After a while, the Air Force Minister looked solemnly and looked at General Hugh Dowding: "I think it's time to use the reserve fighter group."
"No!"
Admiral Hugh Dowding decisively refused.
"The reserve troops cannot be moved unless absolutely necessary. Let's think of other ways."
The Minister of Air Force no longer held the cigar in his mouth, and frowned: "But there are 400,000 people on the beach at Dunkirk waiting to be evacuated, and the outer defense line may collapse at any time. If we don't open the closest route to Calais now, Route A, instead of taking route C, it would be a mistake to divert the entire line. Once the outer defense line is lost, the consequences will be disastrous! Therefore, we can only use reserve forces to open the air corridor in Calais to cover the retreat of the soldiers."
Admiral Hugh Dowding was very stubborn: "On the French battlefield, we lost 140 Hurricanes and 80 Spitfires in the first ten days, and we could only produce 8 Hurricanes and 6 Spitfires every month. This batch of preparations After the fighter jets are used, if the German Air Force suddenly attacks the British Isles, how can we resist? These 280 Spitfires must not be moved."
The Lord Admiralty knew that Admiral Hugh Dowding was notoriously stubborn, so he could only take a step back and said: "Otherwise, we can dispatch half of our reserves to open up the corridor over Calais and suppress the German heavy artillery. In this way our The troop transport ship can take route A, greatly shortening the voyage.”
"This is a method, but it is difficult to implement." Admiral Dowding still shook his head. He would never use his last strength until the last moment. "If we continue to send more planes to France, then whether in France or in the UK, Homeland, we will all lose our air combat capability,"
Seeing Dowding being so stubborn, the Air Secretary's face turned gloomy: "If the troops compressed in Dunkirk suffer heavy losses, who will bear the responsibility?"
In response to the Air Force Secretary's questioning and oppression, General Hugh Dowding did not answer. Instead, he walked to a small blackboard and lifted the cover. Inside was a chart. He pointed to the red warning line: "This is The chart of the Royal Air Force's losses in the war so far. If France sends more reserve fighters to take risks, the line on the chart will soon drop below the red line. By then, not to mention the withdrawal of French troops, but to the British Isles It couldn't be done without being bombed by the Luftwaffe.
We cannot allow the failure of France to cause Britain to suffer a comprehensive and irreparable defeat. On the contrary, if the British Empire maintains a sufficient fighter force in the country, if the losses of the Royal Navy are not too great, and if the troops on the ground to resist invasion are properly organized, we should be able to fight alone for a period of time, even if we cannot fight forever. Go down. "
Seeing that almost half of the British fighter planes listed on the chart had been lost, the Air Minister stopped talking.
What General Hugh Dowding said is obvious? Air Secretary and everyone here? Do you think the security of the British mainland is more important, or the 300,000 people on the beaches of Dunkirk?
Is war so cruel? Many times, you have to make heart-wrenching choices.
After a while, Admiral Dowding said with a sad tone: "Although this is not very humane? But can anyone tell me what to do to get the best of both worlds?"
The Air Secretary no longer mentioned the use of combat-ready fighter units. Dowding is right. Compared with tens of millions of people, how much can 400,000 troops be withdrawn?
The room fell into dead silence again.
"General!" Zhou Zhihan stood up? "Can we send bombers at night to blow up the heavy artillery deployed by the German army at the port of Calais?"
"at night?"
General Hugh Dowding shook his head, "This is very difficult to do. The Germans have airports in Clonber, Pien and Buren. Are they waiting for work? Our number of night fighters is far less than that of the Germans, and we cannot open the German night fighters. Defense. Sending bombers over at night is like putting a sheep in the tiger's mouth. Besides, our bombers don't have night radar and can't fly over the Calais dock."
Zhou Zhihan knew that this was the time for him to make a great contribution. He stood at attention and said: "General! I have a way to blow up the German heavy artillery deployed in Calais Port at night!"
Everyone in the entire conference room immediately looked at Zhou Zhihan. If he could blow up the German heavy artillery at Calais Pier, all the problems would be solved. Even if the German army wanted to rearrange the heavy artillery, it would take at least two or three days to arrive.
