"Driving in the dark is dangerous. The clouds are low, the moon is dim, and the stars are dark. We have no lights and no signs, so there is no way to distinguish between friends and foes. The sound of explosions keeps ringing in our ears, and from time to time on the sea

See the bodies of those poor soldiers swaying in the waves."

"When we were less than halfway through the voyage across the sea, we began to meet the first batch of returning fleets. While we were avoiding the white waves of the fleet passing by the bow, we fell into the half-dark shadow of the ships ahead.

It can be seen that they are very sad because they did not save too many people."

"In this darkness, there are often shouts, explosions, screams and the roar of airplanes. These sounds stimulate us and make us afraid. But we still persist, insisting on 'relying on guesswork and relying on God'

Sailing. Because all of us know that there are soldiers belonging to us on the other side of the sea who are suffering disaster..."

This is what a British man who participated in the Dunkirk evacuation wrote in his memoirs afterwards.

He was right. At this time, the entire Dunkirk was filled with a hellish and terrifying noise. The artillery kept firing, the artillery roared, the fire flashed, and the sky was filled with noise, anti-aircraft gunfire, and machine gunfire...

From time to time, you can see the fighter plane being blasted into a ball of fireworks and falling like a meteor. The small boats connecting on the sea have been attacked for unknown times, and they were bombarded into pieces of wood.

Carrying blood and broken corpses, floating on the sea. The beach was littered with broken corpses or mutilated corpses. They were just thrown aside, and no one had time to clean them up.

The tide has been dyed blood red, and everyone is shouting. But they don't know what they are shouting in the noise, maybe just to prove that they are still alive. They still exist.

"General Hugh Dowding! I hope you know that there are now 400,000 troops from the British Empire and allies in Dunkirk! If we lose them, once the Germans attack England, we will not even have the ability to resist.

…”

Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsey is calling the current commander of the British Air Force Fighter Command, Admiral Hugh Dowding, hoping that he can send more fighter jets to support the retreat.

"Bertram Ramsay! Let me tell you, the less than four hundred fighter planes I have on hand now have been dispatched. What else do you want?!" Hugh Dowding said to Bert on the other end of the phone.

Len Ramsey roared angrily: "Do you know how many fighters we have lost so far?!"

"Then let me tell you! It's two hundred! Do you understand? It's two hundred! We only have more than three hundred fighters, which include all the air power of our entire British Empire! But in that damn Dunk

Erke, we've already filled in half of it!"

"I have urgently requested the factory to increase production and mobilized all reserve pilots! But I hope you know that these people are gathered to defend the British Isles! I will never let them go to Dunkirk to die.

!”

Heading to Dunkirk now is indeed an act of risking death. More than a thousand German fighter planes are circling there. With the few British fighter planes, rushing towards them can only lead to death.

Indeed. Since the beginning of the war, they have shot down nearly a hundred German fighter planes. However, their own losses have been twice that of their opponent. How can this battle be continued?!

"General! I hope you know that if we lose the cover of the air force, we will have no way to withdraw!" Bertram Ramsay tremblingly said to Hugh Dowding in a deep voice: "General, if we lose these soldiers

Do you think we can survive the German landing battle..."

Hugh Dowding was silent. He didn't know what Britain would face if it lost these hundreds of thousands of soldiers. But he also knew what losing air supremacy meant to Britain.

The high-intensity battle at Dunkirk had already made the general extremely palpitating. This fear spread from the bottom of his heart. In just three days, the British evacuated more than 30,000 people. However, at the same time, the losses were extremely heavy.

Hugh Dowding's Air Force alone lost 200 fighter planes of various types. The Navy had 4 destroyers full of officers and soldiers sunk, and 11 destroyers suffered heavy damage. This does not include the more than 200 destroyers sunk.

Various civilian ships assisted in the evacuation.

The British 3rd Infantry Division, which was blocking the German army, was reduced by more than 40%. All vehicles and ammunition were detonated on the position to prevent the German pursuit.

This did achieve a certain effect, but it also made the German encirclement shrink even smaller.

"One hundred! I can only provide you with the support of one hundred more fighters." Hugh Dowding took a deep breath and said solemnly to Bertram Ramsay: "This is my last time.

I’ve provided you with support. The rest… you can take care of it yourself.”

