It was already April when this boat was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Force. It took nearly a month to modify and test it. It was already early May when it was handed over to the 21st Attack Wing. During the modification, the Americans

Almost the entire air combat command center was moved to the ship. From a distance, the entire ship was filled with densely packed antennas, like islands covered with various shrubs. In order to prevent these electronic devices from interfering with each other,

The distance between various equipment must be as wide as possible. In this way, the original cabin structure was completely changed. The original one was taken by Ron, and the conference room that could be used as a war room was occupied.

Fortunately, the occupied half was only the upper half - the interior height of this living room is nearly 4.5 meters, and the upper half was partitioned off to house various equipment. The lower half became the war room.

In terms of area alone, the area of ​​this combat command room is not small. But in terms of the height of the interior, it is an outright tragedy.

The internal height of this combat command room is only two meters. Although this height does not require everyone to bow their heads and confess their sins inside, it also makes the staff officers responsible for holding push rods and indicating sticks extremely uncomfortable. When they are used to it

When you raise the indicator stick in your hand, the indicator stick will plunge into the ceiling, and then under the influence of the reaction force, it will hit the sand table or map at once, sweeping away the various marks on it.

But that’s not the scariest thing. The scariest thing is that such a low inner space will create a sense of depression for the people inside, which will directly affect their efficiency. The solution is also very creative, Yankee

The rules of perspective were used to draw a non-existent inner space on the ceiling. This greatly reduced the sense of oppression, but this approach also greatly increased the chance of the staff hitting the ceiling with the pointing stick.

But in general, apart from this weakness, this ship is still very satisfactory. Especially the wide open deck, which is loved by many officers. Of course, the more important thing is the improvement of command efficiency.

, here, commanders can directly command the battle at a closer distance, and they can even directly issue instructions to each fighter jet equipped with special fuel air bombs.

This greatly improves the efficiency of command. Of course, necessary adaptive training is still essential.

…

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, there are only the last few days left in May, and the landing is imminent. You must know that if you miss June, the weather will get worse and worse in the next few months, so that landing operations will be almost impossible.

It is completely impossible. Landing operations have strict requirements on the climate: in order to ensure the safe landing of landing craft, the sea wind speed should not exceed 13-18 miles per hour; in order to increase the accuracy of the firepower of attacking warships, the visibility should not be less than 3

Miles: To prevent the paratroopers from being spread too thin during the landing, the land wind speed should be less than 20 miles per hour; there should be no ground fog in the English Channel during the first few days of the offensive.

However, the Allies encountered the worst weather in the past 40 or 50 years. RAF Colonel and Chief Meteorologist Stagg (1900-1975) pointed out that "a series of three low-pressure belts were slowly coming out of

"Scotland moves across the Atlantic towards Newfoundland." He predicts this will lead to strong winds in the English Channel until June 7, accompanied by 100% coverage of clouds with lows of 500 to 1,000 feet. In this case

Under the weather conditions, neither sea bombardment nor air attacks can be carried out.

This kind of weather condition made the commanders in the Allied Command almost turn their heads with worry. As for the German army, this was really good news. The German army had carried out countless operations before.

The anti-landing map was simulated for several times. However, no matter whether Long Bubai or Long was absent, they tried all their methods and could not prevent the Allied forces from landing on the European continent. In the face of absolute strength, any well-conceived combat plan could not stop them.

None of them can change the situation. The most they can do is increase the enemy's casualties or reduce their own losses. And even with these two tactical goals, the Germans cannot achieve them at the same time.

achieved.

The bad weather at this time greatly helped the German army. No matter how strong the Allied forces were, they could not resist the power of nature. As long as this dangerous period was delayed, judging from the weather records over the years, June

After that, the weather suitable for landing became less and less. Considering the time required for a large-scale landing operation, this year will be basically safe. Because once the battle is delayed until September, no landing operation will be possible.

It's possible. Therefore, in the Germans' view, the Allies have already missed the landing window. After a while, the Germans can even mobilize most of the troops deployed on the Western Front to fight the Russians on the Eastern Front.

On May 30, Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, Lundstedt, reported to Hitler that due to unfavorable weather, there was no sign that an attack was "imminent." On June 4, the German air force weather station in Paris concluded that the weather was bad and that the Allied forces would not be able to attack within half a month.

There will be action. After receiving this weather forecast, Marshal Rommel had a good sleep for the first time in many days. He rushed back to Germany the next day to celebrate his wife's birthday.

However, weather forecasting cannot be guaranteed to be 100% correct until the 21st century, let alone in the 1940s of the last century? At that time, weather forecasting largely relied on the experience accumulated over the years.

Meteorological data. But this thing is a big weakness in Germany. The Germans have no accumulation of meteorological data on the English Channel. After defeating France, the Germans obtained some data from the French, but this data was incomplete.

Since then, the Germans themselves have accumulated some record data. However, compared with the information in their hands and that in the hands of the British, the gap is even greater than the gap between the German Navy and the British Royal Navy. Marshal Rommel's return to China this time, he finally sat down

This confirmed his reputation as "long absent".

Just one day before the Germans made a forecast of severe weather for the next half month, on the evening of June 3, this was when dark clouds shrouded the sky over the strait and the wind became stronger. However, the Allied meteorologists made this

Forecast: There is a new cyclone behind the cold front cyclone that is approaching the English Channel. Landing will not be possible on June 5. On the 6th, in the gap where the first cold front has passed and the new cold front has not yet arrived, there may be conditions suitable for landing in the channel.

During the gap before the new cold front arrives, weather suitable for landing may appear on the strait.

Just when the Germans relaxed their vigilance, D-Day arrived quietly. On the night of June 4, Allied Commander-in-Chief Eisenhower obtained the weather information from the United States by Rossby (a Swede), the most famous meteorologist in Europe and the United States at the time.

Forecast: There will be a storm passing through the strait on June 5, and there will be suitable weather for landing on the 6th. Eisenhower also received the weather forecast for June 6 from the joint meteorological team: sunny in the morning, turning cloudy at night. Although this kind of weather is not ideal, it is good for

The landing of airlift troops, air force bombing and naval observation are all beneficial, and it also greatly reduces the possibility of the Allied forces being bombed by enemy aircraft on the beach on the first night after landing. After obtaining such a reliable and meeting the minimum meteorological requirements for landing,

After the weather forecast, Eisenhower decided at the morning weather seminar on June 5 that D-Day would be June 6 and would not change it. This order was officially issued at 4:30.

From 23:00 on June 5th to 1:00 on June 6th, the first batch of troops began to set off. This batch of troops included the British 1st Airborne Division, the American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The moon rose that night

It was very late, at midnight, the moon had just risen. Countless transport planes began to cross the strait in the reddish light of the rising moon. At this time, Ron had already been on standby in his command ship for a long time.

.

Just as the transport fleet flew over Ron's head and headed towards the opposite side of the strait, the fleet also received the order to attack. One by one, the warships began to light the fire in the boilers, then pulled up the anchor chain and untied the cable. Then one by one they

Then one line left Portsmouth Harbor, facing the reddish moon, heading towards Normandy. The reddish moonlight cast by the rising moon danced on the waves of the English Channel, smearing the sea surface.

It has a dull red color.

"The moonlight is bloody, which heralds a bloody dawn." Standing on the front deck, Ron said leisurely, "Scott, what do you think of my prophecy? Does it sound like a wizard?"

"Not good at all, General. We are setting out for a battle of this magnitude. Even a fool knows there will be rivers of blood tomorrow. General, you are more like a wizard when making other judgments than just now."

Yes." His adjutant refused to join in the fun, and instead refuted him.

"Scott, you are so boring." Ron smiled and shook his head.

…

June 6, 2 o'clock, Portsmouth, Crow's Nest Airport.

48 PA-38 attack aircraft have been pulled out of the hangar. Ground crews are busy attaching bombs to them, refueling them, and doing routine inspections before takeoff. Each PA-38 has a hanger under the belly.

Armed with a 1.5-ton fuel-air bomb, they would be the nutcrackers that crack open the hard nuts of enemy coastal fortresses.

At 4 o'clock, all the pilots had gotten up and started having breakfast in the restaurant. At this time, the fleet had been sailing on the strait for several hours.

At 4:40, the pilots began to board the plane and prepare to take off.

At 4:50, the moon had risen to the zenith, and the eastern sky was slightly white. At this time, the pilots received the order to attack. Boynton released the brakes of the P-81 fighter, and the first

Taxiing toward the runway. Behind him, the propellers of plane after plane began to spin.

…

At 5:30, the attack aircraft group caught up with the sailing landing ship formation. A few minutes later, they caught up with the artillery formation that was further ahead and was responsible for providing artillery support. At this time, the sky began to dawn, and at the same time, the original
Chapter completed!