"General Grime, I hope that your bomber unit will increase the altitude by another 500 meters, and we will have a big advantage at an altitude of 6500 meters. The opponent will climb longer, and our maximum speed is also reached in this airspace. The relative speed difference between the two sides is also the largest. "Before departure, Colonel Lester, the commander of the escort formation, who was responsible for covering the strategic bomber unit of Grim, had suggested this. However, as the altitude increases, the fuel consumption of the bomber unit also increases, and it is very fuel-intensive to climb under heavy loads and fly long distances in unsuitable airspace.

In order to balance the bomb load and range of the aircraft and the needs of the escort force, Grim finally adopted a compromise approach, and the HE177 bomber formation flew at an altitude of 5,500 to 6,000 meters before separating from the rest of the group. After the detachment, the group gradually climbed to an altitude of 6,500 meters. And now, after they passed through central France, the huge fleet began to climb according to the pre-agreed plan. Colonel Leicester climbed ahead of schedule with the escorted DO335 fighters and FW190 fighters, forming a huge barrier in front of the huge bomber group, and the huge strength of the entire 4 full fighter wings provided all-round protection for the strategic bomber force of Grim! At the same time, the ground radars of the Allied countries also discovered that this large group of planes the size of an air force had crossed the central part of France and was flying towards the west of France, although the Americans were a little confused and did not know which target the Germans bombed, but in short, it was the idea of every US Air Force commander not to let the other side reach the target safely.

The long distance provided the Americans with a long time to prepare, and Li May, who had been fighting the Luftwaffe since the beginning of the Italian Civil War, had a deep understanding of these old opponents, and they were tactically flexible, well-trained, and well-equipped. And according to the intelligence before the war, the other side seems to have a lot of new toys, and the Germans must have something to rely on if they dare to concentrate such a huge group of aircraft to attack units in depth! So Li Mei needs to make good preparations.

"Tell me the numbers of all available fighter units, including the planes of naval aviation. Other than that. Tell Boington that I need him to put in all the twin-engine heavy interceptor planes. Watching the model of the German bombing force marked on the sand table gradually advance towards the area under his jurisdiction, Li Mei resolutely ordered. The U.S. Air Force, now located in western France, existed as the general reserve of the Entente, and most of the crews had just arrived from the continental United States. Adaptation training has not yet been carried out, and many pilots do not even recognize the map. I'm afraid it's possible to get lost after driving a plane to the sky. Li May wanted her boys to have a 20-day to one-month acclimatization period, but it was clear that the Germans didn't give them much of a chance.

However, the greater depth finally gave the Americans more time to prepare, and the orders of the command were quickly transmitted to the various fighter wings. The American pilot, who had only arrived in France for a few days, had just put down his backpack and was about to run to his plane. Most of them don't speak French. In the absence of a translator, they could only communicate with their French counterparts with a few sentences and gestures that they had hastily learned, and after more than ten minutes, it was just to show that the fuel prepared by the French was not suitable for American planes! And in order to find the right fuel for their planes, they have been screaming with the French for a long time! The end result was that I was told that the nearest American jet fuel was about 70 kilometers from the airport!

Of course, this is only an isolated case, the first batch of US Air Force wings to arrive has almost run-in with the French, they have adapted to everything in France, the battlefield environment, supplies and French meals. Boeington and his brigade, on which Li May had high hopes, were among them. Sitting on the American version of the Foxbat, Boington felt grounded and confident. The heavy body, good armor protection, and fierce firepower make the P38 a well-deserved giant killer. Boeington, known as Daddy, entered the intended interception zone with his own group, and they saw the German strategic bombing force and their escort group flying in the distance. The first of these is the Do335 Arrow fighter, which has just been developed by the Germans.

This was the first time Boington had seen a DO335 fighter. Boington will run into it several times in future battles, with Boeington's forces being heavy hitters and the DO335 being Germany's finest long-range fighter. The two sides were spear and shield, and the two sides fought each other many times in the coming years, but until the appearance of the DH108 Hornet, known as the ultimate twin-engine aircraft, Boeington's spear had little advantage. And in this engagement, Boeington's brigade suffered the greatest loss in the history of the force!

