artillery arc

Chapter 410: The United Kingdom's Turn

While Wang Zhong was planning his own small offensive plan, the general trend of the war was also quietly changing.

At one o'clock in the morning on the 22nd, in the Eagle's Nest in the Proson Empire.

"It's already early morning on the 22nd," Emperor Reinhard of Proson looked at Chief of Staff William Celtic, "Why haven't the Moravian cavalry arrived yet? Didn't they say they would arrive on the 19th?"

Chief of the General Staff William Celtic looked at Grand Duke Meyer.

The Duke began to wipe his sweat.

Celtic Chief of Staff said: "Since we began to encircle the enemy's cluster on the coast, the enemy has intensified the bombing of our transportation system, and the fierce bombing has seriously disrupted transportation.

"And the wanton massacre of civilians by the internal security forces has increased the resistance of our employees, which has greatly slowed down the recovery of the railway system."

Celtic's meaning is very clear, it is the Air Force and the Internal Affairs Force's fault. Both of them are direct subordinates of your Majesty the Emperor, so you can't blame us.

Grand Duke Meyer hurriedly explained: "The enemy has deployed heavy bombers, which are all-metal heavy bombers that we have never encountered before. Our 109's current firepower is too difficult to shoot down this kind of heavily armored flying fortress, and we also have to worry about the enemy's defensive firepower.

"The firepower of their aircraft is even stronger than our heavy bombers that were modified from water bombers!

"For this purpose, I have instructed the technical department to develop the 30 equipped with 20mm and 109mm cannons. In addition, the Focke-Wulf 190 fighter will soon be put into service, which should be able to effectively deal with the threat of heavy bombardment..."

The Emperor walked up to Grand Duke Meyer, put his hands behind his back and looked at him: "What you just said is true. We can't deal with the enemy's new bombers at all, right?"

"For the time being," replied Grand Duke Meyer.

The emperor was obviously very disappointed with this answer and shook his head repeatedly: "A new weapon can change the entire war situation? No, I don't believe this. You still have something to say."

Grand Duke Meyer thought for a moment and replied, "The Ante Air Force has also...changed its combat methods. In the past, they tended to use low-altitude close-range support aircraft such as the Il-2 to attack our combat forces."

Celtic Chief of Staff: "This kind of attack is not very threatening. Only the most elite Ante pilots can attack efficiently enough, and most of Ante's pilots are rookies with less than 200 hours of flying time.

"The Il-2 is not accurate at all. We can only use quantity to make up for the low hit rate, but the effect is still limited."

Grand Duke Meyer: "But recently we have discovered that the number of Il-2s has dropped significantly. The Ants seem to be gradually abandoning this aircraft that was favored by their predecessor. A large number of attack aircraft regiments have replaced their aircraft with new aircraft supported by the United States, and the number of the Ants' own Pe-2s has increased significantly."

Emperor Reinhard: "Are you saying that the enemy abandoned the Il-2, an aircraft that we assessed to be of poor performance, and instead produced the Pe-2, which we believe to be a great threat?"

Grand Duke Meyer: "Yes, the Pe-2 will carry out air strikes on our front-line transportation hubs, assembly points, transfer stations, etc. Then the new four-round heavy bombardment will attack important targets such as the train dispatching yard, locomotive maintenance factory, etc. in the rear.

"The air defense pressure on the Eastern Front has increased significantly. We are planning to transfer the fighter squadrons on the Western Front to the Eastern Front to serve as the air defense of key points—"

At this moment, the air raid alarm suddenly sounded.

Everyone raised their heads and looked at the ceiling.

Emperor Reinhardt waited for a few seconds, then turned around and asked, "What's going on? Why did the air raid alarm sound?"

The emperor's guard shook his head: "We don't know. Please allow me to call and ask."

"Ask quickly!"

However, before the guard could make the call, the emperor's chief steward opened the door and came in: "Your Majesty, the radar has detected a large area of ​​bright spots, which may be enemy aircraft."

