The Battle of Britain was a battle between the Germans and the British after the "Battle of Dunkirk", and it was precisely because of this Battle of Britain that the British army successfully defeated the German army, so that the British troops withdrawing from the port of Dunkirk were given a chance to breathe on the mainland.
It was also because of this battle of Britain that the defeated German army formulated the "Barbarossa Plan" to attack the Soviet Union.
I. The Beginning of the War of Britain
It became even more arrogant after the Germans captured France! So Hitler of the German army decided to capture Britain! For Hitler, it was sooner or later. However, for Hitler or the German army, the biggest difficulty in capturing Britain was that Britain had a "Royal Air Force" and a "Royal Navy", as long as these two were defeated, the German army's capture of the British army can be said to be a matter of the overall situation.
So Hitler, in order to defeat the British Royal Air Force, promulgated a plan code-named "Operation Sea Lion" on July 16, 1940. The general thrust of the plan was the preparation for an invasion of Britain, and the preparations were to be completed in mid-August 1940.
Talking about the United Kingdom at that time, the United Kingdom at that time can be said to have suffered heavy losses and no offensive power. And British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also admitted this fact at a meeting! As for why Britain is like this, it is also because of the previous "Dunkirk evacuation". Although most of the British troops withdrew to the British mainland, they did not bring back any ammunition.
All the British ammunition was left in the port of Dunkirk, so the British ammunition shortage did not have the strength to carry out an effective attack.
The British army has a powerful United States behind its back, which is why Churchill will not hesitate to refuse when Hitler gave Britain a "surrender treaty", not only because of Churchill's refusal to lose, but most importantly, the United Kingdom at that time had the support of the United States.
The course of the Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain can be said to be a war between Britain and Germany, or a war between many countries and Germany, because in the Battle of Britain, the British army not only had its own native British army, but also many air fighters in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Southern Rhodesia, who also fought with the British army. At that time, the United States also had volunteer volunteers to join the British army in the fight against Germany.
This is also an important reason why the British army has few soldiers, but it can resist Germany. Let's talk about Germany at that time, after the sea lion program began, within a month, Germany had gathered 13 divisions and more than 1500 airboats and 168 transport ships.
Here's a point to be clear: Hitler obviously wanted to start preparing for the landing directly around August 15, but why did it really start on September 24?
That's because Hitler, who had won so many victories at the time, felt perfect about the plan for this surprise attack on the British army.
However, some of Germany's top leaders felt that the raid plan was slightly unreliable, so Hitler had been arguing with the top German leaders, which was why it was delayed for about a month before it officially began.
The air battle between the British and Germans officially began on July 10, when the German Hitler mainly attacked the southern port of the English Channel in Britain.
Because this was a very important location, and Hitler was also preparing to lure the British through this port to come to the rescue, thus annihilating most of the main force of the British air force and preparing for the future sea lion landing.
But by August 12, 1940, the Air Force sent by Hitler to fight the British had lost a lot. Moreover, the British lost much less than the Germans, so Hitler was ready to carry out the next plan to counterattack.
But the weather in Britain had changed drastically, so Hitler's plan had to be postponed on August 18, 1940.
At that time, Hitler had some vague uneasiness, because the "Sea Lion Project" to attack Britain had been a long time, but it was still delayed. So Hitler began to order the German army to carry out a large-scale attack on the British army, and the British army also put up a very stubborn resistance.
Iii. The outcome of the Battle of Britain
The battle lasted for several days, and the final result was that the British lost only 27 aircraft, so that 71 German aircraft were shot down, and the German army lost this attack! The day 15 September 1940 was a very important day, when the British fought back tenaciously, causing the Germans to lose more than 180 fighters. It is precisely because of the tenacious resistance of the British army this time that the German army has not been able to grasp the real air control of the British Strait for a long time.
So Hitler was ready to postpone the Sea Lion Project, but as for how long it was postponed, Hitler did not have any results at that time.
At the end of 1940, the British army became more and more fierce to resist, and such a resistance made the Losses of the German Army more and more huge, and the German army was more and more powerless! Finally, in the winter, because the weather in england was very cold in winter, the German army needed great supplies, otherwise the German generals would not be able to survive this cold winter.
At the same time, the Germans could not continue to attack at that time, so the scale of the attack on the British army became smaller and smaller, until finally there was no attack!
It was not until October 12, 1940, that Hitler officially announced that the Sea Lion Program would be postponed until the spring of the following year.
However, when it was really the second year, Hitler found out after many considerations that there was no hope of attacking Britain, so he had no choice but to order the cancellation of the "Sea Lion Project".
By March 1941, Hitler had changed his plans and had drawn up the Barbarossa Plan to attack the Soviet Union, and the German Air Force deployed in France began to shift in the direction of the Soviet Union.
The last attack of the German army in the retreat did not cause any substantial damage to the British, but it caused great harm to the people in London, causing thousands of deaths and injuries!
epilogue
The final outcome of the Battle of Britain was the victory of the British army in defending its homeland. This campaign gave the British a great deal of self-confidence, and it also gave the Allies a great deal of confidence. The British also preserved all the troops withdrawn from Dunkirk and laid the groundwork for the subsequent defeat of Germany.
bibliography:
The Battle of Britain
The Great Battle of World War II : The Battle of Britain
The Great Battle of Britain in World War II