Boatington was escorted by the U.S. Air Force's new P47 fighter jet, which uses the R2800 engine and has the most powerful engine of any aircraft with a single engine. And because of the use of exhaust gas turbocharging, the aircraft performance is relatively good. The only problem is that it's too heavy. The single-engine fighter actually has a weight close to that of a twin-engine aircraft, which makes its performance at medium and low altitudes not good. Colonel Max quickly arrived at the intended assembly point with a large group of P47 fighters, but alas, faced with a fleet of several hundred Allied aircraft. The two groups of American fighters did not dare to rush forward, so they could only retreat first.

"It's not bad, we are farther west than expected, and the other side has no time and space left to arrange a second interception, as long as we can break through this interception, then we can drop the bomb on the target. Repeat again. The squadrons must not dissolve their formations without authorization, even if they drive planes into each other's aviation rockets! Grim drew a cross on his chest after giving the order. Everything that can be done has been done, and the rest depends on the performance of the escort force!

At this time, the Americans' interceptor group had also been assembled, and as many as five air wings were concentrated in the air, hundreds of P47, P38, P40, and P39 were circling and flying in the air, and even the US Navy's F6F fighters rushed from the port direction to participate in the US Air Force's World War II debut. In the face of the German bomber force that pounced like a tsunami, the Americans were undaunted! The command from the ground command was quickly transmitted into the air by electromagnetic waves, and a few minutes later the general offensive of the Americans began!

Hundreds of P47 fighters formed the first wave of the offensive, hundreds of engines made a thunderous sound in the air, all the planes entered from a high altitude, and then swooped down to the opposite German group, while the opposite German DO335 and FW190 aircraft, the latest fighters of both sides made the first wave of charge! The two groups of planes are rapidly approaching at extremely high relative speeds, and the distance between the two sides is shortened by about 1 kilometer every three seconds. As the distance approaches. The groups of aircraft on both sides began to spread out, and they engaged in units of 4 planes or squadrons, and the firing distance of several hundred meters was undoubtedly a bayonet for an aircraft with a speed of more than 600 kilometers per hour. The moment hundreds of planes collided with each other, the rain of shells and the roar of the engines of war filled the battlefield like explosions.

"The two sides are like knights who are hedged. A large-scale volley is completely different from a mere fighter engagement. The latter's area of engagement is very narrow, but the density of troops is extremely high! Combat missions require you to break up the opponent's escort fleet to provide an opportunity for the interceptor forces behind, you can't make full use of your tactics to find the opponent's loopholes, you don't have the opportunity to go around the opponent's rear to sneak attack them, and you don't have the opportunity to execute a safari, we are like the ancient Roman phalanx to crash into a road. And such an engagement was undoubtedly bloody. In this battle, one of my squadrons was wiped out in less than 2 hours of engagement! "Every time Colonel Max mentions this air battle, his words are full of sadness.

The Americans had the advantage of altitude and launched their first dive attack, with the hulking P47 roaring towards the German group below, and the German FW190 chose to defend sensibly and dodged the attack from the air by rolling down altitude. IN THE FIRST WAVE, THE P47 GROUP SHOT DOWN AT LEAST EIGHT OR MORE GERMAN PLANES, AND THE DISINTEGRATING GERMAN PLANES THAT WERE HIT BY FOUR M3 20MM CANNONS AND TWO M2 MACHINE GUNS EXCLAIMED THE AMERICANS. From time to time, the excited shouts of teammates can be heard in the squadron channel. "Don't the Germans seem to be very good either?" Many newcomers who are participating in the war for the first time commented. Soon, however, as the altitude decreased, the offensive and defensive forces of both sides quickly changed in order to pursue the seemingly broken German fleet. Many American pilots subconsciously lowered the altitude, they chased the target, and the latter attracted the most suitable altitude for German aircraft, 6000 meters! Although it is not called a low altitude, at this altitude, the climb and maneuverability of the FW190 fighter are better than that of the original P47! And in terms of speed, it is not a disadvantage.

