Chapter 253: The Power of the Bombers

Chapter 253: The Power of the Bombers

At this time, bombing missions were far from simple: bombers had no navigation systems, no radar, and not even radio communication. All pilots had were a map, a compass, and a ruler.

Even with the exact location of their target, visually spotting it and hitting it accurately was a challenge. The bomber squadron could easily veer off course during flight; a slight angle error at the beginning would result in a deviation of tens of kilometers after flying dozens, or even hundreds, of kilometers.

Hidden targets, like the German artillery positions skillfully concealed and camouflaged in the forest, were almost impossible to locate and destroy accurately.

This limitation had led to criticism from so-called "military experts" in France:

"Bombers might only be effective against exposed, obvious targets, like buildings and bridges."

"They clearly have limitations when it comes to hidden targets. I can't imagine how they'd ever find the right location and drop bombs accurately."

"Besides, they're such large targets. If the enemy is prepared with anti-aircraft guns or artillery, they're basically flying targets!"

This was one of the reasons the military hadn't ordered large numbers of bombers. Their large frames certainly did seem to make them vulnerable.

Charles knew that these "military experts" were paid off by industrialists—at least some of them were. They led the charge in the newspapers, raising doubts, which other "experts" then echoed.

This affected Charles's business—a single bomber could earn him 30,000 francs, and the military would need to order hundreds to meet battlefield needs.

This would mean profits in the millions, perhaps even tens of millions of francs. Charles couldn't just sit by and watch as "rumors" sabotaged this opportunity.

What Charles needed was to destroy a hidden artillery position, to shut up these so-called "experts" with irrefutable proof.

The steps for the bombing mission were roughly as follows:

Carter coordinated with an army liaison officer assigned to the air force for air-ground coordination; some of these liaisons were artillery observers.

Using their artillery observation methods, these artillery observers calculated the precise coordinates and distance to the target based on the intelligence provided.

At the scheduled time and location, they used signal boards on the ground to form a large arrow pointing toward the target, with an "N" marked behind the arrow.

The "N" was a pre-arranged code between the air force and the army, representing the 14th letter of the alphabet, indicating that the target was located 14 kilometers in the direction the arrow pointed.

(Note: Using letters simplified distance markings and made them easier to distinguish; numbers were often mistaken for each other amidst roads, trees, or rivers. For example, "7" could easily be confused with "2," and "6" with "9.")

Next, reconnaissance planes were deployed, protected by fighter escorts, and flew over the target area following the signal boards, circling while using binoculars to make detailed observations.

The Germans had set up machine guns and anti-aircraft artillery on the high ground.

However, for the sake of secrecy, the Germans refrained from firing.

Because the moment they fired, it would be a modern version of the old saying "a hundred pieces of silver hidden here," giving away their position to the enemy.

But even if they managed to hold back and stay silent, it was futile.

Soon, the reconnaissance planes manually dropped a few smoke bombs over the area, marking the German artillery position in the valley below with two trails of rising blue smoke.

The German artillerymen looked at the smoke in confusion:

"What are they doing? Have they found us?"

"I don't think so. Otherwise, they'd be dropping bombs instead of smoke bombs!"

"But then why drop smoke bombs?"

…

Before the question was fully voiced, everyone realized the answer.

The roar of bomber engines echoed in the sky as several bombers appeared above the clouds, descending to a lower altitude.

At that moment, the Germans finally understood:

"My God, they've found us—it's the enemy's bombers!"

"They're marking the way for the bombers! Scatter, everyone, scatter now!"

"Get the ammunition trucks out of here, move quickly!"

Suddenly, the previously motionless valley sprang to life. Soldiers scrambled to move ammunition, tow artillery, and carry ammunition crates as chaos erupted all around.

The anti-aircraft teams on the surrounding high ground were also busy, aiming machine guns and anti-aircraft artillery at the approaching bombers.

The bombers, however, flew calmly toward the artillery position without a tremor in their wings.

Guided by the signal boards and smoke markers, they locked onto their target effortlessly and even slowed down to ensure accuracy.

"Boom! Boom!" Anti-aircraft guns began firing.

These were German 37mm anti-aircraft guns.

Strictly speaking, they weren't really anti-aircraft guns but "anti-balloon guns" developed by the Germans before the war to shoot down reconnaissance balloons.

But these anti-balloon guns were ineffective against the fast-moving planes; their shells had no tracer rounds, so once fired, they had no way to see where they went, nor to know how far off-target they were, leaving them shooting blindly based on intuition.

The crackle of machine-gun fire followed, bullets rattling into the sky, heading toward the approaching bombers.

Some bullets may have hit, but they were equally unable to stop the bombers from closing in.

In an instant, before the machine gunners could even replace their ammunition belts, the bombers were already overhead, dropping one bomb after another.

The wind whistled around the spinning tails of the bombs, a terrifying sound that drove German soldiers to abandon their guns and artillery and dive to the ground, hugging their heads.

"Boom! Boom!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A chain of explosions erupted across the artillery position.

Carter had sent out all 20 bombers, releasing a total of 380 bombs that poured down like rain on the German artillery position in the valley below, transforming it into an inferno in an instant.

The artillery position suffered secondary explosions as well, with each blast rolling fire and thick smoke into the sky, like a raging dragon thrashing wildly.

The surviving Germans on the hilltop stared in shock, murmuring in terror, "God, how can we possibly defeat the French? They can bomb wherever they want, and we're powerless to stop them!"

This was the psychological terror that bombers instilled in their enemies—a psychological blow to ground troops.

The enemy couldn't help but wonder:

If each time a battle broke out, enemy bombers could effortlessly destroy command centers or artillery positions, how could the fight go on?

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