I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 1000: The Target Is the Enemy Aircraft Carrier
More than 50 French "Camels" and "Snipes" flew in.
They took a small detour to approach the battlefield from the north.
This was a rather wise decision.
It was morning, and the sun was rising in the east, casting bits of golden light across the sea.
If they didn’t change direction and entered the battlefield from the west, they would face the sun, only seeing the enemy planes as blurry silhouettes, while the enemy would see them clearly.
But by taking a turn, even if it consumed a bit of precious fuel, approaching from the north could change this disadvantage.
Colonel Will raised his hand to signal his subordinates to prepare for combat, and gave the attack order the moment the enemy planes breached the battlefield.
About twenty "S.E.5a" planes dove fiercely towards the target like eagles, amidst the roaring engines.
Even though they were outnumbered, they had no fear because the "S.E.5a" had a significant advantage: speed.
This almost assured their invincibility on the battlefield: if caught in an unfavorable position with an enemy on their tail, they just needed to stomp on the throttle to accelerate and escape.
However, Colonel Will and his subordinates quickly realized that real combat wasn’t as simple as they thought.
The French "Camels" and "Snipes" completely ignored the "S.E.5a" diving from above, focusing on chasing the British seaplanes at medium to low altitudes, even if they had an "S.E.5a" on their tail.
Colonel Will was pursuing a "Camel," which was in turn chasing a British seaplane.
(The image above shows a British "Felixstowe F2" seaplane, which has an astounding range of 1000 kilometers, can carry a 1000-pound bomb, with a speed of 153 kilometers per hour, primarily used for anti-submarine warfare in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.)
The sky was filled with this "mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind" three-plane chasing mode.
The British seemed to have the upper hand, as they were losing unimportant seaplanes.
But Will soon realized this wasn’t the case: the "S.E.5a" had speed but lacked maneuverability, while the French "Camels" bobbed up and down, left and right in the sights, sometimes climbing and sometimes diving, the "S.E.5a" always a step behind, unable to seize a shooting window.
Sometimes, even when aiming, they dared not fire easily.
Because the bullets might pass through the "Camel’s" wings and accidentally hit their allies in front.
The "Camel" fighters had no such scruples.
Amidst the chatter of machine guns, the large silhouettes of seaplanes lost balance and plunged into the sea.
Many seaplanes didn’t explode, instead breaking into pieces on the sea, some parts sinking to the bottom, others floating and drifting with the waves.
Colonel Will, feeling guilty for not downing the enemy aircraft in time to rescue his allies, fiercely bit onto the "Camel’s" tail.
But the "Camel" performed outrageous maneuvers:
It suddenly dipped its nose, and just as Colonel Will followed suit, the target abruptly climbed vertically, performing an inverted flight above him, followed by a quick roll and dive.
Colonel Will only saw a blur before his eyes, and in an instant, the enemy aircraft once bitten onto the tail was now on his own tail.
"Damn Shire turn!" cursed Colonel Will.
This maneuver was said to have been taught by Shire to the French Air Force, usually difficult for ordinary planes to complete due to insufficient speed, but now it was commonplace among the French aviators.
(Note: This maneuver is an Immelmann turn.)
Colonel Will, helpless, could only accelerate to escape the enemy’s pursuit. By the time he shook off the tailing plane and turned back to look for targets, he found the French aircraft group had already left the battlefield.
In just over ten minutes, the enemy planes had swiftly entered the battlefield, attacked their targets, and then disengaged, clean and efficient without any delay.
If not for the wreckage of British seaplanes scattered all over the sea, Colonel Will might not have believed they had even come.
"Damn it!" he cursed, glaring at the departing French warplanes with hatred.
He then realized that the "S.E.5a" didn’t necessarily have a crushing advantage over the much slower "Camels."
The enemy could "attack instead of defend," using maneuverability when bitten on the tail to perform a "Shire turn" and then bite back.
In principle, if every French pilot knew this maneuver, the "S.E.5a" would find it very difficult, if not impossible, to shoot them down.
Unless the British pilots learned this maneuver to keep up relentlessly.
But the British pilots spent too much time training for carrier landings, and combined with the "S.E.5a’s" poor maneuverability, would require several times more training than the French pilots to complete this maneuver.
One by one, his subordinates’ aircraft closed in around Colonel Will, waiting for orders.
Colonel Will checked the fuel gauge, which showed half a tank remaining.
Unwilling to return empty-handed, he signaled for the aircraft to attack the French seaplanes.
Colonel Will thought: You shoot down our seaplanes, we’ll shoot down yours; this way, neither side gains an advantage!
However, Colonel Will had no idea he had already fallen into a trap set by Shire.
...
Southwest of Malta Island, about 100 kilometers from the battle area, the main French fleet was closing in on the British aircraft carriers at a speed of 22.5 knots.
These were three modified French carriers: the "Normandy," the "Languedoc," and the "Flandres."
Additionally, there were more than twenty destroyers providing cover.
Their decks were filled with fighters and bombers, including the "Janie A," the "Janie B" bomber type, and the "Janie C" type capable of carrying torpedoes.
(Note: During World War II, these three types of aircraft were called: carrier-based fighters, carrier-based bombers, and carrier-based attack aircraft; the former for gaining air superiority, and the latter two for anti-ship roles. Modern efforts have integrated these into a single multi-role fighter capable of both air superiority and anti-ship missions to enhance combat effectiveness.)
There are a total of 5 "Normandy" class battleships, with 3 of them modified and 2 in the final stages of outfitting.
Shire was quite satisfied with their performance:
These carriers could accommodate 40 aircraft.
This was 15 more than the British "Hundred-eyed Giant" and "Furious," which carried only 25.
They had two runways, allowing two aircraft to take off simultaneously, with an average of one aircraft taking off every 2 minutes.
In comparison, the British single runway with limited space required 6 minutes for one aircraft to take off, making them much more efficient.
Their speed reached 21 knots, and could be increased to 22.5 knots when running at overcapacity.
This was much better compared to the British maximum speed of only 20 knots.
In addition, the French carriers were converted from battleships, giving them better resilience against sinking.
However, Shire believed this was hardly necessary, as Britain didn’t have specialized bombers yet, posing little threat to French carriers.
"Target the enemy carriers." Shire ordered via telegram to the fleet commander Pierre: "Ensure this trouble is dealt with before the British discover them!"
