Chapter 363 Aerial Combat (5)

Even before the V3 cannon base was completed, the German army had deployed nearly 200 fighter planes nearby. Now, as the battle progressed, not only did these 200 fighters take to the air to meet the enemy, but fighters from other airfields also joined the fray one after another.

At this point, the number of German fighter planes had exceeded the total number of British fighter planes and bombers, overwhelming the British air force in both performance and quantity, leaving them in a considerably passive position.

Dozens of bombers had already been shot down, and they hadn't even seen the enemy's cannon base in the distance, yet they had already paid a heavy price.

Inside the British mainland command center, Commanders Hewitt and Hugh Dowding listened to the successive reports of losses, feeling as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

"Damn it, this is clearly a bait!" Commander Hewitt couldn't help but complain. "I said earlier that the Germans would definitely deploy heavy forces there, and we stupidly walked right into it!"

In fact, everyone knew that this attack would come at a heavy cost. Only if the Germans were foolish would they leave such an important place undefended, allowing British aircraft to take advantage.

But it wasn't until now that they truly realized the sacrifices and costs estimated earlier were too optimistic.

Commander Dowding's expression was even worse. Because the losses in his fighter squadron were even greater than those of the bombers. He was more inclined than Commander Hewitt to recall the fighter squadrons to minimize losses.

After pacing back and forth for a few rounds, Commander Hewitt suddenly brought up another matter. "Lord Dowding, do you think the lifespan of these German cannons will be short?"

Just like the "Paris Gun" during the last war, although it seemed formidable, it had a fatal weakness. Its barrel had a short lifespan, only able to fire about 50 rounds. After a certain period of use, the cannon's barrel needed to be replaced and sent to the factory for maintenance. Thus, the more it was used, the larger the barrel diameter became, from the original 210mm to later 260mm, necessitating a corresponding change in shell caliber. Moreover, although this cannon had a long range, its accuracy was extremely poor. Therefore, after about 140 days of use, the German army abandoned this type of cannon.

Commander Dowding's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Yes, even if they ignored it, perhaps the German artillery would be abandoned after some time of bombardment.

"Perhaps we should talk to the Prime Minister about it. We shouldn't waste these precious pilots in vain." Just as they were discussing how to persuade Churchill, a distant muffled explosion sounded again.

Just as the two were discussing how to convince Churchill, the phone on the desk suddenly rang.

"What?!" Commander Dowding's face changed drastically as he picked up the phone and listened for a few sentences, then he turned to Hewitt, who looked puzzled, and said, "A shell hit Buckingham Palace..."

"What?!" Commander Hewitt was equally shocked. "Is Her Majesty all right?!"

"They're fine." Commander Dowding hung up the phone and shook his head. "They're all in the basement, and they're not injured."

It's a coincidence that during the original timeline of World War II, the British royal family also narrowly escaped death from German bombing.

Around 11 a.m. on September 13, 1940, a German bomber flew low over the British capital, taking advantage of the cover of clouds, suddenly appearing over Buckingham Palace and quickly dropping five high-explosive bombs.

At that time, King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth were having tea. However, when the sound of the plane reached their ears, their actions were relatively quick. Just as they rushed into the corridor to avoid the blast wave of the explosion, two bombs had already fallen into the courtyard of Buckingham Palace and exploded just a few meters away from where they were having tea. The other three bombs, although not as dangerous, also destroyed a chapel, creating several large craters.

Although Buckingham Palace was bombed nine times during the entire war, this was undoubtedly the most dangerous time. If the reaction of the King and Queen had been slightly slower, the consequences would have been unimaginable. It can be said that during the war, this was the closest the British monarch came to death, just a step away.

It is understood that this bombing was not accidental, but one of the plans of the German High Command. They intended to pressure Britain by bombing Buckingham Palace, making them feel despair and eventually surrender.

However, the subsequent developments fully demonstrated that Germany was indeed trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but ended up shooting itself in the foot, making a fool of itself. Because this bombing of theirs not only failed to sow seeds of despair and failure in Britain but instead aroused a spirit of unity against the enemy from the King to the ordinary people.

But for Dowding and his colleague, this news was simply the worst of the worst. If there had been room for negotiation before, now with Buckingham Palace, the symbol of the British Empire's highest authority and dignity, being bombed, the Prime Minister would never agree to withdraw those aircraft squadrons.

Not only would they not withdraw, but Churchill would definitely not rest until those cannons were destroyed.

Sure enough, not long after, a staff member rushed in to report, "Commander Hewitt, the Prime Minister just called to prepare for night bombing."

"Night bombing?" Commander Hewitt's mouth twitched slightly, really wanting to go and question Churchill if he was willing to sacrifice all of the British Empire's bombers?!

But in the end, he could only weakly wave his hand. "Understood, go and make arrangements."

By now, the aerial battle over the Channel had entered its final frenzy.

The British fighter force was completely disorganized, with all formations such as lead aircraft, wingman, small formations, and squadrons being scattered. The radio was filled with the chaotic shouts of friendly aircraft, but now no one cared about anyone else. British pilots had forgotten all tactical rules; now they were just mechanically controlling their planes and attacking the nearest enemy aircraft.

In contrast, German fighter pilots were becoming more courageous, more skilled, and more coordinated with each passing moment, almost reaching a state of perfect harmony.

In this situation, British fighter aircraft could only fall one after another.

And the losses were equally heavy for British bombers. With the escort fighters struggling to protect themselves, they could rely only on their own defensive armament.

The defensive armament of the Blenheim bombers consisted of two 7.7mm caliber machine guns mounted under the nose and one 7.7mm caliber machine gun at the rear of the fuselage. The Wellington medium bombers were equipped with two Browning 7.7mm machine guns in each turret at the nose, tail, and wing beams.

Such defensive firepower was nothing but a drizzle to German fighter pilots. Despite the machine gunners on the bombers firing frantically, they still couldn't escape the fate of being shot down.