Chapter 52 Trouble in the Rain
The day gradually brightened.
The rain in England fell incessantly, erasing all traces of summer overnight. Even the war machines seemed to slow their pace due to the damp air: the clamor ceased, with only occasional solitary fighter planes darting across the sky. On the sea between the coasts of Portsmouth and Fishbourne, Southampton and Yarmouth, hundreds of ships moved back and forth like busy ants, yet not a single one emitted the shrill sound of a steam whistle. In some areas near the coast, cannons with carriages were dragged ashore by soldiers and mules, but all that could be heard were faint chants and occasional neighs of livestock.
Two newly constructed makeshift airfields were completed according to plan, bringing the total number of usable airfields on the island to eight. Despite the efforts of the German engineering units, the heavily bombed Newport airfield partially resumed operations, but the annoying weather left the sweaty and muddy German officers and soldiers feeling helpless. The rain continued to fall, and to prevent the makeshift runways from turning into mud pits, they tirelessly conducted continuous sorties, barely excavating drainage ditches along the long runways.
However, could the slippery and muddy runways still accommodate aircraft takeoffs and landings?
The Adolf Galland squadron, returning to France overnight, appeared over the Isle of Wight promptly at 8 o'clock in the morning. Like yesterday, all 42 fighters of the squadron would scatter and land at various makeshift airfields on the island. This arrangement was partly to avoid sudden attacks by the Royal Air Force and partly to verify whether these airfields' runways met the standards for the subsequent Ju-52 transport planes — if lightweight fighters like the Messerschmitt Bf 109 couldn't take off and land, the bulky Junkers Ju-52s certainly wouldn't stand a chance!
"All aircraft, clear the runway, all aircraft, clear the runway!"
As this urgent voice spread through the loudspeakers in all directions, eight Bf-109s were flying in from the south in two four-plane formations. After establishing contact with the ground forces via radio, the lead aircraft began to descend, assuming a posture ready for gliding.
Through binoculars, the landing gear beneath the Bf-109's wings had already been securely lowered. Despite the inevitable influence of rainwater on visibility, it quickly aligned with the runway marked by red smoke flares.
Hundreds of hearts hung in the air simultaneously.
The kings of the western sky, the pride of the German Luftwaffe, the legendary Messerschmitt fighters, continued their smooth descent. As they approached closer, one could even see raindrops collecting behind the wings!
The front left wheel touched the ground silently, immediately splashing mud on the slippery runway. Just when everyone's nerves were tense, the experienced pilot swiftly adjusted the aircraft's horizontal attitude. With the left wing up and the right wing down, and a slight pull of the nose, the aircraft flew level for a dozen meters before the front two wheels almost simultaneously touched the runway for the second time — thus ensuring maximum balance during the glide. For the first few meters, the aircraft's twin wheels could still maintain a straight line, but the obvious marks left behind by the aircraft's rear section fully demonstrated the unbearable burden on the runway's surface. Even before the small tailwheel landed smoothly, the aircraft slid off the runway like a drunken car, skidding into the even muddier grass. The pilot decisively accelerated, pulling the aircraft off the ground just in time!
The watching German officers and soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, but they couldn't help but worry about the fate of this airfield: could aircraft still take off and land under the influence of rain?
Inside the tent near the runway, a Waffen-SS officer holding a radio transmitter urgently reported the situation of the first attempted landing to the lead aircraft circling in the air. Since he was wearing headphones, the content of the response from the other side was unknown to outsiders. According to the flight plan, if these fighters couldn't land in time, they could only stay in the air over the Isle of Wight for half an hour at most!
About two to three minutes later, another aircraft broke formation and began to descend. However, unlike the extremely cautious posture of the previous aircraft, it dived straight down without releasing the landing gear, then roared over the runway at a height of no more than five meters. The pilot was obviously observing the runway carefully. At such a close distance, keen-eyed observers could even see his stylish mustache!
Quickly traversing the entire runway, the elegant Bf-109 drew a large circle in the air and returned to the upwind direction. This time, the low-flying fighter finally lowered its sophisticated landing gear, and even before entering the airspace above the runway, it had descended to almost ground level!
The German officers and soldiers standing or sitting near the runway once again held their breath.
At the moment the wheels touched the ground, there was noticeably less mud splashing from the runway than before, and the aircraft taxied for dozens of meters without any skidding. However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that the front two wheels were not fully supported by the ground but were in a subtle state of half-flight and half-taxiing — this acrobatic maneuver was not something an ordinary pilot could master!
The reduction in ground pressure also meant a decrease in resistance, allowing the Bf-109 to taxi for over a hundred meters without a significant slowdown. Instead, the previously level fuselage gradually changed: the tail of the aircraft lowered, and when the rear wheels touched down, the aircraft had already taxied for most of the runway!
