New World War II Eagle Strikes the Sky

Although the Allied operation had the best cooperation from the Führer, Cherbourg was a troublesome target for the American forces.The German army has a large number of fortifications near Cherbourg. The cannons in these fortifications can face both the sea and the land.But none of this is a big deal.Because the Americans now have a big killer specially used to deal with fortifications-fuel-air bombs.Although the Americans can give the Germans some time, most of the Germans who have already understood the principle of this bomb can change these fortifications into special airtight fortifications that can resist it.But now, no matter how you look at it, the Germans don't have time for such a task.What really left the US military scratching their heads was that they had no idea how far the Germans were going to destroy Cherbourg.

"If I were a German, I would definitely turn Cherbourg into ruins." General Eisenhower talked about this issue at a military meeting without worry, "I would blow up all docks, trestles, Mined all the channels in Cherbourg, and demolished all the houses in Cherbourg, and put all the garbage in the channels. We may not be able to use this port for several months."

Subsequent aerial reconnaissance also confirmed that Eisenhower's concerns were not groundless.

"Ron, come and see." Eisenhower said to Ron.

Ron walked over and saw a lot of photos spread out on Eisenhower's desk.

"Are these photos of the Port of Cherbourg?" asked Ron?

"Yes." Eisenhower replied, "Yesterday's photos over there, and today's photos here. Look, the Germans are destroying so fast!"

Ron picked up these photos and looked at them. In these photos, you can easily see the difference between the photos taken in the past two days.Some of the tall gantry cranes that still existed in yesterday’s photos have completely disappeared in today’s photos, and most of them have been broken in the dock, and half of them are left standing there.In addition, traces of blasting can be seen in many places on those dry docks.

"They destroy it so fast," Ron sighed.

"That's right, if this continues, when we reach Cherbourg, I'm afraid there will be nothing left in Cherbourg." Eisenhower sighed, "Ron, do you think we can take Cherbourg by relying on a paratrooper army?"

However, before Ron could answer, Eisenhower laughed to himself.

"It's impossible. There are four regiments of German troops in Cherbourg, and the city airborne is almost suicidal. But it's really..." Eisenhower shook his head as he said, "Ron, I'm looking for you this time." The main thing is another thing. We have information that the Germans have urgently brought in the 17th SS Panzer Division from Brittany in order to reinforce the defenders of Cherbourg. I think they may be planning to use a force to attack from the flank We, to slow down our march to Cherbourg. Obviously, every day we spend on the road now, we will spend an extra week clearing the harbor in the future. In order to stop the German armored divisions, I need your coalition contribute more to your team. Now that the German assault on the beach of Sword has been repulsed, I think they have lost the possibility of taking the beach, so your alliance does not have to perform interdiction near Caen Road and anti-tank missions. I hope you can quickly shift the combat direction of your wing to the San Sauvo area to help us repel the enemy's armored forces and break through the enemy's defense lines. For this plan, you have Any opinion?"

Ron walked to the wall, where a huge map hung.Ron looked at the map carefully, then turned around, and said to General Eisenhower: "General, you know that in ground combat, the land forces have very high requirements on our response time. To meet this requirement, we must Make sure there are aircraft on cruise with bombs in the sky for at least most of the day. It's not far from Portsmouth to St. Sauvre, but it will take a while. And, In the past period of time, the frequency of dispatch of pilots was very high. This caused them to be extremely tired. I think it is difficult for them to maintain such a high attendance rate for such a long time. And to continue to maintain such a high attendance rate under the condition of declining attendance rate For the pressure on the Germans, I think it would be best to have an forward airfield."

General Eisenhower also walked to the map. He looked at the map and asked, "Ron, where do you think this forward airfield should be placed?"

"It's best to be within 100 kilometers of the San Sauvo defense line." Ron said.This forward airport does not need to be too large, it only needs a dirt runway that can take off and land attack aircraft, and some supporting refueling, bombing and transport management facilities, which can support a squadron of attack aircraft.

