Iron Cross

In the early morning of February 7, the offensive on the island of Malta reached its climax. Military observers from various countries held their breath to watch the progress of the war. Although they all agreed that it was only a matter of time before Malta fell, many people were still concerned about how long this small island could be defended.

At 8:15, the main fleet of the Axis Navy entered the 300-kilometer air defense circle of the island of Malta. More than 100 aircraft were always hovering over the fleet for protection, but no aircraft was sent in the direction of Malta, which was strange and surprising.

In fact, there was a fierce debate when the Maltese defenders rejected the ultimatum, but in the end, the pride of the British Empire soldiers made them decide to fight to the end. They still had expectations for victory, believing that although they had lost their air and sea power, the solid fortifications would help them survive this difficult stage, just like a few months ago.

At 8:35, Malta was hit by wave after wave of air raids. Thousands of aerial bombs and napalm bombs were dropped almost without cost. Now that Germany had oil, it was getting more and more used to the napalm bombs. Soon, the whole island of Malta seemed to be burning. It was not the first time that napalm bombs had visited Malta. Now there were no trees on the island, and the grass and trees used by the defenders for shelter were burned out. Looking down from the air, it looked like a volcanic eruption. But all German and Italian pilots knew that there were still people on Malta. They lived in rock fortifications and underground bunkers, relying on stored supplies to survive. Conventional bombing could not destroy these underground moles, but only increased their psychological pressure and crushed the defenders' attempt to restore their surface positions.

Some people have proposed a strategy of surrounding Malta without attacking it and starving it to death, but no one dared to guarantee how long the stored supplies on the island could last. In fact, the idea of ​​siege is not ideal. Although Malta has cut off all other supply channels, Gibraltar's submarines can occasionally sneak in. Relying on this means of transportation, the day when Malta runs out of ammunition and food will be pushed to at least half a year later - this is what Hoffman cannot tolerate.

Horizontal bombers can now safely and boldly drop bombs at low altitudes. The airport on the island has been completely destroyed. The British army now has only 8 aircraft that can be used, and there are dozens of pilots - unfortunately they can't get supplies. After the main force of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet was destroyed in Alexandria, and after the Axis air force completely blocked the Strait of Alexandria, no ship could reach Malta. Originally, according to the plan, these pilots were to take submarines to retreat to Gibraltar, but they all hoped that a miracle would happen. They were unwilling to abandon other comrades and escape alone, and finally they were still stranded on the island.

At 9:30, a total of nearly 300 planes roared over Malta, and all ground counterattack forces, including anti-aircraft guns, disappeared. The Maltese defenders moved into underground fortifications in advance, waiting for the arrival of the Axis landing forces - after rejecting the ultimatum, they were fully prepared for this scene.

But the plane that came at 10 o'clock was obviously different. It was the German KG-300 special bombing brigade, all equipped with newly commissioned Ju-188 bombers. Today they mounted a specially modified giant bomb that can be used by Ju-188 - the SC2500+ type, with a single bomb weighing up to 2,500 kilograms. Although it cannot be compared with the British goblet (the Grand Slam has not yet been released), it is the largest bomb that Germany can currently produce. The new bomb is figuratively called the Earth Driller.

Compared with the SC2500 bomb dropped on the Brest Fortress, the Earthburrower has undergone a lot of improvements. It has a hard reinforced steel shell and a hard nose cone made of tungsten steel - which maximizes the penetration effect and ensures that the projectile body is basically not deformed after penetration. In addition, engineers also installed the remote control device used on the Hs-293 ​​bomb that was successfully used in the North African campaign. Since the Earthburrower is much larger than the Hs-293, the relevant radio equipment and tracer indicator lights can be made larger, more reliable, and more eye-catching than the Hs-293, so that the bomb has a very high precision bombing effect - provided that there is no interference from the defenders.

In addition to the appearance and control system, technical experts have also carefully designed the explosives filled inside the bomb. The entire bomb is filled with a total of 1,176 kilograms of mixed explosives mixed with aluminum powder and magnesium powder, accounting for more than 47% of the total weight of the bomb. After the formula is improved, the explosives burn more fully and violently, the explosion pulse lasts longer, and the power exceeds 50% of the same weight of TN-T explosives.

In addition to the SC2500+, a 3,500 kg SC3500 bomb is also being manufactured and is expected to be carried by the He-477 bomber. A larger and heavier bomb has also been approved, but because there is no suitable aircraft to carry it, the research and development progress is not very fast.

