Colonel Bee Higgin immediately paid the price for his reckless behavior. From the beginning of the air battle to the present, the Royal Air Force has always been in a superior position, making these Royal Air Force pilots mistakenly realize that the German Air Force is nothing more than that. The reason why his companions who came to France early became prisoners was entirely due to their own lack of skills. I never thought that the current situation was entirely due to the German Air Force's failure to fight with strength. So when Colonel Werner von Brouster ordered a quick resolution of the battle. The British pilots who had not yet figured out their own strength immediately tasted the bitter pill.
The performance of the Bf-109 fighter was much better than that of the Hurricane fighter. Coupled with the superb skills of the Luftwaffe pilots, this battle, which was evenly matched at the beginning, immediately turned into a massacre. The Royal Air Force's Hurricane fighter formation is now completely at a disadvantage. It can be said that as long as Colonel Werner von Brouster is given a few minutes, this Royal Air Force fighter formation will cease to exist.
Although the pilots of the Royal Air Force continued to drive their cars to fight left and right, no matter which direction they rushed to, there were German Air Force pilots driving their own Bf-109 fighter jets that blocked their breakout route.
At this time, the Royal Air Force pilots were already in disarray, and emotions of panic and bewilderment occupied the depths of their hearts. Although Colonel Bee Higgin already knew his mistake and kept making corrections through radio calls, it was already too late. The German pilots, who were already fully familiar with the performance of British aircraft, would not let these uninvited guests go.
Compared with the British Air Force's double-pair attack, the Luftwaffe was more capable. During the Spanish Civil War and the Polish Campaign, the Luftwaffe had already accumulated enough experience in air combat. It was just that I was not familiar with the British aerial tactics at first, so I didn't dare to act rashly. Now that both sides understand each other, the battle can really begin.
Werner von Broust and Theodor Weissenberg immediately met the two-plane formation of Colonel Bee Higgin. After a long period of observation, Werner von Braust had already figured out who the commander of the British Air Force formation was. Now at the critical moment, Colonel Werner von Braust would never let him go. Colonel B. Higgin reorganized the defense, because then it would be much more difficult for his own fighter formation to completely eliminate these British air forces. Werner von Braust did not want this to happen.
Seeing Werner von Braust's Bf-109 fighter jet rushing towards him, Colonel Bi Higgin cursed secretly for being shameless and immediately braced himself to fight. Since you can no longer fulfill your duties as a commander, you should do your duty as a pilot and fight bravely.
Whoosh..., a huge sound of air flow passed through his ears. Not only did Colonel Bi Higgin not feel nervous at all, but he was also very excited. Maybe he is not suitable to be a commander, but he is definitely an excellent pilot.
Werner von Broust knew from the scene of the battle with Colonel Bichkin's Hurricane fighter just now that the pilot in front of him was definitely difficult to deal with, but as a pilot, he was still very excited. The vast majority of people who choose to join the Air Force definitely do not expect to become a general one day. Perhaps they have the simplest wish at that time, which is to soar in the sky and experience the fun of combat. Although Werner von Broust is now a colonel, he is absolutely no different from an ordinary pilot and enjoys the joy of fighting in the sky. But as his position gets higher and higher, this simple wish seems to be getting harder and harder to realize. Werner von Broust knew that at the rate of his current promotion, he would become a major general in a year, and by then he would no longer be able to fight in the air. Therefore, he cherished this opportunity to fight very much. Colonel Bi Higgin's superb skills also made Werner von Braust extremely qualified to be his opponent.
Under the order of Werner von Braust, the surrounding Bf-109 fighters immediately looked for their opponents, and gradually drove away the British Hurricane fighters from Colonel Werner von Braust and Bee. ·Colonel Higgin fighter scope.
Of course, Colonel B. Higgin saw what his opponent meant, but he was helpless. Now as a commander, he has completely failed. The winning and losing situation of the two formations is very obvious. Now he is no longer a colonel commander, but just a commander. Just an ordinary pilot. As a pilot's instinct, Bishkin had only one purpose, and that was to fight.
Huh..., almost at the same time, Werner von Braust and Colonel B. Higgin accelerated their speed at the same time, raising their fighter potential to the limit in an instant. Under the leadership of Colonel B. Higgin, although they had already completely Surrounded but enraged, the Royal Air Force fought to the death. Colonel Bee Higgin used his actions to miraculously restore some of the decline of the British fighter formation, which was already shaky and about to collapse.
Here, Colonel Werner von Broust and Colonel B. Higgin were approaching at high speed and within an extremely dangerous distance. The two sides seemed to have a tacit understanding and simultaneously staggered the planes that were about to collide. At the same time, the two of them carried out maneuvers in perfect harmony in order to gain an advantage in the subsequent battle.
Next, the two people immediately let people appreciate their superb skills, circling and rolling at high speeds, chasing and melee, and hostile aircraft that accidentally got in between the two would be killed immediately. The offense and defense were constantly changing positions, and various difficult movements continued to appear from the two people's planes.
