On the first day of the Dunkirk evacuation, Admiral Hugh Dowding set up his conference room directly next to the dispatch room so that he could learn information at any time.
Zhou Zhihan walked into the conference room. Before the meeting time, the room was already full of people, and everyone looked serious.
Fias Christelle stood on tiptoes, facing Zhou Zhihan sideways, with her shoulders and chest close to each other.
Zhou Zhihan naturally lowered his waist and turned his head to cooperate.
Pheas Christelle said in his ear: "The only person in the room who was not wearing uniform and smoking a big cigar was Mr. Archibald Sinclair, Secretary of State for the Air Force, a member of the War Cabinet. , I didn’t expect him to come today.”
Seeing Zhou Zhihan and Crystal Taylor walking in, General Hugh Dowding immediately stood up with a smile on his face: "Everyone, welcome the arrival of our super ace, Colonel Zhou Zhihan, the commander-in-chief of the Allied Legion!"
The room immediately burst into applause, and everyone stood up, including Air Force Secretary Archibald Sinclair, who was holding a stack of photos. He also stood up and applauded with a smile.
Zhou Zhihan and his partner performed a military salute.
General Hugh Dowding walked over quickly and patted Zhou Zhihan's arms again: "Amazing, young man! Let me introduce to you. This is Air Force Secretary Archibald Sim, a member of the wartime cabinet. Mr. Clay!”
Zhou Zhihan once again saluted with a military salute.
Archibald Sinclair put down the photo in his hand, took off his cigar and put it away, walked over, smiled and took out a gorgeous and noble box and said: "Mr. Zhou Zhihan, chief instructor of the Air Force from China, given that you are fighting against the enemy in an allied country, For your outstanding performance in combat, the British Empire has decided to award you with the Imperial Order of the Bath!"
Seeing the Air Force Minister personally putting the knighthood medal on Zhou Zhihan's chest, everyone in the room once again applauded warmly, especially the soldiers from the fallen countries, whose eyes were full of envy.
This is a brief but solemn wartime medal ceremony.
Zhou Zhihan's face was filled with glory, and he once again saluted everyone.
"Colonel Zhou!" the Air Force Minister lit his cigar and said after the applause of the crowd subsided, "I want to tell you good news. China and Britain are about to become allies. The wartime cabinet has decided to negotiate with China at the end of this month to open a link to Yunnan. Regarding the Myanmar Highway, it will be opened in mid-June at the latest.”
This news is more precious to Zhou Zhihan than any medal.
The Secretary of the Air Force continued: "After we opened the Burma Highway, we will not announce it to the world for the time being, in case the Japanese know that they will bomb and destroy it in the future. It will still be blocked during the day and secretly opened at night. The British army will send troops to assist in transporting anti-war supplies to China. !”
What a thoughtful thought! Zhou Zhihan's chest felt hot and the corners of his eyes were slightly red. He remembered that the Burma Highway was only opened in October 1940.
The Air Force Minister noticed Zhou Zhihan's excitement and patted him on the shoulder: "Originally, the Foreign Minister was planning to discuss the opening of the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway in October? But your heroic performance conquered the cabinet? So we decided to open the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway. The agenda of the Burma Highway has been brought forward to be opened next month, and all kinds of assistance will be provided to China. Young people, please continue to write your legend, all of us have high expectations for you!"
"yes!"
Zhou Zhihan saluted the military salute again? He was very excited and didn't know what to say for a moment.
An adjutant came over from the dispatch room and handed a form to General Hugh Dowding.
General Hugh Dowding looked at the form and raised his voice: "Your Excellency, Air Force Minister! News came from the front line that the N010 Messerschmitt that was shot down was indeed Werner Moulders. Captured by French ground forces? He himself admitted that the person who shot him down was a Spitfire fighter with serial number A214!"
"This is great!" The Air Force Minister, who was having a cordial conversation with Zhou Zhihan about the Burma Highway, was very happy. He also imitated General Hugh Dowding and patted Zhou Zhihan on the shoulder: "Young man, do you know, the German The number one ace in active service was shot down by you. How amazing! Molders invented the four-finger formation? He was a national treasure of the Luftwaffe. His fall was definitely a blow to the Luftwaffe and had a huge impact on their morale. Strike.”
Zhou Zhihan put on an afterthought and enjoyed the congratulations to him again.
The Minister of the Air Force held a cigar and raised his hand and said: "This matter must be a headline in the evening newspaper today to boost the morale of our military! Also, write a leaflet about the shooting down of Moldes and spread it to the Germans to attack them. Morale, show it to the German pilots. Enemies of the British Empire, Werner Molders will be their fate. Do it now."
