Chapter 993: Fighters Return

Daytime bombing allowed an attacking bomber formation to maintain its integrity better, and to better defend against enemy fighter interference. More importantly, a daytime attack allowed for better target aiming, avoiding the outcome of a large number of bombs missing their mark.

Moreover, the choice of a daytime raid was a reflection of the confidence and strength comparison between the two sides. The side that dared to face its enemy head-on almost always held some sort of advantage in strength. This was a concrete manifestation of accumulating advantage in modern warfare.

Now, the commanders of the U.S. Army Air Forces were facing the German Air Force’s strategic bomber force, which had already begun to leverage its own advantages and had stopped playing by the rules. They had only 36 planes to attack their opponent, but the enemy had almost ten times their number.

“If it were up to me, I would order all bombers to leave Iceland immediately. There’s just enough time now to refuel the planes. Flying back to the American homeland is better than being destroyed here by German bombers,” Hugh Dowding said, suggesting what he thought was the most prudent course of action. He knew the current situation was extremely dire.

He now understood that Iceland’s air defenses, even with the reinforcement of jet fighters, were still so fragile. High-tech weapons simply could not withstand the attrition of such a large-scale war. No matter how advanced, they would be drowned by the opponent’s superior numbers.

Faced with a German bombing raid that was impossible to stop, General Hugh Dowding, a British air force commander with plenty of experience in dealing with such problems, immediately proposed what he believed tobe the most secure counter-plan: let the Americans retreat, leaving an almost empty Iceland to withstand the German bomber force.

This was the best method of resistance he could think of now. It would allow the fighter force, under no pressure, to use a concealed, secret airfield as a base and to shoot down as many German bombers as possible, to make the Germans pay a price and make them afraid to easily carry out air raids on Iceland.

But the plan he proposed meant that the Americans would lose a great, great many things. Because the infrastructure of the Iceland base was far from complete, the Americans, in activating this British forward outpost, had in fact been gambling on the hope that the Germans would not dare to counter-attack.

The Americans, based on the fact that the Germans had canceled their reconnaissance flights to Iceland, had judged that the Germans must be very afraid of the British Meteor jet fighters. So they had believed that the German Air Force would not launch a large-scale counter-attack on Iceland. After all, to bomb an almost barren island, in terms of fuel and ammunition consumption, was a very unwise thing to do.

So this time, the American bombers that had flown to Iceland had brought far too many things with them, so many that it was staggering. A large amount of fuel needed by the U.S. Army Air Forces, as well as all sorts of ammunition, had all been transported to the Iceland base in one go. And this hastily built base, in fact, simply did not have the capacity to hold so many things.

Because of the rush to build various important facilities, such as a waterworks, dormitories, and coastal defenses, the entire underground air defense facility on Iceland was basically non-existent. There were no underground warehouses, no underground shelters. Most of the fortifications were built directly on the surface.

Another headache was that, because of the lack of infrastructure on Iceland, to the point of being negligible, when the large quantities of fuel and ammunition were transported to the island, these things had to be piled up in open-air fields or simply stored in ordinary warehouses.

Once a bombing raid began, it was very difficult to ensure that these precious supplies would survive. With just one wave of air raids, all the fuel and ammunition the Allies had stockpiled on Iceland would become the Germans’ own bombs, exploding and destroying everything on the island. With the loss of the Iceland base, the strategic forward outpost that the Allies had painstakingly established to tie down the Germans would be easily destroyed.

The commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces looked at General Hugh Dowding with resignation and, after a great deal of difficulty, finally spoke. “Once our planes return to the United States, all the losses here… will be just that, losses. Our attempt to bomb Norway will have been in vain, and our only chance to defeat the German army will be completely lost!”

“As long as we still have strength! As long as we are still alive, we will have a chance to defeat the enemy! The opportunity is always there… but if we lose the strength to attack, then even if we discover an opportunity, it will be impossible to strike back!” Hugh Dowding said, using the words the King of England had used to comfort them to comfort the American officers. He then looked at the other, hoping to get his agreement.

Time is money, time is life, time is the prerequisite for everything. Just as the Americans and the British were agonizing over how to deal with the German air raid, the German Air Force’s bomber formation was already halfway there. A full 380 bombers had assembled into a huge aerial formation and, like a flock of migrating birds returning to their roost, they flew towards their target.

