Next, Major General Parker assigned the tasks of each fighter group. This time the success or failure of the Dunkirk evacuation fell on the Air Force. Whether the 400,000 Allied ground troops could return to the UK from the sea depended on the Allied Air Force. Can an air corridor be built above Dunkirk for the retreating troops and ships?
Germany's intention at this time was also very obvious, which was to use their powerful air force to strangle 400,000 Allied troops in the sea area of Dunkirk.
After the meeting ended before lunch, Lieutenant General Charles and Zhou Zhihan walked and chatted in the monastery.
The sun is shining, the grass is green, and the monastery is peaceful and quiet. No one would have thought that in a few months, this place would be reduced to ashes.
The two of them were walking along the green path while chatting about the current war situation. Three nuns wearing loose black robes and black scarves on their heads walked towards them. Their foreheads and necks were hidden in white scarves. Two older nuns walked towards them. With a serious face, the other nun is still young, and her plain clothes make her cheeks more pure.
The nuns lowered their heads when they saw Zhou Zhihan and Lieutenant General Charles from a distance, and nodded politely as they passed by, looking very quiet.
Passing by several nuns, Zhou Zhihan shook his head and couldn't help but feel sorry for the young nun. In his impression, Western nuns were equivalent to Eastern monks.
Such young and clean cheeks...
Pity!
He couldn't help but turn around, only to find that the young nun also happened to look back at him. Their eyes met in an instant. Zhou Zhihan saw the purest eyes in the world. He couldn't help but secretly admired her. After staring at her back for a few seconds, he couldn't help but turn around. Quickly catching up with Lieutenant General Charles, the two came to a bench under a big tree and sat down. Lieutenant General Charles had a pipe in his mouth, and Zhou Zhihan lit a cigarette.
At this time, Western men like to hold a very gentleman's pipe.
Perhaps because of cultural differences, or because he is a time traveler from the 21st century, Zhou Zhihan still likes to hold a cigarette between two fingers and enjoy the light smoke lingering on his fingertips, even though the cigarettes at this time do not have filter holders.
"Colonel Zhou, when did you come to the UK from China?" Lieutenant General Charles lit his pipe, took two puffs, and turned to look at Zhou Zhihan.
"I took a cruise from China on May 13th. I first arrived in Hong Kong, and then traveled all the way to the UK." Zhou Zhihan said and shook his head. The current traffic is really crazy. Along the way from China to the UK, he It’s really a lot of sin.
"Let me tell you a sad news!" Lieutenant General Charles said with a serious expression, "On the 16th of this month, your General Zhang Zizhong died for his country!"
Although Zhou Zhihan had long known about General Zhang Zizhong's military experience, when he heard what Lieutenant General Charles said, he felt a sudden pain in his heart. He stood up suddenly and punched the tree hard.
After a while, Lieutenant General Charles said: "China's Anti-Japanese War has entered a stalemate. Judging from the current war situation, it is very difficult for the Japanese to take over China. In contrast, the British Empire's current The situation is not optimistic, and if you are not careful, you may fall into catastrophe."
"The British people will win the final victory!" Zhou Zhihan calmed down and came out of the grief of General Zhang Zizhong's martyrdom. "Like Japan, Germany will also fall into the quagmire of a protracted war and struggle desperately after its initial victories. , the people of the world will win..."
Listening to Zhou Zhihan's analysis, Lieutenant General Charles nodded repeatedly. He did not expect that the strategic vision of the Chinese Air Force Chief Flight Instructor would be so long-term. His few words made people feel like they could see the sun through clouds.
Zhou Zhihan was introduced by Lieutenant General Charles. Lieutenant General Charles naturally trusted him and talked about everything. He also did not hide some high-level military secrets that could not be disclosed easily.
Lieutenant General Charles continued: "Just yesterday afternoon, the German army's sharp tank troops suddenly stopped attacking and instead defended in place. This made the Allied command headquarters confused whether the German army had any other conspiracy. .
Also starting yesterday afternoon, the number of German bomber dispatches suddenly increased several times, dropping countless bombs over Dunkirk, causing heavy casualties to the Allied forces.
The Allied Command speculated from this that the Germans wanted to use their powerful air force to annihilate the 400,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. After all, the Allied troops still had strong forces in Dunkirk. In terms of combat effectiveness, the German ground troops would have to pay a heavy price if they wanted to eat the 400,000 Allied troops.
