At an altitude of 8,000 meters above sea level, a golden-red morning glow appeared on the eastern sea level, gradually dispelling the darkness that had shrouded the Norwegian Sea for nearly 20 hours, and also brought a touch of warmth to the glass-encased cabin. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Commander of the 1st Division of German Naval Aviation Johannes. Colonel Steinhoff, wearing an oxygen mask and holding the control wheel in both hands, was in a cheerful and relaxed mood, as if he were not going to a battle, but flying a high-performance airliner through the peaceful and safe skies.

In fact, he is not the only pilot with such a good attitude, and all the crew members of the JU288 bomber that took off from Bergen today have the same relaxed mood as him.

Because the task they are about to perform is light, enjoyable, and low-risk. They fly the latest JU288C series of high-altitude, high-speed, ultra-long-range and nighttime (daytime bombers, of course, they can also fly). The two Jumo222T-2 engines can deliver up to 5,600 hp (2,800 hp each) without "drugs" (using an injection combustion system). It allows the aircraft to fly at a speed of 670 kilometers per hour with 2 Fritz-X bombs on board, and British and American fighters except for the P51 and Spitfire cannot catch up with it.

Moreover, this 24-cylinder liquid-cooled engine also has a turbocharger produced by Fokker, which can allow the JU288C aircraft to maintain a speed of more than 630 kilometers per hour at an altitude of 12,500 meters (the ceiling is 13,400 meters)!

This speed and altitude was enough for the JU288 to throw off the best high-altitude aircraft in Britain and the United States, the P51, P38 and Spitfire. Although all three types of aircraft can now reach the JU288, at an altitude of 12,500 meters, only the P38 can theoretically catch up with the JU288. However, the engine of the P38 often fails at extremely high altitudes, so the pilots of the P38 fighter do not dare to use the full horsepower of the engine at extremely high altitudes in actual combat, so they cannot catch up with the JU288.

And flying fast at extremely high altitudes is not the biggest killer feature of the JU288, the biggest advantage of this aircraft is that it has an extra-large fuel tank!

Almost a year after receiving the JU288 bomber, the specialists of the German naval aviation discovered that the fuel tank of the JU288 turned out to be also combat power.

Because it has an extra-large fuel tank, it has a particularly long cruising range, and it flies high and fast enough to hover over enemy heads for a long time. For example, today's battlefield is only 700 kilometers away from the Bergen base, and the round trip is 1,400 kilometers, and counting the fuel consumed during take-off, landing, and marshalling, the JU288 aircraft can fly on the enemy's head for 8 hours at a speed of 500 kilometers per hour!

8 hours, not to mention the spitfire with small short legs, even the P51 and P38 with long legs will run out of oil.

So a few months after the appearance of the JU288, German naval aviation invented the "tank tactic". It is to use the JU288 to compare the "durability" with the opponent's high-altitude fighters, and if the enemy's P51 and P38 fly, then the JU288 will fly to an altitude of more than 12,500 meters and slowly circle with them.

Wait until the opponent's fuel is almost exhausted FW-190 to appear again, chase the opponent's ass and beat, even if you can't beat it, you can empty the fuel of P51 and P38, and you can also make the opponent completely run out of fuel and can't fly back!

And in October 1942, the ultra-long-range HE219B-2 twin-engine fighter began to equip the troops. The aircraft was developed as an escort aircraft for the JU288 and is equipped with DB614T engines with a maximum output of 2,000 hp. This engine is a development of the DB603G and has a turbocharger that allows the HE219B-2 to have the strength to suppress the P38 at an altitude of more than 12,500 meters.

In addition, the HE219B-2 aircraft has increased the fuel tank capacity and can carry a 1,200-liter auxiliary fuel tank, allowing it to have a range of nearly 4,000 kilometers. It can basically meet the needs of escorting the JU288, and at the same time, it can also have the ability to use "fuel tank tactics".

Therefore, on December 12, the JU288C, which participated in the air raid on the British and American fleets and the escort fleet, not only had its own high-speed + high-altitude two life-saving tricks, but also the protection of HE219B-2, which was basically foolproof. It is no wonder that the crew members who participated in the operation today are all in a relaxed mood.

