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The Prague air battle was the largest air battle that the Ming Dynasty Air Force had participated in since its establishment, and it achieved the most results, but the same was true for its own losses.
Seventy-five fighters and bombers were shot down on the spot, and six more planes crashed one after another on their return because they were too injured to make it to the airport.
Counting those that were later inspected and determined to be potentially dangerous and therefore reimbursed, the total number of losses in this air battle exceeded 140, setting a historical record.
For the wealthy Ming Air Force, losing less than 8% of its combat aircraft at one time is far from seriously damaging its vitality. With its strong local military production capacity, it can quickly make up for the gap.
The term "vitality severely damaged" may be more applicable to the Holy Roman Empire Air Force. After all, the opponent can be regarded as flying out in full force. It is hard to say how many aircraft can fly back this time...
On that day, the Holy Roman Empire Air Force dispatched a total of 575 fighter jets. After the war, only seven returned to the airport, which was not even a fraction of the total dispatched.
This result naturally shocked Crown Prince Joseph, but based on the pilots' summary, the Air Force concluded that it shot down about 70 bombers and about 110 fighter jets.
The results were as high as 180, and they were all giant bombers or twin-engine heavy fighters. Our only loss was a single-engine light fighter.
This battle loss ratio seems acceptable. As long as the loss gap can be replenished, the Imperial Air Force can continue to fight the enemy!
Joseph believes that through this air battle, the other party has probably realized that the empire also has an air force that cannot be underestimated, and should not quickly resume the bombing of Prague.
However, the facts shattered his imagination. Just one day later, on May 18, the Ming Empire Air Force carried out a second large-scale bombing of Prague!
It's just that the size of the fleet dispatched this time was smaller than last time. Only 425 "Hercules" bombers and 637 "Blackfoot Albatross" participated in the operation.
The reason for the reduction in the number of bombers is that some with minor injuries need to be fully inspected to ensure that they can carry out the bombing mission to the maximum extent.
However, the total number of two types of combat aircraft participating in the second bombing still exceeded a thousand, which can be regarded as a miniature version of the "thousand-plane bombing".
The "Black-footed Albatross" has a much lower bomb load than the "Hercules", but it can also perform tactical bombing missions, but it is just not as professional as the latter.
Since the air power of the Holy Roman Empire had been severely damaged before, it was impossible for the other side to organize a fleet of four to five hundred aircraft in a short period of time.
This reduced the risk of bombing. In order to increase the amount of bombs dropped, three hundred "Black-footed Albatross" were also equipped with small aerial bombs.
As long as it can inflict damage to the defenders in the city and weaken the city's defense capabilities, then it is worth doing so.
After seeing the mighty enemy aircraft flying in, the defenders in Prague once again fell into despair.
This time, the sky in the west was completely empty. Not even one of our own aircraft could be seen, which meant that there was no air support.
Zhang Huangyan had already learned about Crown Prince Joseph's request, but he didn't want to agree to his conditions at all.
Giving up air support is equivalent to causing ground troops to cut off their arms, which will greatly increase casualties.
As the commander-in-chief, of course he would not be stupid enough to agree to such a bizarre request.
On the contrary, the more the other party demands something, the more they are afraid of it.
The air force's cover for ground troops cannot stop, and its bombing of Prague cannot stop.
As long as the weather conditions are good and suitable for the air force to dispatch, then the continuous bombing of Prague can be carried out.
The Ming Air Force could just use the city as bait to lay siege to the city for reinforcements.
If the opponent wants to send out a fleet of aircraft to block the attack, then they can directly launch a second large-scale air battle...
Regarding the second bombing of Prague, Crown Prince Joseph was very angry and helpless.
He could only scrape together about 300 fighter planes and crews, although he could still carry out an assault.
But we can't take such a big risk easily, otherwise we will destroy the last bit of the empire's air power.
Regardless of the fact that there are 300 fighter planes, it would only take a day for them to be eliminated from the Air Force's establishment.
The good results achieved last time were also based on the large-scale losses suffered by our own side.
If you are not mentally prepared to lose all the fighters this time, you will not be able to severely damage the opponent's fleet again.
Intelligence obtained through France, the Netherlands, Sweden and other channels showed that the Ming Empire invested at least 3,000 bombers and the same number of heavy fighter jets this time.
Even if the former and the single-engine "Albatross" are converted at a ratio of 1:3, the latter is converted at a ratio of 1:2.
The Imperial Air Force also needs to equip 15,000 "Albatross" fighter jets to compete with it.
However, before the war began, the Imperial Air Force, including military assistance received from various countries, only had 3,000 aircraft.
Accounting for only 20 percent of the estimate, this is obviously a negligible blocking force.
Excluding the loss of more than 500 aircraft in the Prague air battle, the Imperial Air Force has been losing fighters almost every day since the war began for more than 70 days.
Even if you only lose ten aircraft in one day, you will lose more than 700 aircraft in more than seventy days, not to mention that sometimes, the opponent even gives you a meal at the airport...
If Joseph had not asked the Air Force to fight and retreat after the war began, and not to engage in a front-line confrontation with the opponent, I am afraid that not even these 300 fighters would be left.
Fortunately, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and other countries have agreed to provide the Holy Roman Empire with the fourth round of military assistance, and two hundred "Albatross" fighter jets will arrive.
The heads of state of these countries still did not agree to send their own air forces to participate in the war, but tacitly allowed volunteers to go to the front lines to accept the command of the Holy Roman Empire.
About fifty pilots from various countries arrived in Munich and could enter combat as soon as possible.
Counting the pilots from his country, Joseph can organize a huge fleet of about 500 aircraft.
By the time preparations were completed, it was already May 25th, and Prague had already been bombed five times on a large scale.
The defenders sent someone to see Joseph and reported that they would surrender if they insisted on bombing for five more times at most.
This was something Joseph couldn't tolerate, but he still suppressed his anger and wrote a personal letter to the garrison general.
The content is very clear, it requires the other party to persist to the end, reinforcements will arrive soon, and the final victory must belong to our side!
Joseph also understood that if he did not send a fleet of aircraft to stop the attack, the Prague defenders might surrender at any time.
So on May 28, after receiving the order from Crown Prince Joseph, the Imperial Air Force organized a huge fleet of 505 fighter jets and flew to Prague.
The goal was to block the enemy's large-scale bombing and shoot down as many enemy aircraft as possible, especially bombers, so that the enemy air force suffered a second heavy blow, making it impossible to resume the bombing of Prague.
This time the Holy Roman Empire Air Force fleet was lucky, because the Ming Dynasty Air Force fleet had already arrived over the battlefield before they dropped their bombs.
Now that the enemy aircraft group has been discovered, the bombing formation of the Ming Air Force cannot turn around immediately. It must at least fly to Prague and drop bombs before returning.
The result of dropping bombs in advance is that it may accidentally damage our own army on the ground. The most we can do is throw aerial bombs into the river, but it must be at a low altitude to increase the hit rate.
This time, all the "Black-footed Albatross" gave up escort and flew over in advance, so that they could throw away the mounted bombs first, reduce the load, and ensure the combat performance of the fighter aircraft in air combat.
Besides, when dealing with single-engine fighter jets, there is no need for double-layer interception tactics. We can simply attack them all at once and knock out as many as we can, leaving the fish that slip through the net to the bombers.
After the last large-scale air battle, the pilots of the Ming Air Force have become more skilled in cooperating with each other. This kind of high-intensity actual combat has doubled their personal experience.
Although it only adopts long-distance blocking, the Ming fighter formation can also implement two-way blocking tactics.
That is, horizontal interception and oblique semi-dive attacks.
The "Black-footed Albatross" has a higher ceiling, speed and climb speed than the "Albatross", so it can use its superior aircraft performance to adopt a variety of interception tactics.
Even if you can see the enemy aircraft group, you can still use a slope-type semi-dive to gain altitude in a short period of time to deal damage.
Another point is that compared to last time's negligence, this time the Ming Air Force fleet released many "air sentries" to act as everyone's eyes, deploying a cordon in the airspace 20 kilometers away from the fleet.
These "temporary early warning aircraft" still had a very good effect, preventing the surprise attack that they should have had.
A cordon can also be deployed at a distance of ten kilometers, but that is not necessary in actual combat.
Maybe one or two enemy planes can get away with it at this distance, but if there is a large group of them, unless everyone is blind, it is impossible to turn a blind eye.