The two are chasing each other, biting each other's tail and tail. The person who is bitten immediately uses all his strength to escape from the other's shooting range, and often manages to escape successfully when the shot is about to be fired at the end. This feeling of being close to death made the two people more and more excited. He devoted himself more wholeheartedly to this death game.
At this time, no one else exists in the eyes of the two of them. No matter how big the matter is, it will have to wait for the two of them to decide the outcome, because as long as they are distracted for a moment, the loser will pay the price with his life and become the opponent. of prestige.
Ta da da..., Colonel Bi Higgin narrowly escaped Colonel Werner von Braust's aircraft cannon again, and was preparing to launch a counterattack immediately. At this moment, Werner von Braust Colonel Lauster unexpectedly anticipated the route of Colonel Bee Higgin, who had appeared there before.
"Not good!" Colonel B. Higgin quickly adopted an overloaded maneuver to avoid, hoping to make up for this mistake.
"It's all over, dear opponent, although I don't know your name! But you will get my respect!" Colonel Werner von Broust secretly thought, his fingers tightly clasped on the button of the aircraft gun superior.
"Click, click, click..." Although Colonel Bi Higgin had tried his best to avoid it, the bullets from the MG108 30mm cannon still inevitably hit the wing of the aircraft.
Tear..., amidst the harsh sound of tearing cloth, the wings of Colonel Bee Higgin's Hurricane fighter were broken, and under the inertia of high-speed driving, it was immediately torn out of the body. Colonel Bee Higgin's Hurricane fighter also inevitably fell downwards.
"Dear opponent, I hope to see you again in the future, although this hope is not high!" Colonel Werner von Braust secretly thought. This is when the surrounding German pilots have eliminated their opponents and expressed condolences to their superiors.
Colonel Werner von Brouster looked at his watch. The air battle lasted twenty-seven minutes. As long as the British persisted for ten minutes, he would have to retreat due to lack of fuel. Because the Bf-109 fighter jet only had enough fuel to consume for forty-five minutes in a high-speed and fierce air battle.
Colonel Werner von Braust said to himself, "If the performance of the Hurricane fighter was not inferior to the Bf-109 fighter, maybe the result would be different!" But the most important thing now is not this, Werner von Braust Colonel Laust looked down and saw the smoke slowly rising from the port of Dunkirk. The mission of the Stuka dive bomber wing was successfully completed. The Bf-109 fighter escort mission has been completed. In addition, the air battle just now made Colonel Werner von Brouster very happy, so he rarely had a gentle tone in the order, and did not criticize these pilots first after the mission was over as usual: " Guys, this air battle allows you to complete the first step to becoming an ace! Let us cheer together!"
"Long live Germany! Long live the Führer!" Colonel Werner von Brouster listened to the shouts on the radio and shook his head with a smile. Immediately prepare for the return flight. In this air battle, the Luftwaffe lost 11 Bf-109 fighter jets, and almost all 40 Royal Air Force Hurricane fighter jets were destroyed. It can be said that the Luftwaffe achieved a complete victory.
When Colonel Werner von Braust's Bf-109 fighter wing returned, the German air force formation for the next wave of air strikes had already taken off from Cologne's airport and was heading for the Dunkirk area. Goering's meaning was very obvious, which was to carry out all-weather bombing. If possible, using air force alone to eliminate the British and French forces in the Dunkirk area was the best option.
While the British and German fighter jets were fighting at high altitude, a Stuka dive bomber wing had successfully completed the mission. The port of Dunkirk was filled with thick smoke. The thick smoke that shot straight into the sky even rose to several degrees. A height of 100 meters. The British Royal Navy warships not only returned without success. And it also sank a destroyer. The soldiers of the British and French forces on the ground were originally full of hope for the arrival of their air force brothers, but this hope soon turned into huge disappointment. Not only did Colonel Bee Higgin not command the Hurricane fighter to expel the most important German dive bomber formation, And he also led a formation of Hurricane fighter jets to start an air battle with the Germans. If the air battle was won, there would be nothing to say if he was bombed. But after a while, when the German Air Force retreated, there was no trace of the British Air Force. Even a fool knew that his air force had been wiped out.
The German bombing continued for almost a whole day, dropping a total of 15,000 high-explosive bombs and 30,000 incendiary bombs. When night fell and the bombing by German planes stopped, the ground in Dunkirk was still full of flames and thick smoke. On this day, only 769 British troops were transported back home, and about 40 ships were sunk; the German army lost 23 aircraft, although it was more than the total number of aircraft lost by the German army in the past 10 days. But judging from the exchange ratio, it is already a huge victory.
Originally, the British government called on civilians to provide any available ships and mobilized all available warships and civilian ships. Countless amateur sailors and private boat owners also responded. They drove barges, freighters, motorboats, fishing boats, and even colorful yachts. Even river vessels. Braving the attacks of German aircraft, submarines and artillery, traveling back and forth between the straits should be able to send batches of coalition officers and soldiers back to the British mainland. However, under the long-term attack by the German Air Force, except for the night of May 26, when the British Royal Navy took advantage of the darkness to snatch out more than a thousand people, so far, the powerful British Royal Navy has not been able to come ashore at all to rescue them. Action came to a standstill.
