Chapter 340: The Post-Battle Conference

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The British fighter planes were still relentlessly pursuing the German bomber group, but as time went on, their fuel seemed to be running lo

The British fighter planes were still relentlessly pursuing the German bomber group, but as time went on, their fuel seemed to be running low. Moreover, their aggressive attack on the densely armed German strategic bombers had cost them a heavy price. Of the twenty Hurricane fighters, only fourteen remained, and several of them were flying with damage.

The German strategic bombers were not having an easy time either. Two planes had been hit by machine guns, their wings and bellies riddled with bullet holes. But because of their sturdy design, these planes had not suffered any major damage. However, the reported losses included three gunners being hit, two of whom had already died.

Colonel Niels was also very worried. If today these British fighters had been forty, or even more, instead of twenty, if they had been equipped not with 7.7mm machine guns, but with 20mm cannons or even 30mm cannons, then what would have been the fate of his bomber unit today?

The British were no fools. They would summarize their own experiences and lessons learned. The situation today, where they were unable to cause trouble for the bomber group due to the small caliber of their weapons, would definitely be submitted to the technical department the next day. Perhaps in a week or two, the British fighters would be sufficient to pose a very fatal threat to the German bombers.

Just as he was thinking about these problems, the British fighters suddenly began to disengage from the battle and retreat. Then a cheer broke out in his headset, because in the distant sky, a dense formation of German fighters had appeared in the clouds.

Because Lütjens had reported that he had not rendezvoused with the bomber group, the air force had invested heavily this time. Under Dick’s command, the air defense units on the Dutch coastline had scrambled 53 Fw-190D fighters, which had arrived at the rendezvous point on time.

“Revenge formation! Revenge formation! We’ve come to welcome you home!” Soon, dozens of fighters were flying on the left and right of the bomber formation, beginning their escort flight. Below was still the boundless, cold seawater, but all the pilots knew that they were now completely safe.

“Colonel Niels calling ground base! Colonel Niels calling ground base! We have wounded personnel. Please have the airfield prepare medical measures,” Colonel Niels finally let go of his anxiety when he saw the Dutch coastline, let out a deep breath, and began the work of handling the aftermath.

He picked up the clipboard he used for recording, took out a fountain pen, and noted down a few problems on it: the naval escort fighters had not arrived on time, the appearance of the new British fighters, and the accident of the female gunner suddenly stopping her fire.

“Colonel, a suggestion. We should give some of the gunners some armor protection. This will allow them to shoot better,” the navigator in the co-pilot’s seat suggested loudly.

“That’s a good idea!” Colonel Niels nodded and then wrote down another sentence on the paper with his pen: Suggest adding some armored steel plates to the firing positions.

Soon, the first Butcher bomber landed on the airfield runway amidst a chorus of cheers. The ground crew hurried forward and, with many hands, helped the pilots inside leave the plane. Many of the planes had bullet holes in their fuselages, but none of them affected the normal use of the aircraft.

Bomber number 35 was the most severely damaged. The entire belly turret had been destroyed, and the plane had at least twice as many bullet holes as the other planes. The body of one gunner was carried off the plane by the ground crew, and another wounded gunner was taken to the side by the medics to begin emergency bandaging.

Because the bottom of the Butcher’s belly turret was only 30 centimeters from the ground, when the body of the female gunner was taken off the plane, her two legs, due to the friction with the runway during landing, were already gone from the ankles down.

When her body was taken out of the plane, everyone had an indescribably uncomfortable feeling. This girl named Belina had dried bloodstains all over her front and back. Her whole face was frozen blue from the cold, and her two feet, due to the impact of the plane’s landing, had been left on the other side of the runway. It was a gruesome sight.

“She gave her life for the Führer, for Germany! We should salute her,” Colonel Niels said in a very pained tone, watching her body being put into a woven bag. “From today on, even more brutal battles will be waiting for us. We must always be prepared to sacrifice ourselves like Miss Belina.”

Everyone listened to Niels’s words and silently watched their comrade-in-arms being wrapped up and placed in a coffin made of thin wooden planks. She would be sent to the pilots’ cemetery on the side of the airfield as a fallen martyr. The area was not large, with only a few lonely, unlucky souls.

