The Rise of the Third Reich

The weather over Norway is good, with almost no floating stratus clouds in the sky. At an altitude of 8,000 meters above the sea level, the golden-red morning glow appears on the eastern sea level, gradually dispersing the darkness that has shrouded the Norwegian Sea for nearly 20 hours. It brings a touch of warmth to the glass-encased cabin.

Colonel Johannes Steinhoff, commander of the 1st German Naval Aviation Division, was wearing an oxygen mask and holding the control panel with both hands. He was in a happy and relaxed mood, as if he was not participating in a battle, but driving a superior-performance aircraft. Passenger planes fly through peaceful and safe skies.

In fact, he is not the only pilot with such a good attitude. All the crew members of the Ju288 bombers taking off from Bergen today have the same relaxed and happy mood as him.

Because the tasks they will perform are easy, enjoyable and low-risk. They fly the latest Ju288C series high-altitude, high-speed, ultra-long-range and night (of course they can fly during the day) bombers. The two Jumo222T-2 engines can provide surging power of up to 5,600 horsepower (the maximum output power of a single engine is 2,800 horsepower) without taking drugs (using the injection combustion system). It can allow the aircraft to fly at a speed of 670 kilometers per hour with two Fritz-X bombs mounted on it. No British or American fighter jets except the P51 and Spitfire can catch up with it.

Moreover, this 24-cylinder liquid-cooled engine also has a turbocharger produced by Fokker, which allows 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 are enough for the Ju288 to throw off the best high-altitude aircraft from the United Kingdom and the United States - the high-altitude models of the P51, P38 and Spitfire. Although these three types of aircraft now have models that can reach the Ju288, only the P38 can theoretically catch up with the Ju288 at an altitude of 12,500 meters. However, the P38's engine often breaks down at extremely high altitudes. Therefore, in actual combat, P38 fighter pilots simply do not dare to use the full engine horsepower at extremely high altitudes, so they cannot catch up with the Ju288.

And flying fast at very high altitudes is not the biggest advantage of the Ju288. The biggest advantage of this aircraft is that it has an extra-large fuel tank!

Nearly a year after receiving the Ju288 bomber, German naval aviation experts discovered that the Ju288's fuel tank turned out to be combat-effective.

Because it has an extra-large fuel tank, it has a particularly long cruising range, and it flies high and fast, and can hover over the enemy 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. Taking into account the fuel consumed during takeoff, landing and formation, the Ju288 aircraft can still fly over the enemy at a speed of 500 kilometers per hour for 8 hours!

8 hours, let alone the short-legged flamethrower, even the long-legged P51 and P38 will run out of gas.

Therefore, a few months after the appearance of the Ju288, the German Naval Aviation invented the "fuel tank tactic". It is to use the Ju288 to be more "durable" than the opponent's high-altitude fighter. If the enemy's P51 and P38 fly over, the Ju288 will jump to an altitude of more than 12,500 meters and slowly circle them.

Wait until the opponent's fuel is almost exhausted and the Fw-190 appears again, chase the opponent's ass and beat them. Even if they can't hit them, they can drain the fuel of the P51 and P38, and the opponent can completely run out of fuel and be unable to fly back!

In October 1942, the ultra-long-range He219B-2 twin-engine fighter began to be equipped with troops. This aircraft was developed as an escort aircraft for the Ju288 and is equipped with a DB614T engine with a maximum output of 2,000 horsepower. This engine is a development of the DB603G and has a turbocharger, which allows the He219B-2 to have the ability to suppress the P38 at altitudes above 12,500 meters.

In addition, the He219B-2 aircraft has increased fuel tank capacity and can carry an auxiliary fuel tank with a capacity of 1,200 liters, allowing it to have a long range of nearly 4,000 kilometers. It can basically meet the needs of escorting the Ju288, and also allows it to have the ability to use "fuel tank tactics".

Therefore, the Ju288C that participated in the air attack on the British and American fleets and convoys on December 12 not only had the two life-saving tricks of high speed and high altitude, but also had the protection of He219B-2, which was basically foolproof. It's no wonder that all the crew members participating in today's operation are in a relaxed mood.