In terms of land warfare, after the armored cluster seized the first line of defense of the 52nd Infantry Regiment of the British Expeditionary Force, it immediately pursued the victory, hoping to cross the canal directly. However, here, the German armored cluster encountered a little trouble. , that is, the tank units of the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army.
The tank design ideas of the two countries are completely different. If the French tank design idea is to use the tank as a mobile bunker, the British tank design is biased towards light tanks. The tank equipped by the tank force here is the Matilda 1 infantry tank. The "Matilda" 1 tank has a total combat weight of 11 tons, a crew of 2, a length of 4.85 meters, a width of 2.29 meters, and a height of 1.87 meters. No matter from the size and total combat weight, or from the number of crew members, it can only be regarded as a light tank.
Its main weapon is only a 7.7mm machine gun, and its firepower is too weak. It is quite difficult for the crew to control and shoot. The power unit is a Ford 8-cylinder gasoline engine with a maximum power of only 70 horsepower (51.5 kilowatts) and a maximum speed of only 12.8 kilometers per hour, not much faster than an ox cart. The mobile device adopts a balanced suspension device with the driving wheel at the rear. The only thing it is proud of is that its armor is relatively thick, with the front armor of the car body being 60 mm thick, and the turret being surrounded by 65 mm thick steel armor, which is quite outstanding for a light tank before World War II.
However, his opponent, the German Panzer IV, was much more comprehensive than him. The prototype of the Panzer IV was a tank with relatively balanced performance. After being put into the German Army for several years, it was deeply welcomed by the armored troops. Moreover, the defensive power is not inferior to that of heavy tanks, so when the Panzer IV faces the "Matilda" 1 tank, it does not have to worry about its own defense at all. Therefore, in the initial battle, more than a hundred "Matilda" 1 tanks were quickly defeated, but soon the approaching French Army came to support the British Expeditionary Force, and they also came with tank troops. . Moreover, it is the opponent that the armored group has encountered before, including more than 60 French B1 heavy tanks and nearly 200 Renault R-35 tanks.
The Renault R-35 tank has a total combat weight of 10 tons, 40 mm frontal armor, and is equipped with a 37 mm short-barreled artillery and a machine gun. It has a maximum road speed of 20 kilometers per hour. The R-35 tank has better armor protection, but worse firepower. Its armor-piercing ability is not as good as the latter's 20mm cannon, and it has insufficient power and slower speed. If Germany still produces the historical No. 1 tank, the Renault R -35 tanks will find their place now? Just cannon fodder.
The French B1 heavy tank cooperated with more than two hundred "Matilda" 1 and Renault R-35 tanks. Although it caused some troubles to the armored group, it was only a little trouble. An armored cluster composed of more than a dozen armored divisions has more than a thousand tanks on a front line dozens of kilometers long. It takes no effort to deal with these mixed combinations of heavy and light tanks, which add up to less than 200 vehicles. , can eliminate them.
The only thing that caused some headaches for the armored soldiers of the armored group was the artillery of the B1 heavy tank. The 47mm armor-piercing bullets equipped with the B1 tank are the same as the 75mm armor-piercing bullets. Their warheads do not have a trigger fuse, but are replaced by an ignition system located at the bottom of the warhead. The grenades equipped with the 75mm artillery are equipped with trigger fuzes on the warheads, but in the B1bis tank, only six shells have fuzes installed. The 75mm grenade uses RYG1921 fuze, which can provide better personnel killing effect. However, because this kind of fuze is relatively long, the designers only added 6 relatively long ammunition racks to the ammunition racks of the car body. If these shells are used up during combat, the next 75mm grenade will need to be fuzed by the loader or other crew members.
The theoretical rate of fire of the SA3575mm artillery is 15 rounds/minute, but in actual combat it can generally only reach 2-6 rounds/minute. The theoretical rate of fire of the 47mm gun on the turret is also 15 rounds/minute, but in tests by the French army, under precise aiming, the rate of fire was 6 rounds/minute. But in actual combat, due to crew reasons, it can usually only be maintained at 2-3 rounds/minute: the time to find the target, the time to rotate the turret, aim, shoot and reload, etc. The turret of the B1bis tank also has a turret locking device. Before shooting, the commander must use this system to lock the turret. Otherwise, the recoil generated during shooting will cause the turret to shift slightly to the right, so that the gunner cannot Does not readjust aim. Despite the above-mentioned shortcomings of the B1bis tank's turret, because the tank crews of the B1 tank have received relatively strict training, they still have the upper hand when confronting individual German tanks in actual combat, even when shooting at moving targets.
In fact, this tank is more efficient than other tanks even when maintaining fire and precise aiming because it has two guns: 47mm turret gun (2-6 rounds per minute) and 75mm hull gun (Also 2-6 rounds per minute) In this way, when attacking the same target, the firing rate of a B1bis tank can reach 4-12 rounds per minute.