Chapter 741 Atlantic Strangulation War (50)
Hartman is a typical lucky man. Yesterday afternoon, he relied on his incredible courage and skills to escape from danger while being pursued by 4 F6Fs, and finally successfully arrived at Newfoundland. After inspection by the ground crew, they found that the Bf-219C, which was covered with shootdown marks, not only had multiple machine gun holes and the overall structure was extremely weak, but also that it had performed large-scale maneuvers many times and consumed a lot of fuel. At most, there was still less fuel left in the tank. It can support the plane to fly for another 15 minutes. After being reminded, Hartman then remembered that his fuel gauge seemed to be broken. He did not notice the fuel consumption at all during the fierce battle.
The ground staff believed that the aircraft could no longer perform its mission and declared it scrapped on the spot. Hartman thought he could easily get new aircraft to replace him. Unexpectedly, the ground staff spread their hands and told him that due to the heavy initial consumption, all the carrier-based aircraft that had been carried All of them have been used. As for the planes coming over, there are pilots. It is impossible to get them to Hartman. Then he saw a large number of aircraft landing on the island after dark. He originally thought that these were aircraft supporting the Azores, but it turned out that they were all carrier-based aircraft. Later, he heard that the Skyhawk and the Elbe were both out. He was so surprised that he couldn't even close his mouth. He was busy fighting enemy planes one after another, and in the end he fled directly to Newfoundland. He never expected that the battle situation would turn out like this.
He originally thought that he would be punished for leaving the battlefield without authorization, but he found that no one was pursuing the matter. He couldn't help but secretly rejoiced. He carefully recalled the entire process of today's battle. He thought that he was too crazy and too dedicated, and that he was a little unlucky. It may be irreversible at all. In fact, due to his disappearance, his old superior Major Krupinski, aviation commander Major General Koch and even Machar were all concerned about this hero who shot down 13 planes in one day. They heard that he was safe and sound. Everyone was thankful that landing in Newfoundland without authorization was no big deal - the ace who shot down 13 planes was certainly no coward. Krupinski originally hoped to let him have a good rest and not participate in tomorrow's battle, but faced with the 100-shootdown mark so close, Hartmann was not willing to sit down and insisted on joining, hoping that he would join in. Sir, get him a new plane. In order to achieve his goal, he specially emphasized one point: "I have flown Fw-190 and Bf-109, and I have good adaptability to fighter jets. Any type of aircraft will work."
Unable to defeat him, Krupinski had to think of a way, and he actually got the plane - a brand new Do-412. The original pilot suddenly developed a high fever and was unable to perform the mission, although there were a bunch of alternate pilots vying to use this plane. Planes go into battle - there are now more pilots than planes on Newfoundland, but Hartmann's name is so famous, and Krupinski comes forward, everyone is willing to give way to him. Hartman originally thought it would be an Fw-190, but he never expected that it was the latest Do-412. He was so happy that he asked the engineer about the technical details as soon as he had dinner, and his whole body seemed to have endless power.
According to Ozawa's plan, the land-based aircraft force remaining on Newfoundland had a very heavy task in the second day of the battle: because the aircraft carrier formation had to move eastward, and there were only two available aircraft carriers left, it could no longer provide strong support. A powerful air protection umbrella, so the land-based air fleet must not only cover the safe retreat of the Marines, but also protect the safety of the transport fleet and escort fleet during their retreat. According to the arrangement, all other Marines and transportation and supply formations will be evacuated on December 2-3. The No. 4 retreat aircraft and the last Marine battalion, as the last batch of retreating troops, are responsible for holding on to the end and retreating late at night, considering transportation. The fleet retreated too slowly, so Machar arranged four fast destroyers for the force as the last maneuvering force. He also repeatedly told Krupinski, who was ultimately in charge of full command, via telegram: "All equipment is available if necessary." Destroy and abandon - including the latest fighter jets, but be sure to bring everyone, especially all pilots, back safely!"
In order to complete this task, Krupinski could only give up the desire to attack and coordinate the overall situation. Fortunately, the proportion of fighter jets on Newfoundland is particularly high. In addition to 48 Fw-190A8s, there are also 10 Do-412s (2 Lost yesterday), 8 Ta-152s and 32 Bf-219s. The attack aircraft are relatively much less, with only 8 Joint Strike Fighters, 17 He-218s and 14 Ju-98s. Krupinski arranged for the attack aircraft to complete their cover mission and withdraw in the evening. By the early morning of the 4th, when they all retreated, only the fighter planes were left. While he reminded Hartmann not to fight too much alone, he also arranged for the latter to command a squadron. The latter readily accepted the task, and his desire to hit the 100 mark was overwhelming.
