Zhou Zhihan knew that what the Royal Air Force was most lacking at the moment was not night combat pilots and night combat fighters, but people who could make the final decision and open the German night fighter defense line.
And he is that person, the giant hammer that can break through the German defense line in night battles.
This is the most important.
This is also the biggest reason why British people need and value themselves.
Zhou Zhihan did not take over the command granted by General Daoding. He was aware of this fact. Others could say that, but he had to understand that he could not do that.
At eight o'clock in the evening, Admiral Dowding ordered the forty Hurricane fighter jets to be divided into four squadrons, five minutes apart, to fly to the Dunkirk sea area in batches. This has a sense of hierarchy and will continue to bring increasing pressure to the Luftwaffe. , forcing their night fighters to take turns to go for reinforcements.
Admiral Dowding ordered all ships going to Dunkirk to withdraw troops from route C at a faster speed. This would make the Germans think that the RAF was forced to do nothing if a large number of hurricanes appeared at night.
There is a distance of 60 to 70 kilometers from Cavour Airport in the UK to Dunkirk Beach, and the Hurricane fighter jets will arrive soon.
At half past eight, Zhou Zhihan flew the A214 Spitfire directly to the port of Calais.
Twenty minutes later, ten Hurricane fighter jets took off from different airports, leading thirty bombers that also took off from different airports and gathered over the sea ten kilometers away from the land to the Port of Calais, because during the war, enemy countries would also attack various bombers in the UK. Agents were stationed near the military airport.
All fighter aircraft's taillights and instrument lights were turned off. Each Hurricane fighter was followed by three bombers. The bombers flew at a slightly higher altitude than the Hurricanes, and used the reflection points emitted by the Hurricane fighter's sights as navigation.
The advantage of flying like this is that the bombers will not get separated. In such a night sky, it will be very dangerous for the bombers to become separated from the group.
In the distance, the raging fire of Dunkirk's Saint-Pol Refinery is still burning. It can be seen from dozens of kilometers away. It has become a signpost for both the offensive and defensive sides to determine the direction of the city.
As soon as he left the British coast, Zhou Zhihan turned on his flying helmet and knew everything about Calais Port dozens of kilometers away.
There are twelve night fighters over the Port of Calais, 8 of which are Bf110 fighter-bombers and 4 Messerschmitt Bf109E1 fighters, all cruising at an altitude of 2,000 to 4,000 meters, completely covering the entire Port of Calais.
At noon today, the German army suddenly dispatched a large number of bombers to cooperate with the ground tank troops to capture Calais from the Allies. In the afternoon, the Allies also organized several counterattacks, but to no avail. The German army firmly controlled the air, and the Allies' Most of the fighters were protecting the retreat at Dunkirk? There was no air power left to fight the enemy planes over Calais.
In order to cover tonight's major bombing, the Allied War Department ordered that troops be continuously dispatched to counterattack the port of Calais, making sure to attract the full attention of the German ground defenders.
A stag-antler antenna was installed on the nose of the Bf 109E1, turning it into a night-fighting fighter-bomber.
Due to the addition of an antenna on the nose, the two 20mm MGFF cannons on the Bf 109E1 nose were replaced by two 7.92mm MG17 machine guns, each with 1,000 rounds of ammunition? There are also two 7.92mm MG17 machine guns on the wings, but the reserve There are only 420 rounds of ammunition.
The Bf109E3 has an ETC250 pylon installed under its belly, which can hang four 50-kg sc50 bombs. It is a multi-purpose fighter-bomber that can be used for both night combat and night bombing.
Are the Germans better prepared than the British in terms of night fighter aircraft? They now have ten squadrons of Bf 110 night fighters? Plus the Bf 109E1 night fighter bomber? The Royal Air Force only has five squadrons of night hurricanes, which is basically Can't compete with that.
Sure enough, ten minutes later, 12 night fighters over Calais left four Bf110s and headed for the Dunkirk waters. A few minutes later, 12 Bf110 night fighters flew in from the direction of the Pinn Air Force Base and arrived at the Port of Calais. After flying a routine patrol in the sky, they also flew in the direction of Dunkirk. Two minutes later, two more Messerschmitt Bf 190E1s left Calais and headed for Dunkirk over the Port of Calais.
This shows that the 40 Hurricanes successfully lured the enemy and the air defense power of Calais Port was greatly weakened.
Zhou Zhihan has been worried that the two Bf110 night combat squadrons stationed at the Pien Air Force Base will become the biggest threat to the Allied bombing of the Calais pier. Now these two squadrons are almost all gone, leaving only Calais. At the distant Bren Airport, the movement of a Bf 110 fighter squadron is unknown, but this is no longer important. The 10 Hurricanes escorting the bombers are capable of dealing with the night combat aircraft of a squadron that has not been dispatched at Bren Airport.
There were also 4 Bf110 and 2 Bf109E1 fighter-bombers over the Port of Calais.
The A214 Spitfire pulled upwards and entered the air at seven thousand meters. What Zhou Zhihan had to do now was to quietly kill these six night combat aircraft.
The six planes were divided into three two-plane formations and patrolled over Calais Port. Even if a squadron of British night fighter planes suddenly appeared, they could hold on until reinforcements from Boulogne Airport arrived.
A squadron of British night fighters?
impossible.
The British only have five or six night fighting squadrons, and almost all of them are now in the air above Dunkirk to cover their retreat.
Come bomber?
The British were not stupid enough to send bombers without night fighter escort and without night combat capability to die.
The A214 Spitfire appeared silently from the sky patrolling the sea, behind and above the tail of a two-plane formation composed of Messerschmitts.
Compared to the Bf 110, the Bf 109E1 is more difficult to deal with.
In order to facilitate sneak attacks, the initial bullets of the A214 Spitfire used conventional warheads, but tracer bullets were installed in the reserve ammunition.
A burst of fire, the 7.62mm Browning machine gun bullet had only a little spark, first shot into the flight cabin of the Messerschmitt Bf 109E1 serving as the wingman, blew out the pilot's head, and continued to shoot out the propeller and aircraft engine. Turn off the engine and plunge into the sea silently.
After the A214 Spitfire succeeded in the attack, it did not bounce away. Instead, it took the position of the downed Messerschmitt wingman, then pulled up and accelerated forward, without the leader in front knowing the situation. After catching up to the top of its head, the A214 Spitfire nose dived slightly and fired another burst. It also killed the pilot first and made him unable to make a sound, and then exploded the propeller instantly. The plane fell into the sea without exploding and making no sound.
It is impossible for fighter jets patrolling at night to inform each other all the time. At the beginning of the patrol, they could joke a little with each other, but soon they had nothing to say. If there was no enemy situation, they usually reported to each other every ten to fifteen minutes. Just now Zhou Zhihan was watching them from the air after the report was completed. , just did it.
Take down two Messerschmitt night-fighting E1s in 20 seconds. Zhou Zhihan pulled up the A214 to spit fire and entered the sky seven thousand meters above.
There were six aircraft, about ten kilometers apart. The A214 Spitfire only fired bursts, which did not attract the attention of the other four fighter jets. The troops on the ground had to deal with the constant counterattacks of the Allies. Bullets were flying in the battle between the two sides. No one noticed the occasional barrages in the air.
Five minutes later, two other Bf110 night fighter jets flew over the sea in front of the pier, and the A214 Spitfire appeared silently again.
