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Volume 3 Far East Story Chapter 650 (Part 2) Red Lightning

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    Beiyang 1917650_Read the full text of Beiyang 1917 for free_Chapter 650 (Part 2) The red lightning comes from (.)

    On April 24, 1916, Richthofen shot down an enemy aircraft for the first time as a fighter pilot, but the French Newburgh aircraft still fell in the Allied-controlled area, so this victory was still not recognized.  On September 1, Manfred reported to the Western Front at Polk's invitation.

    He served in the 2nd Hunting Squadron, mainly flying the Albatross D2 biplane fighter. Although he was famous for the later Fokker DR1 triplane, in fact most of his flying time and results were achieved on the biplane (such as the Albatross  d2 and d3).  The hunting squadron and the future hunting wing are the creations of the Germans, that is, large air formations maintain a tight formation and fight collectively. Of course, it is not uncommon for one squadron to act as a decoy in the front, and the other to act as a hunter and ambush in the clouds behind.  Hunting moves.

    The future Red Baron Manfred opened the scoring on September 17, 1916. This was his first officially recognized achievement.  But what followed was tragedy in October: Polk was killed when he collided with a friendly aircraft in a close dogfight.  On November 23, Manfred shot down the British top player Major Lanno Haoke. This was already his 11th personal victory.

    Once, Manfred shot down the fighter plane of Canadian pilot Arthur "Roy" Brown of the British Air Force.  When Manfred confirmed the result of the battle, he discovered that Brown was only injured and revived him.  Brown later escaped from the prison camp and returned to British positions.

    In Wang Geng's previous life, his successor later did the same thing and gave a medal to the downed enemy pilot. This medal was forwarded by the Allied pilot to his comrade, and the comrade, carrying  This medal was later killed in battle on the beaches of Normandy.

    ? 1917 was an unfortunate year for the Royal Air Force. On January 4, Manfred's record rose to 16, which ranked first among the top German soldiers still alive at the time.  On January 12, Manfred von Richthofen received the "Order of Merit" (commonly known as the "Blue Max") personally awarded by the emperor, which was the highest medal among the German states at the time (due to the award in the 17th century  The court language of Prussia at the time of its establishment was French, so the name of this medal was actually spelled in French).

    His successor later also received the highest medal of the Blue Max, which was the highest honor a German soldier could receive at that time.

    After becoming the commander of the 11th Hunting Squadron, Manfred painted part of his fighter plane blood red. He believed that this would make it easier for friendly forces on the ground to identify and prevent accidental attacks.  In addition, he specifically chose blood red to commemorate the 1st Lancer Regiment, which uses the same color as its logo.

    This started a trend: his team members also rushed to paint parts of their planes blood red to show the spirit of unity!  The performance of the 11th Hunting Squadron was so outstanding that in the later stages of the war, many British aircraft were painted with red noses to express their determination that "we will definitely capture the Red Baron".

    On January 24, 1917, the lower wing of Manfred's Albatross D3 biplane broke off on its own during routine flight - this type of aircraft often suffers from such failures.  On 9 March, he was shot down over Opie but was soon airborne again the same day.  On April 7, Manfred was promoted to cavalry captain, the rank he ultimately received.  Don't be surprised, even in World War II, the captain of the flying wing may only have the rank of major. Of course, there will be more lieutenant colonels and colonels.

    What¡¯s worse is that Manfred¡¯s team once again encountered a broken lower wing during a daily flight in the Albatross D3 on April 8.  Furious, he wrote a vehement letter of protest and posted it to Berlin.  Aircraft designer Anthony Fokker got the letter and read the full text carefully word for word. The old man immediately rushed to the front line to inspect the damaged aircraft, and also inspected the British Sopowitz triplane.

    After returning to China, Fokker designed the famous dri triplane in response to the problems raised in the letter and the situation of the biplane. It can be said that Manfred took half of the credit for this.  The skies throughout April 1917 were occupied by German aircraft. Manfred shot down 4 enemy planes in one day on the 29th - his best personal record in a single day.

    The British called it "Bloody April". The British Air Force lost 912 pilots and scouts this month!  During this period, 21 victories were counted in Manfred's account, and from then on the "Red Baron" became famous all over the world.  His record continued to increase. After achieving his 41st victory, Manfred was ordered to be transferred from the front line. His younger brother, Roth Richthofen, who was also a top pilot, took over the command of the hunting squadron.

    From May 1 to early June, Manfred was on vacation. He spent most of his time hunting or attending banquets. During this time, German Emperor Wilhelm II personally received the air combat hero.

    On June 24, Manfred assumed command of the newly formed 1st Fighter Wing, which was named the "Freich von Richthofen Wing" after his death.  that isThis glorious 1st Fighter Wing is currently stationed in Ukraine.

    In July 1917, Manfred was shot down by Captain Douglas Cornell and Second Lieutenant Albert Woodbridge. Although he made an emergency landing safely, he was still shot in the head.  Suffering from severe headaches.  But he still won air battles again and again. This extraordinary will and spirit are enough to make people respect him.

    After that, the upper brass of the German army deliberately protected the "Red Baron" considering his propaganda value. At first, they tried to persuade him to withdraw from the front line and stop flying, but this didn't work at all.  Therefore, the superiors strictly stipulated that the wing commander was not allowed to take off for combat unless the situation was critical.  But soon they discovered that Manfred was always looking for various reasons to sneak into the airport and fly combat aircraft.

    Still, Manfred spent more and more time on administrative matters and social situations.  But it didn't take long for him to get tired of it, and eventually the "Red Baron" resumed his habit of fighting all day long, and the higher-ups realized that they couldn't stop his decision.  So they just let him go to fight - after all, no one can do this better than him.  The 1st Fighter Wing received its first Fokker Triplane in August, and Manfred piloted it to his 60th air combat victory on September 1.

    On September 6, he left the front line for a period of rehabilitation. After returning to the front line in October, he began flying the Albatross D.V fighter again.

    In April 1918, Manfred piloted the Fokker dri triplane numbered 425/17 and achieved the record of shooting down 2 enemy aircraft. Many works describing the "Red Baron" use this triplane as his  symbol.  Although Manfred flew biplanes for most of his flying career, they were only partially painted red, while the triplane that accompanied him throughout his life was completely blood red from beginning to end, maybe  This is more in line with people's image of the "Red Baron".

    Beiyang 1917650_Beiyang 1917 full text free to read_Chapter 650 (Part 2) Red Lightning updated!
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