A large group of FW-190D fighters, due to their range, began to turn back one after another. They had completed their mission, escorting these bombers to the designated location. On the sea surface directly below these bombers, on a German submarine serving as an observation and landmark post, a dozen or so German naval officers and men were enthusiastically waving at the sky.

“This is the Moltke Bomber Wing! Our escort fighters are disengaging! They should be the last batch of FW-190D fighters to leave the escort position! All our safety now depends on the 30 Ta-152 fighters above our heads!” a pilot reported the formation situation over the short-range radio. The German bombers continued to approach Iceland in a mighty formation.

In fact, the Germans were not maintaining a pointless radio silence. Because their opponent, the Royal Air Force, had already erected several high-powered radar stations on Iceland, which could detect German aircraft from a great distance. This distance had not been tested, but from the efficiency with which the British had intercepted the German reconnaissance planes, a detection range of over 100 kilometers should be no problem.

In addition, with the large number of British spies left in northern Britain, the German planes might have been discovered as soon as they had taken off from there. At a time like this, to maintain radio silence, apart from creating trouble for themselves, seemed to have no concealing effect. At the very least, to use short-range radio to coordinate the aircraft formation was permitted.

“30 Ta-152 fighters? This lineup, on the Eastern Front, even with half that number, the Soviets wouldn’t dare to send up their planes to provoke them. Because for them, it would be no different from suicide!” the commander on the lead navigation plane said with a laugh over the radio, making a joke. “Watch the clouds ahead! If we calculate by our range, we should already be entering the British air defense zone!”

“Bomber 144 calling! Bomber 144 calling! I’ve spotted a British destroyer! As expected! Our operation should have already been discovered!” The British were no fools. They had quickly mobilized the destroyers and torpedo boats that were on patrol in the vicinity to conduct long-range air warning, hoping to discover the tracks of the German planes as early as possible. Now it seemed they had succeeded.

“Give the order! Scramble all aircraft!” The American Army Air commander had finally chosen to compromise. After all, he did not have the courage to directly face the German’s sky-blotting bombing, nor did he dare to pin everything on the air defense operations of those pitiful 36 fighters.

The German intelligence department’s analysis was very close to reality, and the navy’s speculation was also correct. Because of the rush to build the base, and their overconfidence in its low value, the air defense force that Britain had deployed on Iceland was very limited. There were only about 50 anti-aircraft guns, and they were all scattered throughout Iceland. Half of them were fixed in permanent gun emplacements with cement, and it was impossible to even concentrate them temporarily.

Just as the Americans were ordering their planes to take off and leave Iceland, the air-raid siren was, appropriately, sounded. A British communications officer ran hurriedly to General Hugh Dowding and handed him a telegram. “General! The navy has spotted a large number of German planes, numbering over 200! They are already approaching the airspace over Iceland!”

“Refuel urgently! Have all planes that can take off get into the air immediately! Fighters, scramble to engage. Bombers, return to the United States!” Hugh Dowding said, glancing at the American Army Air officers. He sighed and then walked quickly towards his command post. After all, this was a British base. He was the supreme commander of air defense here. He had to do his duty, to protect everything here from being violated by the German planes.

“Wooo… Wooo…” The piercing sound of the air-raid siren echoed over all of Iceland. The pilots of the Royal Air Force had already gotten into their planes. They had already adjusted all their instruments and were just waiting for the order to take off and engage those despicable German devils.

“Start engines! Scramble!” the ground crew commander, standing by the phone, received the takeoff order and shouted. In the distance, the ground crew began to guide the planes onto the runway. For a moment, the spluttering sound of aircraft engines could be heard everywhere.

A British pilot climbed into his Meteor jet fighter and then said to the control tower over his radio, “Meteor 7, ready for takeoff! All systems normal! Please notify me immediately when it’s my turn.” In front of him, the more fuel-efficient P-40 Rolls-Royce engine modified fighters were already beginning to climb.

High in the sky, in the fuselage of a German bomber, a young female German gunner climbed into the cramped turret. She deftly turned the turret, aiming her cannon at the position where the enemy was most likely to appear.

In her headset, a cacophony of voices: “All gunners to battle stations! The Ta-152 fighters are returning to base!”

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