Chapter 344: The British Retaliation

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A radar operator was holding his water cup, boredly staring at the screen where a target seemed never to appear. Beside him, an officer was throwing darts at a board not far away, yawning.

Since this radar station had been established on the high ground of the coastline, their equipment had been replaced twice. Each time, the radar antenna had become smaller, and it was said that the detection range was increasing each time.

But in the eyes of these radar operators, the only thing that had increased was a screen that looked more comfortable and more graduation marks on it. Originally it was twenty kilometers, then it became 40, and now, the high-altitude detection range had reached an astonishing 170 kilometers.

Although the detection range for a single aircraft could only be maintained at about 100 kilometers, this technology was already a very remarkable achievement in 1938. With this advanced equipment, coupled with the nearby field airfields, the air defense capability of the Wilhelmshaven naval port could be said to be one of the most powerful in the world at present.

Of course, this did not include the 30 150mm anti-aircraft guns, 70 88mm anti-aircraft guns, and 40 Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft guns that were densely deployed around the area. These cannons formed a dense network of fire near the Wilhelmshaven naval port.

“Chief, I hear your daughter got into university?” the radar operator asked softly, taking a sip of water from his teacup with a self-satisfied air.

“That’s right. A university in Berlin sent her an admission letter. She’s my pride,” the officer said, yawning again, but he still felt quite proud when he mentioned his daughter. “How about that? Impressive, right?”

“You’re not wrong. Your family is cultured, and the children you’ve raised are also cultured. It’s really enviable…” the soldier said with a nod.

“Wooo… wooo…” The two were chatting idly when suddenly the machine next to the radar began to sound an alarm. The radar operator immediately frowned, stopped his idle chat, and turned his head to look at the radar screen.

This one look was no small matter; it gave him a start. “Sir! A large number of planes have been detected approaching us. I need to confirm if we have any of our own planes returning at this time! Should we send a signal to the fighter pilot units?”

“Notify the air defense units and the fighter units at once! This is not our air group! Speed!” the officer said, looking through the flight notifications and then speaking in terror. “Those are not our planes! We don’t have any flight missions scheduled for this morning!”

“Calling Wilhelmshaven Air Defense Command! Calling Wilhelmshaven Air Defense Command! This is Watchtower 3! This is Watchtower 3! A large number of unidentified aircraft have been detected approaching Wilhelmshaven! A large number of unidentified aircraft are approaching Wilhelmshaven!” the radar operator shouted, grabbing the radio intercom.

“This is the flight tower. Confirming scramble intercept mission! Confirming scramble intercept mission!” a voice from the command tower of the nearby airfield came through the headset.

“This is Watchtower 3! The identity of the enemy aircraft has been confirmed. Please scramble your planes for interception at once!” the officer said loudly, taking the intercom. “We have already checked. The target is not a friendly aircraft! The target is not a friendly aircraft!”

“Flight tower understands! We will scramble our planes for combat at once,” the tower on the other end said after a slight pause.

Just as they were talking, the sirens had been sounded all over the port. The anti-aircraft units, amidst the echoing sound of the sirens, ran to their various posts. The canvas covers were torn off by the soldiers, and the long gun barrels were exposed, beginning to point to the sky, bit by bit.

The soldiers began to point their cannons, bit by bit, to the position where the enemy planes would appear. The loaders pushed the shells into the chamber, and an observer on the side looked at the distant sky with a serious expression through his binoculars.

The same scene appeared at the airfield. A group of German pilots, with their equipment, quickly rushed out of their dormitories. The ground crew on the side helped to carry all sorts of equipment and ran with these pilots toward their planes.

The technicians were helping to load some of the planes with ammunition, and some were urgently refueling the planes.

“Quick! Quick! The fighters that are refueled are to take off first! As soon as you have ten, immediately proceed to the designated interception point for combat!” a lieutenant colonel shouted in the distance. “All pilots, check your parachutes and life jackets!”

“Tower, this is Guardian 05, requesting takeoff,” a pilot said, having prepared everything. The roar of the engine came into his ears through the cockpit. He called the tower loudly and aimed the nose of his plane at the runway in front of him.

“This is the tower. You are cleared for takeoff!” the voice from the tower came through the headset.

“Tower, this is Guardian 01! Requesting takeoff!” another plane was clearly also ready and began to taxi toward another takeoff runway. Just beside him, the fighter of Guardian 05 had already taken to the air. From the time the air raid siren had sounded at the airfield, it had only taken less than seven minutes in total.

