On a clear afternoon, the warm sunlight made people drowsy, but at the military airfield in Cardiff, ground crew members were still busy. Eight worn-out He-111s and six relatively new Ju-88s were undergoing final preparations before takeoff. Clad in gray overalls, ground crew members were topping up the fuel tanks with more fuel than usual, while others were inspecting the engine pipelines to prevent them from stalling during flight. Some cast curious glances at the empty machine gun turrets—no defensive weapons. Were they not afraid of being attacked by British fighters during flight?
To the queries of the ground crew, the pilots belonging to the German Luftwaffe's Special Service Air Force remained tight-lipped. In fact, they kept to themselves, rarely engaging in conversation with others. When they arrived from Germany, they even brought along specialized technical engineers responsible for maintaining the "special equipment" on the aircraft.
At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the time for takeoff finally arrived. The pilots, wearing electrically heated suits, looked somewhat bulky, indicating an extraordinary high-altitude flight ahead. The normal ceiling for production models of the He-111 and Ju-88 was 8,500 meters, but these 14 unarmed twin-engine aircraft continued to climb after takeoff. The altimeter effortlessly surpassed 8,000 meters, casting the sun on the dark brown ground, resembling a miniature sandbox before the generals' eyes. After flying northward for half an hour, white blocks gradually appeared below, increasing in size until they entered a world of pure white snow.
"Enemy fighters spotted ahead, altitude twenty-five thousand feet!"
In the copilot's seat of a Ju-88, a young pilot spoke calmly, as if referring to friendly neighbors rather than sharp-toothed adversaries. Only one's own aircraft was faintly visible in the surrounding airspace; the comrades who took off from the airfield had already veered off in different directions during the flight.
"Shake them off!" the pilot said calmly.
Next, the copilot opened a knob on the control panel in front, and the engine's buzzing suddenly intensified. His companion gently pulled the control yoke, and the black dots flying towards them from the front suddenly disappeared, replaced by the deep blue sky. The numbers on the altimeter quickly increased from 8,000 to 10,000, and the aircraft continued to climb!
"Both cameras are operational, ready to start working anytime!" came the voice of the radio observer through the headphones. He was responsible for checking the two Zeiss aerial cameras carried on board—the advanced equipment that the Germans took pride in and played a significant role in the reconnaissance operations of the German Air Force.
The copilot held a large binoculars, peering through the side window towards the front of the aircraft, then said with a hint of excitement, "That should be it! Glasgow, the largest city and port in Scotland. Perhaps those two aircraft carriers are still berthed in the harbor?"
The pilot glanced sideways and commanded, "Start taking photos in 2 minutes!"
Viewed from ten thousand meters above, the city appeared like a small bump on the black land, while the ships entering and leaving the port were as small as wheat spikes. The coastline's winding shape matched almost perfectly with that on the map, but houses, buildings, factories, and the like were indistinguishable to the naked eye.
Once the photography began, the cameras automatically took a shot every few seconds: one camera had an effective focal length of about twelve inches, capturing a wide range, while the other, with a focal length of about twenty inches, focused on detailed scenes in a small area. To achieve optimal results, the pilot had to keep the aircraft steady during the photography process. Fortunately, the three British fighters hovering in the line of sight were futilely swimming like goldfish in a fish tank, unable to gain altitude. However, as the modified Ju-88 flew over the harbor, the British fighters suddenly disappeared, replaced by the booming of anti-aircraft fire below. Although not reaching the altitude, the "black cotton candy" blooming in the air would affect the photography and increase the difficulty for technicians to identify targets.
The twin-engine aircraft circled over the harbor for almost half a circle, spending only 11 minutes in the air. These reconnaissance aircraft were equipped with special nitrogen-oxygen mixtures injected into the engines, allowing them to operate for an additional 20 to 25 minutes at 13,000 meters. After completing the mission, the aircraft quickly turned back. Two British fighters attempted to intercept, but the obvious altitude difference made them abandon the futile attempt.
Almost simultaneously, German long-range aircraft taking off from airports in western Norway conducted high-altitude reconnaissance over various ports on the east coast of Scotland. In addition to the He-111s and Ju-88s, they also used the Fw-200, nicknamed the "Condor," a long-range reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the Naval Air Arm, equipped with four BMW engines, with a top speed of only 360 kilometers per hour but nearly twice the range of the Ju-88!
At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, three hours after the reconnaissance aircraft took off one after another, the first batch of processed photos arrived at the Imperial Air Force Forward Command in Southampton. Colonel Theodor Rowell, the founder of the German strategic air reconnaissance force and a cheerful and optimistic adventurer, reviewed the photos along with the preliminary conclusions drawn by the technicians. He then used a red pen to outline what he believed were the key points on the enlarged photos before submitting them to the Minister of Air Operations and the newly appointed Commander of the Western Front Air Force.