The Allied headquarters judged that the German army changed its strategy and tactics, used ground troops to block the Allied forces, suppressed the Allied forces in the long and narrow sea area of Dunkirk, and then dispatched their powerful bombers to conduct intensive bombardment of the Allied forces, forcing the Allied forces to The army surrendered. Therefore, the Allied forces decided to start Operation Generator in advance. "
Zhou Zhihan pondered for a moment and said: "This may also be the German army's plan to kill two birds with one stone, plus the method of subduing the enemy without fighting, in order to force the Allies to admit defeat and surrender."
"A plan to kill two birds with one stone?" Lieutenant General Charles looked at Zhou Zhihan with a little doubt, "Let's talk about it."
"At this time, the German army had the upper hand. With 400,000 Allied troops suppressed in Dunkirk, it was difficult to move. The German army firmly held the initiative. They could fight however they wanted, while the Allied forces could only respond passively.
It is impossible for the German army not to know that the Allied forces will retreat from Dunkirk, because judging from the current situation, if the Allied forces break forward, they will not be able to break through the powerful German tank troops. Retreating back to the British mainland is the only option for the Allied forces. survival route.
However, the German army chose to stop the advancement of ground forces at this time and use air forces as the main attack. This conspiracy was clearly exposed.
The German army dispatched its air force as the main attack, and the Royal Air Force must only use its air force to respond. Now the German army has occupied Belgium and stationed a large number of fighter planes. Most of France's territory has also fallen, and German fighter planes have also begun to enter one after another. The German army ranks among the two. The airports in each country formed a natural advantage over Dunkirk. However, after the Royal Air Force flew through the English Channel and arrived over Dunkirk, the remaining fuel only allowed the fighter planes to stay in the air over the battlefield for a maximum of 20 minutes. , once a fighter plane is entangled by the German air force, even if it can finally escape, it will not be able to fly across the English Channel.
In this way, the German Air Force has formed a situation of waiting for work. More importantly, the German fighter planes can use all their elite fighters to attack the Dunkirk sea area 24 hours a day. The Royal Air Force also has to allocate some of its main fighters to defend the homeland to prevent the German army from attacking. A surprise attack on the British Isles was launched, so every time the fighter planes that could fly to Dunkirk were far behind in quantity and quality, the consequences could be imagined.
The German army forced Allied aircraft to support the Dunkirk evacuation, forcing Allied fighter planes to enter the air traps set by their large fighter formations one after another.
They first laid siege to Dunkirk instead of attacking it in order to force Allied aircraft to come to support them. If they continued like this, when the main force of the Royal Air Force's fighter planes was almost exhausted, Germany suddenly dispatched a powerful air force to attack Britain. What will the UK do to resist then? "
The more Lieutenant General Charles listened, the more solemn his expression became. When Zhou Zhihan finished his analysis, he grabbed Zhou Zhihan's hand and said, "You will follow me to see General Hugh Dowding now and tell him your analysis in detail! It's really true. God bless you to come to the British Empire."
"No, no, no!" Zhou Zhihan smiled and said to Lieutenant General Charles, "It's your foresight. What I said was all what you had predicted in advance. I just added a little bit. These were originally your opinions. , or you should go and talk to Admiral Hugh Dowding yourself."
Lieutenant General Charles looked at Zhou Zhihan silently, and after four or five seconds, the two looked at each other and smiled.
Zhou Zhihan said: "You are an old friend of the Chinese people. The last time we were in Sihang Warehouse, it was because of your help that Captain Xie Jinyuan was able to lead the brothers to escape safely. So I believe that as an old friend of the Chinese people, My friend, you will continue to support China’s anti-war cause in the future.”
Although what Zhou Zhihan said was a bit against his will, in any case, Lieutenant General Charles helped the defenders in the warehouse to some extent when they were at the Sixing Warehouse. Otherwise, Xie Jinyuan and the others would have no way to retreat and surrender would be absolutely impossible. Yes, he can only die in the warehouse. Although country Y's main purpose at that time was to protect their own interests in China.
Zhou Zhihan has another meaning in doing this. I give the credit for seeing through the German conspiracy to you, general, because you have helped us in the war of resistance. We Chinese are very particular about repaying kindness, and I hope you can do it in the future. Increase efforts in aid to China.
Lieutenant General Charles certainly understood the meaning and said: "China and Britain will soon form an alliance. I will urge relevant parties to open the Burma Highway as soon as possible and send large quantities of anti-war materials to China's anti-Japanese battlefields."
Zhou Zhihan said: "Thank you, general!"
"Oh! By the way, Zhou," Lieutenant General Charles did not ask Zhou Zhihan how to crack the air trap set by Germany, but asked, "How many defenders did you have when you were at Sihang Warehouse? The outside world has always said this There are different opinions. Some people say that there were 800 people in the warehouse, while others said that there were less than 500 people. The Japanese military has always said that there was a brigade of Chinese defenders stationed at the Sihang Warehouse at that time, and they were all equipped with German equipment.
