Chapter 744: Fuel Tanks Are Also Combat Power
The weather was good over Norway, with almost no floating clouds in the sky. At 8,000 meters above sea level, the golden red morning glow appeared on the eastern sea level, gradually dispelling the darkness that had enveloped the Norwegian Sea for nearly 20 hours, and also bringing a touch of warmth to the glass-wrapped cabin.
Colonel Johannes Steinhoff, commander of the 1st Division of the German Naval Aviation, wore an oxygen mask and held the control panel 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 high-performance passenger plane through a peaceful and safe sky.
In fact, he was not the only pilot with such a good mentality. All the crew members of the Ju288 bomber that took off from Bergen today were in the same relaxed and happy mood as him.
Because the mission they were about to perform was easy, pleasant and low-risk. They were flying the latest Ju288C series of high-altitude, high-speed, ultra-long-range and night (of course they could also fly during the day) bombers. The two Jumo222T-2 engines can provide up to 5,600 horsepower (the maximum output power of a single engine is 2,800 horsepower) of surging power without "taking drugs" (using a jet 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. Except for the P51 and Spitfire, British and American fighters cannot 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)!
Such speed and altitude are enough for the Ju288 to get rid of the best high-altitude aircraft in Britain and the United States-the high-altitude models of the P51, P38 and Spitfire. Although these three aircraft now have models that can reach the Ju288, at an altitude of 12,500 meters, only the speed of the P38 can theoretically catch up with the Ju288. However, the engine of the P38 often breaks down at very high altitudes. Therefore, in actual combat, the pilots of the P38 fighters dare not use the full horsepower of the engine at very high altitudes, so they cannot catch up with the Ju288.
Moreover, flying fast at very high altitudes is not the biggest killer 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, experts from the German Naval Aviation discovered that the fuel tank of the Ju288 was also a combat power.
Because it has an extra-large fuel tank, it has a particularly long 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, which is 1,400 kilometers round trip. In addition to the fuel consumed during takeoff, landing and marshaling, 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 Spitfire, even the long-legged P51 and P38 will run out of fuel and fall.
So a few months after the appearance of Ju288, the German naval aviation invented the "fuel tank tactics". It is to use Ju288 to compete with the opponent's high-altitude fighters for "endurance". If the enemy's P51 and P38 fly over, then Ju288 will jump to an altitude of more than 12,500 meters and slowly deal with them.
When the opponent's fuel is almost exhausted, Fw-190 will appear again, chasing the opponent's buttocks and hitting them. Even if it can't be shot down, it can consume the fuel of P51 and P38, and it can also make the opponent completely run out of fuel and 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 Ju288 and is equipped with a DB614T engine with a maximum output power of 2,000 horsepower. This engine is a development of DB603G and has a turbocharger, which allows He219B-2 to have the ability to suppress P38 at an altitude of more than 12,500 meters.
In addition, the He219B-2 aircraft has increased the fuel tank capacity and can carry a 1,200-liter auxiliary fuel tank, which allows it to have a long range of nearly 4,000 kilometers. It can basically meet the needs of escorting the Ju288, and at the same time enable it to have the ability to use the "fuel tank tactics".
Therefore, the Ju288C that participated in the air strikes on the British and American fleets and escort fleets on December 12 not only has the two life-saving tricks of high speed + high altitude, but also has the protection of the He219B-2, which is basically foolproof. It is no wonder that the crew members participating in the operation today are all in a relaxed mood.
In addition to the Ju288C and He219B-2, two very superior fighters, there are 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 gliding bombs, they use "flying dagger tactics." That is, from 240 meters to the side of the target, at an ultra-low altitude of 45 meters, the bombs were concentrated and dropped, and eight 250 kg bombs were launched at an accuracy of less than 8 meters to attack the surface ships. Of course, the target of this tactic was not the combat ships with strong hulls and powerful anti-aircraft firepower, but the enemy's transport fleet. After the Ju288 and the Fokker 100 taking off from the aircraft carrier broke up the enemy's formation, these P.108s could launch attacks from ultra-low altitudes and kill the American transport ships at will.
…
"Woo woo woo..."
At 10:20, the piercing air defense alarm sounded on all the ships of the NR21 fleet and the Allied Combined Fleet. However, the ships on the water did not immediately form an air defense formation, but still maintained the escort formation and headed towards the Onik Islands at a speed of 10 knots.
"Commander, the enemy planes will arrive above the formation in 10 minutes, and the enemy plane group is now at an altitude of 8,000 meters." The radar officer on the New York reported loudly, his tone seemed a little panicked-it's almost dawn, and the terrible Ju288 is coming!
"Got it," Ingersoll was relatively calm, and seemed to have a plan in mind. "Our direct cover aircraft will be here soon, right?"
"Soon." Fraser replied, "It's the P51 and P38 of the Coastal Air Force, a total of 72, which can cover us for 1 hour."
60 P51 and P38 are not a small number for the current British Coastal Air Force. Because of the emergence of the "fuel tank tactics", the British Royal Air Force lost a considerable number of P51 and P38 this summer. Now the British can only use more than 100 P51 and P38, which is really miserable.
And the remaining P51 and P38 have become treasures, and they dare not compete with the German aircraft in fuel tank capacity. Therefore, they can only cover Ingersoll's large formation for 1 hour. After the time is over, the British and American ships on the water can only rely on themselves.
"1 hour..." Ingersoll nodded and smiled, "After 1 hour, the escort fighters of the enemy fleet will probably chase the P51 and P38, right?"
"According to previous battles, more than two-thirds of the enemy fighters will chase our P51 and P38."
Lieutenant General Fraser almost gritted his teeth in answering. When he was the third minister in the First Admiralty, he didn't know how many examples of "fuel tank tactics" he had seen. The despicable and shameless German pilots who lacked chivalry used this shameless tactic to kill thousands of British pilots!
"Very good," Ingersoll smiled, "As long as they leave, our chance will come!"
Vice Admiral 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 in 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 and go south to Scapa Flow.
...
"Admiral!"
On the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, Hartmann, the chief of staff of the aviation fleet under the European Combined Fleet, reported loudly: "The fleet that took 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 Heye smiled and nodded. It seems that today's battle will definitely be a great victory.
The enemy aircraft, both P51 and P38, took off from the airport in northern Scotland (the airport in the Faroe Islands was bombed and bombed every now and then). They had probably consumed an hour of fuel on the way, and it would take another hour to return. The time they could circle with Ju288, He219 and P.108 in the air was only an hour or so, and it would never exceed one and a half hours.
So it was just right to release the carrier-based aircraft now. The Fw-190T might be able to catch the tail of the P51 and P38 and beat them up - the Fw-190 series of aircraft are good at surprise attacks, and whoever lets them bite their tails is basically dead.
At 10:35, the five German aircraft carriers cruising on the Atlantic Ocean north of Ireland suddenly accelerated at the same time and turned their course to the headwind. The aircraft belonging to the first wave of attacks that had been parked on the deck for a long time all started their engines. Under the waving of the flight control officer's signal flag, the fighters participating in the first wave of attacks roared into the air 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 took off from five German aircraft carriers, formed five clusters in the air, and happily sped eastward towards the sunshine.