"First of all, I absolutely do not take lightly the thoughts of Minister Yang and the top brass of the navies of various countries, but I have to say that the plan specified by the joint command of the fleet is too broad and too speculative! The bigwigs did have a brilliant record in the past, but that only shows that they were the victors in the era of big ships and huge guns, and in this era, naval aviation was the decisive force that decided the battle at sea, and in this plan they did not put forward constructive opinions on aviation, and violated many principles of the use of air power. I'm here to do some research with the commanders in the field about the upcoming air campaign. Major General Potel and Commander of the Huaxia Air Force, Su Mo, who had just arrived in Sicily, and Li May, commander of the US Air Force in Italy, said.

"But they at least know how to let the professionals handle the professional things. This is enough, an aircraft carrier is a warship after all, and some basic principles must still be observed. Next, General Li May will introduce the form of air warfare on the Italian peninsula, and then I will make some additions in a moment, and come up with my own plan for your reference. After Su Mo finished speaking, he motioned for Li Mei to continue.

"In terms of the situation, the situation is very bad, since the collapse of the ground battlefield in the central part of the country, our air force has been forced to shrink to the front line of Naples for defensive operations, and can only be responsible for the air defense of the surrounding areas, and our aircraft can no longer be seen in most parts of central Italy, but relying on the protection of war avoidance and ground anti-aircraft fire, we still have left a group of living forces, the most slippery head is the Italians, although their navy has invested 8 fighter squadrons. But in actual combat, they fight completely according to their own plans, and they can fight when they can, and run if they can't. Their losses were not significant, that is, the shelves of the flying squadrons on those few aircraft carriers in Italy so far remained. ”

Can we understand it that way? Although the scene is not good, but our aviation forces in the center are still capable of a war? Also, How many air forces did the Italians have in Sicily? Portale asked, thinking for a moment.

"The ability to fight in the First Fist? It depends, perhaps because we retreated too quickly, and the Germans could not keep up with us in building field airfields. Plus the last battle of Naples hurt them. So far, they have been conservative in their actions, bombing mainly unprotected ground forces. Fighters will stay in the air to ensure control of the battlefield, but there are many loopholes due to ground support and supply restrictions. I suspect they're gathering strength. With the right opportunity, a big move could hit us hard! Li Mei paused and then said, "As for Sicily?" There's good news and bad news here. The good news is that Sicily has just received an air force withdrawn from North Africa, and in terms of the number of aircraft, it should be around 200. And the bad news is that the German air force can already launch an attack on Sicily from North Africa! ”

"God, we thought that the air force of Sicily could provide us with cover, and now the situation has become that the Allied East African Air Force and the Balkan-Italian Air Force are like two pincers that clamp Sicily and the arriving fleet? Isn't this a bit too much. Portale said with an embarrassed face.

"In terms of numbers, the other side is indeed terrifying, but the actual combat effectiveness is questionable, especially the ability to strike at sea targets is relatively poor, and the German air force in Libya has repeatedly attacked Italian minelayers performing minelaying operations in the Tunis Strait. But so far there are no losses from the Italian minelayers. Instead, the Germans lost 3 planes due to a technical malfunction. Li Mei said with a smile. …

"It's not funny." Potter disagreed with Li May's statement: "Everyone, we have to cover the withdrawal of the US and French troops this time, you can imagine it." How many transport ships will be needed to evacuate tens of thousands of troops and equipment from this place, how crowded the port will be, and maybe a monkey sitting on an airplane and throwing a grenade down will be able to achieve results. Our sea-based aviation has a very heavy task, and the defense of ports, the cover of the retreat of the army, and the direct defense of the fleet must be drawn from these aircraft. I wonder how many planes are available on the front lines of the United States and France now? Don't fool me, I'm also from the Air Force. Portall asked solemnly.

"If all the planes are counted, we have another 220 aircraft on Italian soil. About 80 of them can be sorted, all of them are fighters. The remaining planes are lying on their stomachs due to a lack of parts and fuel, and if supplies and technicians are in place, the number can reach about 120. Li Mei's face changed slightly, and then she decided to give her the truth.

