Chapter 499: Bombing London

"The ground sentry found a German fleet heading straight for London, with more than 200 aircraft!"

"Damn it!" Dowding cursed softly, and reluctantly issued an order to take off fighter jets to fight the enemy; he secretly prayed that these German aircraft fleets could change their course.

Unfortunately, sometimes things just go against one's wishes. This fleet of 50 Stuka bombers, 80 Mosquito bombers and 100 fighters was heading for London.

Flying at an altitude of 8,000 meters, Heinz Barr saw the smoke billowing everywhere and the bombed city of London from afar, and couldn't help but sigh. "Oh, is this still the capital of the British Empire?" The capital city can be said to be the face of a country. In the past few hundred years, the British Empire does not seem to have suffered such a huge humiliation. He remembered that more than a thousand years ago, in 842 and 851, the Danes invaded Britain twice, looting and burning most of the towns. The invading army occupied the northern and eastern territories of Britain, including London.

"The capital is almost bombed flat, why are you still holding on? These British guys are really stubborn." Just as he was complaining about these ignorant British guys in his heart, the commander's voice came from the headset. "Enemy planes spotted at 3 o'clock, everyone prepare for battle!"

"Finally here!" Heinz pressed the button to discard the auxiliary fuel tank and flew the plane to the 3 o'clock direction, but found that the British fighters were not many, only more than 50; not enough for their escort formation to share.

"That's all, and you still have the nerve to take it out?" After mocking, Heinz looked around. Fortunately, they were flying in the front. If they were lucky, it should be no problem to shoot down three or four enemy planes. He pressed the communicator and told the wingman. "Hans, follow closely!"

Soon, a not-so-intense air battle broke out over the suburbs of London.

The number of German fighters was twice that of the British, and the performance of the fighters and the experience of the pilots were also much higher. If this could still make the British fighter pilots turn the world upside down, then the German pilots should really hang themselves collectively.

British pilots fighting on home soil should have had a great advantage. Even if the fighter plane was damaged during the battle, the pilot could parachute to escape, return to the unit and change planes to continue fighting the next day.

But now the survival rate of British pilots fighting the German Air Force is very low.

Compared with the 8 62mm Browning machine guns equipped on the British Spitfire fighters, the German fighters are either 7mm large-caliber machine guns or 20mm cannons. Although the cannons have a small amount of ammunition, their power is quite brutal. This large-caliber weapon, especially the 20mm cannon, can easily penetrate the fragile bulletproof steel plate around the cockpit of the British fighter and directly kill the pilot inside.

The plane dived down from the sky, speeding up and down, approaching 700 kilometers per hour. Inertia made Heinz's whole body stick tightly to the backrest of the seat, but he still felt good; the sight was locked on a Spitfire fighter in front.

The Spitfire fighter seemed to sense the approaching danger and shook its wings to dodge, but in Heinz's opinion, it was just a futile struggle. He pulled the trigger calmly, and the four 20mm cannons roared and spit out flames. Heinz clearly saw the opponent's cockpit glass being smashed, and the entire cockpit was instantly stained red with blood.

Then, because of the high speed, he could no longer see the enemy plane that had begun to fall, and began to climb rapidly.

Observation, dive, attack, escape, climb, the elite German pilots fully mastered the essence of the one-hit escape tactic, and the entire attack process seemed very smooth.

This tactic has a professional name called "BOOM&ZOOM", abbreviated as BZ. BOOM means to dive at high speed to attack low-altitude and low-speed targets, and then immediately climb at a large angle (ZOOM) to win back the altitude. If you are at low altitude and high speed, then you have kinetic energy, if you are at high altitude and low speed, then you have potential energy, if you are at high altitude and high speed, then you can take both into account, if you are at low altitude and low speed, then you will die.

The high wing load design of FW190 makes its roll very fast but the horizontal turning rate is not good, so it is not suitable for dogfighting with other fighters, but it is very suitable for bullying low-altitude fighters with a large force when it has an energy advantage. Therefore, most FW190 pilots in World War II can use BZ tactics proficiently, and have developed the maneuvering concept of one-hit-and-leave, shoot and run, and professional sneak attacks, with full combat records.

After regaining altitude, Heinz targeted another Spitfire fighter.

"Hans, you attack this time."

"Understood." After responding, the wingman Hans locked the target. This was also an attack that was determined to win, and the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer.

While the fighters of both sides were fighting, the bomber group had already flown over the few anti-aircraft artillery positions, invaded the sky over London, and headed straight for 10 Downing Street.

Downing Street, a Georgian building next to Whitehall in Westminster, Westminster, the capital of London, the United Kingdom. The residence of the First Chancellor of the Exchequer is traditionally the official residence of the First Chancellor of the Exchequer, but since the position has been taken over by the Prime Minister, it is generally considered to be the official residence of the British Prime Minister. In addition to being the official residence and office of the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's secretary, assistants and advisers all work in the residence.

On weekdays, the Prime Minister would formulate policies with his cabinet and think tanks at 10 Downing Street every day, and general confidential departments such as Parliament, the Treasury and the Foreign Office were only a few minutes away from 10 Downing Street, so the Prime Minister could easily obtain intelligence and contacts. In addition, Buckingham Palace, where the monarch lived, was nearby, so that the Prime Minister could go to Buckingham Palace regularly to report political affairs to the monarch. There were different meeting rooms and banquet halls in the Prime Minister's residence, where the Prime Minister would often meet with leaders from all walks of life and various countries.

Therefore, 10 Downing Street is the center of the British government and one of the power centers of British politics.

Accompanied by a shrill buzzer, one Stuka bomber after another swooped down, and 250 kilograms of bombs hit 10 Downing Street. This building is not a solid fortress made of reinforced concrete. Bombs fell around the house one by one, accompanied by deafening explosions, and 10 Downing Street was reduced to ruins in minutes.

Of course, no one expected to kill Churchill in this way. After all, according to German standards, such underground air-raid shelters can at least withstand a direct hit of a ton of bombs. The British defense work must not be much worse, and no one knows where Churchill is at this time. Bombing Downing Street was just an order given by Yannick on a whim.

After bombing No. 10 Downing Street, the bombers continued to carry out their mission and visited all power stations, water plants, and government agencies in London.