After saying that, Hugh Dowding hung up the phone with a snap and leaned on the chair in silence.

Hugh Dowding's British Fighter Command was located in Bentley Abbey, where Hugh Dowding organized the headquarters intelligence room and established a radar, air defense surveillance post, headquarters operations room, and intelligence room.

The air intelligence system can obtain information very quickly and command operations extremely effectively.

"Minister Beaverbrook, this is Hugh Dowding. I would like to know, how many aircraft can our factory produce per month now?! How many pilots can we provide per month?!"

After Hugh Dowding hung up the phone on Bertram Ramsay, he immediately called Beaverbrook, the Minister of Aircraft Manufacturing who was established in the war cabinet.

"Hello, General Hugh Dowding." Beaverbrook did not rest at this time. He was busy in his office. Now no one in the whole of Britain can sleep peacefully.

The battle at Dunkirk kept them awake all night. Everyone was afraid that the Germans were about to attack. This fear eventually turned into motivation, urging them to continuously strengthen their defense construction.

"According to our plan, the total production of aircraft will increase from 700 aircraft per month to 1600 aircraft per month. The combat training force will be able to provide 200 pilots to the Air Force every month..."

After a pause, Beaverbrook said with a wry smile: "But you know, General, we need time. So far, what we can do is produce twenty fighter jets per day, and pilot training will still take time..."

Hugh Dowding sighed secretly, knowing that there was nothing he could do about it. After all, Britain's response to the war was still too slow, and it would take time for the entire country to enter a state of war.

But now, the last thing Britain has is time. The German army has already attacked Dunkirk, and it won't be long before they break through the position and then annihilate the coalition soldiers on the beach.

"I understand, thank you!" After being silent for a long time, Hugh Dowding whispered to Beaverbrook on the other end of the phone. After hanging up the phone, Hugh Dowding stood in front of the office window for a long time.

Silent.

Admiral Dowding is an old pilot who participated in World War I, so he is more cautious in strategic considerations and tactical arrangements. For example, he has always retained a reserve force of 28o aircraft. Only members of the cabinet can do this.

We know.

What Hugh Dowding told them was that he would never use this force until the last moment when the Germans boarded Formation 6 and entered the strait. He even disobeyed orders from Churchill for this reason.

After the defeat in the Battle of France, Britain entered a state of full combat readiness. A National Guard with a strength of 500,000 was organized, and 51 radar stations were built at the same time, including 38 in the southeastern coastal area.

Air defense interception balloons, searchlights, anti-aircraft guns, etc. were all included in the air defense system, and the British Air Force established an Air Defense Command, headed by General Edward Beale.

The battle at Dunkirk was still continuing. Montgomery withdrew from his position and watched the constant explosions not far away in silence. This was indeed able to stop the German offensive for several hours, but he also lost his position.

This will lead to the encirclement being narrowed again, which means that the British and French forces are one step closer to being wiped out. Montgomery doesn't know whether this is right or wrong.

But he had no other choice, either to hold on to the position and be crushed away by German tanks. Or to use this extreme method, even if the position was lost, he could still block the German army for a period of time.

The night sky over Dunkirk was now like day, with burning mechanical wreckage everywhere. There were planes, cars and ships. The evacuation was still going on, and the current rate of evacuation could reach a thousand people per hour.

Efficient.

But this is not enough. There are still more than 300,000 coalition soldiers in Dunkirk. And no one can say how long they can sustain it.

More people were able to evacuate at night. After all, it was dark so the German fighter planes could not find their targets. Those transport ships were relatively safe.

But this safety is not absolute. There will still be fighter jets using cannons to straf along the tidal flats. At the same time, bombers are also bombing along the tidal flats.

The connecting boats were constantly overturned, and the exposed cruise ships and yachts became targets of the Luftwaffe. Once any ship was exposed to the fire, they would be bombarded by countless cannon shells and bombs.

The ships burning on the sea also became tools of guidance, and screams continued to sound on the sea. The Germans had complete control of the air over Dunkirk, and they plowed the area with artillery shells and bombs wantonly.

"Every grain of sand on the Dunkirk beach contains our blood and tears. Every grain of sand is soaked in the smoke of gunfire. This is Dunkirk..."

This was the memory of a veteran later. After saying this, he lowered his head and sobbed...
Chapter completed!