"Very well," Eisenhower said, "I will discuss your proposal with the relevant department."

……

In the afternoon, Ron received another notification from Ike that there would be a meeting about going to the airport at three o'clock, and he had to attend on time.

In the afternoon, Ron showed up at the venue on time.Eisenhower did not appear at this meeting. He is very busy now, spinning like a spinning top.The meeting was chaired by a Lieutenant Colonel staff officer named Mitterrand under Ike.Apart from Ron, most of the people present at the meeting were engineering and technical personnel.

"General, we have conducted a survey in the area you want, and there are not many places suitable for building a forward airfield that can support a squadron. There are only four places like this in terms of terrain. Two of them are in the German coastal forces It is within the range of the coastal artillery. The remaining two places do not have this problem. It is just that it will take a certain amount of time to build such an airport, especially now that the capacity is limited. It is difficult for us to get enough materials to build Such an airport. We estimate that it will take about nine to 9 days to complete such an airport."

"No," Ron said immediately, "I can't wait so long on the battlefield! Is there any other plan?"

"There are other plans. But... General, look, start from here." A major pointed to the map and explained to Ron. Straight road. As long as we strengthen the weak point of this section of road a little, it should be able to meet the takeoff and landing of attack aircraft. In fact, if the problem of foundation is not considered, C-47 can take off and land here.”

"And what about the amenities?" Ron asked.He knows that an airport is not as simple as a runway.

"Refueling can be temporarily carried out by oil tankers, and other facilities can also be temporarily built first, and then built slowly. If we use this section of road, we can convert it into an airport in about 3 days."

"Won't other troops need to use this road?" Ron asked again.Ron had heard Pokryshkin talk about getting into the airport on the road.In fact, the Soviets often did this.However, Pokryshkin also mentioned that once their plane had just stopped on a section of the road, they encountered a group of friendly troops racing tanks, and then an out-of-control tank crashed at least 4 fighter jets.Ron didn't want this kind of tank and attack aircraft to fight for the way at his advancing airport.

"No, General. There is still a road from here to here. Although the road condition is poor, it is not impossible to take it. Other troops can take that road."

……

Ron personally flew a PA-38 attack aircraft over France.Just last night, there was news from Ike that the "advance airport" mentioned in the last meeting was basically completed and ready to receive planes.So Ron drove the attack plane himself, and flew towards the "airport" with half a squadron of 12 PA-38s.

Above Ron's head, Boyington escorted Ron with 12 P-81 fighter jets.

"Hey, Ron, can you believe I can shoot you down in 45 seconds," Boynington said to Ron on the radio.The so-called 45 seconds is an allusion from when Ron first established the "Reverse Cross" force. At that time, Ron declared that if any student could not be shot down in the air battle with him for 45 seconds, he would lose $100 to his opponent .As a result, no student was able to take the money until he left the "Reverse Cross".It was Ron, who was nicknamed "45 Seconds" at the time.

"Hehe, don't you just bully that this is an attack plane? Don't tell me you're so scared of me that you only dare to use fighter jets to fight against my attack plane?" Ron also shot back unceremoniously.

Amid such laughter, a straight road appeared in front of them.At the same time, three green flares rose from the ground ahead. "Advance Airport" is just around the corner.

Ron lowered his altitude and began circling around this "runway".Take this as well to make some preliminary observations on this airport.There are some prefabricated houses next to the runway, and some are still under construction.The airport tower has already been built, but from a distance, it seems to be built with some steel bars and some plates.

Ron lowered his altitude and started flying towards the runway.

The runway is very narrow, but fortunately it is relatively flat. Ron's plane's rear wheels first landed on this runway, jumped slightly, and then began to slide obediently along the runway. Then, the nose part of the plane The front wheel also fell to the ground.Finally, the plane successfully parked at one end of the runway.

"Plane No. [-], it landed beautifully!" From Ron's ear, came the voice of the control tower.