Just as Li Junhao's army aviation unit was training enthusiastically, a new war broke out in Europe.
On August 13, Germany's "Sea Lion Project" officially began to be implemented. This day was named "Eagle Day" by its air force commander, Marshal Göring. More than 480 bombers of the German Air Force, under the cover of more than 1,000 fighter jets, launched an attack on the British territory. Nine airports launched unprecedented violent attacks.
Although the British army was well prepared for this, they still lost 446 aircraft, 231 pilots were killed or injured in the fighting in the following days, and five airports in southern England were severely damaged; to make matters worse, the most critical locations where the British army was deployed Six of the seven radar stations on board were bombed, and the entire airborne early warning system was on the verge of being destroyed.
It can be said that most countries in the world are paying close attention to this super-scale air battle.
As the attacker, the German army hoped to use large-scale air strikes to destroy the British army's airports, barracks, arsenals, transportation hubs and other important facilities, defeat the British resistance, and force them to surrender;
As the defender, Britain, under the leadership of its new Prime Minister Churchill, fought tenaciously. Even though its air force was less than one-third that of the German army, its pilots relied on three times the attendance of German pilots. With great efficiency, they withstood the enemy's attacks and achieved many local victories in air battles, which greatly boosted the morale of the British military and civilians.
——
The command war situation analysis room in Jiaozhou Park became lively again, and the officers began to discuss the Great Air Battle of Britain again. Everyone agrees that following the blitzkrieg and the concentrated use of armored forces, the German army has come up with a new strategy of large fleet operations and attacking enemy countries purely with air power. However, there is ongoing debate as to whether it can achieve the purpose of the war.
The original officers were all from the Marine Corps and the Army. This time, four professional air force flight instructors came, and naturally they were brought into the discussion. However, these four instructors also had differences on the effectiveness of the German Air Force's offensive. , no one can convince anyone.
When the pros and cons were arguing, they invited Li Junhao from the office and asked him for his opinion.
Regarding the outcome of the Battle of Britain, Li Junhao had a clear and authentic attitude: "I dare not say whether a country can be solved by purely using air force, but one thing that can be determined is that, at least, in this Air Battle of Britain, the Germans could not do it !”
"Commander, why do you say that?" an officer asked in confusion.
"Because their air force commander is a fool!" Li Junhao said unceremoniously, "You must not have forgotten Dunkirk, right? At that time, the German armored forces only needed to advance another 20 to 30 kilometers, and it would not take long to The British and French allied forces were annihilated on the beach, but that idiot asked to use the air force to deal with the enemy, and asked the head of state who didn't know what he was thinking to strictly order the armored troops to stop advancing...
"You should all know the result after that. Hundreds of thousands of British and French troops were brought back to the British Isles! The Germans' behavior in that incident was like a joke! It will be the same this time, even if there are more Luftwaffe aircraft , even under the command of an idiot, we can’t win!”
"Hahaha..." Li Junhao's words caused everyone to laugh. Everyone thought about it seriously and realized that this was really the case! Many people don't understand how the seemingly shrewd Hitler could not see Goering's stupidity and insist on letting him be in charge of the Luftwaffe. In fact, if any air force general at the level of major general or above were to command the German Air Force, which had an absolute advantage, he would not fail.
Of course, some people were not completely convinced of Li Junhao's judgment. Although they did not refute it in person, they secretly noted it down in their hearts and prepared to verify it later.
After Li Junhao finished speaking his judgment, he left the war situation analysis room and went to do other things. He believed that Hitler's determination to destroy Britain was not strong enough at all. The hastily launched "Sea Lion Project" itself had great flaws, and there was an unreliable air force commander who was blindly directing it. Failure was almost inevitable.
——
These days, the training of the army aviation unit has entered the actual flight stage. The ten trainees who had been on seaplanes before started flying solo one after another, but they only chose one model, either P-38 or F4F. Only Commander Pan Sen, who was also a "new learner", could fly both models equally well, which made everyone, including the four instructors, admire him.
However, after mastering the two models, Li Junhao rarely flew on the plane again. These two aircraft were far inferior to the Lingyun fighter he had modified, and they were boring to fly. It's just that the new professionals from the Army Aviation and Hainan Airlines have not yet been conquered by him, and they will have to wait for a while before they can come up with good things.
——
During this period, Li Junhao's attention was often directed to the North China region, where the Japanese North China Front Army was engaged in successive battles with the Eighth Route Army, which was later known as the "Hundred Regiments War".
Since the summer of this year, Japan has intensified its political efforts to induce the Kuomintang government to surrender on the Chinese battlefield. At the same time, it has continued to attack the underground party’s anti-Japanese base areas with its main force. In particular, it has stepped up the implementation of the "Supreme Construction Plan" in North China and the North China Front Army Commander Oka The "cage policy" proposed by Ningji Murura implemented "railroads as pillars, highways as chains, and bunkers as locks" in an attempt to destroy the anti-Japanese base areas in North China and consolidate the occupied areas.
In order to smash the "cage policy" of the Japanese army, the Eighth Route Army headquarters launched a large-scale strategic offensive campaign against the communication lines and strongholds occupied by the Japanese army in North China.
In these areas and communication lines, all three Japanese divisions, two regiments of each of the two divisions, all five independent mixed brigades, two brigades and one of each of the four independent mixed brigades were stationed. There are two brigades of the cavalry brigade, with a total of more than 200,000 people, 150 aircraft and 150,000 puppet troops.
The participating forces of the Eighth Route Army include 36 regiments and the 129th Division of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region (including the 1st and 3rd Columns to the Death, etc.) and a total of 42 regiments and 120th Divisions (including the 2nd and 4th Column to the Death, etc.) directly under the headquarters. There are 27 regiments, a total of 105 regiments with about 270,000 people, and many local guerrillas and militiamen participating in the battle.
On August 20, the Eighth Route Army's strategic offensive began, and the battlefield in North China was filled with smoke...
When the war began, Li Junhao wanted to help. Although he could not directly support the front line due to the battlefield environment, he sent a cash check of US$200,000 to the Eighth Route Army office through Wen Qiang in Xi'an, and made a special phone call to convince Johnson in Chongqing. Ambassador, a large number of weapons and ammunition were allocated to the Eighth Route Army from aid supplies to support this campaign.
(End of chapter)
