章 286: Chapter 364 Night Battle (1)
In the Berlin Palace, Germany.
Air Marshal Kesselring stood proudly in front of General Wilhelm's desk, reporting the results of the recent aerial combat over Calais. "Your Highness, our air force has repelled the enemy's attack and achieved a glorious victory!"
Wilhelm lazily leaned back in his comfortable office chair, gesturing towards the documents handed to him by Kesselring, and said with a smile, "Marshal Kesselring, just give me a brief summary." He had only received the news of repelling the British aircraft formation and was unaware of the detailed losses.
"Yes." Kesselring opened the document and began his report. "At 1:32 in the afternoon, radar stations in the Calais area detected an enemy aircraft formation taking off from British territory. Our side immediately scrambled fighters for interception, and at 1:53 in the afternoon, an aerial battle erupted over the English Channel. By 2:41 in the afternoon, the British air force retreated, and we lost 97 fighter aircraft, with 41 pilots rescued. The losses on the British side exceeded 200 fighter aircraft and bombers. Nearly 100 pilots were rescued by us."
Wilhelm nodded in satisfaction and casually asked, "Is there any exaggeration in the report?"
Kesselring, his originally straight posture becoming even more rigid, could draw a straight line with a pen along her body. "Your Highness, even if there is an error, I guarantee it will not exceed 10%."
At this time, German fighter aircraft outperformed British ones, and German pilots had a more thorough understanding of British aircraft performance than the British pilots themselves. Coupled with overwhelming numbers, they did indeed deliver astonishing results.
"The British have suffered heavy losses, either they retreat or become more courageous. If they are not discouraged, the only option left is night bombing."
Kesselring assured with full confidence, "Rest assured, Your Highness, I stake my life on it. The current German Luftwaffe's night combat capability is the strongest in the world. If an enemy aircraft manages to break through our interception at night, I am willing to face military justice!"
As if to confirm his words, the air raid sirens in the Calais area tore through the silent night sky. "Alert! Alert! British bomber formation! Scramble night fighter aircraft!"
The Mosquito bombers, already prepared for action, started their engines and began taxiing down the long runway.
The Mosquito bomber was originally a versatile aircraft, with numerous variants: photo-reconnaissance aircraft, bombers, fighter-bombers, night fighters, bomber guidance aircraft, torpedo bombers, anti-submarine warfare aircraft, daytime patrol aircraft, mine-laying aircraft, trainer aircraft, special transport aircraft, and so on.
Soon, the first batch of 20 Mosquito night fighters flew into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness at the edge.
These night fighters were equipped not only with the "Schräge Musik" weapon system, consisting of four 20mm caliber aircraft cannons mounted on the aircraft's dorsal side (this weapon system was fixed on the aircraft's dorsal side, firing upwards diagonally. With this weapon system, the aircraft could safely attack without flying into dangerous areas. In the original timeline, when German night fighters equipped with Schräge Musik appeared near Berlin, the losses of Allied bombers instantly increased by one-fifth, and many bombing missions were even forced to be canceled.), but also with a simple radar guidance device installed in the nose and equipped with "Vampire 3.0" infrared night vision goggles for the pilots.
Guided by ground signal stations, these aircraft could quickly approach enemy aircraft, then locate targets using small radar guidance devices, and finally execute precise attacks using infrared night vision goggles.
Originally capable of carrying tons of bombs, the bomber could carry over 3000 rounds of 20mm cannon ammunition without needing to consider ammunition consumption. If the range was long enough, a single night fighter could slowly wear down at least one squadron of enemy bombers.
It was precisely because of this revolutionary weapon that General Kesselring dared to challenge Wilhelm.
Ironically, the concept of "Schräge Musik" was originally proposed and first implemented by the Royal Air Force before the war, but the British concluded that the system had no operational value. However, after falling into German hands, it was installed on all types of night fighters and delivered a resounding slap to the British with its brilliant operational performance. It was proven that being the first to invent something didn't guarantee successful application. The concept of blitzkrieg was also first proposed by the British, but it was only in the hands of the Germans that the theory of blitzkrieg was transformed into operational success. One wonders if Churchill, upon receiving reports of heavy losses in the bomber fleet, immediately wanted to line up those British officers who had drawn incorrect conclusions and execute them by firing squad.
A fierce aerial battle unfolding in the pitch-black night, or more accurately, a one-sided massacre, was about to begin.
The attacking side consisted of over a hundred Wellington and Blenheim bombers taking off from Britain, while the defending side was comprised of German night fighters continuously taking off.
"Turn on the infrared lights!" commanded the commander of the Mosquito night fighter interception force calmly as he looked at the target distance displayed on the simple radar.
Each night fighter had a thick, short cylindrical object with a diameter of 60 centimeters installed on its dorsal side, resembling a spotlight, yet emitting no visible light. However, the invisible light it emitted could illuminate targets up to 1500 meters away.
"This is Night Hawk Two! Night Hawk Two has visual contact with enemy aircraft! Entering attack position, ready to engage!" Inside the cockpit with no lights whatsoever, the voice of pilot Heinz Schnaufel accompanied the roar of the engines.
His current position was more than three hundred meters below and behind the enemy aircraft, where he could clearly see the target through the "Vampire 3.0" infrared night vision goggles.
Taking the example of the American B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber, which was equipped with up to 13 12.7mm heavy machine guns around its fuselage, even the aging British Lancaster bomber had 8 7.7mm machine guns for self-defense. The best way to deal with these flying porcupines was to shoot upwards from below, aiming for their "soft" underbellies, especially the Lancaster bombers used by the British Royal Air Force for night bombing, which had empty bellies and no defensive firepower at all. If you were a night fighter pilot, you would also choose to target this vulnerable area.
The commander listened quietly to the reports in his headphones until all the personnel in the squadron had found their attack targets before ordering, "Night Hawk One Squadron! Night Hawk One Squadron! Fire! Fire!"
"Copy that!"
"Understood!"
"Fire!"
Amidst the cacophony, shouts filled the headphones. This was the Nightingale squadron's first combat attack, so there was still some tension in the pilots' voices.
"Pew pew! Pew pew pew!"
The dull sound of machine gun fire echoed in the night sky, blending with the noise of the engines, instantly igniting the entire battlefield.
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