i flew a jug, high cover, with a single wingman. below were two flights of mustangs and behind and below, a single flight of lightnings. we were covering about 12 liberators. about 15 miles from the target, the liberators called out enemy planes and less than a minute later, i spotted them ahead, diving down towards the bombers from altitude. i opened up the throttle and dove also, my wingman right behind me. a quick glance around and below also showed the mustangs getting ready to break up the japs, though apparently the lightnings hadn't spotted them yet and were still flying straight and level.
contact! suddenly i was zooming into the fray, meeting a couple of late model zeros head on, time only for a quick snap burst to try and make them veer from the bombers. i might have got lucky and got a round or two into the lead plane, and though it did veer left and pull up, there was no visible damage.
then the sky was full of planes! enemy and allied! confusion city! a zero and a b-24 collided and the fireballs from both planes spun around in the sky and fell right in front of me. a mustang zipped right by me chasing a smoking jap and spewing tracers. another mustang blew one to bits to my left. then i spotted a zero tagging a liberator to my right and slightly below me. no one was on him so i did a wing over and caught him with all eight of my fifties... a good shot for he instantly fireballed and bits of him spread out all over the sky. another enemy plane came at me head on and i jerked my jug out of its tracer path and dove, never saw him again.
i leveled out and then pulled back on the stick and started to climb back into the fray, i spotted a couple of zeros dogging a smoking b-24 about three miles away and i again rammed the throttle forward to try and stop them before they blew the wounded heavy. a mustang suddenly zipped right by in front of me in a power dive and he was so close i could read the numbers on his fuselage... almost took me out. damn! i actually jumped in my seat! lol!
i was near the wounded bomber then, and the two zeros were taking turns pumping slugs into it from behind. i opened up at too great a range, trying to make them veer off---and they did---both pulling up into fast climbs that my jug couldn't hang with. i stayed with them as along as i could, then broke left and rolled over into a dive to get some more speed up. what luck! one of the zeros also broke left and dived right in front of me... the idiot! man, he filled my gun site so i hit the trigger and he took immediate hits all over his wings and fuselage. he panicked and jerked around out of my tracers but continued to dive, so i followed him (easy in a heavy-ass thunderbolt) and kept snapping out shots. i was hitting him regularly but he wouldn't explode or go down, must have been one made of new super jap steel instead of the usual wood, eh?
suddenly my wingman roared right past me and i thought the asshole was trying to steal my kill...but no, there was another enemy plane diving on me to the left all guns blazing, trying to protect his fellow, and he (my wingy) was going after him head on trying to protect me. at perhaps two hundred yards my wingman blew him to smoking scrap! good job! and then i was right up on my wounded bird... i gave him one more burst at extreme close range and---KA-BLOOIE! he blew right in my face!
damn! i mean a blooming fireball right in the kisser! and immediately my plane was jerking and bucking as i flew through the fire and exploding scrap metal. suddenly the jug was handling funny, i looked to my right and was missing part of my right wing and it was holed to hell. also my cockpit was holed and i was flying chinese (one wing lo.) time to go, i thought, and turned for home.
and then tracers were whipping past my cockpit... ahhh, the OTHER jap plane that had been flying with the guy i'd just blow to hell! out for revenge no doubt and my wingy out of position and me flying like a wounded whale with my damaged fighter. this wasn't good. no sir.
i tried to dive to get some speed and my jug listed bad to the right and i almost went into a spin. well, i thought, i've had it. then out of nowhere, the two P-38s were diving down from the sky and the lead lightning blew my attacker to exploding ruin! great! i was saved!
my wingman was back with me by then, and the P-38s joined up protectively, and we all flew back to base. a somewhat shaky landing and i was home.
a hell of a good workout for the BFG...and nary a stutter, stammer, pause or glitch. smooth as silk in even the heaviest of the hot action. yeah, a great combat mission and safely home with some nice enemy bags.
all in all, a throughly fun time.
Beowolff
