Chapter 223: Clearing the Obstacles

Legend has it that American bombers using Norden bombsights could drop bombs into pickle barrels, although this claim employs exaggerated rhetoric. Theoretically, B-17s using this bombsight could drop bombs from 7,000 meters altitude into a circle with a radius of 30 meters around the target. In reality, the bombing accuracy of the "Norden" was often less precise than theoretical values—being within a hundred meters was considered quite good!

Ju-88 bombers using the Stuvi bombing sight could achieve relatively ideal accuracy when conducting low-altitude dive bombing, based on training data. However, this was only under ideal conditions. When attacking targets protected by numerous anti-aircraft guns, their large size made them vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire during the dive, requiring pilots to compensate for equipment limitations with extraordinary courage and refined flying skills.

In Belfast, unexpectedly, twelve Ju-88s conducted shallow dives at a height of 500 meters. Before the British could shoot down two and damage another two, more than half of the 18 tons of high-explosive bombs dropped by the Germans landed on the British airfield. In the violent explosions resembling landslides, both runways, along with surrounding hangars and anti-aircraft emplacements, were engulfed in flames and billowing black smoke. Various metal, stone, and flesh fragments were scattered into the air, forming columns of smoke that served as conspicuous markers for subsequent German air formations.

Swiftly passing over the harbor, Ju-88 dive bombers' bombardiers did not forget their other mission: observing the two British battleships and aircraft carriers anchored there. The bombardiers' observations were instantly relayed via internal intercom to the radio operators, who transmitted the information to the command post behind the lines. The reports included not only the positions and numbers of enemy vessels but also the unusually powerful ground-based firepower!

"General! A telegram from the front lines!"

In the German command post on the Isle of Anglesey, the communications officer delivered a dark green telegram folder to General von Richthofen, commander of the 8th Air Corps, who personally opened it.

"We successfully raided the British airfield. Belfast should find it difficult to launch fighters for a short time! One battleship is attempting to leave the harbor, likely the HMS Warspite! Another battleship and an aircraft carrier have not moved, indicating they indeed lack self-propulsion!" Reading the contents of the telegram, von Richthofen's face lit up with faint joy, while Logan, standing beside him, felt a sense of relief. Indeed, leading troops in combat on the front line was never as agonizing as it was now. While commanding air forces from the rear, every minute was spent worrying about the development of the battle, fearing major losses due to one's own negligence—this anxious mentality was probably experienced by every air force commander!

Von Richthofen glanced at his watch, then decisively ordered, "The second wave of dive bomber formations is to depart! Focus on attacking the airfields, docks, and the British battleship attempting to escape! Notify the 7th Parachute Division to begin boarding, and the transport formations are scheduled to take off in 45 minutes!"

As the oldest airborne division in the German Army, the 7th Parachute Division had been involved in several large-scale operations over the past four months, leaving its soldiers fatigued. However, for this operation, they wouldn't need to deploy all their forces. Additionally, a trained parachute regiment had been drawn from the newly formed 1st Parachute Division to join the fight. They were Germany's first unit to be fully equipped with RZ40 parachutes, similar to Italian paratrooper standards. These large parachutes allowed tall German paratroopers to carry rifles, submachine guns, and "Panzerfaust" anti-tank rocket launchers during parachute jumps, greatly enhancing their combat effectiveness and efficiency upon landing.

As the youngest operational commander in the history of the German Air Force and the primary tactician of the current German Air Force, Logan had been deprived of the right to parachute into enemy territory due to his capabilities. He realized that winning a battle through strategic planning was more meaningful than winning a battle by leading from the front. This was especially true given his abilities, which should reflect his strategic value!

About ten minutes later, the air, which had been silent for a while, became active again with buzzing sounds. Major General Logan, feeling relieved, walked slowly to the window and drew back the curtains. Underneath the blue sky and white clouds, squadrons of ugly Stukas were circling above the airfield. As time passed, more and more comrades joined the black formations until about fifty of them assembled, flying in a relatively neat formation towards the northwest!

Compared to the tense yet orderly atmosphere on the Isle of Anglesey, Belfast had turned into a boiling cauldron. The distinctive screams of the "Black Death" almost never stopped, constantly stimulating the eardrums and nerves of British officers and soldiers alike. Three Stukas dived as a group from thousands of meters high, defying conventional thinking about aircraft. After high-speed dives, they were able to pull up rapidly before hitting the ground—a maneuver that challenged the conventional perception of aircraft capabilities.

The thrilling actions indicated a high hit rate. In training, veteran German pilots could drop bombs within 30 meters of the target, and direct hits were not uncommon. In combat, because Ju-87s typically did not require adjustments once in a high-speed dive, they were less affected by enemy ground fire. Direct hits into bunkers had occurred more than once during the Polish and Western campaigns!

