CHAPTER 240: CHAPTER 240 GERMAN ARMY FIGHTER

Snow was still falling in the sky, and the cold had formed a thin layer of ice around the fuselage.

Major Godfrey, wearing goggles, led a squadron of "Newport 10" aircraft flying towards the German Army, facing the knife-like cold wind.

Looking at the two machine guns in front of the nose, Major Godfrey felt like he was in a dream.

Two weeks ago, he was still performing aerial shows in Lyon, but now he was the squadron leader of the Third Squadron of the Second Flying Battalion of France.

When Godfrey received the invitation, he refused it and said to the lieutenant who found him, "I have no interest in being a soldier, sir. I enjoy a free and unfettered life; being ordered around all day would drive me mad!"

Godfrey then added, "If I wanted to be a soldier, I would have joined Shire’s Flying Battalion long ago."

However, the lieutenant handed Godfrey a conscription order: "You’d better take my advice, sir. Otherwise, you will become an infantryman!"

This was Xia Fei’s strategy: if he couldn’t recruit those with flying potential, neither could Shire.

Ultimately, Godfrey chose the former, or rather, he had no choice.

After enlisting, he was first made a lieutenant with the role of instructor for the Third Flying Squadron, responsible for teaching those with no flying experience how to fly a plane.

The Third Flying Squadron originally had 36 members, but after two weeks, only 28 remained.

Flying a plane was nothing like driving a car; any operational error during flight would most likely result in a crash and death.

But to the military, this was nothing; they simply added another number to the casualty list and contacted the family to give 260 francs in compensation, and that was the end of it.

As for Godfrey, he soon became a major and led the surviving 28 pilots to start carrying out missions.

Godfrey argued with Colonel Egg about this: "They have only just learned some basic operations, some might even crash upon landing, and now you want them to fly missions? It’s too dangerous!"

"We don’t have time, Major!" Colonel Egg’s tone was unmistakable: "Look at the battlefield, yesterday we had five reconnaissance planes shot down by the Germans, and we could do nothing about it!"

"What about Shire’s planes?" Godfrey asked, "They’ve defeated the Germans multiple times, why not send them?"

"It’s simple!" Colonel Egg pointed to the map on the defense line: "Look at this, our defense line is over three hundred kilometers, with 51 infantry divisions deployed and more coming, not counting the troops conscripted from Africa. And Shire’s Flying Battalion is just one unit, so this can only be handled by us infantry, understand? It falls on us!"

Lies, shameless lies!

Godfrey knew the reason: they were vying with Shire for control of the air force, and they wanted the army’s flying battalion to take shape quickly, so they adopted this extreme method.

However, an order is an order, and Godfrey had no choice but to follow.

Thus, including Major Godfrey, a total of 29 planes took off from the airfield to patrol the River Somme area, with orders to shoot down any German aircraft, whether fighters or reconnaissance planes.

"As far as I know, the Germans’ fighters usually come in groups of four or eight," Colonel Egg instructed, "as long as you stick together, you’ll be fine!"

Major Godfrey shook his head slightly; Colonel Egg seemed to think aerial combat was like ground battles, solvable with numbers and bravery.

...

At this moment, Squadron Leader Kolanka signaled Major Godfrey, who looked in the indicated direction and saw several German "Pigeon" reconnaissance planes escaping.

Without much thought, Godfrey waved his hand and led the squadron to chase the German reconnaissance planes.

These reconnaissance planes were perfect for his subordinates to practice on, Godfrey thought, and it would also give him some results to report to Colonel Egg.

However, after following for a while, Godfrey sensed something was wrong.

These "Pigeons" should be using their agility to make frequent turns, which would neutralize the Newport 10’s speed advantage, but they weren’t doing that.

Godfrey frowned and murmured to himself:

"Why are they not turning? What’s their purpose?"

Godfrey looked around and his face changed when his gaze scanned the clouds overhead; he understood the reason.

He hurriedly waved to try and order the squadron to give up the chase, but his subordinates, eyes fixed on their "prey," had already pushed the throttles to maximum and paid no attention to Godfrey’s signals.

Godfrey shouted loudly, but the cold wind rushing towards him swallowed his words.

Things turned out as Major Godfrey feared...

A dozen German fighters suddenly emerged from the clouds, diving down along with the falling snowflakes, and launched a fierce attack on the Newport 10s.

Three Newport 10s had no chance to react and immediately lost balance, falling towards the ground, with one exploding in mid-air, smashing into pieces.

The Newport 10 squadron fell into chaos, scattering in all directions like swatted flies, without any order or tactics, while the German fighters calmly pursued them.

"Ratatatatat!"

Gunfire echoed across the sky as one Newport 10 after another was hit by the Germans, trailing black smoke and spiraling downwards amidst the sharp noise, some with their wings or tails shot off, plummeting to the ground while spinning.

Godfrey was terrified at the sight of the enemy, having never experienced war and unable to believe what he saw.

Fortunately, when a German fighter dove towards him, a sudden sense of danger jolted him awake, and he quickly maneuvered his plane to dodge.

There were no techniques or tactics at this point, only reflexes.

Major Godfrey struggled to pull up his nose, knowing that only by maintaining altitude could he possibly evade the enemy’s pursuers.

Suddenly, two Newport 10s chasing the same enemy plane collided in the air, creating a spectacular scene; after a burst of flames, fragments of the plane scattered everywhere.

Godfrey dodged the debris, barely avoiding the smoke, only to find a German fighter right in front of him.

He recognized it as a German "Albatross B" plane, which had been tested as a civilian aircraft before the war, so it was not kept secret; Godfrey had seen it at a flying show in Germany last year, never expecting to face it as an opponent now.

Godfrey gritted his teeth, increased the throttle, and chased after it, squeezing the trigger and sending bullets tearing into the "Albatross B," splintering its wooden body.

Soon, it tilted its nose and plummeted towards the ground, trailing black smoke.

This was the first enemy plane Godfrey shot down, and the only one the Third Squadron downed during this battle.

(The image above depicts a German Albatross B-type two-seat reconnaissance plane, test-flown in 1914, and in service by 1915)