The sliding descent, akin to ice skating, gradually slowed down, eventually coming to a halt. After all three wheels touched the ground, the deceleration became apparent. With only a few tens of meters left to the end of the runway, the splashing of mud from the front wheels suddenly increased, and the aircraft began to violently sway as if possessed by a drunken person. The three tracks on the runway, which were previously straight, began to twist and turn from this moment onwards. When the aircraft suddenly lost balance and the tail swung to the right like a drift, nearby German soldiers couldn't bear to watch what would happen next...
Miraculously, the BF-109 didn't overturn but came to a stop after executing a beautiful racecar-style drift!
The rapidly spinning propeller indicated that it still retained the capability to return to the skies, albeit temporarily resting on this muddy terrain.
After the initial moment of silence, the onlookers erupted into excited cheers, chanting various slogans. Shovels and spades danced in the air, military caps were waved like victory flags, and almost everyone marveled at this extraordinary landing. The little mustached pilot who emerged from the cockpit waved proudly to the cheering crowd—a newly famous ace pilot who swiftly rose to the second position on the German Air Force's total victories list—Adolf Galland!
With a role model leading the way, the confidence of the German fighter pilots behind him increased significantly. They descended one after another, with the first two trembling but ultimately succeeding in landing. However, the third one wasn't so lucky; perhaps due to excessive maneuvering during the final sliding phase, its landing gear unfortunately broke. Fortunately, the dog-eating-mud posture didn't trigger an explosion of ammunition and fuel, but it meant that until the landing gear and propeller were repaired, its main role would be to provide spare parts for its comrades...
Wearing bamboo hats and green raincoats, facing the drizzle and slanting wind, the German officers and soldiers watched the "aviation challenge" that made their hearts race at several makeshift airfields on the Isle of Wight. Despite the runways becoming "skating rinks" everywhere before long, the skilled German fighter pilots mostly managed to tame the spirited horses stirred up by the weather. Those occasional mishaps were met with encouragement from their comrades after leaving the aircraft.
A mere dozen BF-109E fighters couldn't compete with the entire Royal Air Force of Britain. However, considering the proximity of the Isle of Wight to mainland Britain and British airfields, without the presence of German fighter planes on the island, the British military could use small formations or even individual aircraft to continuously harass German ground forces, keeping their spirits in a highly tense state and ultimately affecting their performance in frontal combat.
As the leading fighter successfully or unsuccessfully landed, a dozen or so Ju-52s arrived in a hurry. Pursuing glory also meant bearing corresponding risks. The first two "Auntie Ju" planes to land in Broughin consecutively slid off the runway, nearly crashing. Such astonishing losses almost forced the commander of the transport plane formation to decide to halt the airlift. Fortunately, the third one finally landed, albeit making everyone hold their breath!
Conquering nature was still premature, but human courage and will could indeed overcome many objective difficulties. At the cost of losing 11 transport planes, the German Air Force excellently completed 142 transport missions that day, delivering nearly 500 tons of valuable supplies to the garrison on the island. Meanwhile, the British Royal Air Force, apart from actively taking off to intercept the German formation in the early hours of the morning, appeared relatively calm for the rest of the time—perhaps due to a lack of follow-up, or perhaps just gathering strength to launch a new round of aerial attacks on the German forces on the Isle of Wight!
The stormy weather posed headaches for the German Navy personnel. Even before dawn, seven fast freighters sailed out of ports like Cherbourg under the escort of destroyers and torpedo boats. Excluding the influence of weather, they would only need a little over four hours to reach the Isle of Wight. However, without air cover, none of the ships managed to reach the other side successfully. Having suffered humiliation last night, the British naval vessels went on a rampage against these German landing fleets. Led by seven destroyers, nearly 40 torpedo boats took turns attacking, sinking the 1936-model destroyer Z-20, which had safely passed through the Norwegian Campaign, after being hit by torpedoes. Except for the "Angona" which managed to escape by luck, the other six fast freighters were all sunk by British naval gunfire or torpedoes. The German torpedo boat squadron involved in the battle also lost five S-boats and one 1935-model torpedo boat—weighing over 840 tons—almost equivalent to a small destroyer, except for its weaker artillery firepower!
After suffering a painful setback at sea, the German Navy did not abandon their responsibilities in Operation Citadel: they spared no effort to transport troops and supplies to the German forces on the island. When surface vessels failed, they increased the intensity of airlift operations, even carrying hundreds of kilograms of supplies on dual-seat seaplanes crossing the strait in broad daylight. Submarines returning to the battlefield after replenishing torpedoes also carried some ammunition and supplies to some extent.
Having experienced the formidable combat power of the German landing forces, the British landing forces consolidated their beachhead without rushing to advance inland. They also intensified the blockade of the island, while the Germans made every effort to transport troops and supplies to the island. Thus, for the next three days before the weather cleared, the Isle of Wight, as the focal point of the war, entered a relatively calm stalemate.