Vol 6 Chapter 37: Sunset afterglow

　　 As early as six months ago, the British Isles began to implement a strict material rationing system.
　　 Compared with the pre-war period, the consumption of meat, eggs, sugar and fruit in the UK has dropped by 39.6%, 69.3%, 55% and 76% respectively. The ration of sweets, butter, tea and coffee is almost zero.
　　 Due to insufficient supplies and rapid inflation, the cost of living of the British people has risen by 86% in less than a year.
　　 On May 1, 1940, the London government began rationing cloth again, and each person could get 66 fixed coupons a year.
　　A pair of trousers costs 8 coupons, a shirt costs 7 coupons, a pair of socks costs 3 coupons, and a pair of underwear costs 4 coupons.
　　 In order to deal with the blockade of the Holy League, the British also took great pains to produce themselves without sufficient food. In 1940, the area of ​​British arable land increased by 1.26 million acres. (About 7,648,200 acres)
　　 lack of meat and cheese, they use fish to make up. As a country surrounded by sea, they have a natural advantage in this regard.
　　 At first, Bulgarian warplanes bombed British fishing boats. Later, the British gave up the modern big fishing boats and replaced them with more primitive small fishing boats.
　　 After weighing the pros and cons, the Bulgarian Air Force had to give up chasing them. This investment was too big and the gain was too small. Even if it was encountered, it would be a bullet at the most, just let it go.
　　 Relying on inshore fishing, locally produced potatoes, plus the original grain reserves, the British struggled through 1940.
　　 London
　　 Christmas Eve is another year. This is a rare peace time. Bulgarians who are also a Christian country will not attack at this time.
　　In this happy holiday, Mr. Churchill was not happy at all. He knew that this war would be difficult to continue.
　　 The intelligence sent from Northern Europe shows that the positions of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are changing. The Holy League is putting too much pressure on them.
　　 Although the three countries are sparsely populated and there is no food crisis, the lack of industrial raw materials also makes them unacceptable, and a large number of capitalists have changed their positions.
　　In this case, the London government was prepared. They even sent people to win over the three countries. Unfortunately, even though they had promised great benefits, they still didn't entice them.
　　 Joining the Holy League can lie down and win the war. Joining the pan-international front requires a real fight with real swords and guns. Whether the war can be won is still unknown.
　　 Everyone is not a fool. The Nordic countries have limited strength and they are very self-aware.
　　 Unless they can open the hang, defeat Western Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the shortest time, then defeat France and Spain, and then fight the Bulgarians.
　　 Obviously, this doesn't exist, and they don't have a high. It is estimated that West Russia will be able to pick three by one, or the kind of hitting them.
　　 "Is General Dowding ready?" Churchill asked with concern
　　 "Prime Minister, the Royal Air Force is already in place, but I am not optimistic about this action. Even if we succeed in the sneak attack, the enemy's vitality will not be hurt!" Air Force Commander Dao Ding said helplessly
　　 This is not unfounded. Now that the war is underway, the British Empire has exerted its last strength, and most of the Holy Alliance countries have left.
　　 Even if the enemy surrendered to the airport deployed on the front line, he could only delay it for a while. Unless Spain and France were to turn to each other, the British Isles would remain in danger.
　　 "General Dao Ding, as a soldier, you only need to execute orders, other things have nothing to do with you!" Churchill said with a gloomy face
　　 If possible, he really doesn't mind letting this old guy get out, but the situation is too dangerous now that he can no longer provoke internal conflicts.
　　The air forces deployed in North Africa, Spain, and France are not all Bulgarian forces. The Holy League is still useful. There are air forces from various countries here, and the Bulgarian air force is just the most powerful one.
　　In order to encourage the air forces of various countries to fight bravely, Bulgaria will be responsible for the compensation for all fighter losses. For every enemy aircraft shot down, the pilot will also receive a bonus of 1,000 levs.
　　 On Christmas Eve, the Bulgarian Air Force did not lower its vigilance. Even if it was celebrating, everyone was on guard. The deployed radar station has people on duty 24 hours a day to prevent the British from jumping over the wall.
　　The air forces of other countries are not so lucky. For the convenience of command, the air forces of various countries are stationed separately. The commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, General Graves Ivanlov, has only wartime command rights.
