I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 1002 The French Army May Also Have Aircraft Carriers

Colonel Will was right. The reason the Minister of Munitions ordered the battleships to engage in naval battles at a distance of about 150 kilometers from Malta was to deplete the French fighter planes.

"150 kilometers is the limit of the combat radius of French fighter jets." In the operations conference room, the Minister of Munitions distributed a data analysis chart and a flight range diagram to the attendees.

"A round trip of 150 kilometers is 300 kilometers." The Minister of War was quite confident in his plan.

"The total range of French fighter jets is about 400 kilometers, which means they only have 100 kilometers of fuel for combat."

"The actual situation is even worse, because fighter jets often have to perform various high-power flight operations during dogfights, and fuel consumption may be twice or even more than usual."

"Therefore, they may only have about 50 kilometers of fuel, which is only enough for them to engage in aerial combat for 15 minutes."

The Royal Flying Corps officers, including Chief of Staff Major General Trenchard, nodded in agreement.

Many of them had participated in air battles against the Germans and therefore had extensive combat experience, knowing that this was the most suitable distance to lure the enemy into battle.

If the distance is too far, for example, the battlefield is 200 kilometers away from Malta.

Therefore, the fighter jets taking off from Malta would never be able to reach the battlefield, and the French would not take any action, so the "luring the snake out of its hole" strategy would not succeed.

If it's too close, for example, the battlefield is 100 kilometers away.

This left too much fuel for enemy aircraft, making it unlikely that even British pilots flying what they considered to be the more advanced SE5a fighters could defeat the French air force.

150 kilometers is just right.

It gave the French air force the possibility of both fighting and winning, but it put them at a significant disadvantage in terms of loiter time.

Regardless of whether the French aircraft were advanced or the French pilots were experienced or highly skilled, they had to return to base after 15 minutes of dogfighting.

Otherwise, their plane would not be able to return to Malta and would have to "land" on the sea.

This is not just a matter of time and fuel; it also puts enormous psychological pressure on pilots.

Conversely, British warplanes were able to fight much more easily.

British fighter jets take off from aircraft carriers more than 50 kilometers away. Even if they waste some fuel when forming formation, their loiter time is still several times that of French fighter jets.

When French warplanes returned to base due to lack of fuel, British warplanes could take the opportunity to pursue them.

At that time, French warplanes would be in a desperate situation of being passively attacked.

In other words, this tactic made British aircraft virtually invincible.

But Major General Trenchard wasn't very confident:

"The French have the 'Jenny A' fighter jet, Your Excellency."

"If you haven't forgotten, this new fighter jet recently defeated the Germans' 'Fokker D.VII'."

“But ‘Fokker D.VII’ defeated our ‘SE5a’ in Emden Port.”

As the chief of staff of the Royal Flying Corps, Major General Trenchard was reluctant to continue the conversation.

But the conclusion is clear: although the SE5a is the most advanced new fighter jet in the British Army, it is still no match for the French Jenny A.

The Minister of Munitions nodded: "Yes, you are right. Our new fighter jets are likely to be inferior to the 'Jenny A', and may even suffer a complete defeat."

But then he changed the subject:
"Think about it, gentlemen."

"My intelligence is that 'Jenny A' is a fully enclosed metal-skinned fighter jet."

What does knowing mean?

Major General Trenchard seemed to understand: "You mean, it's possible that it has a shorter range and consumes more fuel?"

The Minister of War pointed his finger:
"That's what I wanted to say." "Even if its range is similar to other fighter jets, it's still 400 kilometers."

"But we can still use the same tactics to deal with it. Or, we can fly in the opposite direction as soon as we see its strange wings from afar."

Major General Trenchard nodded slightly in agreement.

"Jenny A" is easily recognizable; its inverted gull-shaped wings can be spotted from a distance.

Its speed is only about 20 kilometers per hour faster than the "SE5a". If it flies in the same direction, it may not have enough fuel to return to base by the time it catches up.

The Minister of Munitions added:
"Moreover, we have a numerical advantage."

“During this period, we have increased the production of the ‘SE5a’ and worked day and night. We now have more than 300 aircraft.”

"According to reliable intelligence, the French 'Jeanne A' was produced at a rate of only about 10 aircraft per month due to its complex manufacturing process."

Major General Trenchard looked puzzled:
"But our numerical advantage is completely negligible, Your Excellency."

"Our fighter jets take off from aircraft carriers, and each aircraft carrier can carry a maximum of 25 aircraft."

"That means we can only deploy 50 fighter jets at a time."

The Minister of Munitions nodded toward Major General Trenchard: "Yes, but the emphasis is on 'once'."

As if showing off, the Minister of Munitions had his staff distribute another set of data.

“Look at this, Greece is more than 800 kilometers away from Malta, while our ‘SE5a’ has a maximum range of 438 kilometers.”

"Our aircraft carrier is located about 200 kilometers from Malta."

"In other words, as long as the aircraft carrier sails about 170 kilometers toward Greece, it can pick up our fighter jets that take off from Greece."

The Quartermaster pointed to the calculated time at the bottom of the document and showed it to everyone: "It only takes 5 hours to receive the goods, and 5 hours to return to the battlefield. What are your thoughts?"

First Lord of the Navy Balfour understood: "It's one night."

“This is it.” The Minister of Munitions pointed to the Minister of the Navy and affirmed, “You are very clever, Your Excellency the Minister of the Navy.”

Actually, he was praising himself in a roundabout way.

"Everyone knows that airplanes cannot fight at night, so what can we do at night?"

"Our aircraft carrier is returning to Greece, or more precisely, heading in the direction of Greece."

"But unfortunately there are some operational difficulties: our fighter jets cannot land on the aircraft carrier at night."

Prime Minister George flipped through the data: "So, we need to replenish our carrier-based aircraft by dawn and then return to the battlefield in 5 hours, is that right?"

"Yes." The Quartermaster nodded:

"If the losses are not high, we don't need to replenish our supplies."

"By repeating this process, our new fighter jets will soon be able to deplete the enemy's 'Jenny A' missiles."

"But we have an advantage in performance and speed when dealing with the French 'Camel' or 'Shovel' aircraft."

The military officers and dignitaries in the conference room nodded in agreement.

The Quartermaster's operational plan was very detailed and ingenious.

He grasped the strengths and weaknesses of both enemy and friendly aircraft and, by utilizing the aircraft carrier as a mobile airfield, meticulously designed and set traps for the French aircraft to fall into.

But Navy Minister Balfour looked worried: "You've thought it through, Your Excellency, but you seem to have forgotten one thing: the French military may also have aircraft carriers, and their carriers may even have been built under our guidance!"

(End of this chapter)