Chapter 271 Heavy Losses

The bombs dropped by the Germans did not result in earth-shattering explosions. Instead, a dense white fog slowly descended from the sky, and the air seemed to carry a pungent smell of chemicals.

"What's going on?"

Before most people could react, they heard someone panicked shouting, "Gas, it's gas!"

World War I marked the beginning of humanity's use of chemical weapons, primarily choking agents and blister agents. Choking agents included chlorine gas and phosgene, while blister agents included mustard gas. An estimated 50,965 tons were used in the war.

According to official figures, chemical weapons caused approximately 1,176,500 non-lethal casualties and at least 85,000 deaths during World War I.

A writer, describing the horrific scene after interviewing witnesses, said, "A yellow-green gas, up to 30 feet high, slowly advanced with the east wind. This deadly gas burned the eyes and lungs of soldiers from the Allied nations, making them vomit and fall in pain. Hundreds of people died after spitting fresh blood and green foam. The soldiers' silver badges and belt buckles turned black-green."

After the brutal chemical warfare of World War I, the 1925 Geneva Protocol reiterated the prohibition of chemical weapons. Nations understood that the use of chemical weapons would only lead to reciprocal retaliation. Therefore, despite preparations for chemical warfare by major powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and Germany during World War II, large-scale chemical warfare did not erupt between them.

The white gas with a pungent odor instantly triggered terrifying memories for some, and they hysterically screamed.

However, they guessed wrong, what was dropped was not gas bombs.

Wilhelm, the self-proclaimed champion of justice, had no intention of using such insane, universally condemned, anti-human weapons.

These were Germany's latest development: cloud burst bombs.

In 1982, a malt factory warehouse in the eastern French city of Metz experienced a massive explosion. Four concrete grain warehouses, each dozens of meters high, were destroyed, resulting in 18 deaths and the complete paralysis of the entire factory. Surrounding residents were also greatly frightened. After an investigation, it was proven that no explosives were brought in. So how did the explosion happen? It turned out that the explosion was caused by a worker striking a match, and the "explosive material" was flour particles suspended in the air in the grain storage. Igniting flour in the air burned slowly and did not explode. However, when the air was filled with a sufficient amount of flour particles, once ignited by an open flame, the burning particles released heat rapidly, igniting the surrounding dust. In a short time, all the flour particles in the air burned, producing a large amount of gas that rapidly expanded, resulting in an explosion.

Similar explosion incidents occurred in later years, such as flour dust in flour mills, coal dust in coal mines, and sawdust dust in wood processing plants, all prone to dust explosions.

Inspired by dust explosions, military experts invented fuel-air bombs (cloud burst bombs). The main charge of a cloud burst bomb is a cloud burst agent, a fuel rather than an explosive. In an explosive reaction, explosives rely on their own oxygen supply, while a cloud burst bomb explosion fully utilizes the oxygen in the atmosphere within the explosion area. Under certain ignition conditions, the cloud burst agent is scattered, mixed with the air, and undergoes a violent explosion known as a cloud burst. It instantly releases a large amount of thermal energy, forming a high-temperature and high-pressure fireball, usually at a temperature of around 2500°C. It rapidly expands at a speed of 2000 to 2500 meters per second, achieving the goal of destroying the target.

The panicked people did not notice that a faint flame suddenly burst open in the center of these fog clusters. Subsequently, the fog clusters suddenly turned into a dazzling flame, and the flame rose rapidly, turning into a small dark red mushroom cloud. The powerful shockwave instantly swept away everything around it.

The ships at the center of the explosion, along with the people and the vessels, were torn into fragments by the terrifying shockwave. Distant ships also ignited under the high-temperature impact, and sailors on the ships were instantly scalded to death. Even in places further away from these fireballs, many people painfully clutched their necks, resembling drowning victims, their faces grotesque and terrifying.

Cloud burst bombs mainly rely on the destructive effects of the shockwave and thermal field generated by the explosion, as well as the scouring effect of the high-temperature, high-pressure explosion products. Due to the consumption of oxygen in the vicinity during a cloud burst explosion, it can create an oxygen-depleted area within its range, causing organisms to suffocate and die.

Because they don't need to carry an oxidizer, cloud burst bombs are several times more powerful than traditional bombs of the same weight. They are also called sub-nuclear bombs, indicating their incredibly devastating power.

The response speed of the air defense forces at the port was not slow. At the moment of the cloud burst bomb explosion, they had already arrived over the port. Unfortunately, the speed of the mosquito bomber formation had exceeded 640 kilometers per hour. Even hurricanes couldn't catch up, leaving them to watch in horror as the mushroom cloud rose over the port.

"Prime Minister, Prime Minister!"

Prime Minister Churchill had been physically and mentally exhausted these days, dealing with too many matters and solving too many problems, leaving him stressed. After working all night yesterday and just about to take a short break early in the morning, he heard the secretary's startled cry from outside the door.

Churchill's heart sank, such an uproar surely meant another piece of bad news. As expected, the secretary who rushed into the office brought him dire tidings. "The ports of Sheerness, Margate, Dover, Newhaven, Folkestone, and Ramsgate have just been bombed by German aircraft!"

Churchill's heart suddenly felt like it was being squeezed. He couldn't afford to mind his physical discomfort; he hurriedly asked, "How many bombers did the Germans send?"

"About twenty per port, adding up to no more than 140!"

Churchill couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Just twenty each, even if the Germans sent precision bombers like the Stuka, they couldn't sink many ships. "What about the losses?"

Seeing the secretary's face nearly in tears, he asked anxiously, "Heavy losses! Most of the ships in the six ports have sunk, and those that haven't are heavily damaged, making them impossible to set sail!"

"What?!" Churchill was greatly shocked, his face expressing disbelief. "Twenty planes wrote off all the ships in one port? How is that possible?!"

"I heard the Germans used a new type of bomb. Moreover, the ships docked in the port were all civilian vessels, with much less protection than warships."

Another new type of bomb, a new type of weapon! The Germans seemed to have an endless variety of new weapons, and these innovations were all attributed to that damned German Crown Prince. Where did he get so many ideas?

Churchill gritted his teeth with hatred and continued to ask, "What about civilian casualties?"

"Those ships were preparing to leave the port." In other words, those people were all on board the ships. Since the ships were destroyed, it was impossible for them to survive.

Churchill's vision darkened, and he slumped into his chair.

He had solemnly promised the safety of civilians by the Royal Navy on the radio, but now? He let those innocent civilians lose their lives in vain. Before he could even blame himself, Chief of the Imperial General Staff Sir John Greer Dill rushed into the office. "Prime Minister, General Gort is on the line. The German artillery is unusually fierce, and our military has suffered heavy casualties. General Gort requests sending fighter planes to disperse the German bomber formation."