The Rise of the Third Reich

Wearing a somewhat old leather jacket with the Czechoslovak Air Force logo on it, Major Joseph Frandsek stood on the back deck of a Liberty ship, holding a Camel cigarette in his mouth and raising his neck. Watch a somewhat boring dogfight.

This is not an air battle at all! Flandersek exhaled a cloud of smoke, feeling some contempt for the German pilots. They only know how to rely on superior equipment. If the enemy's aircraft are better than theirs or the pilot's skills are better than theirs, they will just avoid engaging. Either fly high, or do a high-speed dive (a common trick of the Fw-190), or quickly pull up to lure the enemy under the muzzle of a friendly aircraft ambushing at high altitude (a dirty trick of the Fokker Zero). In short, no German pilot dared to compete openly with the enemy.

At least the Czechoslovak patriot Major Frandsek, who was an ace pilot of the Royal Air Force, had never encountered a decent German pilot... although he was shot down 6 times by his opponents in air battles over the English Channel.

The "gas tank tactics" that the Germans had frequently used since the summer of 1942 seemed to Frandsek to be despicable and shameless to a new level. However, this unscrupulous and cowardly tactic is really in line with the nature of the Germans.

They are such a nation who can only use conspiracy and deception to achieve their goals. This is how Major Frandesecker's homeland, Czechoslovakia, was destroyed by the Germans.

However, now that the United States and the Soviet Union have sided with Czechoslovakia, Germany's defeat and destruction are inevitable, and any of their machinations will not succeed, including the despicable "gas tank tactics."

Thinking of this, Frandsek turned his head and glanced at a Spitfire Mk5F fighter mounted on a catapult on the rear deck of the Freewheeler. This is Frandsek's plane, and it is also the trump card used by the British and American Allied Forces to fight against Germany's "fuel tank tactics."

This Spitfire Mk5F fighter is a special model produced in the United States. It is based on the Spitfire 5 that appeared in 1941. It is equipped with a 12-cylinder Merlin 60 engine produced in the United States. All the armor has been removed, and 20mm has been removed. Of the cannon and 2 machine guns, only 2 12.7mm Browning machine guns are retained. The body itself has also been reduced in weight as much as possible, using the thinnest materials possible, and even the airborne radio has been omitted. .

This modification, which removes armor, weakens firepower, and reduces the strength of the fuselage, is of course intended to reduce weight so that the aircraft can fly higher. At the same time, the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft has also been modified to achieve maximum lift.

In tests conducted in the United States, this Spitfire Mk5F fighter jet can fly to an altitude of more than 14,000 meters, and can also maintain a high speed of about 650 kilometers per hour at an extremely high altitude of about 13,000 meters!

However, this kind of high-altitude and high-speed aircraft that relies on weight reduction must be "short-legged", with a maximum range of only a pitiful 600 kilometers. If placed on the British mainland, it would be just an airport defender, and it would not be able to deal with the anti-ship Ju288.

Therefore, the Spitfire Mk5F must be able to board the ship, but its too thin body and too fast landing speed (it is too light, and it is the tip of the liquid-cooled engine, so the landing is of course fast) make this type of Spitfire impossible to board. aircraft carrier.

Fortunately, the American tycoons have their own way. This kind of aircraft is equipped with freewheels and catapulted into the sky with a catapult, just like a seaplane.

Taking off is easy to deal with, but what about landing?

This is not a problem for American tycoons either. If there happens to be an Allied airport nearby, the Spitfire Mk5F that ejected from the aircraft will land at the airport. If there is no airport nearby, then after the air battle, the pilot will parachute, and the plane... will be thrown away!

So this is a one-time aircraft. In this escort operation, the NR21 fleet carried a total of k5E.

…

"Colonel, the British P51 and P38 flew away."

After wandering around at an altitude of 12,500 meters for more than an hour, and just when he was feeling a little bored, Colonel Johannes Steinhoff's earphones heard the voice of Werner Tribber, commander of the 1st Naval Aviation Escort Fighter Regiment. Major Si's voice.

"Leaving? Great." Colonel Steinhoff looked down and saw dozens of P51 and P38 aircraft forming more than a dozen four-plane formations, escaping with their tails between their legs.

"Werner," Colonel Steinhoff ordered, "take two squadrons to chase him!"

"As you command, Mr. Colonel."

Colonel Steinhoff then ordered the navigator and telegraph operator Perris behind him, "Contact the Zeppelin. The British P51 and P38 have withdrawn at high speed, and ask them to send Fw-190T to intercept along the coast of northern Scotland."