　　 The air force is a technical service. General Graves does not have such strict requirements on them. As long as they can take off and carry out bombing missions on time, the air forces of various countries are managed by themselves at other times.
　　 On the surface, this is a manifestation of Bulgaria’s respect for its allies, but in fact it is Bulgaria’s unwillingness to help countries train a powerful air force.
　　Who knows that today’s ally will not become an enemy tomorrow?
　　 You need to know that more than 20 years ago, Britain, France and Bulgaria were still allies fighting together. Many people think that the three parliaments have been working together to dominate the world together. Haven't they gone on opposite sides?
　　 On the surface, it was the British who were unwilling to share the world hegemony with the two countries, and finally the three-nation alliance fell apart.
　　 In fact, it was not that Bulgaria developed too fast, which caused the British people's uneasiness; the French developed too slowly, their own strength was not worthy to share hegemony with the British, and the Big Three system finally collapsed.
　　 "Didi..."
　　 The radar sounded constantly, and the Bulgarian Air Force immediately ended the banquet and entered a wartime state. The roar of anti-aircraft artillery sounded, and the fighter plane slowly lifted into the sky under the cover of night.
　　Important warehouses and airport facilities unanimously chose to turn off the lights, while the street lights were turned on in areas that were camouflaged to attract the enemy.
　　Under the cover of night, the British Air Force was confused. There was no way to see the underground situation clearly. It just reached the approximate location and instinctively bombed the illuminated place.
　　 In the combat room, General Graves sneered and watched the British perform, such a large-scale night attack, wanting to do everything in one battle, it was just a dream.
　　 As for the possible losses caused by the British bombing, he didn't care at all. Anyway, the Bulgarian Air Force was prepared. What did he do with the loss of allies?
　　 The General Command has ordered the troops to be more vigilant. They didn't listen to them. If they died, they deserved it. The big deal is Bulgarian compensation for a few more fighters.
　　 Governments of various countries will not have any opinions. In the eyes of most politicians in this era, airplanes are more valuable than pilots. (Except for industrial power)
　　 Besides, if they don’t excite their allies, how can they be willing to contribute in the next battle?
　　 Time passed quickly. The British Air Force had completed the bombing mission and was about to return. Only then did Graves slowly spit out two words-counterattack!
　　 said it was a counterattack, but in essence it was just to hold down the British and prevent them from returning smoothly.
　　The range of the fighters was also limited. They started from the British Isles and bombed them for more than an hour. Most of the fighters didn't have much fuel, and they didn't have to go back if they didn't run.
　　 This is why Graves ordered the fighter to take off. Under the cover of night, using the advantage of the Bulgarian fighter flying higher than the British fighter, he lurked ahead of time and watched the British perform to their heart's content.
　　 There are so many air forces deployed by the Holy League in these areas, and the airports are naturally indispensable. In most areas, the two sides fought in a melee and defeated the British by virtue of their numerical superiority.
　　 There are only a few areas where the British have an advantage in number of fighters, and they have to adopt more aggressive tactics to counterattack.
　　 "Your Excellency General, this is a telegram from various places. It has been determined that we have 73 airports under attack. The current situation of the battle is unknown!" the intelligence staff whispered
　　 "Well, I see!" Graves said lightly
　　The hearts of the British are too big. If they only attacked a few airports, perhaps they have succeeded now.
　　 At the same time, they scattered and attacked so many airfields, and their strength was obviously thinned out. Except for those unprepared areas, most of the areas were covered in air.
　　……
　　 After Christmas, the countries of the Holy Alliance were in an uproar. The British broke the rules and launched an offensive on Christmas Eve.
　　 It's okay, revenge, you must revenge!
　　Especially after the politicians of various countries got the loss report, the face was really wonderful. Don't think that Bulgarian compensation for the fighter plane, they can unscrupulously wear it.
　　 Battle loss and record will determine their future distribution of benefits. If the battle loss> record, then congratulations, it’s a big deal.
　　 Existence with negative contribution value, still want to share the spoils?
　　 Of course, this is only part of the calculation. If it involves a major strategy, as long as it wins strategically, Bulgaria does not care about the loss of all fighters.