"Large numbers of ships entering and leaving, unprecedentedly busy ports, oh... this one must be the Eagle, right? And that one, the aging Furious! But no sign of the Glorious and the Ark Royal? Could they have returned to the Mediterranean with the Gibraltar Fleet?"
Looking at the aerial photos of Glasgow Harbor, Rowell habitually stroked his chin. Marshal Speer, the portly but not fat Air Force Marshal, studied several other photos through his reading glasses.
"It's strange. Although these British fighters have traditional paint schemes, their shapes are quite different from Hurricanes and Spitfires, apparently... Curtiss P-40s? Hank, bring the flight manual!"
The marshal's adjutant rummaged through a suitcase and pulled out an oil-printed manual compiled by the German Air Force Intelligence Department during the war. Its corners were worn out, indicating frequent use. The tall and thin captain adjutant casually flipped through it and found the fighter aircraft the marshal was referring to near the end of the book.
After comparing the photos with his manual, Marshal Speer turned to General Logan and asked, "Your Excellency, do these two types of aircraft belong to the same model?"
On the aerial photos, the gray-white aircraft unexpectedly became the focus. Logan, without any flight experience, was not as sensitive to various aircraft models as commanders who had been fighter pilots. He made a strenuous effort to compare them and replied, "Hmm, they look like the same type of aircraft!"
"Indeed, they are P-40s!" Colonel Rowell, standing aside, said confidently. "Damn it, they overlooked this detail when enlarging the photos! I apologize, Marshal, truly sorry!"
Marshal Speer did not blame him. He looked at Logan and said, "So, the Americans are still openly assisting the British. Immediate purchase and delivery, hm! It's clearly a policy leaning towards the British! Although these fighter planes may have relatively ordinary performance, they still pose a considerable threat to our bombers. Fortunately, Operation Longbow was canceled in time; otherwise, our losses would have been unimaginable!"
"The second phase of Operation Longbow aimed to attack key military targets, including ports in Scotland such as Glasgow and Edinburgh. Since the range far exceeded that of the BF-109, the Luftwaffe could only defend against interception by British fighter planes with densely packed bomber formations. However, Goering firmly believed that this would be the final straw to break Britain's back in the short term, stubbornly trying to claim the glory before the army launched a full-scale offensive!"
Looking at it from a later perspective, Logan analyzed, "The Americans prioritize their interests; they don't want any one country to dominate Europe. And the hard currency in the hands of the British is what American arms dealers desire most. Even if we protest or threaten, the American government may appear to back down somewhat, but ultimately, they will still find ways to provide arms supplies to the British government! Who knows, maybe they even want to obtain more military bases or even large swathes of colonies from the British!"
"Yeah, those greedy Americans. We'll make them pay for their actions sooner or later!" Speer said resentfully.
"Marshal, we haven't seen the two main British aircraft carriers, the HMS Ark Royal and HMS Glorious, for four days. I suspect they have withdrawn to the Mediterranean along with the Gibraltar Fleet! Does this mean that the British have decided to abandon the mainland and focus on maintaining their influence in the Mediterranean and North Africa?" Logan redirected the discussion back to his recent discovery, which, compared to others, held greater strategic significance.
Speer pondered for a moment before saying, "Perhaps... perhaps their carriers haven't headed south but have been deployed in the Atlantic to escort a certain important convoy. After all, our surface vessels have exerted significant pressure on their shipping routes, and just two old battleships alone are not enough to withstand an attack from the German main fleet!"
"That's a possibility!" Logan nodded, then turned to Colonel Rowell and said, "Operation Transparent Glass has already demonstrated the significant value of our aerial reconnaissance capabilities. With the good weather these past few days, I hope our pilots can overcome fatigue from continuous sorties and closely monitor the various ports in northern Britain. Tomorrow... could we focus on reconnaissance of the major ports in Ireland? Also, let's have the faster reconnaissance planes conduct low-altitude reconnaissance of the waters around Ireland, to determine if any escaped fish are hiding in corners that are not easily detected!"
"Of course, as you wish!" Colonel Rowell replied respectfully. As a military officer who had once been highly favored by Hermann Goering, he was well aware that his fate lay in the hands of others. It was rumored that, under the personal arrangement of the Führer, the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht had begun a comprehensive investigation, attempting to find the true mastermind behind the attacks on the Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief. Field Marshal Kesselring, unlike Goering during his injury, did not temporarily assume the position of Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief because the air disaster occurred in his jurisdiction. As for Milch, who had always been stationed in the rear, he could not shake off potential suspicion. Only the three who miraculously survived were completely excluded from the list of suspects. So, some rumors were spreading rapidly within the Luftwaffe that Hans Logan, the Luftwaffe Chief of Staff still trusted by the Führer, had an absolutely limitless future!