In addition to the JU288C and HE219B-2, two very superior fighters, 48 Italian P.108 bombers took off from Bergen airfield. These aircraft were also used to attack surface ships, but instead of using remote-controlled gliding bombs, they used "dysprosium tactics". That is, from a distance of 240 meters directly to the side of the target, at an ultra-low altitude of 45 meters, to enter the concentrated bomb drop, and let eight 250-kilogram bombs attack surface ships with an accuracy of less than 8 meters -- this tactic is of course used to strike not a combat ship with a strong hull and strong anti-aircraft firepower, but the enemy's transport fleet. After the Ju-288 and the Fokker 100 taking off from the aircraft carrier broke up the enemy formation, these P.108s could attack from ultra-low altitudes and wantonly kill the American transport ships.

……

"Woo woo woo ......"

At 10:20, a piercing air defense siren sounded on all ships of the NR21 flotilla and the Allied Combined Fleet. However, the ships on the surface did not immediately put up an anti-aircraft formation, still maintaining an escort formation, and headed for the Onik Islands at a speed of 10 knots.

"Commander, the enemy aircraft will reach the sky above the formation in 10 minutes, and the enemy aircraft group is now at an altitude of 8,000 meters." The radar officer on the New York reported loudly, and his tone seemed a little panicked - the sky is almost dawn, and the terrible JU288 is coming!

"Got it," Ingersoll said calmly, as if confident. "Our direct cover plane is almost there, right?"

"It's coming." Fraser replied, "Here are the P51s and P38s of the Coast Air Force, a total of 72 aircraft, which can cover us for 1 hour." ”

60 P51s and P38s is no small number for the current British Coast Air Force. Because of the emergence of "fuel tank tactics", the British Royal Air Force lost quite a lot of P51 and P38 this summer, and now the British can still use the P51 and P38 in total, a total of more than 100 aircraft, which is really miserable to the extreme.

And the rest of these P51 and P38 have become treasures, and they simply do not dare to compare the fuel tank capacity with the German planes. Therefore, they could only cover Ingersoll's large formation for 1 hour, and as soon as the time passed, the British and American ships on the surface would have to rely on themselves.

"One hour ......," Ingersoll nodded and smiled, "In one hour, the enemy group's escort fighters will probably chase P51 and P38, right?" ”

"According to previous battles, more than two-thirds of the enemy fighters will go after our P51 and P38."

Lieutenant General Fraser replied almost through gritted teeth. When he was the third minister of the First Sea Department, he did not know how many examples of "fuel tank tactics" he had seen, and the despicable and shameless German pilots who lacked chivalry used this shameless tactic to kill thousands of British pilots!

"Very well," Ingersoll smiled, "as long as they're gone, our chance is here!" ”

Lieutenant General Fraser sneered a few times: "Yes! The Germans will definitely pay a heavy price this time...... From today onwards, their ju288 is no longer a horror killer in the Atlantic! ”

Yes, the British have now found a way to deal with the "tank tactics", otherwise the NR21 flotilla would not have risked being bombed south to Scarpa Bay.

……

"Admiral!"

On the USS Zeppelin, Hartmann, chief of staff of the combined European fleet, reported loudly: "The Bergen fleet has reached the target and is now running out of fuel with the enemy's P51 and P38 aircraft." ”

"Okay, let's release the carrier-based aircraft too!" Admiral Haye smiled and nodded, it seems that today's battle will definitely be a complete victory.

The enemy's planes, both P51 and P38, took off from the airfields in the north of Scotland (the airfields in the Faroe Islands were bombed and shelled every once in a while), and most of the fuel had already been consumed on the way, and it would take an hour to go back, and it would take only an hour to go around in circles with JU288, HE219 and P.108 in the air, and it would never exceed one and a half hours.

Therefore, it is appropriate to release carrier-based aircraft now, and the FW-190T may be able to catch the tails of the P51 and P38 and beat them violently - the FW-190 series of aircraft are good at surprise attacks, and whoever lets them bite their tails is basically a dead end.

At 10:35 a.m., five German aircraft carriers cruising in the Atlantic Ocean north of Ireland suddenly accelerated at the same time and reversed course to headwinds. The planes belonging to the first attack wave, which had long been parked on the deck, all began to start their engines. Under the wave of the signal flag of the flight controller, the fighter planes participating in the first wave of attacks took off one after another.

Fifteen minutes later, 36 Fokker Zero D carrier-based fighters, 48 FW-190T carrier-based fighter-bombers, and 72 Fokker 100 carrier-based dive bombers, which had taken off from five German aircraft carriers, formed five groups in the air and happily galloped east in the sun. (To be continued.) )