　　 Another example is the war between the French and the Germans. These are all the French paid for themselves. Naturally, the Holy League does not need to calculate their battle losses, only the results of the battle.
　　 Sofia
　　 Looking at the battle report from the front line, Ferdinand little smiled. The Englishman jumped over the wall in a hurry, and didn't even have the last face.
　　 In the battle last night, the British paid the price of 975 fighter planes falling, and killed 1683 fighter planes of the Holy League. Most of them failed to take off and did not do a good job of hiding.
　　 In addition, the British also blew up more than 20 warehouses, plus eight port cities were damaged to varying degrees.
　　 On the surface, it seems that the Holy League suffered a big loss, but the loss of the Holy League does not mean that Bulgaria also suffered. The biggest losses this time are undoubtedly France and Spain.
　　 As the host, most of the British bombs fell on their heads. Because of the darkness, I don’t know how many British fighter planes deviated from the target and dropped the bombs into their cities.
　　 Little Ferdinand admits that it is immoral to watch his allies in bad luck, and stealing pleasure from the side, but he still can't help being happy.
　　 A tactical victory does not mean a strategic victory.
　　 Judging from the results of the battle, the British undoubtedly have the advantage, but unfortunately they won tactically but failed strategically.
　　According to the plan, the British goal was for the Royal Air Force to concentrate its main efforts to take a blow, severely damage the air force of the Holy League, and buy a few months for the sky of the British Empire.
　　 It is a pity that the Holy League suffered a serious loss of fighters this time, but the casualties of the pilots were not large, and Bulgaria could make up for the losses of these fighters within a week.
　　 You must know that in the battle last night, the British lost 2,106 pilots, including 896 captured; while the Holy League side only lost 1,568 pilots.
　　 In this respect, Ferdinand Jr does not mind continuing to exchange with the British. Anyway, Bulgaria has the world's largest industrial production capacity.
　　 London
　　 The silence in the Prime Minister’s house is terrible. Don’t read the newspaper’s constant propaganda that the government made a Christmas Eve victory yesterday. In fact, those insiders knew that the British Empire had suffered a loss this time.
　　 Less than a year after the outbreak of the World War, the British Empire’s maritime transport capacity was weakened by 27%, and domestic industrial capacity was less than half of the pre-war capacity.
　　 "I'm sorry everyone, we failed again in this battle! Our young man has worked very hard, but there are too many enemies, even if it takes advantage of the sneak attack, we can't complete the mission!" Dowding said grimly
　　 was forced to implement the strategy of death, how could he be in a good mood? For him, the situation is pretty good now, and God bless him if the army is not annihilated.
　　 Churchill gritted his teeth and said: "Last night, we lost 1,012 fighters and 2,216 pilots. The Royal Air Force lost nearly a quarter of its strength in World War I!"
　　 (Note: The statistical results of the two sides are not the same, mainly because of the actual situation, such as losing a way home at night, or the injured fighter crashed halfway)
　　 Dowding frowned and said: "I'm sorry~EbookFREE.me~Prime Minister! I want to interrupt, the Royal Air Force has lost not a quarter of its strength, but a third or more.
　　You also know that there are more than 800 fighters that need to be overhauled, and they cannot be put into war for at least half a month. "
　　 He didn't want to make up for the knife, but in order to prevent these politicians from making the wrong decision, Dowding had to come out and be the villain.
　　 Now they are two-phase aversion. The cabinet believes that the air force is not strong enough to cause the passive situation of the British Empire, while the air force believes that it is the blind command of the cabinet that caused the current predicament.
　　 "Doesn't General Dowding want to retire? I approved this time!" Churchill said with a gloomy face
　　 Obviously, the Prime Minister Churchill couldn't bear him anymore. After a defeat, he was so awesome. It was almost death. If it weren't for Dowding's influence in the Air Force, now Churchill couldn't help sending him to a military court.
　　 "Okay, Prime Minister? If nothing happens, I will leave first!"
　　 After finishing speaking, the air force commander left without looking back, without any thoughts.
　　 The conference room was quiet again. The strategic goal was not achieved this time. It is no longer possible to end the war decently.
　　...
　　
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