This time the number of fighter jets participating in the battle was closer than last time, 532 versus 505.
However, in terms of aircraft performance, the twin-engine heavy fighters of the Ming Dynasty Air Force can still crush their opponents.
There is no doubt that the "Albatross" has a superior hovering ability.
But the "Black-footed Albatross" doesn't follow the opponent in circles in the air at all, it just goes straight.
As its own early product, the pilots of the Ming Dynasty Air Force are all aware of the characteristics and performance of the "Albatross".
When I was training at the aviation school, I used this kind of fighter when I first learned to fly. The reason was that the cost was low and I didn’t feel bad if it was broken by a rookie.
After becoming a qualified fighter pilot and flying the "Black-footed Albatross" into the sky, everyone will know how to kill the "Albatross" while ensuring that they are not shot down.
It can be said that except for the extremely talented pilots who can use the characteristics of the "Albatross" to restrain the rampaging "Black-footed Albatross".
If other pilots with average qualifications or less flying experience want to use this kind of fighter to turn defeat into victory, it will be impossible for them to do so.
The most terrifying tactic of the "Black-footed Albatross" is the top-down semi-dive, and then uses its own super firepower to directly engage the enemy.
Most of the Holy Roman Empire Air Force pilots who participated in the last war were killed on the spot, and only a few were able to parachute or return.
For the pilots participating in this air battle, everything was a new experience.
Although they were told that the enemy might be more powerful, it was only after the fight started that everyone fully understood the true meaning of "powerful"...
Using crossfire and semi-dive, the Holy Roman Empire air force fleet shot down more than 350 fighter jets in just one round.
Although the remaining more than a hundred "Albatross" successfully broke through the defense line, they were fully pursued by the "Black-footed Albatross".
After completing the first interception, the Daming Air Force fighter formation immediately completed the turn. Everything required proficiency.
The pilot heard the captain's orders in the earphones and sensed his own position at the same time.
A three-dimensional map will instinctively appear in the mind, determine the approximate location of the enemy and ourselves, and then complete the steering maneuver.
If the cooperation is not tacit enough, even if there is an error of one or two seconds, the lead aircraft and the wingman may directly collide with each other.
Including the more than ten kilometers of early warning, from completing the interception to launching the pursuit, this requires ultra-high technical standards.
The Air Force provides pilots with training at all costs and improves corresponding treatment, and the effect is reflected at this time.
Although there is a certain distance between the enemy and the enemy, the distance between them can be quickly shortened due to the speed advantage.
There is only one machine gun in the back seat of the "Albatross". Its firepower is extremely weak and cannot cause much trouble to the "Black-footed Albatross".
In fact, in order to save money, most of the air forces of countries that purchase or produce such fighters will not install parallel machine guns in the back seats.
Relatively wealthy countries such as France are simply waiting for heavy fighters such as the "Black-footed Albatross" and regard the "Albatross" as a training aircraft and support fighter.
Since it is only responsible for battlefield support or the task of destroying rebels and guerrillas, there is no need to invest additional money in it.
This is the same logic of the Holy Roman Empire, which caused great pain to the rear seat machine gunner.
He can use his machine gun to hit the opponent's nose until sparks pop out, but he can still rush over and shoot him down.
What's even more painful is that for twenty- or thirty-round veneers, the veneer will basically need to be replaced not long after the trigger is pulled.
The explanation given by senior Air Force officials is that single plates with large bomb loads are prone to bending, causing bullets to jam...
The machine gunners complained a lot, but for now they could only continue to make do, and the results they obtained depended on luck.
More than half of the more than 170 "Albatross" were shot down in less than two minutes. The remaining injured crew members could only find opportunities to parachute immediately and try their best to land in the city to avoid being captured. There were only less than thirty The frame can get closer to the target.
Seeing these long-lost "children" coming to visit, the bomber group that completed the bomb-dropping mission was of course very welcome.
It's not easy for everyone to come to Prague. After "greeting" friends in the city with tens of thousands of aerial bombs, let's give them some plane wreckage!
If this thing falls from the sky and kills an enemy, of course it should be considered a victory!
After the second air battle in Prague, Crown Prince Joseph received reports of the return of three fighter planes...