In addition to the Ju288C and He219B-2, two very superior fighters, there were also 48 Italian P.108 bombers taking off from Bergen Airport. These aircraft are also used to attack surface ships, but instead of using remote-controlled glide bombs, they use "flying dysprosium tactics." That is, concentrated bombing from 240 meters directly to the side of the target at an ultra-low altitude of 45 meters, allowing eight 250-kilogram bombs to attack surface ships with an accuracy of less than 8 meters apart. Of course, this tactic is used to attack not only the ship's solid hull, but also its Combat ships with powerful anti-aircraft firepower, but the enemy's transport fleet. After the Fokker 100 taking off from the Ju288 and the aircraft carrier dispersed the enemy formation, these P.108s could launch attacks from ultra-low altitudes and kill American transport ships wantonly.

…

"Woooooooo..."

At 10:20, piercing air defense sirens sounded on all ships of the NR21 fleet and the Allied Combined Fleet. However, the ships on the water did not immediately set up an air defense formation. They still maintained a convoy formation and headed towards the Onik Islands at a speed of 10 knots.

"Commander, the enemy planes will arrive over the formation in 10 minutes. The current altitude of the enemy planes is 8,000 meters." The radar officer on the New York reported loudly, with a somewhat panicked tone - it was almost dawn, and the terrifying Ju288 was about to Here it comes!

"I know," Ingersoll was relatively calm and seemed confident. "Our direct cover aircraft will be arriving soon, right?"

"It's coming soon," Fraser replied. "The P51s and P38s from the Coast Air Force are coming. There are 72 of them in total. They can cover us for an hour."

60 P51s and P38s are no longer a small number for the current British Coast Air Force. Due to the emergence of "fuel tank tactics", the Royal Air Force lost a considerable number of P51s and P38s this summer. The number of P51s and P38s still available to the British is only more than 100 in total, which is extremely miserable.

The remaining P51 and P38 have become treasures, and they no longer dare to compete with the German aircraft in terms of fuel tank capacity. Therefore, they could only cover Ingersoll's large formation for one hour. Once the time passed, the British and American ships on the water could only rely on themselves.

"One hour..." Ingersoll nodded and smiled, "After one hour, the escort fighters of the enemy fleet will probably chase P51 and P38, right?"

"Based on past battles, more than two-thirds of enemy fighters will hunt down our P51s and P38s."

Lieutenant General Fraser almost gritted his teeth as he answered. When he was the Third Minister of the First Maritime Department, he had seen countless examples of "fuel tank tactics". Despicable and shameless German pilots who lacked chivalry used this shameless tactic to kill thousands of people. British pilot!

"Very good," Ingersoll smiled, "As long as they leave, our chance will come!"

Lieutenant General Fraser sneered: "Yes! The Germans will definitely pay a heavy price this time... From today on, their Ju288 will no longer be a terrorist killer on the Atlantic!"

Yes, the British have now found a way to deal with the "fuel tank tactics", otherwise the NR21 fleet would not risk being bombed south to Scapa Flow.

…

"Admiral!"

On the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, Hartmann, the chief of staff of the European Combined Fleet's aviation fleet, loudly reported: "The fleet of aircraft taking off from Bergen has reached the target and is now consuming 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 aircraft, both P51 and P38, all took off from the airport in northern Scotland (the airport in the Faroe Islands was bombarded and shelled every now and then). They had probably consumed an hour of fuel on the way, and it would take another hour to get back. The time spent in the air flying in circles with the Ju288, He219 and P.108 was only a few hours, never more than one and a half hours.

So now is the right time to release carrier-based aircraft. The Fw-190T might be able to catch the tails of the P51 and P38 and beat them up - the Fw-190 series of aircraft are good at raiding, and anyone who lets them bite their tails will basically be dead. One piece.

At 10:35, five German aircraft carriers cruising in the Atlantic Ocean north of Ireland suddenly accelerated at the same time and turned their course to headwind. The aircraft belonging to the first attack wave that had been parked on the deck all started to start their engines. Under the signal flag waved by the flight controller, the fighter planes participating in the first wave of attacks roared into the sky 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 taking off from 5 German aircraft carriers formed 5 clusters in the air. , galloping eastward happily in the sunshine.