to be slightly more.

"Hit it! Ha, I hit it!"

Watching one B-17 after another crash, the first-time students were so excited that they could not restrain themselves. Even when they ran out of shells, they still desperately pressed the launch button.

"Climb and disengage, climb and disengage!" The instructors had to remind these overly excited guys that more than 20 planes had just crashed, but compared with the results, it seemed very good.

In the dive and firing just now, the instructors certainly found the target to attack. For example, Marseille seized the opportunity to kill 2 planes. However, their shooting techniques were generally very reserved. They never fired for a long time. At best, they fired a burst of fire. Only when they were fully sure of the situation would they continue to fire continuously - that was probably when the enemy planes were in trouble.

At 15:44, the large group of Me-262s dispersed and separated. LeMay seemed to have climbed up from the edge of the cliff of life and death. He let out a long breath and his back was soaked. There were only more than 300 planes left in the entire fleet, and the formation was so sparse that it was unrecognizable. Looking at this situation, he couldn't help but feel sad and almost burst into tears. But he knew he couldn't give up. The mission of bombing Berlin had not been completed. He gritted his teeth and said, "Even if I die today, I will die on the way to the bombing!"

Just as he ordered the team to further descend in altitude and prepare to drop bombs, the radio exclaimed: "They are coming again!"

There was nothing unusual in front, but when he turned his head, he was furious and his eyes were about to bleed. More than 40 jet fighters were flying up and down in the rear, rushing left and right, wantonly harvesting those planes that had broken away from the formation, had no dense formation to cover them, or had been damaged and had to return. One bomber after another was on fire and falling.

After watching a large number of trainees fly away safely, the 46 super aces (2 of whom were shot and fell and parachuted) could finally focus on their top combat power without distraction...