Admiral Dowding took off the pipe in his mouth and his eyes lit up: "Tell me."
"I have accumulated rich night combat experience on the battlefield in China. This experience is valuable and is definitely not comparable to that of the German night combat troops.
I once led a group of Chinese bombers without intercoms, old equipment, and backward technology to successfully attack the Japanese military airport 220 kilometers late at night. In the later stages of the Songhu Battle, the Chinese Air Force was outnumbered and successfully attacked the Japanese "Longxiang" which severely damaged the Japanese army. 】aircraft carrier. "
A few days ago, what Zhou Zhihan said would have been immediately laughed at, but now no one doubts what he said.
This morning, Lieutenant Johnson Allen and Warrant Officer Al Dill have already talked about the operations of the rescue team last night. They were completely impressed by the Chinese Air Force Chief Instructor's superb night fighting skills.
Who dares to doubt the man who single-handedly destroyed seventeen enemy planes?
Admiral Dowding nodded repeatedly, indicating for him to continue.
The Air Force Minister personally brought a cup of coffee to Zhou Zhihan: "Young man, tell me your plan!"
Zhou Zhihan took the coffee: "How many night fighters do we have in total?"
General Hugh Dowding said: "We have five squadrons of night-fighting hurricanes. Excluding the ones lost last night, there are still 50 night-fighting hurricanes equipped with radar."
Zhou Zhihan nodded: "At eight o'clock tonight, all our night fighters will be dispatched. Forty Hurricanes will go to the beach of Dunkirk to cover the troop transport ship's retreat to Route C. Germany will definitely send a large number of night fighters to intercept it. The night at Calais Pier Fighter aircraft will be significantly reduced.
I took off for Calais at 8:30 in the evening and shot down all the night fighters deployed by the Germans in Calais. At 8:50, another ten night fighter Hurricanes of our air force led more than 30 bombers to Calais and bombed the Germans at the dock. Heavy artillery, blow them into scrap metal. "
General Hugh Daoding stared at Zhou Zhihan: "How sure are you?"
"Seventy percent!"
Zhou Zhihan was not satisfied.
General Hugh Dowding looked at the Air Secretary.
Archibald Sinclair nodded. Since this young man dares to say that he is 70% sure, then he has a 90% chance of success.
Britain has promised to open the Burma Highway. If it is not sure, it will never dare to take on this important matter, which affects the lives and deaths of 300,000 to 400,000 people.
Admiral Hugh Dowding decisively authorized: "Tonight, all night fighter aircraft will be under your full command!"
"Yes!" Zhou Zhihan said, "I have one more request, general!"
Admiral Hugh Dowding said: "If you have any requests, just ask!"
"I request that this operation be kept completely confidential."
"This is easy to handle," Admiral Dowding said to his adjutant. "From now until dawn tomorrow, everyone present at the meeting, except Colonel Zhou Zhihan and Second Lieutenant Fiasco Christelle, is not allowed to do anything. Leave the monastery even half a step, and anyone who disobeys the order will be subject to military law!"
Adjutant: "Yes. General!" After saying that, he went out and ordered the soldiers to set up defenses outside the building. Except for Zhou Zhihan and Fiasco Crystal, no one could leave, including General Hugh Dowding and the Air Force Secretary. .
General Hugh Dowding looked at Zhou Zhihan: "Whether the 400,000 troops can successfully evacuate back depends on you."
"Yes!" Zhou Zhihan, "I promise to complete the mission!"
"This is a life-and-death battle!" said the Air Force Minister: "Young man, if you can complete this mission, the righteous countries and people around the world will applaud you! If you have any demands now, just ask!"
Zhou Zhihan gritted his teeth and said, "Just mention it?"
Air Secretary: "Just mention it!"
"I guarantee that this mission will be successfully completed. Can you support China with two Spitfire fighter jets at the right time?"
"No!" The Air Force Minister lit his cigar again and looked at Zhou Zhihan quietly.
Zhou Zhihan was slightly disappointed. Spitfires were the top priority of the British Air Force, so it was normal for them not to provide them.
The Air Force Secretary said seriously: "If the mission can be successfully completed, we will give China ten Spitfire fighter jets after this crisis."
