During the three hours that the Germans were waiting to attack, the British Expeditionary Force and the German air force were locked in an endless struggle.
With the retirement of the war, the importance of aircraft became more and more obvious. In order to counter the superior air force of the British Expeditionary Force, Germany did its best to develop a biplane with good performance. Of course, the "performance is not bad" here is the same as the German army.
Compared with the aircraft equipped before, and compared with the "Strong Wind" equipped by the British Expeditionary Force, the German biplane was still at an obvious disadvantage.
Although the performance of the aircraft was obviously inferior, the German pilots bravely took off to fight.
But the gap in strength cannot be made up with a lot of courage.
Southern Africa began researching aircraft ten years ago. During the Italian-Turkish War, when the aircraft first appeared on the battlefield, the Southern African Air Force already had quite mature tactics. Although after the outbreak of the World War, the German Air Force was catching up.
But in a short period of time, the German Air Force was the helpless younger brother in southern Africa.
It is estimated that the German army will have to play the role of "younger brother" for a long time.
Relatively speaking, the air force in Southern Africa has a clear division of labor. Fighters move forward to seize air supremacy, and ground support aircraft attack German infantry units.
The German army was equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns, but they were not numerous and their air defense capabilities were extremely limited.
The number of German aircraft is not large. After all, Germany has been blocked for four and a half years and there is an extreme shortage of various strategic materials. If Romania had not been occupied, these German aircraft would even be unable to take off due to lack of fuel.
Speaking of fuel, just last month, Germany and Romania signed an agreement. The agreement stipulates that Romania will lease most of its oil fields to Germany for 99 years. If new oil fields are discovered in Romania, the Germans will also have priority.
Lease rights.
This agreement fully proves the greed of the Germans. Just like the Brest-Litovsk Peace Agreement, the Germans will not give up any opportunity to gain profits, and they will squeeze the bones and suck out the marrow.
The proud Germans may not have thought that any gift given by fate to the Germans has a secret price. How the Germans are blackmailing the Russians and Romanians now, after the world war is over, France and the United Kingdom will
How to blackmail the Germans.
On the morning of the 21st, there was thick fog in the sky over Chateau Thierry. Hundreds of British Expeditionary Force and German aircraft were fighting each other. From time to time, planes flew across the sky with thick smoke. Some planes were hit and exploded in the sky. The planes
Various parts of the pilot fell down like rain, like an oil painting that was constantly collapsing, disintegrating and shattering.
Soldiers on both sides of the river were paying attention to the battle in the air. If a German plane was shot down, the officers and soldiers of the first reorganized division would take off their hats and cheer collectively; if a British Expeditionary Force plane was shot down, so would the German soldiers on the other side of the river.
Same.
In order to better fight against the Allied Air Force, the Luftwaffe is now also beginning to study tactics. Limited to the number of aircraft, the Luftwaffe uses a two-plane tactic, with a lead aircraft and a wingman, cooperating with each other to launch attacks on the Expeditionary Force Air Force.
The tactics of the Expeditionary Force Air Force are still the "big circle formation" composed of six aircraft. This tactic has obvious advantages when fighting against two-plane tactics, especially when the performance of the aircraft is dominant. Most of the downed aircraft are German aircraft.
, only a few expeditionary force aircraft were shot down, and most of the pilots bailed out in time and were successfully rescued by ground troops.
German pilots would also parachute when their planes were shot down. At the height of the air battle, a German biplane was hit and the pilot was forced to parachute. The parachute location was within the area controlled by the expeditionary force.
Immediately, more than a dozen reorganized military police from the First Division rode in armored vehicles and chased the parachutes to arrest the people.
A German pilot failed to control his parachute properly. When he landed, his parachute got stuck in a tree and he was captured by the military police.
Another German pilot had better luck. His parachute landed in a forest. When the military police arrived, only the parachute was left hanging on a tree. The pilot used a dagger to cut off the parachute rope and escaped.
After an emergency interrogation of the captured pilot, the military police received surprising news. The other escaped pilot was named Erich, the same name as Ludendorff, the current Chief of Staff of the German Army.
This is no coincidence, this Erich is Ludendorff's youngest son.
Ludendorff worked hard when he was young and was single until the age of 44.
At that time, Ludendorff had not yet made his fortune, and he worked next to the legendary German Chief of Staff, Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen, with the rank of major.
One night, Ludendorff was walking home after a day's work as usual. It was raining that night. On his way back, Ludendorff met a woman taking shelter from the rain.
So Ludendorff invited the woman to share an umbrella, and Ludendorff sent the woman home. This woman was Ludendorff's later wife, Margaret Penelt.
