Chapter 917: Encirclement (9)

As the battle between the Tsunoda and Spruance fleets heated up, a larger-scale fierce war took place in Europe.

At 5:20 a.m. Reykjavik time, the German fleet dispatched more than 200 aircraft to attack Iceland again. The aircraft and airport facilities that the US military had finally cleared out at night were once again blown into ruins. More than 20 US military fighter jets that took off to resist were killed by the Germans. The fighter escort was torn to pieces. Before the war started, Smith had lost almost all of his combat aircraft - only 6 intact aircraft were left, and aviation facilities were severely damaged. The airport facilities that were left undiscovered and could be restored through emergency repairs could only accommodate at most Just dozens of planes.

After hearing the news, London had to temporarily change its combat plan.

Pound originally dispatched 300 fighter jets to Iceland as scheduled for reinforcements. In addition to the short-legged Spitfire, Sea Spitfire and imported American fighter jets, the Royal Navy has also developed several cutting-edge fighter jets in the past two years, with good performance and range. It is also large, such as Firefly and Storm. Especially the Firefly fighter can not only board the ship but also act as an all-rounder. The British think it is stronger than the F6F and is the scheduled main aircraft carrier-based aircraft. Unfortunately, there is no aircraft carrier that can carry it now. No, we can only intensify training on land.

The Storm fighter using the Saber engine is an improvement on the Typhoon fighter-bomber. It originally focused on improving the Spitfire's high-altitude, high-speed performance and range. It is basically the same idea as Germany's development of the Ta-152, with a maximum speed of nearly 700 kilometers per hour. It was developed The process was almost the same as that of Germany. However, due to the limited input of materials and the inability to equip large quantities of equipment, the German army achieved great success with its high-fighting tactics.

If we make a fair assessment, these types of aircraft are better than American aircraft of the same type, and they are no more generous than their German counterparts. The British Empire still has a solid foundation in the aviation field, but it is only due to the limitations of raw materials, fuel and other factors that all kinds of new equipment are difficult to develop. . In Hoffman's mind, in addition to the Merlin engine, the British aviation industry also has a lot of good stuff: Fury (Sea Fury), Sea Fang, Griffin (Griffin) engines, etc. are among them, but Germany has After the emergence of the Do-412, Ta-152 and Bf-319, there seems to be no much technical reserve in the field of propeller fighters.

The Americans are the only ones who don't think anything of the British. They just keep messing with P-47\P-51, and shamelessly use the 12.7mm family heirloom that has not changed for thousands of years - I don't see the British trying to exchange it for the Sith as soon as they get it. Panno cannon?

Pound still had reservations. He would not waste his most precious carrier-based aircraft pilots. All those dispatched would be naval land-based fighter jets. Even when the Americans pressed for Britain to provide 100 carrier-based aircraft pilots, he refused to take out his trump card. He kept claiming that he didn't have any, and even if he did, he would leave two armored aircraft carriers! Even Churchill had no idea what to do with him. In the end, he forcibly transferred 100 pilots from the Royal Air Force to deal with the Americans. This incident has caused great dissatisfaction with the Navy to this day. The fleet, shipbuilders and technicians have all been given to the Americans, what else do you want? The old marshal had a bad temper and was very popular among the navy.

This statement has been echoed by a large number of congressmen. The British Empire has always had the largest navy, and its world status is achieved by the navy. There are many more pro-naval congressmen than pro-air force congressmen, and the army, which has the largest number of people, has a greater political power. They have no right to speak. If the army congressmen dare to say a few words when fighting for budgets and resources, the navy congressmen will immediately lecture them: "Who rescued you when you were surrounded in Dunkirk?"

I heard that the Navy promised to send 300 aircraft to support this time, and also agreed to hand over 20,000 tons of very precious aviation fuel to the Air Force. The Navy and Air Force all cleared up their past grievances. Last night, Admiral Porter prepared more than 1,600 aircraft of various types in one go. model of aircraft, and planned to gather 2,000 of them for coordinated operations. The plan was originally very good - the large group of aircraft would cover the bombers to attack the German fleet, and then the bombers would return and the fighter jets would land nearby in Iceland. However, the destruction of the Icelandic airport forced the British army to We had to adjust our strategies, and all relevant tactics were disrupted.

"If it doesn't work, let the pilots go to Iceland to make an emergency landing or parachute." Brooke mused. "Air superiority is the key to containing the German offensive, and attacking the landing fleet is the key to ultimately holding Iceland. Once the Germans successfully land, there will be more to come. There’s no way to fight.”

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the two people changed drastically. This is equivalent to treating the plane as a disposable consumable. There are still planes, but the pilot's failure to come back means that there will be fewer and fewer planes available in the next few days - this This kind of long-distance sortie relies heavily on the quality and experience of the pilot, and it cannot be just recruited recruits.

"Okay." Pound gritted his teeth and said, "The Navy's 300 aircraft are still available. Whether it's parachuting or forced landing, I will admit it. It will be provided in two days, but there will be no more!"

