Chapter 31: Helen's First Battle

Helen and the sergeant swapped places, and now she was the main guide, she quickly adjusted her breathing, suppressed her excitement, and pointed at the microphone in a calm tone and began to order: "Attention to the No. 5 plane, the enemy plane is heading 170...... Now the course is 160, the target height is 4700 meters. ”

"Huh?" The other party was a little surprised that he was suddenly replaced by a female voice guide, and was stunned for a moment, and then hesitated for a moment before replying, "Received." Originally, the pilot's voice could only be heard by the guidance team through the headset so as not to interfere with each other, but Colonel William, who fully understood what Hoffman was up to, quickly let the communications office spread the sound through the radio, and now the whole hall could hear Captain Becker's answer, in addition to the roar of the engine and the noise of electricity, Speer felt a little uncomfortable, but the retinue of military people was accustomed to it. Marshal Keitel quietly gave the colonel a thumbs up, appreciating his cleverness. Colonel William, who received the signal, was flattered, and there were more than forty people, excited like a private who had only enlisted yesterday.

"Turn 15 degrees to the left."

"Roger." Captain Becker's answer was crisp, and the adjustment was done immediately. Hoffman looked more carefully, and after a few moments, the course representing the blue light point on the chart gradually shifted, forming an angle with the enemy plane's track.

"Turn 10 degrees to the left."

"Roger, ask for target distance."

"8 km."

"Okay."

"Turn left 10 degrees, maximum speed."

"Roger."

"The distance is 6 km."

"Slow down." Seeing that the speed of the enemy plane had dropped somewhat, Helen glanced at the instructor's hand-drawn track map and realized that maintaining the original speed might cause the interceptor to rush in front of the bomber, so she decisively gave the order to slow down.

"Roger."

"Continue to slow down, the target distance is 5 kilometers."

"Roger."

"Turn on the on-board radar, the target is at a distance of 4 km."

"Roger." Becker promptly notified the navigator of the same plane, and then there was a burst of buttons and the sound of electricity, and the onboard radar was finally turned on.

Through Kamhuber's introduction, Hoffman and others learned that night fighters are generally equipped with airborne radars known as the "Akashi" B/C type. This radar is promoted and used with the support of Major General Maldini, the head of the Air Force Communications Department (which has no substantial relationship with the Italian Maldini football family), with a working frequency of 409MHz, a maximum detection range of 4KM, and a minimum detection distance of 200M; The antenna consists of 4 masts at the nose, each with an "X" shaped frame antenna at the top of the antenna, forming 4 vertical double dipoles, and a small fairing at the top of the mast to provide protection. In the cockpit, the radar provides the pilot with three ray tubes, which can read out the distance, approximate bearing and altitude of enemy aircraft. It looks rudimentary and has a pitiful range of use, but it represents the latest achievement of the Third Reich in the field of electronics.

"The target height is 4600 meters, and the distance is 3 kilometers."

"Roger."

"The target distance is 1.5 kilometers, and you are sure that you are already behind the target, the course is the same, and the altitude difference is 100 meters." Through constant course and speed adjustments, Helen always ensured that Captain Becker's interceptors followed the path of the bomber formation.

"Roger, the target has also been intercepted by the local radar." Kamhuber was greatly relieved when he heard the news, it was most difficult to detect enemy aircraft at night, and now not only ground-based radars, but even airborne radars captured targets, which basically meant that the British could not run.

"I have visually found the target, 4 mainframes...... 4 rounds ...... It seems to be Lancaster. Now that Becker was approaching the position 350 meters behind Robinson's formation, a distance at which the enemy plane could basically be observed with the naked eye by the moonlight, and the enemy plane did not seem to observe him, and his tone gradually became excited.

"Attack now!" Helen's orders were clear and decisive.

"Please wait!" Becker replied crisply, piloting the plane to make a climb maneuver, the nose of the plane lifted upward, and the distance was close to about 250 meters. "Tubu!" 4 MKs

The 151 cannon began to roar, and continuous 20mm ammunition was poured out with four 7.92mm machine gun tracer bullets in the nose, although the 7.92mm machine gun had no deterrent effect on Lancaster, but the synchronous firing tracer bullets could effectively indicate the target for firing.