The offensive and defensive momentum quickly flipped around. The Germans no longer retreated, one by one the crews skillfully launched a counterattack against the Americans, and the clumsy German planes that were as clumsy as ducks just now were as nimble as swallows, and they gathered around the clumsy P47 fighters like harrier eagles and spewed deadly firepower! "Don't give them a chance to climb and get tangled with them! As long as you don't get thrown off by them. We've won! Experienced German pilots shouted. The important point of BZ tactics is to have a height advantage and at the same time be able to use speed to get rid of opponents, and when one of these two points is not achieved, then the attack cycle is broken. The Americans had to maneuver heavy planes and get tangled with each other. While the FW190 isn't very good at grappling, the P47 isn't either! The two sides huddled together, thinking about the nearest enemy plane they could see, firing wildly. And in this hand-to-hand combat, the American P47 made the Germans suffer a small loss with its rough skin and thick flesh and fierce firepower!

"I've never seen such a sturdy single-engine fighter, I tilted almost half of my ammunition on the opponent's fuselage, and the thick silver-white fuselage of the opponent did not burst into flames, but it still flew tenaciously in the air. As I flew past it, I could clearly see the bullet holes on the other side's group, and it was the first time I felt that my plane was not having enough firepower. I remember the livery of this plane vividly. A skull emblem with an American flag on it. A German pilot recalled after the war.

In fact, the assertion that the P47 is sturdy has been proven by both sides. Not only is it often mentioned in the documents of the Germans, but also in the repair records of the Americans, there are often records of P47 planes that still swaying back with dozens of bullet holes. There is even a record of the safe landing after the engine was injured after the wing was cut off in half, partly because the damage resistance of the air-cooled engine is stronger than that of the liquid-cooled engine. On the other hand, because the P47 is too large and is also hit by a shotgun, the results of elephants and rhinoceros must be somewhat different. Moreover, although the Germans had a large charge of thin-shelled shells, they had a better armor-piercing performance, and if the angle was not right, the ammunition would explode on the surface of the skin, causing less damage.

The Americans' P47 fought more or less well in the first round of attacks against the FW190, starting to gain a slight advantage, and then being at a disadvantage when grappling, but relying on good defense, the exchange ratio was not too ugly. But it's a pity that the Americans have a limited number of P47s, followed by a lot of P40s, P39s, and HNA Hellcats that have just been put into service! The overall summary is that the spearhead is sharp, but the follow-up is weak. When the first wave of aircraft was in a mess. The other types of American planes that came up from behind were faced with a slaughter!

Davis controlled the fat Hellcat to circle around to dodge the attack of the FW190 fighter jet that swooped down from a high altitude, and maneuvered behind the opponent, he pressed the joystick slightly, and the R2800 roared Hellcat whistled down. And the other party was obviously a veteran, and a sharp sideways roll flew to the side. The experienced Davis knew that there was no future in rolling with the other party, and mentioned the amazing rolling speed of this aircraft in the information provided by Huaxia. So he circled sideways, maneuvering horizontally to re-insert the opponent into his scope, and in the repeated attacks and dodges, Davis found that he could barely keep up with his opponent, but the distance was getting wider and wider, and in the constant circle, Davis's Hellcat speed plummeted. And finally lost the opponent. Worse still, as he tried to regain his speed, a huge figure approached from behind him, and then a loud sound like an air hammer exploded in his ears!

"Holy!" Davis could clearly feel his body slam violently, and then the sound of metal tearing came from behind him, and he even saw the half-pulled body fall from behind! "It's so cruel!" Davis pushed open the hatch and skydive. When the fighters were tangled together, the P38 interceptor and DO335 also moved from behind the scenes to the forefront, and the best twin-engine fighters on both sides had their first conversation!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~, and the book friend Ramesses and Daxia 0007 for the monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued.) )