At this time, Margaret Penelt was already married, with three sons and a daughter. Her marriage was not happy. Later, Margaret Penelt divorced, and Ludendorff immediately married Margaret.
A new family was formed.
In this way, Ludendorff had three stepsons and one stepdaughter. Fortunately, the children all admired Ludendorff, and they all followed Ludendorff's footsteps and joined the army. The eldest son Franz died on the first day of the world war.
He was injured one year and was awarded the Iron Cross. After recovering from his injury, the military believed that Franz's injury was not suitable for returning to the army, so Franz became a pilot after undergoing arduous training.
In September last year, the plane piloted by Franz was shot down over the English Channel. Search and rescue personnel at sea did not find Franz's body, so Franz was included in the list of missing persons.
Erich, who escaped, was Ludendorff's youngest stepson. He had a very good relationship with Ludendorff and was Ludendorff's hope. He just turned 18 this year.
Erich followed in the footsteps of his stepfather and brother and joined the army. Unexpectedly, he was shot down at Chateau Thierry. The gendarmes immediately reported the situation to Henry Gardner, who dispatched a company of soldiers carrying
Military dogs searched around Erich's parachute.
"Erich - come out, we know you are here, we will ensure your safety -"
"Erich, think about your mother, she is waiting for you to come home, come out, we will give you treatment that matches your status -"
"Erich, I saw you, don't hide, baby, I know you are behind the tree -"
The Australian soldiers were searching and shouting in the woods. There were open spaces around the woods. It was very likely that Erich was still in the woods and he had nowhere to escape.
"Look carefully. Pay attention to every tree, every tree hole, and every hole in the ground around you. Don't rush to shoot. We want to capture them alive." The officer waved his pistol and urged the soldiers to take an inch.
After an inch of searching, there were scattered snow on the ground in the woods, and the footprints were still very conspicuous. Soon, the soldiers surrounded the tree hole where Erich was hiding.
"Erich, I know you are inside. Don't make any unnecessary resistance. Throw your pistol out. I promise to give you treatment that matches your status." The officer shouted to Erich, hoping that Erich would
Actively surrender.
"Dream, I will not surrender to you even if I die!" Erich was emotional, and his voice was still very immature. After all, he was a young man who had just turned 18, but Erich was by no means lacking in courage. As Ludendorff
His son, Erich would never surrender.
"Don't be impulsive Erich, listen to me. You have done everything you can. It is not your fault that the plane was shot down. You have fulfilled your duty as a soldier. There is no shame in laying down your weapons. Bravely
Facing life is what a warrior should do. I promise that I will not use your identity to do any despicable acts. You only need to stay in our prisoner of war camp and wait until the world war is over, then you can go home——
"The officer said earnestly that even if the British Expeditionary Force did nothing, as long as it could capture Ludendorff's son, it would be a great honor.
Erich didn't speak, obviously struggling internally.
"Erich, you are only 18 years old, and your life has just begun. Think of your mother, who has gone through all the hardships to raise you. She definitely doesn't want you to die in obscurity in this tree hole. Listen to me,
Throw out the gun. If you have a sword to keep, we will not take off your military rank. So many people with higher military ranks and older than you have surrendered. No one is too demanding of you. You have already done it.
Very good——" The officer is doing psychological work, and shouting is actually a very difficult task. No one knows which sentence will have an effect.
"Shut up! I am Ludendorff's son. My brother died heroically in battle last year. I will not use dishonorable behavior to bring shame to my family -" Erich's voice gradually became excited.
"Don't be impulsive, Erich. Don't be impulsive. We can temporarily withdraw from this forest and give you enough time to think about it." The officer realized that Erich might go to extremes and quietly signaled to a few people.
A gendarme approached the tree hole where Erich was hiding.
As long as Ludendorff's son can be captured, it is worth paying some price. Don't say that the value of life is the same. The life of a soldier is also a life. In the real world, the value of life is really different, let alone in a world war.
life--
It's just grass and mustard.
"Don't come over, don't come over to anyone, don't force me -" Erich was howling crazily.
"Okay, okay, we won't go there -" the officer tried his best to reassure.
The military police who were preparing to arrest people were unable to move forward or retreat.
The surrounding soldiers on guard with guns looked indifferent.
Even the military dogs were lying on the ground and did not dare to bark.
Boom!
In the silent woods, the sound of gunshots is particularly clear!
: If I break the chapter here, I will definitely get scolded again, but this is needed to promote the plot - the key is, 3000 words for this chapter is enough -