That day you flew the plane off the roof of the Sihang Warehouse. About half an hour later, Major General Yoshimaru Kiyoshi became angry and ordered the Hase Brigade to attack the warehouse. Unexpectedly, there was not even a single person in the warehouse.
At that time, Major General Yoshimaru Kiyotake thought that he had been ambushed by you again, so he quickly ordered the troops to retreat, and then sent a small team into the warehouse to search the entire warehouse including the water to make sure that no one was there. He was extremely angry at that time. I saw through the telescope that his face was deformed with anger. Later, China sent a bomber formation to attack the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryujo. Only then did General Matsumoto Iwane and General Kiyoshi Hasegawa realize that they had been tricked by you. In anger, they had no choice but to make Major General Kiyotake Yoshimaru the scapegoat. , committed suicide at the entrance of Sihang Warehouse! "
"That bitch Kiyotake Yoshimaru killed many Chinese people, and he deserved his death!" Zhou Zhihan said as he lit tobacco for Lieutenant General Charles, then lit one himself and took a few puffs. "At that time, there were only 423 of me in the Sihang Warehouse. People. When we evacuated the concession that afternoon, the last 20 or so wounded were the ones we deliberately left behind.
We knew that the little Japanese would go back on their word and would definitely leave half of the eight hundred people to restrain me, but they didn't know that we actually only had more than four or four hundred people. "
After saying that, they both laughed at the same time.
After looking at their watches, the two of them stood up and walked side by side towards the restaurant when it was almost time to eat.
Zhou Zhihan said: "General! I'm new here and I don't understand your Western military concepts, so I'm asking for your advice. What tactics do you think the German Air Force will use to attack the Allied forces in Dunkirk?"
Lieutenant General Charles understood: "Germany will continuously send large groups of bomber formations to attack the Allied forces in Dunkirk and the fleets going to withdraw their troops."
Zhou Zhihan nodded: "In other words, it was not Germany's Messerschmitts that could cause significant damage to the Allies in Dunkirk, but their bombers."
Lieutenant General Charles' eyes lit up: "As long as we contain their bombers, we can buy favorable time and opportunities for the evacuation of the troops."
Zhou Zhihan smiled slightly and said: "After several battles with the German Messerschmitt this morning, I found that the Messerschmitt is not invincible. Its performance is roughly equivalent to our Spitfire and slightly better than the Hurricane fighter.
After shooting down several Messerschmitts, I have found a way to contain this fighter. As long as our Spitfire pilots follow my method, we have a chance to defeat it, or at least entangle it in the air, giving us of Hurricanes and Dreadnoughts, fighting for time to attack their bombers. "
Lieutenant General Charles' eyes suddenly shone brightly: "We first entangled the Messerschmitts escorting the bombers with Spitfires, and let the Hurricanes and Dreadnoughts deal with the Germans' clumsy bomber formations, and then defended them with anti-aircraft artillery on the beach. Those bombers that slipped through the net covered the fleet's troop evacuation."
Zhou Zhihan said: "For now, the German army only relies on their Messerschmitts, but the number of Messerschmitts is far less than that of bombers. As long as we contain the Messerschmitts, This war can basically be won.”
Lieutenant General Charles continued: "The ratio of German bombers to escort fighters is basically 2:1, and rarely 1:1.
Adding in this month's production, we have less than a thousand Spitfires, but close to two thousand Hurricanes, and hundreds of Dreadnoughts and P36 fighters. So the ratio of interceptor fighters we dispatch each time can be 1:2:2. That is to say, for every Spitfire dispatched, it is paired with two Hurricanes, two Dreadnoughts or P36s. During the air battle, half of the Hurricanes were used to assist the Spitfires in entangling the Messersmits escorting the German bombers, while the remaining fighters attacked the German bombers with all their strength. "
After Lieutenant General Charles finished speaking, he thought for a while, and then looked at Zhou Zhihan: "After lunch, I will report the matter to General Hugh Dowding alone! Zhihan, you have made a great contribution this time!"
Zhou Zhihan waved his hand quickly and said: "I only took the credit for shooting down a few Messerschmitts. What we talked about just now was all taught by you. I don't dare to take any of the credit."
Lieutenant General Charles stretched out his big hands again, patted Zhou Zhihan's shoulders hard, and then said mysteriously: "The headquarters is planning to set up an "Allied Legion" fighter group, and I will strongly recommend you to be the group leader!"
"Thank you, General!" Zhou Zhihan was not polite, and then said: "General! I think it is a bit inappropriate to send the 303 Squadron deep into the German military areas to bomb."