"Very good, at present, we can still make up the capacity of an aircraft carrier, it seems that we chose to leave more accessories in the hangar of the aircraft carrier, so Mr. Su Mo, is there no air force in Huaxia that can be mobilized?" Portale asked.

"Well, the planes we have provided to Italy this month should be ready to arrive before the arrival of the five-nation fleet. There are about 150 of them. All are fighters, and some pilots can be replenished. In addition, only the Haidong Youth Brigade in the north can be called. Now that the air forces of the Central Powers are concentrated in central Italy, I think it will be enough to have your air forces in the north. Su Mo smiled slightly, and then kicked the ball to the other party again. The meaning of the words is very clear, if Britain asks Huaxia to provide air force, then it can only transfer the Haidongqing Brigade in the north, and in addition, Huaxia has no extra strength in Italy.

"If you are right, excluding the Haidongqing Brigade, the number of aircraft we can use in this campaign will not exceed 1,800. Our situation is very unfavorable, Germany alone has 4 air corps in the Balkans and North Africa, and Austria-Hungary has 1 air corps. We're in a bad situation. In addition to distance and mobility, we are inferior in all respects. Potter said.

"So our plan must not be conservative, it is absolutely not advisable to passively fight for attrition and wait for the other side to come to the door, according to intelligence, the Germans are strengthening the construction of front-line airfields, and their air barriers are approaching Naples step by step. Our distance advantage is shrinking. Su Mo continued.

"But simply attacking the airfield can't make much difference, their field airfield is built to a very low standard, and it can only take off and land fighters, but it's also very convenient to maintain, if we can't destroy their planes, then a bomb may not be worth the bomb money to cause losses to the other side." Li Mei said.

"The tactics of the other side are simple, which is to use front-line airfields to increase the escort time of fighters, and most of their bombers are flying from the Balkans. The German front-line fighters were divided into two types, one was the escort aircraft used to accompany the bombers, and the other was the safari squad, they were mainly in a formation of 4 aircraft, and sometimes there was a squadron size, the general target was our fighters, but in certain cases it would also attack ground targets. These safari squads are erratic, they are usually made up of top pilots, and when they go on a mission, it is entirely up to their senses, and it is difficult for us to determine the location of each other through reconnaissance or radio listening. But it is often this kind of opponent that is the most difficult to deal with. Li May gave an introduction to the fighter tactics of the Luftwaffe, and then began to talk about the characteristics of the actions of the German bombers. …

"The Germans have recently come up with a new gadget, we call them aerial gunboats, these plans loaded with bombs and machine guns are flying in the air at an altitude of 300 to 500 meters, to carry out non-stop suppression of our ground units, especially machine guns and machine guns, which are very lethal to infantry and light protection units, and more importantly their morale and interference with the speed of marching. They trapped us like a sheath, and when we were exhausted, the German Army caught up and wiped out. Of course, their ability to defend themselves is terrible, and as long as they can fly, they can be driven away. It's a pity that we have too few fighters at our disposal. ”

"On the one hand, the bomber forces of the Germans bombed our retreat routes, they concentrated their targets on the roads, and on the railroad they blew up several key stations. Mainly to limit the speed of our retreat, in addition to this, the Luftwaffe also began to carry out exploratory attacks on Naples, they targeted the surrounding ports, and the Germans came almost every day. Judging from the length of their stay and the number of bombs dropped, they should have taken off from the Balkans, and aerial reconnaissance did not detect any signs of a massive build-up of bomber forces by the Germans on Italian soil. Li Mei explained.

"So are there any airfields occupied by the Germans that are relatively intact and can be put into use more quickly? I'm talking about the larger kind. Portale asked, thinking for a moment.

"The airport in Ancona is one, and the other should be Foligno, although it was bombed by artillery once, but its underground oil depot and other facilities are still very well preserved. If the runway is repaired, it can be put into use quickly. But not now. Li Mei thought for a while and said.

"I have a question that I don't understand, if this information is correct, then the construction speed of the opponent's field airfield is quite fast, even if it can only take off and land fighters, this speed is still very amazing. I would like to ask, how did the Germans guarantee the maintenance and supply support of fighters in such airfields? Su Mo asked as he sent a document to Li Mei.

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