Chapter 1004 Target Enemy Aircraft Carrier
The French army flew over more than 50 Camels and Snipes.
They took a small detour and chose to approach the battlefield from the north.
This is a very wise approach.
It was morning, and the sun rose from the east, casting golden rays on the sea.
If we do not change direction and enter the battlefield from the west, we can only see the vague shadows of enemy planes in the sunlight, while we can be seen clearly by the enemy.
But if we turn a corner and approach from the north, even if it costs a little precious fuel, we can change this disadvantage.
Colonel Will raised his hand to signal his subordinates to prepare for battle, and gave the order to attack the moment the enemy planes broke into the battlefield.
More than twenty "SE5a" aircraft dived towards the target fiercely like eagles, with the roar of their engines.
Although their numbers were smaller than the enemy planes, they were not afraid because the "SE5a" had a huge advantage: high speed.
This almost ensures its invincibility on the battlefield: as long as it is in an unfavorable position and is tailed by an enemy plane, it only needs to step on the accelerator and escape.
However, Colonel Will and his men soon discovered that actual combat was not as simple as they thought.
The French "Camel" and "Snipe" aircraft ignored the "SE5a" diving from high altitude. They concentrated on chasing the British seaplanes at medium and low altitudes, even when there was an "SE5a" biting their tail behind them.
Colonel Weir was chasing a Camel, which in turn was chasing a British seaplane.
(The picture above shows the British-made Felixstowe F2 seaplane, which had an amazing range of 1,000 kilometers, could carry 1,000 pounds of bombs, and had a speed of 153 kilometers per hour. It was mainly used for anti-submarine operations against Germany in the North Sea and the Atlantic.)
The sky above the battlefield was filled with this three-plane chase pattern of "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it".
The British seemed to have the upper hand, as their losses of seaplanes were less significant.
But Will soon discovered that this was not the case: the "SE5a" had more than enough speed but lacked maneuverability. The French "Camel" moved up and down, left and right, sometimes rising and sometimes diving in the sight. The "SE5a" was always half a beat slow and could not grasp the shooting window.
Sometimes even if I aim, I don’t dare to shoot easily.
Because the bullets are likely to pass through the wings of the Camel and accidentally hit friendly forces in front of it.
The Camel fighter has no such concerns at all.
Amid the "da da da" sound of machine guns, the huge seaplanes lost their balance in an instant and plunged into the sea.
Many seaplanes did not explode, but broke into pieces on the sea surface. Some parts sank to the bottom of the sea, while others floated on the sea surface and drifted with the waves.
Colonel Will bit the camel's tail tightly with guilt because he failed to shoot down the enemy plane in time to rescue his friendly forces.
But the Camel performed an outrageous maneuver:
It suddenly lowered its nose, and just as Colonel Will followed suit, the target suddenly climbed vertically, then flew upside down with its belly facing up over his head, followed by another rolling dive.
Colonel Will only felt a flash before his eyes, and in a moment, the enemy plane that was originally biting his tail was now biting his tail from behind.
"Charle turned upside down!" Colonel Will cursed.
It is said that this is a move that Charles taught to the French Air Force. Ordinary aircraft find it difficult to complete due to their insufficient speed. Unexpectedly, it has now become the norm in the French Air Force.
(Note: This move is the reverse of the Immelmann move)
Colonel Will had no choice but to speed up and escape from the enemy planes. When he got rid of the enemy planes and looked back for his target, he found that the French planes had already left the battlefield.
In just over ten minutes, the enemy planes rushed into the battlefield like a gust of wind, attacked the target, and then withdrew, without any delay.
If the sea had not been littered with the wreckage of British seaplanes, Colonel Will would not even believe that they had been there.
"Fuck it!" Colonel Will cursed angrily as he watched the French fighter planes flying away in the distance.
Only then did he realize that the "SE5a" might not necessarily have an overwhelming advantage over the much slower "Camel".
The enemy can "attack instead of defend" and when being bitten by the tail, they can use their mobility to perform the "Charter Flip" to bite the tail back.
In principle, if every French pilot could perform this maneuver, it would be difficult or even impossible for the "SE5a" to shoot down an enemy aircraft.
Unless British pilots also learn this move and hold on to it.
But British pilots spent too much time training for takeoff and landing on aircraft carriers. In addition, the "SE5a" had poor maneuverability, so they needed to spend several times more time training than French pilots to complete that maneuver.
One by one, the fighter planes of his subordinates approached Colonel Will and waited for orders.
Colonel Will looked at the fuel gauge and saw that it was half full.
Not wanting to return empty-handed, he gestured to order his fighter planes to attack the French seaplanes.
Colonel Will thought: If you shoot down our seaplanes, we will shoot down yours, and this way no one will gain the upper hand!
However, Colonel Will was completely unaware that he had fallen into the trap set by Charles.
…
Southwest of Malta Island, in the sea about 100 kilometers away from the enemy battlefield, the main French fleet is approaching the British aircraft carrier at an excessive speed of 22.5 knots.
Those were three aircraft carriers that had been modified by the French army, namely the "Normandy", the "Languedoc", and the "Flanders".
There are also more than 20 destroyers providing cover.
Their decks were filled with fighters and bombers, including the "Jenny A" and "Jenny B" bomber models, as well as the "Jenny C" model that could carry torpedoes.
(Note: These three aircraft were called carrier-based fighters, carrier-based bombers, and carrier-based attack aircraft during World War II. The former was used to gain air superiority, while the latter two were used for anti-ship operations. In order to improve combat effectiveness, they have been integrated into a multi-functional fighter that can both control the air and carry out anti-ship operations.)
There are a total of five Normandy-class battleships, three of which have been modified and two are in the final stage.
Charles was quite pleased with their performance:
These carriers can carry 40 aircraft.
This is 15 more than the 25 aircraft of the British "Argus" and "Wrath".
They have two runways that can take off two fighter jets at the same time, with an average of one fighter jet taking off every two minutes.
Compared with the UK's single runway with limited space, it is much more efficient to take off a fighter jet in 6 minutes.
They can reach a speed of 21 knots, which can be increased to 22.5 knots when operating at superpower.
This is much better than the UK's maximum speed of only 20 knots.
In addition, the French aircraft carrier was converted from a battleship and has better anti-sinking capabilities.
However, Charles thought that this was unnecessary. At that time, Britain did not have dedicated bombers and it was difficult to pose a threat to the French warship carrier!
"Target enemy aircraft carriers." Charles ordered the fleet commander Pierre via telegram: "We must solve this problem before the British discover them!"
(End of this chapter)
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