Because the number of ZSO523 air assault transport planes was 10 more than originally planned, the 1st Air Assault General Theodore von Shipper Airborne Corps also loaded his army headquarters on the planes and included them in the list of the first batch of airdrops.
At 9:10 a.m. on April 25, Azores time, Admiral Shipper Airborne had already boarded the ZSO523 air assault transport aircraft numbered 0578 with his staff officers.
This ZSO523 is a modified and is no longer a simple assault transport aircraft, but a flying command.
The interior of the "big belly" cabin is now a small but complete command center, with maps, sand tables, radios, and telephones, and several Steyr command vehicles and communication vehicles are fixed inside the cabin with chains.
The upper cabin of the ZSO523 assault transport aircraft is located at the rear of the cockpit, which has been converted into a small office--lounge.
A fixed desk was placed, and two folded-up walking beds were hung from the bulkhead of the plane.
Colonel Hoptmann Walter, who had commanded the Battle of Eben-Emel Fortress, was now Chief of Staff of the 1st Air Assault Army.
After confirming that all 5 air assault battalions and 18 paratrooper battalions, as well as the military headquarters of the 1st Air Assault Corps, had completed the boarding operations, he also boarded aircraft No. 0578 with his adjutant.
"Admiral, all boarding is done" Colonel Cork sat down next to Admiral Shipper Airborne and buckled his seatbelt.
"Now we're really going to Newfoundland, and the Yankees will be surprised by the tanks that fall from the sky, it's crazy."
"It's crazy," Admiral Shipper said, looking out the window at the neatly lined ZSO523 planes, "and it's also risky, it's simply the work of a madman, and the militarily unimaginative Americans would never have thought of it."
Now the question is whether naval aviation can empty Newfoundland of warplanes."
The previous series of feints and fierce air battles were aimed at distracting the American air forces on the island of Newfoundland, but even if all efforts were successful, a large number of American fighter planes would still appear in the airspace of the island.
Therefore, the key to the success or failure of the air assault operation was whether the German carrier-based aircraft could empty the sky over the island of Newfoundland.
"Yes, surely," replied Colonel Cork, when an open radio in the engine room suddenly rang out, "Admiral Hipper, I'm Stuart, are you ready for the Santa Maria to set sail." ” Admiral Shipper picked up the communicator and replied, "General, I'm Hipper, and I've received an order that the Santa Maria is ready to set sail at any time. ” "Very well, the Santa Maria is now on sail, and I wish you all the best."
"Santa Maria set sail" was the code signal for the departure of the transport planes, and when Air Force Admiral Student, commander of the Airborne Forces, gave the order that "the Santa Maria is now sailing," one plane after another parked at the airport began to roar with coughing and choking.
Admiral Shipper and Colonel Cork felt their plane begin to glide, the engines thundering, taxiing faster and faster, and finally the massive body roared into the air.
Because the ZSO523 aircraft are slower, they will take off first, and then the Fokker 42.
However, the first to arrive over the Avalon Peninsula on Newfoundland Island was the late Fokker 42, which was scheduled to be airborne around 11 a.m.
Newfoundland time, two and a half hours before the ZSO523 group launched an air assault.
If all goes well, before the start of the air assault operation.
Airborne paratroopers should be able to capture a number of key landing sites with air support.
And at the same time as the transport planes on the Azores took off in waves, fierce air battles were already unfolding over the island of Newfoundland.
Unlike the last time the Americans were caught off guard by jets, this time they had already prepared, so none of the planes dared to fly 10,000 meters above the surface to hit the muzzle of 262t.
The E264 swaggered from an altitude of 10,000 meters, and the American planes also resolutely circled in the airspace below 5,000 meters.
And the weather over Newfoundland today is not particularly good, with large clusters of stratus clouds floating in the sky.
Therefore, it is difficult to visually find the airfield on the ground from more than 10,000 meters, and naturally it is impossible to drop remotely controlled missiles.
However, even if the American planes hid below 5,000 meters, they could not escape the encirclement and suppression of the German Fokker 636 and 262T fighters, which numbered as many as 940.
The first to fly over Newfoundland to carry out the "clearance mission" were 140 262T and 160 Fokker 636 fighters commanded by Hirschman Jr.
After determining that the US fighters did not dare to fly to a high altitude to fight, Hirschman Jr. divided the 300 fighters under his command into two parts, 160 Fokker 636 fighters descended to an altitude of 5,000 meters, relying on excellent low-altitude performance to fight with the Americans' 51 American fighters below 5,000 meters are not only 51, but only 51 dare to face the Fokker 636 at this altitude.
