Chapter 244 German Fighter Planes

There was still heavy snow in the sky, and the severe cold formed a thin layer of ice around the fuselage.

Major Goldfer, wearing goggles, flew towards the German army with a fleet of "Newport 10" planes in the cold wind.

Looking at the two machine guns in front of the plane, Major Goldfer felt like he was in a dream.

Two weeks ago he was performing at the Lyon air show and now he is the squadron leader of the 3rd Squadron of the 2nd French Air Group.

When Goldfer was invited, he refused. He said to the second lieutenant who found him, "I am not interested in being a soldier, sir. I like a free and easy life. Being ordered around all day will drive me crazy!"

Then Goldfer added: "If I had wanted to be a soldier, I would have joined the Shire Flying Group long ago."

However, the lieutenant handed Goldfer a conscription order: "You'd better take my advice, sir. Otherwise, you will become an infantryman!"

This was Xiafei's strategy. If he couldn't recruit these people with flying potential, Charles would have no chance.

In the end, Goldfer chose the former, or rather, he had no choice.

After joining the army, he was first a second lieutenant and served as an instructor in the 3rd Flight Squadron, responsible for teaching those who had no flying experience at all how to fly a plane.

The 3rd Flight Squadron originally had 36 people, but two weeks later there were only 28 left.

Flying a plane is not like driving a car. If any misoperation occurs during the driving process, there is a high probability that the plane will crash into the ground and be smashed to pieces.

But this was no big deal for the military, they simply added a number to the casualties, contacted their families and gave them a pension of 260 francs, and that was the end of the matter.

As for Goldfer, he soon became a major and led the 28 surviving pilots to start the mission.

Goldfer even had an argument with Colonel Iger over this: "They have just learned some basic operations. Some of them may even fall to their death during landing. Now they are asked to fly the plane to perform the mission. This is too dangerous!"

"We don't have time, Major!" Colonel Iger's tone left no doubt: "Look at the battlefield. Yesterday, five of our reconnaissance planes were shot down by the Germans, and we couldn't do anything!"

"Where are Charles' planes?" Goldfer asked. "They have defeated the Germans many times. Why not send them?"

"It's very simple!" Colonel Iger pointed at the map of the defense line. "Look at this. Our defense line is more than 300 kilometers long. There are 51 infantry divisions deployed here and the number is still increasing, not counting the troops recruited from Africa. And Charles has only one flying brigade. Therefore, we can only rely on our infantry for this matter. Do you understand? We can only rely on ourselves!"

Lies, shameless lies!

Godfer knew why this happened. They were competing with Charles for control of the Air Force. They wanted the Army's flying brigade to be formed as soon as possible, so they took this extreme approach.

However, orders were orders, and Goldfer had to carry them out.

So, a total of 29 fighter planes, including Major Goldfer's, took off from the airport. Their mission was to patrol the Somme River area and shoot down any German aircraft they spotted, whether they were fighters or reconnaissance planes.

"As far as I know, the German fighter planes are usually only four or eight." Colonel Iger said, "As long as you stay together, nothing will happen!"

Major Goldfer shook his head slightly. Colonel Iger thought that fighting in the air was like fighting on land, and that problems could be solved by relying on numbers and bravery.

…

At this time, squad leader Koranka made a gesture to Major Goldfer. Major Goldfer looked in the direction he indicated and saw several German "Pigeon" reconnaissance planes fleeing from the side and behind.

Without thinking too much, Godfer waved his hand and led the fleet to chase the German reconnaissance plane.

Goldover thought that these reconnaissance planes were a good opportunity for his subordinates to practice their skills, and they could also report some results to Colonel Eagle.

However, after following for a while, Goldfer realized that something seemed wrong.

These "pigeon-style" aircraft should have taken advantage of their light weight and high flexibility to turn frequently, which would have weakened the speed advantage of the "Newport 10", but they did not do so.

Godfer frowned and muttered to himself:

"What's keeping them from turning? What's the purpose?"

Godfer looked around, and when his eyes swept over the clouds above his head, his face changed, and he thought of the reason.

He waved his hand hastily, trying to order the fleet to give up the pursuit, but his subordinates, who only had their eyes on the "prey", had already stepped on the accelerator to the maximum and did not notice Goldfer's gesture at all.

Godfer shouted loudly, but the cold wind blowing in his face made him unable to shout anything.

Things turned out just as Major Goldfer feared...

A dozen German fighter planes suddenly appeared in the clouds. They swooped down with the falling snow and fiercely spewed flames at the "Newport 10".

The three "Newport 10s" had no chance to react and were immediately hit, causing them to lose balance and fall to the ground. One of them even exploded in the air and disintegrated instantly.

The "Newport 10" fleet became chaotic. They fled in all directions like a group of chased flies, without any rules or tactics, while the German fighter planes followed them leisurely.

"Da-da-da, da-da!"

The sky was filled with the sound of machine guns. One after another, the "Newport 10" was hit by the German army, emitting black smoke and falling to the ground with a harsh noise. Some of the wings and tails were broken, and the planes rolled in the air and fell to the ground.

Goldfer was terrified the moment he encountered the enemy. He had never experienced war and could not believe what he saw.

Fortunately, when a German fighter plane swooped down, he sensed the danger and suddenly woke up, quickly flying the plane to avoid it.

At this point, there is no question of skills or tactics, only conditioned reflexes.

Major Goldfer tried hard to raise the nose of the plane. He knew that only by maintaining altitude could he avoid the enemy's pursuit.

Suddenly, two "Newport 10s" that were chasing an enemy plane collided in the sky. The scene was very tragic. After a burst of fire, the sky was filled with shattered aircraft parts.

Goldfer dodged left and right to avoid the exploding fragments, barely breaking through the smoke, and suddenly saw a German fighter plane in front of him.

He recognized it as the German "Albatross B" aircraft. It was tested as a civilian aircraft before the war and was therefore not kept secret. Goldfer had seen it once during a flight show in Germany last year, but he did not expect that when he saw it again, it had become an opponent.

Goldfer gritted his teeth, stepped on the accelerator and followed suit. Then he pulled the trigger and the bullets "da da da" hit the "Albatross B" and wood chips flew everywhere.

Soon, its nose tilted and it fell towards the ground in black smoke.

This was also the first enemy plane shot down by Goldfer and the only enemy plane shot down by the 3rd Flying Squadron in this battle.

(The picture above shows the German Albatross B two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, which was tested in 1914 and entered service in 1915)

(End of this chapter)