Stationed in the two military airfields near Wilhelmshaven was one of Germany’s most elite fighter units. Their combat effectiveness was even on par with the strength of the fighter group stationed in Berlin, so their reaction speed was astonishingly fast. To ensure the absolute security of his own fleet base, Akado had used all the strength in his hands to make the entire Wilhelmshaven naval port as impregnable as an iron barrel.

Every day, at least 30 of these air force fighters were on combat readiness duty, which meant that at the airfield, at least 30 pilots and 30 planes were in a state where they could be scrambled at any time. These combat-ready planes would be fully fueled and armed, ready on the side of the airfield runway. Of course, this time, because the scale of the enemy planes seemed to be not small, some of the unprepared fighters were also scrambled at the last minute.

There was a difference in the equipment of the frontline fighter units. The frontline fighter units were generally equipped with a 30mm cannon in the nose, in combination with 13mm machine guns. This combination was designed for air superiority. And the interceptor-type Fw-190 fighters deployed at the German home airfields were equipped with a 30mm cannon in combination with 20mm cannons, which was specially designed to engage bombers.

Akado had experienced the power of strategic bombers in large formations. He knew that this was a brutal combat mode that turned air combat into an artillery duel. The bombers, relying on their large-caliber defensive weapons and dense formations, had gained an advantage in aerial positional warfare. The German fighters, which were only equipped with 7.92mm machine guns, had suffered a considerable loss in the early stages.

So this time, Akado had prepared qualified interceptors for the German Air Force in advance. Their firepower was already superior to the mainstream bombers of the world at this stage. They could completely use their large-caliber cannons to deal with the current British bomber units—of course, the German Air Force still had the trump card of rockets that they hadn’t brought out yet.

“Estimated time of arrival for the enemy planes invading Wilhelmshaven airspace is five minutes. Please have all anti-aircraft gun positions prepare to engage,” the warning sound echoed from the loudspeakers in the Wilhelmshaven port. The carrier-based aircraft had already taken off a long time ago. Twenty naval fighters had taken to the air for interception a few minutes ago.

“Hello? This is Lütjens! Why didn’t the navy’s patrol destroyers give an early warning? That’s right! I want to contact the three patrolling destroyers at once and ask them why they did not provide a long-range early warning!” In his office at the port, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Lütjens, was losing his temper on the phone.

“What? Two of the navy’s destroyers did not detect the enemy plane intrusion, and the other destroyer had returned to port last night due to a malfunction? Why wasn’t such a serious problem reported in advance? Huh?” The other end of the line had clearly found the source of the problem, so Lütjens’s temper grew even worse.

“Report! Our fighters have already engaged the enemy planes. The enemy clearly did not expect that we could discover them so quickly, so our army’s surprise attack was very successful. The enemy’s bomber units also have no fighter escort. We have already achieved the combat result of shooting down three enemy planes,” an officer came in and reported.

“Continue to keep an eye on the battle situation over there. Don’t let a single enemy plane fly into the Wilhelmshaven naval port! And get rid of that damned duty officer and the captain of that destroyer for me! I don’t want to see such an idiot again! Explain the situation to General Raeder. If he also agrees, then execute it immediately!”

“Report! The air force’s interception units have already arrived. Our army has a numerical advantage. The other side has a total of 40 bombers, and 13 have already been shot down. The other side’s formation has been broken up. They are continuing to attack!” another officer rushed over and reported the combat situation in the sky.

The German officer who had gone out earlier rushed back again. His face was finally a little more relaxed. He smiled and saluted at attention. “Heil Führer, General. All 40 of the attacking British bombers were shot down by our army. Only one of them flew over the port and was shot down by the anti-aircraft units. Of the remaining 39, our navy shot down 11, and the air force shot down 28.”

Lütjens let out a deep breath, as if he had used up all the strength in his body, and slumped onto a sofa on the side. Only then did he discover that his left hand was still trembling. He took out the handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the sweat from his face, and murmured, “At last, we have not failed to live up to the Führer’s cultivation.”

“General, are you alright?” an officer asked softly.

“I’m fine,” Lütjens said with a wave of his hand. But in his heart, he was cursing: Fine? How can I be fine? My fleet is just moored in the naval port. If the British find a loophole and get a shot at us, even if I don’t commit suicide to atone for my crime, the Führer will have me hanged! If it were battleships, that would be one thing. They’re tough and might not have a problem. But those are aircraft carriers! Those are aircraft carriers! If one gets hit, it will take at least a few months to repair. If the Blackout plan is delayed, how can I explain it to the Führer?