The sound of firing was heard very clearly on the radio, and the hall was filled with the roar of machine guns or machine guns, and although it was not known what the battle was like, everyone's attention was focused on it. Time was passing minute by minute, and although only 30 seconds had passed, everyone felt as if more than 2 hours had passed, anxiously waiting for the results of the battle. Colonel William and Lieutenant General Camhuber were even more flushed, and they couldn't stop cheering for Captain Becker.

"Hit...... Hit! Becker's ecstatic voice suddenly came over the radio, "An enemy plane is crashing." ”

As if to verify his words, the radar director synchronously informed the news: "There is a target that has broken away from the formation, and the altitude is rapidly decreasing, 4500 meters, 4000 meters ......"

Garland smiled and nodded at Hoffman, agreeing with Becker's statement that this kind of fast-falling data was by no means a normal dive, and it was definitely a fall. There was a round of applause in the hall, even Hoffman was applauding, Colonel Wilhelm and Lieutenant General Kamhuber were particularly hard, it was not easy, and the night finally got results. Although General Jeshunek smiled reservedly, he thought in his heart that when this face-saving captain fell to the ground, he must be rewarded well.

It took only a short minute to shoot down the first enemy plane, and Captain Becker, who was still unsatisfied, seized the opportunity to attack the second plane, and now Robinson and others have reacted, while beckoning the formation members to increase their speed to the maximum, and carrying out crazy maneuvering evasion maneuvers, while launching a fierce counterattack, the three Lancaster's rear-firing machine guns fired dense bullets, fiercely rushing towards the night fighters, if you can stand on the ground and observe at this time, you can see lightning all over the sky.

As an ace pilot with 29 crashes and a Knight's Cross, Captain Becker was clearly not intimidated by this level of counter-fire, and he calmly observed that two of the three enemy planes were diving downward, but one of them, not knowing whether the action just now had not been completed or whether it had chosen the wrong way to deal with it in a hurry, actually chose to climb upward. This is clearly an inexperienced novice, and the corners of his mouth are on his mouth with his trademark smile, which is a common expression after catching his prey. "That's you." Without hesitation, he followed the climb upward, firing with short machine-gun fire, which had taught him that it was useless against Lancaster, but that it could exert sufficient mental pressure on the opponent to successfully interfere with his maneuver. As expected, the climbing Lancaster was probably panicked, and in order to avoid the pursuing machine gun fire, it actually dared to shake from side to side in the process of climbing and make a detachment action.

This fateful move heralded the end of his life, and when he mistakenly thought that he had escaped the pursuit and tried to relocate, Becker waited for the opportunity to shoot at close range, and instantly hit the fuel tank of the opponent's right wing, and the huge Lancaster immediately ignited a raging fire, becoming the brightest torch in the night sky of Berlin. By the light of the fire, Becker found that the crew members had parachuted one after another, and he did not frantically attack the enemy who had parachuted, which was an extremely unchivalrous act, and after being convinced that the enemy plane had lost control, he simply informed the ground: "Hit the second enemy plane, the enemy is on fire, the crew has successfully parachuted, and you can go and capture the prisoner." ”

After the news came out, the hall was thunderous, everyone was overjoyed, and Kamhuber, who had been tortured by the anti-aircraft artillery position all night, showed a look of relief and waved his fist fiercely.

"The rest of the targets are lost." When Becker turned back to look for the other two planes, he found that they could not be found, and the navigator told him that the Akashi radar on board could not receive any information, but he was convinced that the two planes would not run.

"Target 1: altitude 3900 meters, course 285, distance 10 kilometers; Target 2: altitude 3500 meters, course 195, distance 9 kilometers. In a hurry, Helen delivered the ground radar information in a timely manner.

Listening to the enemy that was clearly fleeing in both directions, Becker frowned, which basically meant that only one target could be chosen to track, and he thought for a moment before responding, "Roger, I'm chasing target 2." ”

"Target 1 to Unit 3." Seeing that Camhubel was still immersed in joy, Colonel William immediately deployed the follow-up command, and at the same time, in order to prevent the interference of the two guides, the signal of the other guide was not connected to the hall for broadcasting. This order was approved by the lieutenant general and was quickly executed.