Although some German dive bombers were hit by enemy fire before they could release their bombs, they often plummeted to the ground like falling rocks, transforming instantly into various scattered fragments. However, the Germans' resolute character and unwavering obedience were vividly demonstrated!

Amidst the thunderous explosions, the anti-aircraft gun positions deployed near the southern airport became the first "hard-hit area" enveloped in flames and thick smoke. Six 133mm heavy anti-aircraft guns originally intended for installation on the HMS King George V-class battleships were placed in six separate and interconnected bunkers through trenches. To withstand bombing, each bunker was over two meters deep, leaving only a small portion of the gun barrel exposed when the anti-aircraft guns were raised. Additionally, to ensure firing range, the bunkers' openings flared outward, with sandbags piled around the edges to form breastworks. Despite such meticulous arrangements, they couldn't withstand the heavy bombs dropped at steep angles—these bombs, which had previously devastated the Royal Navy's main vessels in the English Channel, wreaked havoc within a 10-meter radius. The intense explosive reactions of the high explosives would cause extremely fatal damage to the precise optical instruments of the anti-aircraft guns, not to mention the fragile human bodies. As the smoke cleared, the bunkers were filled with unfortunate casualties, either stunned or killed!

In addition to various British anti-aircraft guns, the British positions were also filled with American-made 40mm and 90mm caliber army anti-aircraft guns. Enduring the screams and roars of German dive bombers, British gunners with flat steel helmets struggled to load shells into the breech of the guns. The pungent smell of gunpowder forced some of them to don gas masks. On a high-gun position on the east side of the airport, four American-made M2 90mm anti-aircraft guns originally arranged in a square formation were supposed to form the most basic area of effect. They began firing vigorously at the start of the battle. However, this scene finally attracted a retaliatory strike from the "Black Death": two Stukas dropped two large and four small bombs weighing close to one ton in total (250kg * 2 + 50kg * 4) from a few hundred meters high. After the continuous explosions, the four anti-aircraft guns fell silent until reinforcements arrived five minutes later, when two of the anti-aircraft guns from this arsenal, imported from across the ocean, resumed their roar!

At the harbor entrance, the slow-moving British battleships sailing out of the harbor became the target of concentrated attacks by more than a dozen Stukas. The ship's anti-aircraft guns fired back with full force, creating a layer of gray-black barrage in the nearby airspace. However, the Ju-87s continued to break through the barrage, dropping bombs on the targets. Around the battleships, tall water columns kept rising!

After more than 20 minutes of relentless bombing, the first wave of Stukas turned the Belfast port area into a raging inferno with negligible losses. They calmly turned over the port and flew over the tops of the huge columns of smoke. At this moment, the anti-aircraft guns on the ground were still helpless, and the explosions heard in the high altitude were not as strong as the roaring of the 1,000-horsepower Junkers 211A1 liquid-cooled V-type engines.

The German dive bombers departed triumphantly, while the British fighters, arriving late from other airports in Northern Ireland and Scotland across the strait, had their numbers and momentum further weakened after the fierce frontline counterattacks. Especially when British pilots realized that they had made great sacrifices attacking false positions and decoys set up by the Germans, their mentality became even more conflicted. Above the burning harbor, they engaged in a fierce yet largely meaningless aerial battle with the remaining German fighters lingering over the port. The fuel-depleted German pilots did not engage for long. After shooting down two Hurricanes, they quickly fled the scene.

Everyone knows about the "short-legged" Bf-109 of the German Air Force, but little do they know that the mainstay fighters of the Royal Air Force have even shorter legs: under normal combat conditions, the Spitfire has a range of only 760 kilometers, with a loiter time of just over an hour from takeoff to landing; the Hurricane has a range of 740 kilometers, with a loiter time of about 1 hour and 20 minutes. In contrast, the not-so-impressive American-made P-40 dominates the battlefield with its nearly 2,000-kilometer range (of course, it also weighs nearly half a ton more than British and German fighters).

With such a significant difference in range, the Spitfires and Hurricanes were the first to withdraw from the battlefield. Some landed at the reserve airfield in the western suburbs of Belfast, while others returned to their respective bases, leaving behind 15 fully Royal Air Force-painted P-40s and six Spitfires that took off later to continue patrolling in the air.

In comparison to the severely stretched Royal Air Force, the German Air Force had received a total of 2,700 brand-new combat aircraft in the past two months after production adjustments, with losses during the same period totaling less than 500. With one side gaining and the other losing, the total number of German combat aircraft had reached an eightfold advantage by January, exerting absolute dominance over the British forces. Just over ten minutes later, the vast German air fleet appeared again to the east of the harbor. The effectiveness of the surprise attack had been achieved. German bombers taking off from airports in Wales and northern England also joined the attack.

Looking around, more than 300 various types of combat aircraft swept in like an unstoppable flood, leaving every British pilot in the cockpit, along with the anti-aircraft gun commanders and gunners on the ground, with eyes filled with fearful despair...