章 283: Chapter 361 Aerial Combat (3)
In the original timeline, the German Bf 109 entered service a year earlier than the British Spitfire, but the earliest prototypes of the Bf 109 still used the British Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine. In mid-May 1940, just before the Dunkirk evacuation began, the British Spitfire first engaged in direct combat with the German Bf 109. At this time, the German forces were mainly equipped with the 109E model, while the British Spitfire was the Mark I.
The advantage of the Spitfire lay in its smaller turning radius, and at altitudes below 4600 meters, its level flight speed was slightly higher than that of the 109E. However, the 109E had a faster climb rate, and at altitudes above 6000 meters, its speed would surpass that of the Spitfire. The 109E was an improvement over its predecessors by the Germans based on some experiences from the Spanish Civil War, while the Spitfire at this time was still a first-generation product yet to be tested in actual combat. Over the next two years, both the Spitfire and the 109 underwent continuous improvements, with the Spitfire upgrading from Mark I to Mark V, and the 109E upgrading to 109F, with comparable performance.
However, just when the Spitfire and the 109 were evenly matched, the German Air Force introduced another deadly weapon, the Fw 190. After conducting performance tests on the Fw 190 (in June 1942, a Fw 190 belonging to the 2nd Fighter Squadron mistakenly landed at a British airfield and was captured), the British were astonished to find that the German Fw 190 outperformed the Spitfire Mark V in speed, climb rate, dive rate, and roll rate at all altitudes between 600 to 6000 meters. The Spitfire's only advantages over the Fw 190 were its turning ability and durability.
The British quickly introduced the Spitfire Mk IX, finally allowing them to compete evenly with the Fw 190 and Bf 109G.
By 1944, when the Spitfire Mk XIV equipped with the Griffon 61 engine appeared, the balance of performance completely shifted in favor of the British. According to the British Royal Air Force's combat research report on the Spitfire Mk XIV against the Fw 190A, Bf 109G, except for being on par with the Fw 190 in dive and roll rates, the Spitfire Mk XIV could outclass these two German fighters in all other aspects.
Of course, besides on-paper performance, the quality of personnel and tactics also had a significant impact on whether the aircraft's performance could be fully utilized. Due to German intervention in the Spanish Civil War before World War II, they not only tested the performance of their aircraft but also trained a group of early German Air Force pilots, which contributed to the overall experience of the German Air Force. Leading the tally of downed Allied aircraft, German pilot Erich Hartmann, flying the Bf 109, shot down 20 Spitfires out of his total of 158 victories.
In addition to superior pilot experience, the Germans also reformed air combat tactics earlier, especially with the pioneering use of the "finger-four formation." As the name suggests, looking down at one's right hand, the fingertips of the other four fingers, excluding the thumb, represent the positions of the four aircraft in the "finger-four formation." This formation was more flexible than the traditional V-shaped three-plane formation used by the British.
During the operations at Dunkirk, British Air Marshal Hugh Dowding resisted pressure and only dispatched a small number of aircraft to assist the front lines. During the Battle of France, a total of 67 Spitfires were shot down, but the British Royal Air Force gained a wealth of combat experience, preserving strength for the upcoming Battle of Britain.
Albert, of course, was unaware of these things. At this moment, he had narrowly escaped death several times. Finally, he had locked onto a lone German Bf 109F and was prepared to shoot it down.
From the opponent's flight maneuvers, it appeared that the German Bf 109F was likely piloted by a novice. The evasive maneuvers were erratic and showed signs of nervousness.
Yes, it looked nervous. Albert, being a seasoned British pilot, had encountered many novices—not only British ones but also German.
So he didn't want to miss this opportunity. Opportunities to shoot down enemy aircraft were rare. He rapidly ascended in his own aircraft, the engine roaring pleasingly.
His fingers were already on the trigger, the opponent's aircraft swaying in his sights. As long as the opponent maintained this frequency of swaying, he could deliver a heavy blow on the next lock.
"Alright! Alright..." he murmured involuntarily, watching as the opponent was about to enter the center position again. In that moment, a chilling sensation rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
It felt as if the aircraft had been pierced, and a cold sea breeze rushed in, startling Albert.
Instinctively, the eerie premonition of danger prompted him to decisively abandon this attack.
In just a moment, not exceeding a thousandth of a second, Albert shifted his feet apart, causing the aircraft to roll, deviating from its original trajectory.
And just half a second after his aircraft began to roll, the bright straight line traced by tracer rounds covered the trajectory where his aircraft had originally been.
"Oh, damn!" he cursed aloud as he saw at least five dense streams of tracer rounds. And they were not from the German fighter's cannons or heavy machine guns, but from medium-caliber machine guns of around 7 millimeters!
So his first reaction was that he was hit by friendly fire!
If it were an enemy aircraft, he would definitely have made large maneuvering motions to evade it. He was confident in his evasive techniques; basically, there were few German pilots who could keep up with his maneuvers.
Unfortunately, his subjective consciousness told him that this was a case of friendly fire, so he only dodged momentarily and didn't execute continuous maneuvers. He turned his head to see which idiot was so indiscriminate in distinguishing friend from foe!
But in the next second, the glaring tracer rounds poured down again, shredding his left wing to pieces.
"Shit!!"
Looking at the horrendously damaged left wing, he knew he couldn't delay any longer. He immediately pulled open the canopy, climbed out of the aircraft, and jumped down.
But he had solved his own doubt; indeed, it was a German fighter attacking him. Sharp-eyed, he noticed three machine gun barrels protruding from the left wing of the German aircraft.
"???" Aren't German fighters equipped with cannons and heavy machine guns? How come there are models with medium-caliber machine guns?
Cannons pack a punch, but their limited ammunition capacity is a drawback. After flying for thousands of kilometers, encountering enemy aircraft several times, a few bursts would deplete all the ammunition, rendering the escort aircraft useless.
To have a higher endurance in combat, it's better for long-range escort fighters to be equipped with machine guns. With a load capacity of several thousand rounds, it's enough for a prolonged battle. Moreover, for escort missions, shooting down enemy attacking fighters isn't actually the most important; what's important is to drive them away, injuring them achieves the goal.
Therefore, the Germans were experimenting with various combinations of machine guns and cannons. Albert encountered the Fw 190 fighter prototype equipped with eight 7.62mm caliber aircraft machine guns.
In the sky, Albert saw more German fighters continuously joining the battlefield from afar, while another group of German fighters aggressively rushed toward the British bomber group.
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