"Yes!" An officer agreed and walked out. Now he took the clear photos taken with the camera gun and sent them to the newspaper. They must be the headlines tonight.
The investiture ceremony is over.
A lieutenant colonel officer walked up to the huge battle map hanging and briefly introduced the current war:
"The Saint-Pol Refinery was bombed, and now most of the sky over Dunkirk has been shrouded in thick black smoke. The German bombers can only fly at low altitudes. This is beneficial to our army's retreat, but at present, it is beneficial to us. This is the only message.”
Many people shrugged their shoulders and shook their heads with a bitter smile. The reality is so cruel.
"As of now, the defenders of Calais are showing signs of collapse at any time. Our army has no reserve force available. Once Calais is lost, our troop transport routes will be threatened by German heavy artillery.
An hour ago, the Belgian military sent a message that they were at the end of their rope and were ready to surrender to the Germans before two o'clock this afternoon.
If Belgium surrenders, our army will not have the reserve force to fill the defense gap left by the Belgian army, but Belgium will use the surrender agreement to buy us a day. The Belgian army will not disarm until the German-Belgian agreement is signed;
From last night to now, our air force has lost 15 Hurricanes at night, lost 6 Spitfires and 4 Dreadnoughts in half a day during the day, and another 3 Dreadnoughts and 5 Blenheims were injured and withdrawn from the battlefield. Where are their whereabouts? unknown;
From last night to now, our air force has shot down a total of 32 German aircraft, 17 of which were shot down by Colonel Zhou Zhihan and two by Lieutenant Johnson Allen;
From last night to now, a total of only more than 5,000 soldiers have withdrawn to the UK. At this rate, it will take at least a month for all 400,000 Allied troops to withdraw to the UK, and this must be based on the premise that Calais is not lost.
The three routes that have been withdrawn and merged at present, the latest one is from Dunkirk via Matik Beach, to West Dyke and back home to the port of Dover. The total length is 39 nautical miles. We call it route A, but this route A must We have to keep Calais intact, and given the current situation in Calais, we have to take precautions;
The second available route is from Dunkirk through the Dyke Sea, to the Sonnet Shoal, and back to the Gard dock. This B route is 55 nautical miles, but because this route was full of mines in the early days, , it will take at least three days to open this route.
If the port of Calais is lost, we will have to take another 87-nautical-mile Route C, from Dunkirk to Small Bank, passing through Zenit Shoal to the Kwent Sea and back to the UK. In this way, the sailing time will be Increased by two times, and in the direction of the Kwent Sea, it will face the threat of German bombers. "
After the lieutenant colonel finished speaking, the entire venue fell into silence.
Belgium's surrender made Operation Dynamo even worse, but Belgium's surrender was also expected, including France, which would fall sooner or later.
However, the loss ratio of fighter jets on both sides is almost the same, which is most worrying. The number of fighter jets that the British army can use is far less than that of the German army. If this fight continues, the British main fighter jets will soon be stretched thin.
And it took one night and half a day to evacuate five thousand people, which was really beyond everyone's expectations.
Before the evacuation of Operation Generator, it was conservatively estimated that 40,000 people would be evacuated in one day, which was far from the planned expectations.
The German tank troops are pressing forward step by step and constantly increasing their troops. The defense lines of the three British divisions outside Dunkirk are becoming increasingly tight. No one knows how long they can hold on.
Based on the current war situation, Calais is about to fall, and this route will soon be blocked by the Germans. The second route was originally designed to guard against German submarines, so more than 5,000 mines were laid to open this route. Route, it will take at least two days to clear the mines, which means that once Calais is lost, the ships of the retreating soldiers can only take Route C.
"Everyone! Tell me what you can do?" Admiral Hugh Dowding held a pipe in his mouth and looked around at everyone.
No one spoke.
There are three retreat routes here, and a fourth cannot be opened.
An intelligence lieutenant opened the door and walked quickly to General Hugh Dowding: "Belgium has announced its surrender."
Although everyone already knew that Belgium would surrender, when the reality came, everyone felt a little breathless.
What if Hitler didn't give Belgium a chance to delay?
As soon as the intelligence officer left, another officer almost jogged into the conference room with a heavy face: "Calais has been captured!"
General Hugh Dowding immediately stood up after hearing this and strode to the map. Most of the people present stood up.
The situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly, and no one expected that Calais would be lost so quickly.
The battle situation is even more serious!
The group intelligence officer continued: "After the fall of Calais, a naval destroyer was damaged by German heavy artillery, two other troop carriers were sunk, more than five hundred soldiers were killed, and three troop carriers were forced to turn around. Take Route C back to China."
The entire conference room fell into dead silence again.
——
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