The emperor turned his head and looked at Grand Duke Meyer: "Confirm the situation quickly!"

Grand Duke: "Night fighters are deployed near the coastline to protect our ports. The enemy's night air raids have always been aimed at ports and the ships in the ports that can be used to cross the sea."

Marshal Celtic: "Maybe it's just a radar failure, although I think it's unlikely that the radar used to defend the Eagle's Nest will fail."

The emperor stared at Grand Duke Mayer for a few seconds, then turned to the window and pulled open the curtains. Outside, the lights of Baden could be seen, and the lights of the entire city illuminated the night sky as bright as day.

Even though the air raid alarm had been sounded, the city had no intention of imposing a blackout, because up to now, there had been no precedent of the heartland of the empire being bombed.

Neither the grassroots personnel of the empire nor the common people had any awareness of air raid defense.

The sirens were wailing, but the city was still peaceful and prosperous.

At this time, a large group of attendants rushed into the map room where the emperor and others were with nervous expressions and turned off all the lights.

The emperor asked: "What's wrong?"

Sergeant: "The anti-aircraft observation post heard the roar of aircraft in the sky. The enemy air strike is coming!"

At this time, Grand Duke Meyer, who had run to get his phone at some point, also put it down and looked at the emperor and said, "Several radar stations have discovered bright spots. They took advantage of our inertia of thinking. The coastal radar thought the bright spots were chaff dropped by Mosquito aircraft, but it turned out to be a real group of aircraft."

The emperor stared at Meyer for several seconds and angrily said, "Plossen has spent so much money over the years to raise a bunch of rubbish like you. Your offense cannot force the United Kingdom to surrender, and your defense cannot protect the Empire's homeland!

"Today the United Kingdom planes dropped bombs. Do you know how long it will take to restore people's confidence? Do you know?"

The Grand Duke was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I think the Minister of Propaganda can handle this issue."

"This is not a question of whether it can be handled." The emperor stepped forward and helped the Grand Duke adjust the cross on his collar. It was a cross of the highest level, only one of which was awarded in the entire empire.

"I am disappointed," said the Emperor.

The city lights outside the window began to disappear one by one. Apparently, the city of Baden was cutting off the main switches in each area and implementing a blackout.

Emperor: "Do you know why the enemy traveled thousands of miles deep into the hinterland to bomb the city of Baden first? Hmm? Think about it!"

Outside the window, beams of light from searchlights tore through the night sky, as if turning the sky of Baden into a stage.

The spotlight is looking for the "actors" who are about to perform.

After the emperor arranged the cross, he gently pulled it, letting the ribbon of the medal gently catch the Grand Duke's fat neck: "Because this is a demonstration against me! They know I'm here, and they're deliberately performing for me!"

Outside the window, the anti-aircraft guns opened fire, and small black flowers exploded in the sky.

Emperor: "You have let me down time and time again. Remember, I cannot live without the Air Force, but I can live without you."

The Air Force was an emerging branch of the military. Although some children of Junker nobles joined the Air Force because they loved flying, the Air Force was generally a blank area for the Junker nobles' power, and it was also the emperor's vanguard in the fight against the Junker nobles.

If the vanguard does not fight well, it will naturally shake the emperor's prestige.

Of course, the glorious victory of conquering Europa made the emperor's prestige in the army and the people of Prosom still at its peak, and it would not collapse because of this matter, but a thousand-mile dam can be breached by an ant hole.

The Emperor stared at the Grand Duke, his mouth twitching.

At this time, flares lit up in the air outside the window, as if two supernovas suddenly appeared in the starry sky.

That was a target indicator dropped by the lead aircraft of the United Kingdom's night bomber group.

The next moment, flashes of light illuminated the darkness.

The flashes outside the window outlined the emperor's figure again and again.

The emperor stared at the Grand Duke with bloodshot eyes.

(End of this chapter)