The weather is good over Norway, and there are almost no floating clouds in the sky. Above the sea level, the golden and red morning glow appears on the sea level in the east, gradually dissipating the darkness that has covered the Norwegian Sea for nearly 20 hours, and also bringing a hint of warmth to the glass-wrapped cabin.

Colonel Johannes Steinhof, commander of the 1st Division of the German Naval Air Force, wore an oxygen mask and held the control wheel with both hands. He was in a happy and relaxed mood, as if he was not going to participate in a battle, but flying a passenger plane with superior performance through a peaceful and safe sky.

In fact, he is not the only pilot with this good mentality. All the crew members of the Ju288 bomber who took off from Bergen today have a relaxed and happy mood like him.

Because the task they are going to perform is easy, pleasant and low-risk. They are flying the latest Ju288 series high-altitude, high-speed, ultra-long-range and night (of course, it can also fly during the day). The two Ju222t-2 engines can provide up to 5,600 horsepower (the maximum output of a single unit is 2,800 horsepower) without "drinking drugs" (using a jet-fired system). They can allow the aircraft to fly at a speed of 670 kilometers per hour with two Fritz-bombs, and British and American fighters except the P51 and Spitfire can't catch up with it.

Moreover, this 24-cylinder liquid-cooled engine also has a turbocharger produced by Folk, which can allow the ju288 aircraft to maintain a speed of more than 630 kilometers per hour at 12,500 meters (the ceiling is 13,400 meters)!

This speed and altitude are enough to make Ju288 beat the best high-altitude aircraft p51, p38 and Spitfire high-altitude models in Britain and the United States. Although these three types of aircraft now have the model of Ju288, at an altitude of 12,500 meters, they can only catch up with Ju288. However, the engine of the P38 often fails at extremely high altitudes, so in actual combat, the pilot of the P38 fighter does not dare to use the full engine's horsepower at extremely high altitudes, so they can't catch up with Ju288.

Moreover, flying fast at extremely high altitudes is not the biggest killer weapon of Ju288. The biggest advantage of this aircraft is that it has an extra-large fuel tank!

Nearly a year after receiving the ju288 bomber, experts from the German Navy Aviation found that the ju288 fuel tank turned out to be combat-effective.

Because it has an extra-large fuel tank, it has a very long range and flies high and fast, so it can hover over the enemy's head 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. Including the fuel consumed during takeoff, landing and marshalling, the ju288 aircraft can also fly on the enemy's head for 8 hours at a speed of 500 kilometers per hour!

It took 8 hours, not to mention the short-legged fire spitting, even the long-legged p51 and p38 will have to be completely drained.

So a few months after the emergence of ju288, the German Navy Air Force invented the "fuel tank tactic". It is to use ju288 to compare "durable" with the opponent's high-altitude fighter jets. If the enemy's p51 and p38 fly over, then ju288 will suddenly jump to an altitude of more than 12,500 meters and slowly deal with them.

When the opponent's fuel consumption is almost done -190 appears again, chasing the opponent's butt and hitting. Even if it can't be hit, it can consume the fuel of the p51 and p38, and it can also make the opponent completely exhaust the fuel and unable to fly back!

In October 1942, the super long range He219b-2 twin-engine fighter began to equip the troops. This aircraft was developed as a escort for Ju288 and was equipped with a db614t engine with a maximum output power of 2,000 horsepower. This engine is a development type of db603g, and has a turbocharger, which allows the he219b-2 to have the strength to compress the p38 at altitudes above 12,500 meters.

In addition, the He219b-2 aircraft has increased the fuel tank capacity and can carry a 1200-liter secondary fuel tank, so that it can have a large range of nearly 4,000 kilometers. It can basically meet the needs of escorting the ju288, and it can also have the ability to use "fuel tank tactics".

Therefore, on December 12, Ju288, who participated in the air strikes of the British and American fleets and the escort fleet, not only has two life-saving tricks, high speed and high altitude, but also has the protection of the He219b-2, which is basically foolproof. This is no wonder that the crew members who participated in the operation today were all in a relaxed mood.

