Just after Christmas, on December 27th, Ron and a few assistants embarked on a flight to the UK. They stopped in Iceland that night and flew directly to the UK at dawn the next day. In the afternoon, the plane landed in

A military airport in Molesworth, this is their first stop - the 303rd Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force.

Not long after landing, Ron had just had time to meet the commander of the 303rd Bomb Group. He arranged a temporary office for Ron. Before the two of them had time to exchange a few words, the bomber group returning from the mission came back.

Although I knew before that the bomber force suffered serious losses under the enemy's attack, I really didn't know how serious this so-called seriousness was unless I saw it with my own eyes. Now, the B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the 303 Bomb Group are flying one after another.

When one of them landed, even without a telescope, Ron could clearly see the scars on those planes.

"How much was the loss?" Ron asked.

"There were 6 planes that failed to come back. One of them lost control after crossing the central line of the strait. The pilots all bailed out. They should all be rescued. In addition, there are some seriously damaged planes, such as this one.

"One -" a lieutenant colonel pointed at a landing bomber and said, "I guess it can only be disassembled to provide spare parts."

Ron raised his binoculars and looked at the bomber that was preparing to land. Two of the four engines of the plane had been damaged, which was clearly visible from the propellers that had stopped rotating. There were still holes on one wing.

There is a big hole, and a large section of the top of the vertical tail was also chipped off by a cannonball.

The plane staggered towards the runway. The damage to the vertical tail greatly affected its stability, so that even the originally simple thing of aligning with the runway became difficult. And one wing

The damage also caused the plane to always tilt to the other side automatically. This huge plane was like a clumsy duck, staggering close to the runway, and the landing gear touched the ground - obviously, the captain's level was very high.

The control was very good - the wheels of the main landing gear on both sides landed on the runway almost at the same time. Then the aircraft bumped slightly on the runway, and then started to glide smoothly.

"Miller is really good!" The lieutenant colonel next to him waved his fist excitedly!

The plane stopped at the end of the runway. It was the last bomber to land today. Several cars - fire trucks, ambulances - drove towards the plane.

"Let's go take a look too," Ron said to the lieutenant colonel.

"Okay, get in my car."

The lieutenant colonel drove his Willys Jeep over and stopped at an inaccessible place from the plane. The personnel on the bomber were leaving the plane one by one. Almost everyone on the plane was injured.

Chief Miller was already unconscious, and the first officer was not much better. A shell broke his calf. The telegraph operator was killed, and two machine gunners were killed on the gun emplacement. They were all safe and sound.

There was only one machine gunner. You must know that the gunner is the most likely to be killed on a bomber. Even though the plane was beaten like this, he was still unscathed. It must be said that he was really lucky.

"I don't need to check, I don't have any injuries on my body." The machine gunner said to the doctor, "Really, if there is still a mission now, I can change the plane and go out and fight those Germans!"

The most mobile among bomber crew members is the machine gunner. Because they have the highest casualty rate. After a mission, there will always be many aircraft missing machine gunners, and some crews who can no longer fly will be dispersed and assigned

Go to other crews.

The machine gun receiver seemed familiar to Ron, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him for a while. He said to the lieutenant colonel: "Let him come to my office tomorrow. I want to know something from him."

Generally speaking, the person who can see the attack process of the enemy plane most clearly is the machine gunner. And this bomber was so seriously damaged that I believe it was hit more than once. By asking the machine gunner on this plane, you will definitely know.

A lot of information.

The ambulance left, the fire truck left, and the uninjured crew members left. The tractors began to pull the plane aside.

After dinner together, Ron said to the Lieutenant Colonel:

"I want to go to the hangar and see with my own eyes how each aircraft is under attack, is that okay?" Ron asked.

"Ah, you can do it yourself. I have other things to do, so I can't stay with you."

The hangar was extremely busy now, and many aircraft that were damaged during the day were being repaired here. Ron first boarded the B-17, which was the most seriously damaged.

There is a large hole on the wing, shaped like a long strip, about 80 centimeters wide and nearly two meters long. Viewed from above, the hole looks like a peanut.

"Is this kind of damage caused by the mk101? But if I remember correctly, this thing should be installed on the me110. Is it caused by this kind of fighter that needs escort?" Judging from the shooting situation

, it should be the result of diving down from a high altitude to attack.

When you walk into the cabin, you can see a lot of holes through which light shines. The light from outside shines through these small holes, one after another on the floor. If you look carefully, you can see that there are 20mm cannons.

There are also 13mm machine guns left.

Then Ron carefully checked the other planes and saw a lot of scars left by 20mm cannons and 13mm machine guns, but he never saw such horrific wounds as the ones on the wings of that plane.

Guess who the machine gunner was? Mind you, he was a celebrity at the time, and Hitler admired him immensely.

Early the next morning, just after breakfast, Ron started talking in his office with some of the crew members who had sortied yesterday. He needed to learn from them about the German interception methods.

The first person to come to Ron's office was the machine gunner from yesterday who looked familiar to Ron. Yesterday he was wearing a flying cap and there was a lot of blood and oil on his face, so Ron couldn't recognize him.

Come. But today, he is no longer wearing the flying hat that can cover half of his face like yesterday. His clean and unobstructed face still has that iconic evil smile.

. So Ron recognized him immediately. He was Clark Gable, the most popular male movie star in Hollywood.

To be honest, Ron is not that kind of fanatical movie fan in this life or his previous life. He has been fighting in wars all his life, and there are really not many opportunities to watch movies. As for his previous life, although he has watched some movies, they really left a lot of impression on him.

There are not many movies that leave a deep impression on me. Among the few movies is the somewhat faded old movie starring Clark Gable - "Gone with the Wind".