This was another victory for the German Air Force. They had bombed the British capital of London, bringing great panic to the British high command. And they themselves had only lost two soldiers in action, with another three wounded. All 44 bombers had returned, and only one was seriously damaged and needed replacement parts for repairs.

In addition, just as they were returning, another four bombers had arrived here on a transfer flight. The Butcher bomber unit now had 48 of these super bombing weapons. With the unremitting efforts of the factories in the rear, if the raw materials were sufficient, Germany could currently produce six of these Butcher bombers every day. Of course, compared to the 20 Fw-190D fighters or the 30 Panther tanks produced every day, this output was not particularly large.

“Are there any problems that need to be improved?” Back in the office of the command tower, Dick and several operations officers began to summarize this bombing operation.

“First is the safety of the bombers. The range of our escort fighters is really insufficient, and using naval fighters for escort is prone to all sorts of coordination problems. This is a matter that must be resolved,” Niels said, looking at his notes.

After every operation, the participating units had to hold a summary meeting. This was an order personally given by the Führer. What was said had to be recorded for future reference, and they had to summarize something truly useful, such as the use of weapons and equipment, tactical problems, and so on.

“The development plan for a long-range escort fighter is not going smoothly. This is not a secret. The Führer is interested in a single-engine long-range fighter with a high-power engine. Some generals, including myself, feel that it would be more appropriate to temporarily use a large, twin-engine fighter,” Dick said with a sigh.

Akado, who came from a later era, naturally knew what kind of goods the so-called German twin-engine fighter series were. This long-range fighter, which was produced with a waste of materials, was often unable to protect itself when facing British fighters, let alone to protect the strategic bombers.

So he was more in favor of a single-engine escort fighter like the American P-51. It could put up a fight against the British planes and, in coordination with the strategic bombers’ own defensive weapons, could plunge Britain into the terrible situation that Germany had faced in the past. In terms of land area, Britain was more afraid of strategic bombing than Germany.

But the consequence of insisting on developing a long-range single-engine fighter was that the German long-range fighter project was progressing slowly due to engine power problems, which had led to the current shortage of German long-range escort fighters.

There were many alternative projects, such as adding disposable fuel tanks to the Fw-190D, or finding a way to use aircraft carriers to escort the bombers. But these alternative solutions all had various problems, which was also a situation that gave the German Air Force high command a headache.

“My personal opinion is that if we don’t take northern France and get as close as possible to the southern region of Britain, then the strategic bombers should not take off to bomb the southern region of Britain again,” Niels said with a frown. “Without fighter escort, a surprise attack on British airspace is tantamount to suicide.”

“We need to re-draw the operational plan for this, so we can’t draw a conclusion now,” Dick said with a nod, but his words were a refusal of Niels’s suggestion. “But the Führer and the Air Force Staff both believe that since the bombing of Britain has already begun, it cannot be stopped. It must continue until Britain is completely destroyed or surrenders.”

“The second problem is the need to add protective steel plates for the machine gunners and the four turrets. This time, all of our bomber losses were gunners, so I suggest adding a certain amount of protection to these positions,” Niels said, making his second suggestion.

The several staff officers on the side quickly recorded this. This suggestion could be said to be a very important combat experience. If possible, it should be modified on the subsequent bombers in production as soon as possible.

“No problem,” Dick continued to nod in agreement. “The Air Force Staff will immediately contact the aircraft manufacturers and request them to make certain modifications.”

“Then, the last problem is the matter of the female gunner controllers,” Niels said, looking at his notes. “During the entire combat process, we were originally in a state of suppression, but because Belina was suddenly killed in action, it caused chaos in the entire formation, and our losses all started from this moment.”

“Was she hit first?” Dick saw Niels’s hesitation.

“She did not turn off her intercom. We could hear her breathing and the sound of vomiting for a long time after she stopped firing,” Niels had no choice but to tell the truth. “So I suggest that the training of these female soldiers should be strengthened. If possible, let them see some blood as much as possible.”

Dick was silent for a while. He stared at Niels and finally sighed. “Colonel Niels, the report you have brought back from the front is very important. Including the navigation records, it has left our army with valuable practical experience for long-range air formation flights. As for the issue of female soldiers, this is one of the Führer’s supreme program outlines. I need to see the Führer in person to be able to determine the future direction of improvement. Thank you for your opinion! If there are no other questions, then the meeting is adjourned.”