In addition to the two very superior fighter jets, Ju288 and He219b-2, there were 48 Italian P.108 bombers taken off from Bergen Airport. These aircraft were also used to attack surface ships, but they did not use remote-controlled gliding bombs, but used the "Flying Dysium tactic". That is, from the right side of the target, they entered centralized bombs at a 45-meter ultra-low altitude of 240 meters, allowing 8 250 kilogram bombs to attack surface ships with accuracy less than 8 meters. Only this tactic is used to strike not the strong hull and the combat ships with strong air defense firepower, but the enemy's transport fleet. After the Fokker 100 taken off on the ju288 and the aircraft carrier disbanded the enemy formation, these P.108s can launch attacks from ultra-low altitudes and kill American transport ships wantonly.

...

“Woo woo woo woo…”

At 10:20, a harsh air defense alarm sounded on all ships of the N fleet and the Allied Combined Fleet. However, the ships on the water did not immediately set up an air defense formation, and still maintained an escort formation, driving towards the Onik Islands at a speed of 10 knots.

"Commander, the enemy planes will arrive over the formation in 10 minutes. The current height of the enemy plane group is 8,000 meters." The radar officer on the New York City reported loudly, his tone seemed a little panicked, and the sky was almost dawn. The terrible ju288 is coming!

"I know," Ingersoll was quite calm and seemed confident. "Our straight-cover plane is coming soon, right?"

"It's almost done," Fraser replied, "There are P51 and P38 of the Coast Air Force, a total of 72 aircraft, which can cover us for an hour."

The 60 p51 and p38 are no longer a small number for the current British Coast Air Force. Because of the emergence of "fuel tank tactics", the Royal Air Force lost a considerable number of p51 and p38 this summer. The total number of p51 and p38 that the British can still use is only more than 100, which is really miserable.

The remaining p51 and p38 have become treasures and they dare not compare fuel tank capacity with German aircraft. Therefore, they can only cover the large formation of Ingersoll for one hour. Once time passes, the British and American ships on the water can only rely on themselves.

"1 hour..." Ingersoll nodded and smiled, "In one hour, the escort fighter of the enemy aircraft group will probably chase p51 and p38, right?"

"According to previous battle lines, more than two-thirds of the enemy fighters will chase our p51 and p38."

Lieutenant General Fraser almost gritted his teeth and answered. When he was the third minister in the First Maritime Department, he had seen many "fuel tank tactics" battle examples. The despicable and shameless German pilots who lacked chivalrous spirit used this shameless tactic to kill thousands of British pilots!

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

Lieutenant General Fraser sneered a few times: "Yes! The Germans will definitely pay a heavy price this time... From today on, their ju288 will no longer be a terrifying killer on the Atlantic Ocean!"

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

...

"Admiral!"

On the aircraft carrier Zeppelin, Hartmann, chief of staff of the aviation fleet under the European Joint Fleet, reported loudly: "The fleet of aircraft taken off by 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 nodded with a smile. It seemed that today's battle would definitely win a great victory.

Whether the enemy's planes, whether they are p51 and p38, take off from the northern airport in Scotland (the airports in the Faroe Islands are bombed every now and then). It has been spent an hour on the way, and it takes an hour to go back. It takes only one hour to circle around the air with ju288, he219 and p.108, and it will never exceed one and a half hours.

So it is just right to release carrier-based aircraft now. The -190t may be able to catch the tails of p51 and p38 and beat them up. The -190 series aircraft are good at raids. Anyone who makes them bite their tails will basically be dead.

At 10:35, five German aircraft carriers cruising on the Atlantic Ocean north of Ireland suddenly accelerated at the same time and turned their course to the heading to the wind. The aircraft belonging to the first attack wave that had been parked on the deck all began to start engines. Under the waving of the signal flag of the flight control officer, the fighter planes participating in the first attack rose up one after another.
Chapter completed!