The remaining 140 jets formed 35 four-plane formations, of which one four-plane formation was responsible for protecting Hirschman Jr.'
s plane, and the remaining 34 formations were guided by Hirschman's AWACS aircraft to search for and annihilate the nearby Americans' F13 AWACS planes.
The tactics of hitting AWACS aircraft were proposed by Molders after the last major air battle on the island of Newfoundland, and were quickly supported by front-line air commanders such as Hersmann Jr. and Heinz Barr.
However, it is not easy to implement this tactic, because the radar of this era not only has a limited detection range, but also does not have a high resolution, and it is difficult to distinguish between a large AWACS aircraft and a heavy fighter, and the latter is about one-third to one-half the volume of the former.
However, today's situation is just an exception, the American fighters are hiding below 5,000 meters, while their early warning planes are hiding at high altitudes to command, because the Americans' early warning planes are modified with B29, and the nose of the B29 is a large glass cover, and there is no way to follow the radar, so the radar is pressed on the belly of the aircraft, and it is not easy to "see" at all, and it is not easy to change.
In contrast, the BV138E, which has a radar in the nose, is easy to modify to expand the line of sight of the aircraft for upward searching.
Little Hersman rode a BV138E around the edge of the battlefield in the air and spotted two small groups.
From the radar screen, there are 45 points of light, and the altitude is around 7,000 meters, which is the fastest altitude of the high-altitude B29, and it is obvious that several fighters are escorting an AWACS aircraft The four-plane formation of 34 jets was divided into two groups, and under the command of Hirschman Jr., they swooped down at the highest speed for two small American planes dozens of kilometers away.
Their movements were soon discovered by the Americans, and the two AWACS groups did not care to direct the air battle, and all of them accelerated their flight.
However, the F29 modified from the B13 AWACS aircraft could not outrun the 262T commanded by the AWACS aircraft, and the chase lasted only a few minutes, and the two F13 and 8 61 escorting them were caught up by 262.
The cannon shot out tongues of fire in the air, smashing the fleeing F13 and the 61 that turned around and blocked the gun's hole.
After dealing with the American AWACS aircraft, Hersman Jr. immediately commanded the 262T jet to reduce its altitude to support the Fokker 636, which was fighting with the opponent in the airspace below 5,000 meters.
He first ordered the Fokker 636 to raise the altitude, luring the American fighters to follow, not all opponents will be fooled, but the fighters that lost the command of the AWACS aircraft were in chaos, and some of the 51 fighters did not care about the 5000-meter "cordon" in order to compete for altitude with the Fokker 636, and there was no AWACS command, and the British pilots did not know that the 262T was hovering over their heads, so the 262T that dived down was caught squarely, and thirty or forty were shot down in an instant.
The rest of the American fighters saw that the signs were not right, and they all rushed under the clouds.
Hirschman Jr. was not ambiguous, and immediately ordered all Fokker 636s to rush down the clouds to chase the 51 of the Americans, while the 262t dispersed in a formation of 4 planes at an altitude of 5000 meters above the clouds.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
After a while, another batch of 51s was seduced and rushed into the clouds, and as soon as they appeared, they were hit by 262t, and immediately many 51s were hit by 30 machine guns and fell to the ground.
The reason for this is that although the Fokker 636 that rushed down the clouds had the low-altitude performance to overshadow the 51, but under the order of Hirschman Jr., these Fokker 636 did not fight with the 51 at all.
Instead, he adopted energy tactics, pulling up and diving, and using his own weight and more powerful firepower to play condescending energy tactics.
Now the Americans' 51 is a tragedy, they want to fight with the Fokker 636 but can't, want to fight with the Fokker 636 to climb 51 is not much lighter than the Fokker 636, if you can grab the height, you can dive and grab the height, but they have repeatedly been attacked by the 262t dive attack at high altitude, the size and firepower of the 262t are much stronger than the 51, and the 51 will suffer a big loss if you "hit the nose".
But if these 51s don't fight with Fokker 636 to climb and grab height, and wait for the other party to climb into the air and then dive down, they will have to be beaten again The battle in the air soon became one-sided, and with the cooperation of Fokker 636 and 262T, the German fighters, numbering less than 300, seemed to be the masters over Newfoundland.
However, at this time, Hersman Jr. noticed that the opponents encountered by the fighters under his command were almost all American 51 fighters with superior performance at medium and low altitudes, and the 47, F7F, and 61, as well as the British's "Sky" high-altitude fighters, hardly showed up.
Little Hersman knew that the Americans had hidden their "interceptors", ready to be used to attack the 264 bombers that were about to arrive later 810 bomber. t1706231537: