Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 137 The Western Front Bombing

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

On the same day that the massive bombing of naval ports in the Black Sea theater on the eastern front began, on the Belighin coast on the western front, Demania's airship forces and coastal artillery units had long been preparing to unleash an attack that had been brewing for months.

Their target was the fleet anchored in several naval ports near the Burghili Strait and on the east coast of Britannia.

Because the long-range bombing missions on the western front required greater distances and higher altitudes, the airship units had to take off much earlier.

Most of the airships took off before midnight on the 27th, and had to fly over the North Sea for more than 6 hours before arriving at several ports on the east coast of Britannia before dawn.

Such long-distance flights require more airship payload to be allocated to fuel, which reduces the bomb load. Generally, bombing missions on the eastern front with a one-way distance of more than 200 kilometers can allocate 5 tons of payload to carry bombs, while bombing missions on the western front can only carry a maximum of 3 tons.

Longer flight distances also bring navigation difficulties and accumulate more errors. Generally, after flying several hundred kilometers, the deviation will be at least tens of kilometers.

After daybreak, they would have to slowly locate the port and readjust their course to fly over it. This would waste an extra half hour of precious time after daybreak compared to the eastern front, giving the enemy on the ground more time to react.

This half hour can be used to urgently heat up the boilers on warships, to urgently launch fighter reconnaissance aircraft for interception, or to adjust the deployment of anti-aircraft guns.

Similarly, due to the long range, bombing on the western front could not be carried out at the same frequency as the eastern front, which was twice a day; the maximum was one round a day. If airship maintenance required more time, it might even have to be reduced to one round every few days.

Therefore, the effectiveness of airship bombing of harbors on the western front was destined to be far weaker than that on the eastern front. The western front was only suitable for indiscriminate nighttime bombing, or simply for bombing large targets at the city level, even if the bombs missed their mark.

Regardless, the upper echelons of Demania have already felt the pressure of the times that "airship bombing is about to be phased out," and while it is still in use, they are naturally trying their best to make the most of its remaining potential.

In this operation, the 30 airships on the western front were also divided into two groups.

A force taking off from the mainland, Port William, would need to fly 700 kilometers across the North Sea, a total flight time exceeding 7 hours, to attack Port Rosyth in southern Scotland, where a portion of the fast main fleet was anchored.

Another group took off from Zeebrugge in Belighin, traveling over 200 kilometers to Harrich on the east coast of Britannia, where the North Sea patrol fleet is stationed.

Finally, there was a newly built coastal artillery force, along with some temporarily brought in railway guns, ready to bombard Dover, 38 kilometers away, and the adjacent Folkestone anchorage, from Cape Greene, west of Calais.

This place is one of the bases of the Channel Fleet. Although the main force of the Channel Fleet usually hides in Southampton or Portsmouth, recent intelligence indicates that in order to guard against further infiltration of the Demandian Navy's submarine force into the Channel, some of the Channel Fleet's ships have been moved to the vicinity of Dover in recent days for close monitoring.

As for how the news that "Demanian submarines plan to intensify their infiltration of the Strait" came about, or whether it was a false intelligence deliberately leaked by the "wireless" (a derogatory term for a spy), that's not important.

Moreover, even if it's false intelligence, it will be acted very convincingly. The Demacian Navy's submarine force will actually be deployed to the direction of Calais to attempt an infiltration and breakthrough, making the whole charade a reality.

After all, even ordinary PUBG players in later generations know that when using wallhacks, you have to pretend to be an actor.

……

At 5:7 a.m. on July 28, 15 airships that took off from the Bruges airship base in Ginzie, Belgium, were the first to arrive at Harrich, on the east coast of Britannia.

Choosing Harrich Port as the target has several advantages. First, the flight distance is relatively short, saving fuel and allowing for a larger bomb load. Second, the closer the distance, the smaller the accumulated navigation error. Once dawn breaks, the target can be located within ten minutes, and the aircraft can fly over it again to begin dropping bombs, maximizing the element of surprise in the operation.

The downside is that Harrich Harbor doesn't really have any large ships; it's mostly cruisers and destroyers, with the largest being a 10,000-ton cruiser.

After all, this is a fleet responsible for controlling the North Sea and hunting down Demanian destroyers and submarines, not a fleet for the main decisive battle.

The airship force that attacked Harrich was also mostly composed of soldiers from the Duchy of Württemberg and the Duchy of Baden. This was because the army occupying this coastal area was the German 4th Army, commanded by the Archduke of Württemberg.

The air strike force members also came from the same principality, which made them easier to manage and work together.

Lieutenant Hugo Sperer from Ludwigsburg, Duchy of Württemberg, was a member of this airship unit, serving as the observation officer of airship L45.

As the ground was gradually illuminated by the dawn, the observers on the 15 airships were all looking for ground targets with their eyes wide open. A few minutes later, Lieutenant Hugo Sperler was the first to observe and calculate the relative yaw.

"Report to the captain! Our vessel has veered northeast. The target port is to our southwest, direction 243, distance 9 kilometers!"

The major, the captain of airship L45, immediately raised his binoculars and looked in the direction Lieutenant Sperler had called out, and sure enough, he saw the anchorage.

He immediately ordered the airships to turn and had the signalman signal the battlefield light command, "All airships, follow me to turn."

This is also the most common command issued by a comrade after spotting a target during airship group operations. It avoids the cumbersome process of transmitting messages from the air and also prevents the radio signals from being intercepted by enemy forces on the ground.

The remaining 14 airships quickly flew over as instructed.

Knowing all along that Harrich Harbor didn't have any top-tier aircraft, the airship group carried only 500-kilogram bombs this time, to avoid carrying 2000-kilogram bombs which would be too redundant and insufficient in number.

Against a light cruiser, a 500kg bomb is lethal enough; against a 10,000-ton armored cruiser, even if it doesn't sink, it will severely damage it. As for destroyers, once they get a hit, they are instantly killed. In addition, Harrich Port is relatively close, and each airship can carry 8 500kg bombs and 10 50kg small bombs for spotting.

Just 10 minutes later, the airship group arrived directly above the anchorage of Harrich Harbor. Most of the warships did not have time to heat up their boilers, but a few ships that were on patrol were still desperately firing into the air with their few newly installed shipborne anti-aircraft guns.

Bretonnians' combat reconnaissance planes also began to take off.

The new Rolls-Royce aircraft engines are far more powerful than the crudely made junk engines of the Lusa counterparts on the Eastern Front, pushing combat capabilities all the way up, with the maximum service ceiling estimated to be close to 3000 meters.

However, it takes a considerable amount of time to climb to 3000 meters. The plane gets more and more tired as it climbs. When it gets close to 3000 meters, even if the power is increased to the maximum, it can only climb one or two meters per second. The last few hundred meters can take 10 minutes to climb.

"Quickly, before the enemy planes climb up, maintain an altitude of 3000 meters for aiming and bombing! Once the enemy planes reach an altitude of 2500 meters, climb immediately!"

The Demacian airships were also very rational; upon seeing the enemy's posture, they knew they had to seize the opportunity to attack.

The airship swarm immediately rushed towards the most conspicuous berth of the 10,000-ton armored cruiser. After casually dropping a few 50-kilogram bombs and making minor adjustments, 500-kilogram bombs began to rain down.

……

"Fire! Don't let those airships get any closer!"

On the berth below, the remaining three Cressy-class armored cruisers, the Dionysus, the Sutlege River, and the Euryale, faced an oncoming swarm of airships. All the officers and men on board were gripped by immense fear, yet they had no choice but to fight to the death.

As an old-fashioned armored cruiser built at the end of the 19th century, the Cressy-class ships were generally 16 years old. If we only look at the anti-ship firepower of the main and secondary guns, these ships were not much behind other armored cruisers built in the following seven or eight years.

However, in terms of air defense and underwater protection, these ships were utterly inadequate—the warships lacked depth charges and had no armor protection against underwater attacks, and the entire ship only had three 76mm guns. So even with hastily modified gun elevation, only these three small-caliber guns were capable of anti-aircraft fire.

This design allows the ship to make up the numbers when facing enemy fire at sea, but it is completely helpless against threats from the air or underwater.

Just over a month after the outbreak of war last year, the other three Cressy-class submarines, including the lead ship Cressy, were ambushed by the Demania's U-9 submarine off the coast of Belkinostend.

With just one submarine, firing all six of its torpedoes, it hit three armored cruisers, sinking them all with a total of 37500 tons sunk (each of the Cressy-class cruisers weighed 12500 tons), a feat that can be considered a miracle in naval history.

The remaining three cruisers are now stationed at Harrich Harbor as a backup plan to counter the Demacian light cruisers' hunting operations near Dogger Sands.

However, instead of the aggressive advance of German light cruisers, we were met with the arrival of German airships.

The three ships' nine 76mm water hoses, used for haphazard air-to-air maneuvers, proved utterly ineffective. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as the 50kg bombs fell closer and closer, eventually crashing onto the deck.

With almost no deck armor, even a 50-kilogram sweet potato could smash through the surface deck. The four large sausage-shaped smokestacks that stood on the deck were also completely unprotected, and one of them was even blown askew.

With the 50-kilogram bomb exploding on the deck, it meant that a 500-kilogram bomb was coming soon.

Heavy bombs whistled through the sky, raining down from an altitude of over 3000 meters. Even with the airship almost hovering, it still took an average of 15 bombs to guarantee a direct hit. If the warship were smaller, the chances of hitting it would be even greater.

"To the left! Just a little bit to the right!" Lieutenant Hugo Sperler, the observation officer, shouted hoarsely on the L45 airship, while the helmsman and other crew members worked hard to operate the airship, trying to make fine adjustments.

However, airships have a large turning radius, and they cannot make lateral adjustments in the air; they can only make minor adjustments in the forward and backward directions.

Therefore, when airships bomb warships, their flight path is often at a slight angle to the angle at which the warship is anchored. This allows for fine-tuning left and right by simply operating the forward or backward movement.

Fortunately, the airship's crew were all elites who had been following these tactical guidelines. After a slight adjustment to the engine output, the heavy bomb finally landed steadily on the deck of the "Dionysus".

"The flight path should overlap with the warship's; quickly drop a few more!"

Hugo Sperler quickly reported the observation results to the captain, who also made a decisive decision to drop all the remaining bombs at once.

At this point, thinking about saving bombs, finding the next target, and re-calibrating with smaller bombs is a complete waste of time and opportunity!

Each airship was content if it could target just one enemy during each heavy bombing raid; all that remained was to drop as many bombs as possible once it had found the target.

As for the other targets, let's leave them to other friendly airships.

Ultimately, three 500-kilogram aerial bombs, falling at a speed of over 200 meters per second, slammed into the horizontal armor of the Dionysus.

The 700 kilograms of TNT explosives blew the entire deck of the warship off the ground, and the four large smokestacks were completely thrown into the sea.

Two large rips were blown open in the hull, and seawater rushed in, immediately sinking the 12500-ton armored cruiser to its berth.

The "Satrege" and "Euryas" of the same class also received special attention from other airships, but the other airships did not have the same high precision as the one Lieutenant Sperler was on. In the end, it took three rounds of fire from six airships to sink the other two "Cressy-class" ships.

Seeing that there were no more high-value targets in the port, the airships finally began to randomly drop bombs on the light cruiser and destroyer berths, and some even went to bomb supply ships and oil tankers.

There was actually an even larger armored cruiser in the harbor, the Minotaur-class, which was completed in 1907 and served as the flagship of the cruiser fleet. German airships also attempted to attack it, just as they had attacked the Cressy-class.

However, the Minotaur-class ships had a total of 16 small-caliber 76mm guns, and after emergency wartime modifications, these guns were equipped with the ability to fire at high angles of elevation.

The firepower of 16 76mm guns is equivalent to that of 4 anti-aircraft gun batteries, which is more than 5 times that of the "Cressy-class"!
During the attempt to attack the Minotaur-class, two airships were hit directly by shells due to their overly aggressive attack methods, paying the price for their underestimation of the enemy.

However, the two airships did not die in vain. Since they had already crashed anyway, they lowered their altitude and dropped bombs, accurately hitting the Minotaur with multiple 500-kilogram bombs. The wreckage of one of the airships even crashed directly onto the ship's deck.

This completely sank this 15,000-ton "peak of armored patrol" vessel, which could be considered "half a step forward in fearlessness," to the bottom of the sea.

Having learned a lesson from the Minotaur-class ships, the airships no longer dared to underestimate the new warships with stronger anti-aircraft capabilities, and instead targeted those with weaker anti-aircraft defenses.

After sinking another Chatham-class light cruiser and two destroyers, the airship squadron quickly called it a day. A total of two airships were shot down and two were damaged on this mission. The ones shot down were the price paid for the risky attack on the Minotaur-class ships. The damage was caused by stray bullets fired upwards from enemy fighter reconnaissance aircraft at maximum altitude using their rear machine guns, but the damage was minor and they could still be used after repairs.

……

The bombing of Harrich Harbor ultimately resulted in the loss of seven Britannians warships: four armored cruisers, one light cruiser, and two destroyers. However, because it was a port area, the ships were mostly salvageable, and casualties were relatively few.

Only the Dionysus, sunk by Hugo Sperler, exploded directly, and the Minotaur-class ship was hit by multiple heavy bombs, struck by airships, and ignited by the embers of hydrogen gasbags, resulting in a total of over a thousand deaths on these two ships, with most of the remaining crew members escaping.

This air raid resulted in over 2100 casualties for the Britannian Navy, while Demania lost 32 airship crew members.

At the same time, the 15 airships sent to Rosyth, the southernmost port of Scotland (the outer harbor of Edinburgh, located near the mouth of Edinburgh Firth), to carry out bombing missions achieved much smaller results.

The airship's long range caused a large cumulative error, and by the time it finally reached the airspace above the port, some warships had already become alert and were able to barely take off at low speed.

Compared to the Black Sea Fleet at Lusza on the eastern front, this demonstrates that the Royal Britannian Navy was indeed formidable. The warships were highly vigilant; those moored in Rosyth harbor even maintained low-pressure boilers, ensuring they wouldn't be forced into a cold start in the event of an attack.

When the airships arrived over the port, they encountered even more 76mm anti-aircraft guns and had to fly at high altitude to drop bombs. In the end, the airships did not suffer much damage, with only one being shot down.

However, three other airships encountered mechanical failures caused by storms and other factors. Even if they managed to fly back, they would need to be repaired and would be unusable for a short period of time.

In terms of bombing results, the 15 airships dropped a total of 90 500 kg aerial bombs, and a few spot-fire bombs.

Since there were plenty of large ships to bomb in Rosyth Harbor, the airship squadron didn't waste bombs on the smaller ships. Instead, all the airships were divided into two groups and lined up to bomb the two dreadnoughts, without even bothering to do much calibration.

Ultimately, the battleship "Neptune," which was the most conspicuous target anchored in the port, was subjected to a concentrated attack by 10 airships, with 60 500-kilogram bombs dropped on it.

This battleship, which was started in 1909 and completed in 1911, had some design problems. The two main gun turrets in the middle of the ship were placed back to back, sandwiching the main funnel.

The design was originally intended to allow all main guns to fire to one side with a relatively wide field of fire.

Before the Neptune, other earlier Burkina Faso battleships were unable to fire all their main guns to one side. From the Dreadnought to the Bellerophon-class and then to the Saint Vincent-class, even though they were all equipped with 10 guns, they had to waste 2 of them, and could only concentrate 8 guns to fire salvo from one side.

The radical design of the HMS Neptune is a classic example of prioritizing firepower over safety. After its completion, the Royal Navy discovered problems during exercises and testing, so only one ship of this class was ever built, and all subsequent plans were cancelled.

The Royal Navy later made urgent adjustments to the design, resulting in the "Colossus" class battleships. The biggest improvement of the "Colossus" class over the "Neptune" class was that it no longer aimed to have all five main gun turrets tightly squeezed onto the centerline. The two turrets in the middle were slightly offset to the port and starboard sides, increasing the installation margin for turret protection.

However, the experimental ship "Neptune" was left behind and was captured by the airship force in present-day Rosyth Harbor.

The concentrated bombardment of 60 500-kilogram aerial bombs resulted in 3 direct hits and 4 near misses.

Three 500-kilogram bombs should not have been enough to sink a battleship. However, one of them happened to hit the very center of the ship, and after sliding down the main funnel, it exploded right between the No. 2 and No. 3 main gun turrets.

This position could directly destroy the main funnel, and the explosive force would be just right to hit the vulnerable rear part of the two main gun turrets "back to back"—a part that would be absolutely impossible to hit in normal naval warfare.

In normal naval warfare, all turrets must face the enemy ship, and only the frontal armor, side armor, or top armor may be hit. The area directly behind the turret will never be hit.

But this attack came from above. A 500-kilogram bomb blew the main chimney off at the base and also pierced the thin back armor of the No. 2/3 turret.

The ammunition silo doors inside the turret were tightly closed, but the explosion of just four shells inside the turret, along with the deep breach created by the bombs, still tore apart the side walls of the ammunition silo and the roof of the engine room.

Soon, the ammunition depots beneath the No. 2 and No. 3 main gun turrets exploded, and the two main gun turrets, along with the main chimneys, were blown into the air.

The earth-shattering explosion even sank several barges and tugboats next to the battleship, and stunned all the officers and soldiers in the port of Rosyth.

Of the 60 bombshells, this one was the real fatal flaw; the others were just icing on the cake or filler.

When the Neptune sank, all the officers and soldiers on the airships cheered in unison.

The cost of just one of these battleships is equivalent to that of 12 airships.

The remaining 30 heavy bombs from the 5 airships eventually landed near another battleship in the harbor, which was either a Bellerophon-class or a Saint Vincent-class.

Unfortunately, only one missile hit directly, striking the most densely packed area of ​​the superstructure. It collapsed the aft bridge's observation tower and aft funnel, but did not damage the ship's main structure. The damage to the superstructure can be repaired and the ship will be operational again in three to five months.

However, some of the bombs that rained down missed their main target but somehow hit some small boats on the nearby berth.

Ultimately, two small destroyers were also sunk by the bombing, as near misses caused the bombs to explode in the water, tearing through the underwater protection of their hulls.

……

The two air raids on the 28th resulted in the sinking of one Royal Navy dreadnought (HMS Neptune) and minor damage to another dreadnought (later identified as the St. Vincent-class HMS Collingwood).
It sank 4 armored cruisers, 1 light cruiser, and 4 destroyers.

After the air raid ended, the soldiers who had distinguished themselves were commended, and several officers were promoted.
The officers and men who sank the Minotaur-class armored cruiser were shot down and killed in the battle. One of their airships even crashed into an enemy ship. Therefore, the 32 officers and men who died in the battle were generally posthumously promoted three ranks and their families were compensated according to the post-promotion standards.

Among the surviving officers and soldiers, the airship that Hugo Sperler was on was also upgraded, because they single-handedly sank an old armored cruiser.

The captain was promoted to major, and Hugo Sperler was promoted to captain, earning him the opportunity to command an airship on his own in the future.

The credit for sinking the Neptune-class dreadnought was ultimately reviewed, and the attack by the L54 airship was determined to be the most devastating, resulting in a promotion for all the officers and men on board.

The lookout officer on the airship, Lieutenant Erhard Milch, a former artillery air observer born in Wilhelmshaven, was also promoted to captain and given the opportunity to command an airship on his own in the future.

After their victorious return, the entire airship squadron received a lavish welcome, and the airship command decided that:

Another bombing raid on Harrich Harbor will be carried out tomorrow;
The day after tomorrow, Harrich and Rosyth ports will be bombed.

In short, Harrich Harbor could be bombed once a day, and Rosyth Harbor once every two days.

The bombing of Harrich Harbor on the 29th went relatively smoothly. The enemy did not have any countermeasures. However, when the airships arrived, the combat reconnaissance planes arrived even faster, and the anti-aircraft guns were more on high alert, ready to fire as soon as the airships got close.

Almost none of the warships in the port were docked, and even if the airships temporarily diverted to other nearby ports, such as Great Yarmouth, they wouldn't gain much advantage.

In the end, they could only use small bombs to haphazardly search around, killing one light cruiser and one destroyer before returning to port.

The third bombing of Harrich on the 30th and the second bombing of Rosyth were much less effective.

The air raid on Harrich Harbor only sank one more destroyer and destroyed several supply ships and oil tankers. However, the air raid on Rosyth Harbor dealt further damage to the already damaged and under-repair dreadnought USS Collingwood, hitting it with two more 500-kilogram bombs.

Unfortunately, it still didn't sink the ship. At most, it only extended the ship's repair time from half a year to more than half a year, and made the enemy spend hundreds of thousands more pounds on repair costs.

The reason why these two air raids were ineffective was not only because of the small number of results, but more importantly, because the enemy's air defense firepower had become increasingly fierce.

Bretonnia fighter jets have already attempted to load all sorts of firearms onto their aircraft and straf the enemy with all their might.

There were also ground artillery units, and even emergency modifications to the 102mm secondary guns on warships, using temporary means to increase the elevation angle of the secondary guns.

Even though such temporary measures are very unstable, and firing a few shots could damage the secondary guns or even easily cause accidents, the Britannian naval gunners were willing to do it.

The largest anti-aircraft guns used to be only 3-inch .76mm, but now they've suddenly been upgraded to a full 4-inch .102mm, naturally increasing the maximum firing altitude. At this point, a flight altitude of 3000 meters or even 4000 meters might not be enough.

Despite the Bretonnias damaging dozens of 102 cannons, this anti-aircraft fire brought down two more airships.

Even more critically, on the 30th, the fighter reconnaissance aircraft group that was defending Rosyth Port stumbled upon a new type of anti-aircraft munition.

Some fighter jets carried firearms equipped with white phosphorus bombs and other types of ammunition, and in combat, as if desperate, they relentlessly rained all types of bullets at the airships—

Some people might find it surprising that "white phosphorus bombs" are so readily available. But in fact, this is not surprising at all, because "white phosphorus bombs" are a type of ammunition that has existed for over 200 years.

Historically, the use of white phosphorus bombs to attack airships was not an invention of a "product," but rather an invention of a "method of use"—that is, using something that already existed for a new purpose to achieve unexpected and remarkable results.

It's not that white phosphorus bombs didn't exist before, it's just that no one thought of using them to attack airships.

The Bretons are now desperate, resorting to any means necessary, and it's not surprising that they stumbled upon success through trial and error. Many innovative uses are actually born out of necessity, forced by the enemy's continuous, one-sided domination.

The Britannians have been going crazy these past few days, with all the pilots and anti-aircraft gunners brainstorming and drawing on the wisdom of the masses.

Even Rolls-Royce engineers taught the pilots some dangerous tricks to overload the aircraft engines and achieve maximum climb, so that the plane could fly as high as possible when it fired.

Finally, through a series of combined efforts, one airship was hit by a white phosphorus bomb fired from an aircraft during the bombing and turned into a fireball that crashed into the North Sea.

截止到7月30日，大轰炸收尾时，29/30这两天的轰炸，仅仅总计炸掉1艘轻巡、2艘驱逐舰、若干补给船、加重了“科林伍德号”的伤势。

However, the total cost was the loss of four airships, so overall, the victory wasn't very profitable. The cost of four airships was equivalent to that of one light cruiser and two destroyers.

The Demacian forces only gained a few extra supply ships and oil tankers, and aggravated the damage to the Collingwood.

In addition, it resulted in the enemy losing more than a dozen aircraft and dozens of anti-aircraft guns/secondary guns. These losses were not caused by airship bombing, but by the Bretonnia themselves making desperate attempts to strengthen their air defenses, resorting to all sorts of extreme measures, and causing mechanical failures and accidents.

Those planes were all making reckless and dangerous maneuvers in order to climb to a height where they could hit the airship, and in the end, they stalled and crashed at high altitude.

The damage to the secondary guns was also due to illegal temporary modifications and firing at excessively high elevation angles, which ultimately led to accidents.

With the war at this point, once the Demacian navy discovered that the Britannians had mastered the secret that "white phosphorus bombs can burn airships," continuing to carry out airship bombing missions would be suicidal.

Therefore, all bombing operations ended there, and no more airships would carry out any daytime bombing missions.

At most, it can only carry out some night bombing missions that do not require precision at its maximum service ceiling, and the flight altitude must never be lower than 5000 meters.

However, considering that nighttime bombing must target sufficiently dense and large targets, the maximum future bombing will only be able to continue targeting the central London area.

(End of this chapter)