Chapter 825 "Red Devil"
General Staff Headquarters on Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin.
Hindenburg stared at the map in front of him quietly, holding a lit pipe in his mouth. The rising smoke in front of him was like a burning war, trying to burn the area depicted on the map to ashes.
Ludendorff excitedly stepped forward to report: "Marshal, we succeeded. The British army mutinied on a large scale, and hundreds of thousands of colonial troops guarding the front refused to fight."
Hindenburg tried to remain restrained, uttered a soft "hmm", took off his pipe, and ordered: "The air force will be dispatched."
"The air force is dispatched!"
"The air force is dispatched!"
…
The order was passed to Metz Airport.
A shrill cry sounded on the radio, and the German pilot rushed out of the lounge like a firefighter, ran into the hangar at the speed of a 100-meter sprint, and then climbed onto the plane with skillful movements.
Soon, one plane after another took off into the air with a rumbling sound.
…
Nancy Line airspace.
Major Michael, deputy commander of the British 7th Air Force, led four fighter planes on a routine patrol.
"Damn the weather," Michael cursed.
Heavy rain always blocked their vision, and even in the air visibility was only a hundred meters, which forced them to reduce their speed to 100 kilometers per hour, otherwise they would accidentally hit something and the plane would be destroyed and everyone on board would die.
There was no need for patrols in such weather, Michael thought. It was almost nighttime and no one could fight in such conditions.
Michael stuck his head out and saw the "Eiffel Water Tower" standing on the ground in the rain.
That is the civilian water tower in the town of Trick. It is easily recognizable and stands there regardless of wind or rain, just like the "Eiffel Tower", so the pilots gave it the nickname "Eiffel Water Tower".
Michael raised his hand and gestured to Captain Smith who was flying on the left side. Captain Smith responded with a gesture and flew to the other side with his flight team.
This is the requirement for patrolling. The airspace that can be patrolled by four fighter jets going one way is only half of that patrolled by a group of two going in different directions.
Everything was going well, Michael thought, time to go back for a shower and a cup of hot coffee.
But at this moment, several planes suddenly broke through the rain and jumped into Michael's sight.
Michael's first thought was his own plane.
That's a triplane.
Currently only the British Air Force is equipped with triplanes.
(The picture above shows the British triplane N500. The German Fokker triplane is a copy of this fighter, but its performance is better than the N500.)
The next second, Major Michael felt something was wrong. He discovered that these tri-wing aircraft were all painted red, which was the color that British fighter planes liked to use.
Moreover, after discovering him, he not only did not slow down and make a detour, but also sped up and chased after him, still occupying the side and rear position for attack.
Michael was startled and quickly raised his hand to warn his wingman, while speeding up to prepare for battle.
The wingman didn't react. He looked back at the triplanes chasing from the flank. Apparently he had misunderstood like Michael. He even waved to the triplanes.
However, the moment the two planes collided, gunshots rang out like popping beans.
"Da da da."
“Da da da da!”
…
The unprepared wingman instantly burst into wood chips and splattered blood, and along with the rain, blood flowers burst out on the other side.
The pilot tilted his head and leaned against the cockpit without moving. Then the plane lost balance and plummeted to the ground with a shrill whistle.
"Oh my God!" Major Michael panicked. He controlled the plane to dodge and said to himself, "I knew they were German planes. These are their new fighter planes that we have never seen before!"
Major Michael continued to accelerate.
He knew that the biggest advantage of the Camel fighter over enemy aircraft was its speed. Whenever there was danger, it would not be wrong to accelerate. The speed would allow the fighter to easily escape from the enemy's pursuit.
But when Major Michael pulled the plane into a large turn, he suddenly realized that he was wrong.
The red devil chasing him from behind actually moved to the shooting position in advance and waited for him.
“Da da!”
“Da da da!”
…
With only a few dozen bullets, the tail rudder of the fighter plane was turned into powder with a shattering sound.
Michael only felt himself spinning uncontrollably, spinning faster and faster...
In the red triplane behind him, Richtofen stuck his head out and looked at his own results with satisfaction.
The British did not yet know that the triplane had the advantage of a small turning radius, which needed to be exploited.
…
General Staff Headquarters on Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin.
The ringing of telephones and telegrams continued one after another. The whole office was in a tense and busy atmosphere that could be detonated by just plucking a string.
"Marshal." The staff officer hurried over to Hindenburg, who was discussing the situation with Ludendorff in front of the map, holding the telegram. "We shot down all the patrolling British fighter planes, without missing a single one."
Hindenburg nodded with satisfaction and ordered: "First Air Regiment, action!"
…
The British air base is located at Lambeville.
Lambeville was roughly located in the center of the Nancy Line, from where the British 3rd Air Regiment could take care of the entire line.
Originally, British Airways did not need to do this.
The Nancy Line was a joint defense line of Britain and France. The British Army was responsible for the area west of Lambertville, while the French Army was responsible for the area east of it.
The French army has Charles's air force to ensure airspace safety.
But Haig was arrogant and thought that Charles didn't need to intervene in this airspace.
"This could easily lead to misunderstanding," Haig said in his report:
"Sometimes when visibility was poor, we would mistake friendly aircraft for enemy aircraft."
“And it’s not conducive to unity of command.”
"A mission that could have been completed with just one aviation regiment now requires two aviation regiments, and the two countries don't speak the same language, which makes coordination difficult."
As a result, Charles' air force withdrew completely from the Nancy defense line and handed it over to the British air force.
In fact, Haig was unwilling to let Charles's air force "show off" over the Nancy Line again, as this would make the colonial army and even the British army on the mainland "admire" him.
This was not just a matter of face for the British Expeditionary Force, but also a matter of security: it could potentially cause internal division within the British Expeditionary Force.
Colonel Hubert was the head of the aviation regiment, responsible for commanding 137 Camel fighters to protect the airspace of the Nancy defense line.
This is the number of fighter jets that the UK has produced after expanding its production capacity, and it took several months to produce them. Now they are parked on one side of the airport, neatly arranged and covered with waterproof raincoats.
"They are the best." Colonel Hubert stood at the window of the control tower and looked down at the fighter planes, saying with pride: "These fighter planes are enough to destroy all German fighter planes. If it weren't for the insufficient range, we could even fly them over Berlin!"
"Of course, Colonel." The staff officer echoed: "They are invincible!"
(End of this chapter)
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