"In this case, the Air Force can only send out 500 fighter jets, and the rest must be retained for local air defense. What if the Germans go to Ireland or land on the mainland?" Porter said with a sad face, "Although Iceland is important, no matter how important it is, it is not the homeland. "

After 6 o'clock, the Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft serving as the lead reconnaissance mission took off first, and the Royal Air Force's large fleet also stepped up preparations. In order to prepare for the Iceland landing battle, the Air Force took out all the guys from the bottom of the box, including various B-17s. \B-29\Halifax\Lancaster\P-47\P-51\B-24\B-25\Blenheim\The handsome warriors were dispatched in full force, and they defeated the German fleet with great momentum. intention.

Trouble soon came: before 7 o'clock, before the reconnaissance plane returned the exact position of the German fleet, the radar station reported that a large number of German aircraft were crossing the strait.

"How big is it?"

"300 from the direction of France, 500 from the direction of Belgium, and 400 from the direction of the Netherlands. Judging from the speed, at least 400 of them are jets..." Just after the report was finished, the phone rang again over there. It was from the front line in Aberdeen, Scotland. Report from the radar station, "Large-scale invasion of Norway by the Luftwaffe..."

"How much?" Porter asked, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

"More than 600, very fast, some of them are jets..."

The German army had reached 1,800 aircraft. Several military leaders looked at each other and quickly made a decision: all the fighter jets would take off to intercept, and the attack aircraft would take off quickly to attack in the direction of Iceland, waiting to correct the direction according to the correct position midway.

Hoffman, who held the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, was also listening to Jeshunek's report at the Supreme Command: "Today, the Norwegian Air Force (9th Air Force) launched a total of 2 waves, mobilizing a total of more than 1,200 aircraft. It is expected that 2,000 sorties were dispatched; the Imperial Air Force (domestic) launched a total of 2 waves, mobilizing more than 1,300 aircraft and 2,200 sorties; the Western European Air Force (3rd and 5th Air Force) launched a total of 3 waves, mobilizing a total of 1,700 aircraft. It also has more than 1,000 aircraft and can dispatch one wave in an emergency."

"Are you sure?" Hoffman asked worriedly.

"It is difficult to completely suppress the British Air Force, but I think it is quite possible to contain the opponent so that it cannot attack the fleet on a large scale."

After the adjustment of the general mobilization system, according to the deployment of Marshal Kesselin, the first deputy commander of the Air Force, the Air Force was divided into three theaters (Eastern Front, Western Front, and Southern Front). The mainland was a secondary independent defense area under the unified management of the Western Front Theater. The 6 air forces were adjusted and expanded to 10 air forces. As the war on the southern front and even in Africa gradually won, the strength of the southern theater gradually weakened. After the establishment of each joint theater, the air force expanded to 14 and was gradually included in each joint theater. .

Marshal Kesselring became the commander of the Mediterranean-Africa Joint Theater (focusing on German East, West Africa and Madagascar) and was in charge of the 2nd and 12th Air Forces; after Marshal Bock became the commander of the Indian Ocean-Middle East Joint Theater (covering Turkey), the head of state A fellow Austrian, General Alexander Leer was in charge of the attached 10th Air Force, and acted as the theater commander while Marshal Bock was "recuperating" - General Leer, like Marshal Kesselring, was a member of both the Army and the Air Force. A slippery character.

The North Atlantic-Western Europe Joint Theater, where Marshal Rundstedt serves as commander, is the top priority of the Western Front Air Force. It has a total of 4 air forces. Former Western Front Air Force Commander Jürgen Stumpf was in charge of the 3rd and 3rd Air Forces. 5. The 8th and 11th Air Forces, of which the 3rd Air Force is in the direction of France, the 5th Air Force is in the Netherlands and Belgium, the 8th Air Force is in Spain and Portugal, and the 11th Air Force is mainly in the Azores and Verde. Cape Canary Islands and other North Atlantic islands such as the Canary Islands. Due to the particularly important position of the 11th Air Force, Hoffman personally handed over the sole responsibility to Air Force General Günter Kolten (historically serving as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, during the 720 Incident) He blocked a bomb for the Führer and was killed).

Originally, Western Europe also included the 9th Air Force stationed in the direction of Norway in Northern Europe. However, at the critical moment of the Seal Campaign, the 9th Air Force and the Imperial Air Force were under the direct control of the High Command. The air force was under the charge of General Alfred Kohler. The Imperial Air Force and its affiliated training air force are in charge of General Jeshunek.

The Eastern European Theater, with Marshal Blomberg as commander, and the Eastern Joint Theater Air Force, with Marshal Manstein as commander, were both in charge of the former Eastern Front Air Force Commander-in-Chief Graham. Due to their military exploits in the past few years, General Graham of the Air Force, General Model of the Army, and General Marshall of the Navy were promoted to marshals in the same batch. The promotion order has been officially issued, but the promotion ceremony will be postponed to the end of June due to the fierce fighting. Marshal Grimm was in charge of a total of 6 Air Forces: 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 10th, accounting for half of the Third Reich’s air force. Except for the 7th Air Force, which served as a reserve force on the front line in Eastern Europe, the other five were all in Fighting on the Eastern Front.