Chapter 1,428 Heavy Losses
Chapter 1428 Heavy losses
"Is this the gift you gave me as a gift for taking office?" When Lieutenant General Trenchard arrived in Athens, what awaited him was not a grand welcoming ceremony by his subordinates, but a pile of damage reports...
"The Germans launched a feint attack on Thessaloniki, but in fact, they targeted our aviation fleet and pilots. The Germans formed a sophisticated strike team to track our retreating aircraft, and then launched an attack on the hidden field airfield. There was a sudden attack. Our planes and pilots suffered heavy losses," one of his subordinates said.
"This is no longer a serious problem, it is already a loss of offensive capabilities!" Lieutenant General Trenchard couldn't help but shook his head as he looked at the long list of losses. In the operation code-named Thunder Strike, the British lost at least 52 various aircraft in the air battle, and in the subsequent air raids, they lost 78 fighters and light bombers, which added up to 130 aircraft, and now , how many aircraft does the entire British Army Air Force have in Greece? There were only about 500 aircraft in total. On this day, the opponent lost a quarter of the total number of aircraft and one-third of the number of fighter jets in a frontal sneak attack. According to British estimates, the number of aircraft lost by the Luftwaffe was not less than 10%. More than 60 aircraft! This also includes those shot down by ground air defense!
In the Luftwaffe air raids in the following days, the British no longer organized a large-scale aircraft fleet and the German hard steel front in northern Greece. The insufficient number of aircraft was admittedly one aspect. But on the other hand, they dare not. These 500 aircraft have just been shipped over by the British. In the foreseeable future, it will be good to add 80 aircraft next month. This situation of fewer and fewer aircraft naturally makes the British feel... The limit is too much to catch.
"This is truly a tragic beginning." Admiral Trenchard burst into tears. However, since he has become the commander-in-chief of the air force in the Balkan theater, he must persevere no matter how miserable the situation is. Therefore, the admiral who advocates hard work began to analyze the performance of the air forces of both sides and prepare countermeasures.
"Generally speaking, the quality of Bavarian Air Force pilots may be worse than that of their colleagues on the Eastern Front. After all, they used to conduct low-intensity air combat on the Eastern Front. Some squadrons once fought on the Western Front, and their combat effectiveness was still very high. High. But because the aircraft are all J-3 fighters, overall, the enemy we face is much stronger than the Prussian Air Force of the same size on the Western Front."
"The horizontal maneuverability of the new J-3 aircraft is considered to be above average, but the vertical maneuverability and high-speed performance are very good. This is almost the best fighter we have ever seen, and another heavy interceptor is what the Germans call Tracer, after being equipped with a new engine, its performance has also been significantly improved. In short, from a technical perspective, this is almost the Allied air group with the highest combat effectiveness that we have encountered." A British Air Force officer said to the new The boss who came here made a rough analysis.
"However, the Germans still showed some discomfort or fear in the face of our air defense and response. Their tactical attacks were relatively conservative and they were not very determined when launching attacks on our key defense areas.
May have less tolerance for losses. "Previously, Major General Rosace, who served as the commander-in-chief of the Air Force in the Balkans, expressed his views.
"They are going to fight a war of attrition with us." Lieutenant General Trenchard was not as optimistic as this one. The Bavarian Army was not easy to deal with. Last year's performance on the Western Front was vivid, and nearly 9 more troops followed. For months, the Bavarian Army was conducting low-intensity operations on the Eastern Front, while military production continued to hit new highs. The power he has accumulated is truly terrifying to think about! The emergence of a large number of air forces obviously means that the Bavarian Army has begun to intervene in the war situation in the Balkans on a large scale. The air force is here, is the army still far behind?
"We must act immediately, otherwise, we may not have a foothold on the Balkan Peninsula!" Lieutenant General Trenchard still had a general understanding of the situation. He had already vaguely felt that the Germans were behind time. Already walked 1,000 meters to the Allied Powers. It was even possible to launch an offensive before the Allies.
"Concentrate all aircraft to the second-tier airports in southern Greece. The aviation forces are preparing to merge at several large airports. The newly deployed field airports are also selected near transportation hubs and ports. The troops will shift to a defensive state. In addition, send a report to the London headquarters , we need more fighters instead of bombers. At present, we must first block the opponent's offensive before we can talk about other things!" Lieutenant General Trenchard said.
However, at the same time, Bavaria also made an assessment of the British air defense level. "General Harrell believes that there is no absolute generational difference in terms of quality between the two sides' troops. Moreover, the British's ground air defense is very good. Their air force relies on large, well-defended airports as support points, not like Russia's. People set up simple field airports like that. So it is a bit difficult to destroy them through air strikes. This will be a long-term process, but what is certain is that our fighter units can still take the initiative and effectively cover our ground units. , and it is also feasible for bomber units to attack ground forces on roads or in the field. Because most of the British army's anti-aircraft firepower is almost fixedly deployed." In the report submitted by Harrell, he evaluated the British air defense and air defense like this. powerful.
"Take your time, at least, we are starting with silver. This is a long battle. The victory or defeat is determined by the battle losses of both sides and the land offensive." The prince was quite satisfied with the air force's action this time. To be honest, the southern terrain of the Greek peninsula is not suitable for large-scale attacks, so the prince's strategy for the Balkans is to attrition and containment. Keeping the British in Greece is more beneficial to the overall situation than driving them all out, turning the entire Balkans into a A meat grinder and a giant "prison" would be in the best interests of the Allies.
After the air offensive is over, the ground offensive will also be launched. Waiting for the British to take the initiative to attack when they are ready, and their passive defense will fall to the bottom.
Judging from the current situation, the deployment of the British and Japanese armies is almost along a long and narrow strip in northern Greece. The front is very wide, but it lacks sufficient depth. In addition, the terrain near the seaside is relatively flat, and This place is also the front line of the Allied Powers' attack on Turkey, where a large number of troops are concentrated.
"If we want to completely occupy this area, we are not capable, but if we only launch a short attack and kill the opponent as the main goal, then the problem is not big." Caliput said.
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