Including German fighters patrolling nearby, and some German planes that took off immediately after receiving orders, there were at least 400 German fighters in the vicinity. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Counting such aircraft as the ME-110, there will be many more aircraft that Germany can take off to intercept British troops.

How can such a huge interception force be broken by an assault force pieced together by the British Air Force?

Wellington had already shot down dozens, and they had already paid a heavy price before they had even seen the coastline of the enemy in the distance.

In the command center of the British mainland, there was already chaos, and everyone was contacting the air force unit in charge of them, trying to count the losses.

"Calling Exocet Squadron! Exocet squadron, please answer! Is anyone on the channel? "In the radio contact room, the officers are checking again and again what has happened to the troops.

In another room, Dowding was reporting to Churchill the damage caused by the bombing with a pale face: "The escort fighter unit has suffered heavy losses, will the mission continue?" ”

The question he is asking now is not actually saving the group of planes that flew out, but saving some valuable pilots who have the ability to fly back on their own.

Although most of the pilots are not the core and main force of the Air Force, there are still some excellent pilots selected by lottery.

Now, if such a situation is ignored, it is very likely that the nearly 600 planes that flew out will really not return.

"Mr. Prime Minister...... This is clearly a decoy ...... The enemy had deployed heavy forces in Brest, and our planes were bogged down in a bitter battle. Another air force general reminded with his head bowed.

No one does not doubt that this attack will pay a heavy price, unless the Germans are stupid enough to put such an important place as Brest and let the British planes pick up the bargain.

However, when the action actually happened, everyone realized that their so-called sacrifices and costs were still a little too optimistic.

If this kind of battle continues, before it gets dark, the counterattack force that the British Air Force has painstakingly accumulated will almost be lost.

"News just came out!" An officer pushed open the door, walked over to Churchill's desk, and pressed a report in front of Churchill: "The Wellington bombers have lost 55 planes, and they haven't even seen Brest." ”

"At any time, persistence is the magic weapon to win!" Churchill insisted. He was not willing to give up now, and he was not willing to give up until he had effective success.

Looking at the faces of the generals who were about to cry, Churchill said confidently: "Gentlemen, giving up now is tantamount to saying that all the sacrifices we have made before have been wasted." ”

"But, Mr. Prime Minister, if the remaining 500 planes continue to advance, the number of planes flying to Brest will not exceed 200...... "Dowding knows the essence of air interception operations.

As soon as he casually analyzed it, he knew that what the British group was colliding with now was nothing more than interceptor planes deployed around Brest.

Once the German fighters who arrived further away to reinforce Brest, it was really doomed.

These layers of interception, like a cocoon, would tear through the defenses of the British fighters, and eventually began to shoot down the Wellington bombers exponentially.

"The Luftwaffe interception is already in place, and in this case, the assault is already a failure, so why continue to insist on it?" Dowding frowned and asked Churchill.

The surprise attack has failed and has now turned into a strong attack. In the case of inferior forces, a strong attack at any cost, in the end, there will be nothing left but losses.

What Dowding himself did not know was that the 500 planes he spoke to Churchill at this moment were actually less than 450 left.

The rate of loss of aircraft at the front was a little faster than Dowding himself had estimated. After all, fighting at their own doorstep and without the constraints of bombers, the level of German pilots was several times higher than in normal days.

In the British fleet, the proportion of pilots flying planes was even higher, and the morale of the offensive operations from home was even more depressed, so it is not surprising that the losses exceeded expectations.

Among the remaining aircraft, bombers still occupy more than 200 positions, so at this time, the remaining British fighters have become more and more unable to maintain the line of defense of the escort.

The German pilots who had killed the British novice pilots would not stay and continue to entangle with the fighters, but would catch up with the British bomber forces and attack the vulnerable bombers.

The situation became more and more passive, and Dowding had to consider whether his fighter force would really be lost.

That's a whole 300 fighters cobbled together, and now the losses are all relatively worthless hurricanes, and after a while, they will be shot down again, but the expensive Spitfire and the P-40 that is difficult to replenish will be shot down.

"Mr. Prime Minister! If the elite fighter units suffer heavy losses, we will not be able to replenish them in a short time! As the commander of the fighter, Dowding could only open his mouth to persuade Churchill.

The last time the German Navy carried out a combat cruise, annihilating the TC transport fleet and severely damaging the CK-1 transport fleet, the effects of that naval battle were already felt in the United Kingdom.

Not to mention the shortage of grain, although a large amount of valuable strategic grain has been used to barely maintain local law and order, the rate of grain replenishment is declining significantly.

At the same time, with the exception of the battleship Prince of Wales, which had reached more than 90 percent completion, several battleships under construction on the British mainland had been suspended.

The fighter production line is even worse, and the temporary production plant set up in the north is almost in a state of shutdown because there is no way to provide sufficient wages and some precision parts are missing.

From November 19th to November 21st, for three days, not a single fighter was produced in Britain, which is an unbelievable thing in wartime.

Although the United States provided Britain with a full 400 P-40 fighters, the American aid actually came with conditions attached and represented part of the will of the United States.

For example, 170 of the 400 P-40 fighters clearly stated that they had to be deployed in the Middle East to stop Rommel from continuing eastward.

Of the remaining 230 planes, 100 are still produced in the United States, and of the remaining 130 planes, it is difficult to make up 90 planes, except for those that cannot take off for combat due to malfunction.

This time, under pressure from Churchill and the severance of the home lines of communication, Dowding reluctantly agreed to the plan of air raids on Brest.

In order to cover the bomber troops, he took out most of the P-40 fighters in his hand and let 50 of them participate in the battle.

Now, if these planes are not able to return, there may be fewer than 40 P-40s left that can take off to meet the German invasion......

In the whole of Britain, there are only 40 planes that can barely fight the enemy, and counting the other full numbers, there are only less than 300 - this combat effectiveness can only be described as pitiful.

Once Germany landed at this time, even the air supremacy of the landing site was not guaranteed by Dowding. All he could do now was to persuade Churchill to withdraw the mission immediately and let the fighter unit return immediately.

Even so, the Germans pursued all the way to the middle of the channel and returned, and there may be only 150 British fighters left.

Thinking of this, Dowding really wanted to spit out his blood - the little strength he had barely accumulated despite the fact that the capital was bombed by the enemy was completely buried today.

"The mission cannot be canceled, not even the bombing at night!" Churchill replied forcefully: "The enemy's fleet must be annihilated!" This is our only chance to win! ”

Churchill didn't know that if this consumption continued, even if he flew to Brest and the British planes finished their bombing missions, there would be no more planes left to return home.

But he had to continue this mission, because he knew that if the German fleet in the port of Brest was kept, Britain might not even have the strength to dispatch these planes next time.

Just yesterday, he had already obtained clear data that the existing British transport ships, after excluding the sinking of submarines and the interference of the German fleet, were not capable of ensuring the replenishment of the British mainland.

This meant that as long as the German fleet and submarine forces continued to harass in this way, the British mainland would be in a complete desperate situation in the next two to three months.

Even if the German Army just watched, when the British mainland arrived, it could only choose to surrender, and it was an unconditional humiliating surrender.

If we take into account the landing operation that the German Army may launch at any time, Britain will be in the dilemma of being hit ashore by enemy troops even after a month and a half.

When that time comes, it doesn't make a difference whether there are 1,000 or 200 planes left on the British mainland.

Anyway, it's losing, it's death anyway, Churchill fought desperately this time, in order to survive in death and win in defeat.

"Actually, as long as we hold on, stick to the operation on the Libyan side, and then make plans when we have the results, it's okay......" Dowding advised.

Hearing Dowding's suggestion, Churchill frowned, he knew that the operation opposite Dowding was talking about was the combat operation being prepared on the island of Crete.

The surprise attack on Libya can be regarded as finding Germany's soft underbelly, as long as the B-17 bombers assisted by the Americans complete the mission, Germany will fall into passivity.

Germany, which was equipped with a lot of machinery, but did not have sufficient fuel reserves, would have been crushed to death by its own weapons and equipment. By that time, perhaps, the navy of the Germans, there would be no oil sorties at all.