In a secret station in Dunkirk, German Air Marshal Goering was sitting in his special train, holding a golden cigar in his hand and looking at his generals with an angry look on his face.
The generals all dared not breathe. They stood on both sides, bowing their heads and not daring to speak.
Since the beginning of the war, Imperial Marshal Goering has received reports from his intelligence officers again and again. Each time, they said that the Royal Air Force was almost completely wiped out. However, whenever Goering sent bombers to fly across the English Channel, there were always a large number of hurricanes on the other side. He took off with the Spitfire and attacked his bombers head-on without mercy.
As a result, Green no longer believed the intelligence officer's words. He finally understood that the Royal Air Force was still tenacious and was far from the edge of running out of fuel.
In accordance with the requirements of the "Sea Lion" plan formulated by the head of state, the German Air Force should have weakened the war potential of the British Air Force and seized air supremacy over the Channel and the British Air Force. However, due to the air force's clumsy and inferior operations, the goal of the "Sea Lion" plan was far away. He had to delay again and again, and what made Green even more uneasy was that the Führer began to show impatience.
After a burst of rage, Goering knew that he would retaliate, but to complete the task, he still had to rely on his men, so he began to comfort the generals: "I decided to delegate more power to mobilize the combat enthusiasm of the troops.
In the next phase of the operation you have the authority to bomb day and night, and to attack any part of the British air force, and any city in the United Kingdom except London. "
The reason why Göring was able to be reused by Hitler was because he was indeed capable and could figure out Hitler's thoughts.
Goering knew that the Führer had repeatedly banned attacks on London because the Führer hoped that after conquering Britain, he could ride a war horse from Buckingham Palace, which was intact, through the intact Pall Mall, and the Houses of Parliament, whose walkways were intact.
Because after completely conquering France in the Battle of Dunkirk, the head of state specially rode his white horse to show off his power in Paris, showing off his arrogance.
Moreover, the head of state was worried that destroying ancient buildings in London would cause dissatisfaction from the outside world.
"marshal!"
Air Marshal Kesselring said to Göring: I still advocate that all offensive forces be concentrated on one target, and that is London. If this had been done, Britain might have surrendered long ago. Bombing London will definitely destroy the British morale and finally force the farmer who only drinks brandy to come to the negotiating table. "
Goering shook his head and motioned the generals to sit down: "Will the Berliners surrender to the terrorist bomb? I don't believe it. I don't think the Londoners will beg for mercy. The farmer who only drinks brandy is very arrogant, he is not that Easily surrendered. I repeat, according to the instructions of the head of state, the British capital must not be attacked..."
…
In fact, the British top brass very much hoped that the Luftwaffe would shift its main target for bombing to London.
Churchill would go to the garden of No. 10 Downing Street almost every night. When he heard the buzz of bombers and the sound of bombs falling on the countryside, he would wave his hands in the air and shout, why don't you come here? Come and blow us up, come and blow us up?
Churchill's idea was that if London was in ruins, he could get more international aid, especially American support.
General Dowding, the top commander of the Royal Air Force, also wanted to see the Luftwaffe fly to London. His idea was that if Germany began to bomb the capital, the transfer of their offensive power would alleviate the pressure on ground air combat facilities and military supply bases. The pressure can give the Royal Air Force some time to breathe and gather strength to fight again.
But Hitler was too cunning and would not be fooled. He insisted on his order that Luftwaffe bombers should not enter London, without any room for change.
on August 22nd.
noon.
The sun is shining brightly and the sky is clear.
After teaching non-stop over London for several days, the exhausted Zhou Zhihan received an order from the ground air crew, saying that General Hugh Dowding asked him to go to the Air Force Combat Command.
Arriving at the Royal Air Force headquarters, Admiral Hugh Dowding's adjutant led Zhou Zhihan to a secret small conference room.
Entering the room, Zhou Zhihan was slightly startled because there were only four people sitting in the room, Prime Minister Churchill, Air Force Secretary Mr. Archibald Sinclair, General Hugh Dowding and Major General Parker of the 11th Battle Group.
After a few brief greetings, Major General Parker stood up, holding a battle report in his hand:
"Now is the most difficult moment for the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. The German army has fully realized the role of our military radar and has begun to concentrate its forces to raid our air force bases and radar stations, hoping to find the main force of our air force to encircle and annihilate.
Yesterday, German aircraft began to attack and bomb seven sector radar stations in the defense zone of our 11th Fighter Group. Although none of the sector stations were completely blown up, they were all seriously damaged, especially the sector stations located at Biggin Hill and Kenley. Tragically, the functions of these command centers have begun to shrink, which will be even more detrimental to our future interception battles.
The Royal Air Force's Fighter Command also suffered the most violent bombings. Groups of German bombers razed the airport's warehouses and command buildings to the ground, cut off power transmission lines, and destroyed many planes before they had time to take off. There were heavy casualties on the ground. On this day, the Royal Air Force lost 57 aircraft and 26 pilots. At the same time, the air force ground forces and aviation industry at our southern airports were also violently attacked by the Germans.
The most difficult thing is that our military pilots are always on high alert. They have to dispatch several times a day and are extremely tired.
The Luftwaffe's numerical superiority is beginning to take effect, and in order to deal with our radars, the Germans have recently adopted a new tactic in the air.
The German fleets flew up and down the French coast all day, just within the range that the Royal Air Force's radar screen could see. Our monitors had no way of predicting which fleet of aircraft would suddenly turn north and pass over the English Channel. Launch a real attack.
The five forward airfields and six theater airfields of 11th Fighter Group were all severely damaged, and the two airfields at Manston and Leam on the Kent coast were unavailable for fighter use for several consecutive days.
The Biggin Hill base was bombed eight times in four days, the base control room was destroyed, and casualties on the ground were so heavy that it could only be used by one fighter squadron for a week.
In just half a month, 320 Royal Air Force fighter jets were shot down or severely damaged, and the Luftwaffe lost 290 fighter jets.
To make matters worse, all seven key radar stations along the coast were severely bombed, and the entire communication command system was on the verge of complete destruction.
At the same time, the defense power of the Royal Air Force fighter jets began to weaken. In a short period of time, 126 pilots were killed and 138 were seriously injured. The sum of these numbers was almost a quarter of the total number of British Air Force pilots. "
General Pike sat down after speaking, and then the five people fell into silence for a while.
Zhou Zhihan knew all this, but what he didn't know now was what was the main purpose of these big guys asking him to come today.
A few minutes passed.
Churchill said.
"There are signs that the British people are also in panic. If this kind of attack by Germany continues, even if it only lasts for a week, there will no longer be organized air resistance in the British sky."
After speaking, the Prime Minister looked at Zhou Zhihan: "Colonel Zhou, you have rich combat experience and are the Allied forces' top ace at the moment. I want to know if you have any way to let the German Air Force bomb London?"
Before the Prime Minister finished speaking, Zhou Zhihan shuddered in his heart.
