Chapter 211 Aerial Combat (2)

Glancing at the enemy, there were eight formations of three, totaling 24 MS.406s. On their side, ten formations of two, amounting to 20 Bf 109Fs. Although they seemed outnumbered, Galland believed that their Bf 109F fighter planes far surpassed the French MS.406s in performance, especially since they had already seized the higher altitude.

With the issuance of the attack command, the 20 Bf 109Fs began diving in batches, rapidly exceeding 600 kilometers per hour.

In future eras, one of the crucial indicators of fighter aircraft performance was thrust-to-weight ratio. Unfortunately, until the 1950s and 60s, fighter aircrafts had consistently low thrust-to-weight ratios, let alone the propeller-driven fighters of the World War II era.

Hence, in aerial combat during World War II, "altitude + speed + firepower" was the golden rule. The fighter aces who emerged predominantly employed this tactic.

As is well known, the engine generates energy, and this energy is manifested in the form of speed in aerial combat. Having speed allows for freedom in choosing whether to engage and the method of engagement. However, you cannot infinitely stack speed, nor can you rapidly increase speed solely with the engine.

But gaining altitude, accumulating gravitational potential energy, allows for the conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy when needed. For fighter aircraft, especially in the early days, altitude was akin to an energy bank. The engine's output was stored in the bank in the form of altitude, and when necessary, it could be withdrawn in the form of speed to engage enemy aircraft.

Therefore, both sides in a dogfight needed to seize the high ground. Though the French began raising their altitude, their aircraft's performance was inferior, leaving them at a disadvantage.

However, they didn't just sit idly. Watching the German fighters diving from above, they immediately dispersed their formation, spiraling down to lower altitudes. They attempted to use dogfighting to drag German fighters down, compensating for their inferior speed performance with low-altitude, low-speed combat.

Seeing this, Galland sneered with disdain. "These French guys still play these tricks, slightly better than the Poles."

This tactic by the French was one of the few reasonable tactics that the slower side could adopt in aerial combat. However, these French pilots were unaware that their opponents, the Bf 109s, had been upgraded to the 109F, precisely the model with the best maneuverability in the 109 series, reaching the pinnacle of the 109's capabilities.

Galland was confident that he wouldn't lose out in low-altitude dogfights, but he couldn't guarantee the same for others. After the Polish Campaign, the German Air Force nearly doubled its number of fighter aircraft. Now, most of their pilots were inexperienced rookies!

He couldn't allow these fledglings to engage in low-altitude dogfights; he could only use the training methods they were familiar with. "Attention, everyone, execute a standard BnZ; don't engage them in low-altitude dogfights!" The BnZ, or Boom and Zoom, was a tactic of high-altitude diving attacks. Regardless of hitting the target, climb again to gain altitude advantage, waiting for the next opportunity. Of course, this was a broad explanation; in practice, there could be countless variations.

At this moment, the fighter planes' speed exceeded 650 kilometers per hour, and Galland relished the unparalleled sense of speed, aiming at an MS.406 and pulling the trigger.

"Tut, tut, tut." Four 12.7mm machine guns sprayed scorching bullets, forming a dense curtain of firepower around the French fighter. The hard projectiles penetrated the airframe, pierced through the body, shattered the internal structure, destroyed the fuel system, and incapacitated the equipment inside. Carrying the remaining energy, they continued to wreak havoc until breaking through the other side of the fuselage, arrogantly soaring away.

Watching the plane trailing thick black smoke descend, he immediately pulled the control stick, pressing his back firmly against the seat.

Back in high altitude, he pressed the communicator. "All squadrons, report your status."

The remaining nine squadrons reported one after another. Some planes had a few holes from 7.5mm machine gun hits, but nothing significant. Although the MS.406 also carried a 20mm cannon, its slow rate of fire and mediocre performance meant it rarely hit unless someone was unlucky.

Galland noticed that this attack had taken down at least 11 enemy planes, a decent achievement for a group of rookies.

"Good, let's go again, aim to shoot them all down!"

After circling once, the Bf 109 squadrons began diving again. However, the French, who had lost nearly half of their planes, seemed to lose the courage to continue the fight and scattered, each trying to escape.

Unfortunately, the MS.406's performance was already inferior to the Bf 109F. How could it outrun the diving Bf 109Fs?

Galland was fortunate enough to catch up with two MS.406s fleeing together. They didn't even attempt evasive maneuvers, just desperately fled ahead.

This allowed Galland to calmly close the distance. With ease, he pulled the trigger, and 12.7mm bullets sprayed out, effortlessly hitting one MS.406's wing. The wing was instantly riddled with holes, breaking off. Like a bird losing its wings, the plane plummeted to the ground.

"Wingman, give it a try!" Galland left the other prey for his wingman.

"Roger!" The wingman's tone was filled with eager excitement. However, at that moment, the remaining MS.406 seemed to remember the existence of evasive maneuvers and began frantically performing various maneuvers, attempting to shake off the pursuit.

"Hold your breath. The opponent is already nervous and scared. Once frightened, a person exposes many vulnerabilities." Seeing that his wingman was struggling to find a firing opportunity, Galland comforted with a few words.

Sure enough, shortly after, the wingman seized an opportunity, firing a burst of bullets. One bullet hit the rear of the opponent's airframe, while another penetrated the cockpit canopy.

"What a lucky guy!" Galland couldn't help but exclaim. If that trajectory had been a bit lower, it would have definitely cracked open the pilot's skull.

Seemingly startled by this bullet, the French pilot abruptly tilted the nose upward, followed by a somersault, flipping the belly of the plane upward. After maintaining the original altitude for half a second, the nose was pressed down, entering a dive.

"Continue the pursuit! I'll cover you from behind."

Galland and his wingman also followed, diving down, and the speeds on both sides increased.

The French pilot noticed that with the soaring speed, the control stick became increasingly heavy, making it difficult to perform agile evasive maneuvers.

Just as he thought it wasn't good and was preparing to exit the dive, he heard a continuous muffled sound and felt the fuselage violently shaking. Subsequently, several streams of scorching heat pierced into his waist and back.

"Yeah!!" Watching the MS.406 spinning down like a falling leaf, the wingman exclaimed in excitement.

"Well done. Keep it up, and you'll become an ace sooner or later." Galland gave a thumbs-up to his wingman in the cockpit, then returned with him to the formation. "All squadrons, report your status."

They had shot down all the French aircraft. A somewhat disheartened voice reported, "Wingman of Group 3 has been shot down, but I saw him parachuting."

Galland clicked his tongue. Unfortunately, that's how the battlefield was, especially for newcomers; being shot down was commonplace. And achieving a ratio of 1:24 was already considered a great victory. "I hope he holds out until the ground forces arrive."