The He-477 is a conventional 4-engine bomber version of the He-177. It was designed in response to the heavy bomber tender recently proposed by the Armament Department. Heavy bombers are divided into two sections, namely Heavy Bomber A and Heavy Bomber B. Section A is based on the British Lancaster bomber, requiring a cruising speed of 350 km/h, a maximum speed of 520 km/h, a range of not less than 4,000 km when carrying 5 tons, and a maximum load of not less than 8 tons (range of more than 2,500 kilometers), of which a single bomb weight is not less than 3,500 kg. Heinkel Company made a lot of modifications based on the He-177, restored the conventional 4-engine arrangement at the fastest speed and built a prototype (using the Ju-213E engine), verifying that the relevant technical indicators can be fully achieved and there is still a certain surplus, so it was quickly determined as the winner of Section A.

Section B is the so-called simplified version of the American bomber. The Air Force has launched a tender for the American bomber, generally requiring a range of more than 13,000 kilometers. Under Hoffman's instructions, the Armament Department changed the technical parameters, lowered the range requirements, but raised the requirements for reliability, bomb load, speed, altitude, etc., and clearly stipulated that the cruising speed should not be less than 365 kilometers per hour, the maximum speed should be 550 kilometers per hour, the range should not be less than 8,000 kilometers when the load is 10 tons, the maximum load should not be less than 15 tons (the range is 4,000 kilometers at this time), and the single bomb that can be mounted should not be less than 6,000 kilograms. The numbers were all proposed by Hoffman. The implicit benchmark in his mind was the B-29 bomber, but no one had seen the B-29 yet, so he could only attribute these numbers to intelligence collection - anyway, this was not the first time he had made such excuses. Since the intelligence department now reports directly to Hoffman, everyone felt that the Führer was becoming more mysterious.

Many companies submitted applications for this bid, including Ta-400, Ju-488, Me-264 and other models. Although the Navy once preferred Wolff's Ta-400, Messerschmitt's Me-264 was the fastest and closest to success. Therefore, Hoffman immediately decided to speed up the development of Me-264, complete the relevant subject test flights and technical demonstrations as soon as possible, and ensure that there would be a mature heavy bomber available in 1945 - if a super bomb was built, someone would be responsible for throwing it.

As for the range, 8,000 kilometers from the European continent to the United States is actually enough. If it is only more than 4,000 kilometers from the Azores, the return flight problem is not considered - Hoffman had brainwashed the designers a long time ago, why do we have to fly there and back? It is entirely possible to parachute on the way back and let surface ships or submarines be responsible for the rescue. It is not realistic for Germany to learn from the United States to carry out large-scale air strikes. There is no pressure to rescue a few crews. Strategic bombing is not affordable for Germany. Getting a few planes to drop super bombs is an ideal carrier.

Since the German Air Force has no demand for long-range bombers, the Navy has always preferred Ta-400. Me-264 has basically died in history, but under Hoffman's direct intervention, the situation has changed significantly. The Ta-400, which has the slowest progress, is not optimistic about the prospects. Me-264 is given priority, which makes Dr. Messerschmitt overjoyed. The Navy's demand for 6,000-kilometer bombers and maritime patrol aircraft is filled by Italy's SM-79 and Ju-290C, and no objection can be raised. In fact, Hoffman was not satisfied with the progress of Ta-400, and was not satisfied with its propeller plus jet engine combination design. He shot it without hesitation. In this way, Wolff's attention was focused on the two aircraft, Ta-152 and Ta-183.

At 9:18, Captain Vaughans dropped the first Earth Penetrator. After dropping it, the plane with less weight suddenly jumped up. He kept the flight altitude at 5,500 meters steadily and controlled the speed at about 330 kilometers per hour. Then he watched the blue bomb fall with his eyes fixed - the German army stipulated that bombs below 1 ton should be painted dark gray, and bombs above 1 ton should be painted sky blue camouflage color, so that the bombs would blend into the sky when they fell, to prevent the bombs from being too large and being discovered and hit by anti-aircraft guns when falling in the air and exploding in advance. Although the anti-aircraft gun positions in Malta have been destroyed, there is no guarantee that there will be no fish that slip through the net.

The bombardier on the other side has controlled it through the radio switch, judging the position of the bomb according to the tracer light and adjusting it to ensure that it always falls on the correct route - the target of this bomb is the serial bunkers on the north shore of Malta, which are said to contain a group of 152mm twin-mounted artillery and dozens of heavy machine guns, which completely control the beachhead position that is easiest to land in Malta. Dive bombers and horizontal bombers have bombed it many times, but the effect has always been poor. Today it is the turn of the drillers to try.