Time passed slowly under the night, and the German army began to make arrangements for the retreat. During the day, the engineers and logistics troops had collected all the materials and equipment on the dock, boarded the ship and left in an orderly manner. The Marine Battalion with the greatest losses also quietly broke away from contact with the Canadians. and retreat, they will also be responsible for escorting a group of captured British and American pilots. As for the captured Canadian infantry, except for the officers who were taken away by the Germans, the rest of the ordinary soldiers were detained in several abandoned warehouses - the Germans did not want to run away. And take all this burden with you!
Everything was originally in order, but at 4:30 in the morning, the atmosphere was ruined by the radar warning. Due to time constraints, the engineers did not have time to establish a radar station on the island of Newfoundland. After the landing, all early warnings were provided by the heavy cruiser Seydlitz anchored near the port. Due to the inertia of thinking formed by continuous operations, they always thought that it would be dawn. Enemy planes may appear later. Unexpectedly, a large number of aircraft were discovered at 4:30 in the morning. Moreover, the discovery was delayed because of fear of radar misjudgment. After repeated verification and confirmation that the radar status was normal, I dared to confirm that at this time The US military fleet was close to less than 80 kilometers away from Newfoundland, and the staff on duty was busy informing the airport.
The German army also made misjudgments in handling the enemy situation. After receiving the warning, Krupinski thought that the US military was coming for the airport. On the one hand, he ordered all the fighter jets to take off, and on the other hand, he asked them to keep the airport as much as possible - this It is very important for the continued operations in the next two days. Without an airport, the landing fleet loses a reliable air protection umbrella. Therefore, the fighter jets are responsible for air defense interception missions according to the instructions, and do not take the initiative to attack the US military formation until the radar prompts that there are a large number of small and small aircraft. There were snowflake-like spots of light, and the ground troops even alerted the airport after seeing suspected paratroopers. At this time, Krupinski suddenly realized: the Americans were not here to bomb, but the Americans were crazy - they were here to airborne!
Both sides made a big mistake at the same time: since the German planes passing through the Azores had not yet arrived during the reconnaissance in the morning, the United States believed that the planes on Newfoundland were all German carrier-based aircraft, and there would be no air power for the early morning airborne landing. interception without further detailed investigation. As for the advance bombing attack to gain absolute air supremacy, it was canceled due to time constraints and the fear of alerting the enemy. The reason is simple. In order to carry out night flights and airborne missions, Arnold deployed a group of the most experienced seed instructors who have been responsible for training and command tasks. It is not easy to lead a large fleet of aircraft to accurately fly the aircraft to the island of Newfoundland at night. Where is the spare capacity to send elite attack aircraft pilots to carry out ground attack missions?
The Germans, on the other hand, had been thinking about their own retreat and their minds were full of enemy air attacks on their own positions, airports, transport fleets and aircraft carrier formations. They never expected that the US military would actually choose to attack Newfoundland at dawn. Airborne to Dala La. By the time they realized something was wrong and ordered the fighter jets to rush over and exchange fire, the large-scale parachute drop of the US military had been going on for more than half an hour, and the white belly of the fish was already showing in the east. If they had attacked and set up their posture 10-15 minutes earlier, the waiting German fighter group would have directly collided with the American transport aircraft group, and the 101st Airborne Division would have died before it could take off.
"Damn it!"
Hearing a roar in the distance, Li Qiwei, who had successfully parachuted, cursed in the air - Lu Hang told him that the German army had no planes at dawn, and he patted his chest to ensure absolute safety. Where did these planes come from now?
"Damn it!"
Krupinski also cursed loudly. Due to false alarms, delays and errors in judgment, the best interception time was missed. But even so, he still had to let the fighter jets attack - it didn't matter if he couldn't defeat the airborne troops. At least take down these daring transport planes!
Seeing the German fighter jets coming in groups and fiercely, the P51B fighter pilots performing escort missions were also very nervous. They had not received professional night combat training, and the lighting conditions were so poor that they could not see clearly during the fight, but they were behind them. There are also hundreds of transport planes. Not only are the cabins full of people, the defenses are extremely fragile. What's more terrible is that the altitude is not very high, making them perfect targets.
"Come on... forget about the fighter jets, go for the transport planes!" As an ace pilot with 98 kill records, Hartman saw through the weakness of the US military at a glance, and immediately led the squadron to rush over, taking the lead and rushing to the front, 2 A P51 immediately blocked the way, and the 12.7mm machine gun bullets pulled out streaks of fire in the air. According to Hartman's past driving habits, he must have circled and faked, and then rushed forward to punch holes in the opponent's side at close range. But now he was driving the Do-412. Last night, he knew that this new aircraft not only had high firepower, It was a long way out of the Bf-219, and the climbing speed was extremely fast, faster than the Fw-190 or Bf-109 he had touched before, so he immediately chose to pull up.