The Fw-190T sent by the aircraft carrier is already halfway. After receiving the telegram from Colonel Steinhoff, the Zeppelin can immediately use the telegram to notify the commander of the first assault wave ahead to mobilize the Fw-190T to Scotland. Waiting near several airports along the northern coast.

After arranging the pursuit and interception tasks, Colonel Steinhoff began to assign attack tasks. The target of the attack was not the transport fleet on the water, but the battleships and heavy cruisers.

Steinhoff's Ju288 carries 1.5-ton Fritz-X remote-controlled gliding bombs. This type of bomb is a waste to use against free wheels, and the penetration of Fritz-X is too strong. He broke through the bottom of the boat and fell into the water.

Of course, transport ships also need to be attacked. The P.108, which is now flying at low altitude dozens of kilometers away to avoid radar, and the Fokker 100 carrier-based bomber that is coming are both carrying high-explosive bombs, and their targets are the large groups of transport ships on the water.

There are now 12 old battleships on the water, 5 Queen Elizabeth-class, 2 Wyoming-class, 2 New York-class, 2 Mexico-class and 1 Florida-class, and 60 Ju288s in the sky. So Steinhoff sent 5 Ju288s to each old battleship, and each Ju288 had 2 Fritz-X bombs on it, which means that no old British and American battleships can be allocated 10 Fritz-X bombs... This number can basically "sink".

Just as Steinhoff and his men happily drove the plane to gradually lower the altitude, while carefully maintaining a "safe distance", and slowly approached the British and American battleships that were accelerating on the water. Small planes suddenly ejected from dozens of freighters on the water.

"Boom..."

With a muffled sound, Major Frandsek felt like a small stone shot into the sky by a slingshot.

He was now sitting in the simple cabin of a disposable Spitfire that was catapulted into the sky, wearing a thick leather jacket, a parachute on his back, and an oxygen mask. The plane's engine had started at full speed, and a four-blade propeller was spinning rapidly, bringing huge lift to the plane. Driven by this upward force, the plane climbed at a very fast speed.

Major Frandsek gently pushed the joystick and aimed the head of the plane at a Ju288 that was hovering and descending in the sky. The two planes approached quickly, and from Frandsek's eyes, he only saw that the plane was getting bigger and closer.

Suddenly, the Ju288 seemed to find that it had become prey and began to increase its altitude.

"Humph, can you still run away?" Frandsek smiled coldly, his finger already on the firing button of the machine gun.

If Flandersek looked down at the altimeter in the cabin at this time, he would find that the aircraft's altitude was rising rapidly.

8000 meters, 8500 meters, 9000 meters, 9500 meters... When the altimeter jumped to 12500 meters, the Ju288 being chased by Flandersek was obviously panicked. The bomb bay door under the belly suddenly opened, and two Fritz-X glide bombs were thrown out casually.

But it was too late to think about reducing weight now! Flandersek found that the "prey" had entered the range, so he pressed the machine gun firing button without hesitation. Two strings of tracer bullets were whipped at the Ju288 in front like a fire whip! Several bullet holes suddenly appeared on the fuselage of the aircraft in front. But the plane did not fall, but like a horse whipped by a whip, it suddenly accelerated and ran wildly. It seems that throwing away the bombs to reduce weight is still useful. However, this degree of acceleration is still not enough to knock down the pursuing Spitfire.

"Want to run?" Flandersek gnashed his teeth and pressed the machine gun firing button. A string of bullets shot at the Ju288 in front of him, and several fist-sized bullet holes were made. Then the German plane suddenly fell down and began to dive at a 60-degree angle.

"Damn it!" Flandersek cursed, because his own plane could not dive very well, because the weight of the plane was reduced too much and it became less solid. If it dived too fast, it might fall apart in the sky.

Flandersek was still unwilling to give up, and still risked driving the plane to dive and chase for a while, but he did not dare to rush too fast, and finally he could only watch the distance between the plane and himself getting farther and farther.

However, since the opponent threw away the bomb and escaped, the "one-time flamethrower" tactic was obviously successful.

From now on, the surface fleet will no longer be defenseless when encountering the Ju288. In this way, a large amount of American lend-lease materials can be continuously transported to Britain.

Flandersek, in a good mood, circled the plane in the air, found the Faroe Islands, and then flew there - there was an airport on the Faroe Islands that was quietly built after the autumnal equinox. The Germans didn't know about it and didn't bomb it, so it can still be used now. Flandersek was going to land the plane there, refuel, and fly to northern Scotland.

But just as he found the airport and was about to land, a string of tracer bullets suddenly flew past his canopy!