The first time I saw this movie was not in the cinema, but when I was in college. At that time, a certain brother who was sleeping on his upper bunk caught a mermaid in the foreign language department and was so busy all day long.

One day, he suddenly told Gao Tianxiang that the foreign language department's classes this week were all about watching original English movies, and they could sneak in and watch free movies together.

"Old Gao, let's go together, let's go together." We can go to see a movie, and we can also strengthen communication with my sister from the foreign language department. It's great. So we went together. The movie shown in the foreign language department that day was "Gone with the Wind".

When the movie showed Rhett Butler, played by Clark Gable, standing at the bottom of the stairs and giving Scarlett a charming, mischievous smile, a cry of tenderness sounded in the classroom:

"Wow, so handsome!"

"So manly!"

"I like him so much!"

A girl next to her even said to her companion: "If anyone could smile like that at me, I would immediately give up everything and follow him wholeheartedly."

But something even more exaggerated is yet to come.

Later, his buddy actually bought a photo of Clark Gable and smiled like that all day long. When asked about it, he said, "My girlfriend's wishes." It was all a joke.

With this story, if you still can't recognize Clark Gable, Ron's pilot qualifications will be doubted - what kind of eyes do you want to be a pilot?

When it comes to Hollywood movie stars joining the US military during World War II, Clark Gable was not the only one who fought on the front lines. James Stewart, the star of "Philadelphia Story", also served in the US military and was also in the Eighth Air Force. However, he

In the military aspect, he is much stronger than Gabriel. This guy was already a brigadier general when he retired from the US military.

"Second Lieutenant Gable, please sit down." Although he was facing a big star, Ron has never been a fan of stars. Although he was surprised and had prepared a pen and notebook, he would not immediately jump up and say: "Idol brother,

Give me a signature."

Seeing Gable sit down, Ron began to ask formally: "Second Lieutenant, can you tell us about the situation when you were attacked yesterday?"

"Sir, we set out for a mission yesterday morning, and we were escorted by a group of British Spitfires... When we were approaching the target, we were intercepted. The Germans calculated very well. They knew the Spitfire range.

We were limited and could not escort us all the way... German fighter jets swooped in from the front and violently fired at us head-on. Several planes were hit at this time, and our formation was too

It was getting denser. When No. 22 was dodging the enemy plane, it accidentally collided with No. 31... But we didn't make it too easy for them. When they, those BF109s and FW190s, passed by us, there were also

Several were hit by our .50s, sending out billowing smoke... We also took several hits at that time. But to be honest, the attacks of the BF109's 13mm machine gun and 20mm cannon could not defeat us immediately. The fw190

The firepower was stronger, but it was still not fatal in one hit. Our No. 1 engine was hit and soon stopped running, but there was no fire. The fleet continued to move forward despite the BF109's attack, but was repeatedly attacked by the enemy.

Next, the formation began to become looser...

Just when our plane began to enter the bombing route and prepared to attack the target, a new attacker appeared. The first was the anti-aircraft gun on the ground, but we were flying very high, and only large-caliber anti-aircraft guns were enough.

Get us. As for the large-caliber anti-aircraft guns," Gable showed his trademark smile again, "their fire speed is too slow, and the chance of hitting us is not high. The trouble is a group of guys appearing behind them.

A group of BF110s rushed down from a high place and fired fiercely at us. It can fire more powerful shells, and it is also stronger than BF09. Under its attack, the entire formation dispersed... But we still

Dropped bombs on the target... We started to return, but the German planes were still attacking us. Our formation had been broken up. The Germans were approaching from our blind spot and kept firing at us. All kinds of bullets were in the cabin.

Flying around, many people died, and the No. 4 engine was damaged. A BF110 rushed over from below 6 o'clock and fired at us with a huge aerial cannon. The big hole on the left wing was there.

What the cannons left behind... Just when we were about to despair, the British Spitfire appeared, the Germans left immediately, and then we saw the strait..."

Ron listened silently, jotting down something in his notebook. After Gable finished speaking, Ron invited him to drink a cup of coffee, and then asked again:

"You just mentioned that there is a powerful cannon on the BF110. What is the speed of that cannon?"

"Sir, the firing speed of that gun is not high, about 4 shots per second."

4 shots per second, so about 250 rounds per minute, it seems to be the mk101. This thing has a limited speed, and it is not easy to use for shooting (that) aircraft. The Germans have always used it to sweep the ground (attack ground targets)

), now using this on interceptors, it seems that the Germans are very dissatisfied with the firepower of their fighter jets.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Gable. Your answer helped me a lot. Thank you." Ron stood up and shook hands with Gable. "Oh, by the way, can you sign your name for me? My two nieces are

Your movie fan." Ron suddenly took out another notebook from his pocket.

Clark Gable skillfully signed his name on the notebook and said with a smile: "Sir, I haven't signed for someone in a long time."

"This shouldn't be the case. I heard that Hitler was also a fan of your movie. He must really need your signature. Why don't you sign your name on a bomb and throw it to him?"

"Sir, this is a good idea. But we have too many bombs here."

After sending Gable away, Ron had a conversation with several other people. Finally, when all the conversations were over, Ron wrote the following sentences in his notebook:

1. When the formation is complete, the bomber group is not at a disadvantage in battles with German fighters most of the time.

2. Most losses are caused by the formation being broken up.

3. Many times formations are broken up because bombers try to dodge enemy attacks.

4. The Germans are working hard to strengthen their firepower.

In the afternoon, Ron went to the nearby Royal Air Force fighter unit to learn about the situation of German fighter jets. In fact, for Ron, who came from a later generation, he was quite familiar with the situation of fighter jets in World War II, but he could listen and participate in it in person
To be continued...