In early July 1940, the air war over Great Britain was about to begin.
At this time, Hitler had gradually lost patience with Britain.
In Hitler's eyes, Churchill was a farmer who liked to drink brandy in broad daylight, and those who assisted him in ruling Britain were stubborn fools. In the 10 months since the war broke out in September last year, the German Empire's The armed forces have brought the entire northern Europe from the Bug River in Poland to the English Channel coast of France under German rule. However, the British on the other side of the Channel turned a blind eye to this reality. Their stubbornness puzzled Hitler. , especially the ballista plan implemented by Churchill in early July, made Hitler even more angry. He issued an ultimatum to Britain through the Kingdom of Sweden, with July 9 as the deadline.
Just when Hitler still had the slightest illusion that the British would regain their sense and propose peace to him, the British were racing against time to use every moment to speed up the recovery of the severely damaged armed forces.
After nearly a month of hard work, the British arsenal worked day and night to produce fighter jets. The Royal Fighter Force quickly received fresh blood, and some young pilots went to the front line after intensive training.
During this period, Zhou Zhihan led the instructors to train the pilots day and night to adapt to the use of the four-finger formation.
After the Battle of Dunkirk, pilots deeply understand the importance of the four-finger formation, but it is difficult for veterans to suddenly change the old tactics they have been following. It is like a person who has eaten with chopsticks with his right hand since he was a child. I couldn't help but use my left hand to hold the bowl.
It takes some time for veterans to adapt to the four-finger formation, but rookies can learn how to use the four-finger formation instantly, which "hurts" the self-esteem of those veterans.
During this period, Zhou Zhihan, sailors Malan, Al Dill, Bob Stanford and others began to study the distance problem of the Spitfire's machine gun intersection.
During the Battle of Dunkirk, the Spitfire's shooting advance and optimal shooting distance had always troubled pilots.
In the past, the British Air Force believed that the machine gun intersection point should be 400 yards from the aircraft's flight axis, but actual combat experience convinced Zhou Zhihan and others that the machine gun intersection distance should be shortened to 250 yards, which would allow pilots to dare to get closer to the enemy and improve Hit rate.
At this point, the final improvements to the gun junction were accepted by all Spitfire pilots.
In order to allow young pilots to grow up quickly, Zhou Zhihan formulated a plan to lead the new with the old. Every time all veteran pilots patrol the skies over the English Channel, they must form a two-plane formation or a three-plane formation, with the veteran pilot as the lead plane and the rookie as the wingman. .
Now, British Royal Fighters and German aircraft can see each other across the strait, and sometimes the two sides fly only a few kilometers apart. This kind of pressure that is not experienced during rear training can allow rookie pilots to grow up quickly.
Since the evacuation of Dunkirk, small-scale frictions have often occurred between British and German fighter jets. This was Goering's deliberate effort to put pressure on Britain and test the British's determination to fight.
Every time there was a confrontation or minor friction between the fighter jets of both sides, Zhou Zhihan boldly sent a large number of rookie pilots to confront the German ace pilots. This allowed the rookies to feel the pressure of the battlefield in advance, but the German ace pilots did not know that the ace pilots in Germany were confronting them. They are all rookies who have only been flying in the sky for less than a month.
The British Royal Fighter Force was a little worried about Zhou Zhihan's formation at first, but after a few times they discovered that the rookies who had faced off against German ace pilots above the English Channel grew much faster than those who had not experienced quasi-actual combat. Stressed newbie.
So later, the Royal Air Force listened to Zhou Zhihan's suggestion, and every time it sent out a fighter escort fleet, 2 veterans would lead 4 to 6 rookies. This move made the rookie pilots grow at an even more amazing speed!
The advantage of this is that the rookies get the opportunity to experience, while the veterans train the rookies while recharging their strength in the rear, quickly improving the combat effectiveness of the fighter unit.
Churchill mentioned in a parliament that the joining of Colonel Zhou Zhihan from China has improved the strength of the Royal Air Force by at least two levels. In the Battle of Dunkirk, he saved the Royal Air Force from fire and water many times. He has now become A hero to the British people.
He will fight side by side with us on behalf of the righteous Chinese people.
July 10
Affected by the low pressure from the northern Atlantic Ocean, most areas of the island of England are experiencing heavy rain. Only the port of Dover, close to the English Channel, is covered with dark clouds and continuous light rain.
Just after noon, the clouds and fog over the strait lifted a corner, and occasionally a clear sky was revealed. The sunlight tore through the haze and projected on the sea surface, creating a wonderful scene of the sun setting aside the clouds.
On the last day, Hitler finally did not wait for the peace talks sent to him by Churchill.
Göring's patent arrived at a secret base west of Dunkirk on July 9, while the Luftwaffe's two most famous aviation wings, JG2 Corps and JG26 Condor Corps, gathered after more than a month of rest. The French seaside is ready to go.
A German reconnaissance plane flying over the strait suddenly spotted a large British coastal escort fleet and immediately reported it to the headquarters. Regardless of the low clouds in the sky at this time, the German Air Force immediately mobilized 20 He111 bombers, 10 Destroyer Bf110 fighter jets and 30 Messerschmitts formed a three-dimensional attack formation in the air and rushed towards the large British fleet.
The British fleet discovered that the German aircraft immediately dispersed and moved forward at full speed. The anti-aircraft guns on the escort fleet fired dense firepower into the air, and black smoke clouds suddenly exploded near the German aircraft formation.
Six Hurricane fighter jets from the 32nd Squadron of the British Air Force, which served as cover, immediately joined the battle, and the pilots attacked the Luftwaffe bombers.
Immediately, 10 Messerschmitts appeared from high altitude and launched a diving attack on the Hurricane fighter.
After being tempered at Dunkirk, the German Air Force has become more mature. Now their air king Messerschmitt has been re-equipped. Many fighter squadrons now use the Messerschmitt Bf109E4 model, and some are more advanced. models also appeared on the battlefield.
The Hurricane fighter performed a mature backward roll, escaped from the Messerschmitt's dive, attacked the opponent's abdomen, forced them to fight on a flat surface, and resolutely implemented Zhou Zhihan's air combat tactics of using one's own strengths to attack the enemy's shortcomings. .
Seeing that the only six Hurricanes of the British Air Force were entangled by the escorting Messerschmitts, the Bf110 battle maintained the suppression of the fleet's artillery fire, and the He111 bombers dropped bombs on the British fleet. The merchant ships were immediately blown up. Water columns tens of meters high.
The British people on the shore saw all this clearly and cheered loudly for the Hurricane fighter jets on the shore.
Reporters with a keen sense of smell have long smelled the smell of gunpowder on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. They are stationed in the English Channel every day, and today they finally waited for the scene of a fierce air battle.
Six Hurricane fighter jets fought in front of the fellow villagers and performed very bravely. They shot down a Messerschmitt first. This wonderful scene was captured by many reporters and people on the coast with their cameras as a permanent souvenir.
But the strength gap between the two sides was too great. Just when the Hurricane fighters were about to be unable to withstand it, suddenly, a squadron of Spitfires appeared, and the remaining Messerschmitts immediately rushed forward. The two sides started a fierce battle in the drizzle. chase.
A few minutes later, a squadron of Hurricane fighters came to support and started a duel with the bBf110 fighters.
The Dreadnought fighters that arrived subsequently began to drive away the He111 bombers.
The battle to defend London begins!
