Eighty-five years ago today, on July 16, 1940 (June 12, 1940), Hitler announced the "Sea Lion Plan." The Battle of Britain began. Although historians later concluded that the German air raid on London was a mistake, the German attack caused great disaster to London. With the defeat of France, the gunfire in Western Europe ceased. But after more than half a month of silence, the deafening explosions of bombs sounded over Western Europe, and the Battle of Britain began. After Teller defeated France, he drew up the "Sea Lion Plan" to invade Britain. To ensure the landing of the sea, the Germans attempted to seize air superiority first in order to destroy the British fortifications, eliminate the British Air Force, and hold down the Royal Air Force. So Field Marshal Goering assembled the main three air forces of the Luftwaffe and 2,669 aircraft, with half of the fighters and bombers, while the British had only 700 fighters and 500 bombers, and the Germans had a 2:1 advantage. Since the German aircraft flew longer distances, while the British aircraft were based on the mainland and could attack several times during the round-trip time of the German aircraft, the strength of the two sides was basically the same. Goering arrogantly told the commander-in-chief of the German army: "It will take 2-4 weeks to completely destroy the British Air Force, and the Air Force alone can bring the British to their knees." On July 16, 1940, the Battle of Britain began. The Luftwaffe targeted the convoy fleet in the English Channel and launched harassing attacks on ports on the south coast of England in order to lure out British fighter jets for annihilation. But the British Air Force was not fooled, and attacked with a small number of aircraft at every opportunity, causing Germany's vitality to decline. In a month, the British lost only 148 fighter jets, while the Germans lost 296 aircraft. From August 13 to September 6, the second phase of the air battle was the second phase. The Luftwaffe bombed British airfields, radar stations, aircraft factories and supply facilities on a large scale, and sought to engage in a decisive air battle with British aircraft. From August 24, the war entered a decisive stage, with the Germans dispatching more than 1,000 aircraft per day. It severely damaged five military airfields and six radar stations in southern England, and nearly destroyed the entire communication system in the south. In those tense days, the sky over Britain was full of roaring motors and flashing fire, and the hit aircraft dragged long plumes of black smoke into the sea or into the barren suburbs and settlements. At this time, the British launched a counterattack against the German mainland, 81 British bombers broke through the two-layer anti-aircraft artillery net and dropped bombs on the German capital Berlin, which shocked the whole country. From September 7 to May of the following year, the third stage, the German army began to carry out "terrorist bombing" against London and other major industrial cities in an attempt to destroy British industrial production and destroy the will of British soldiers and civilians to resist. However, the British military and civilians fought more and more bravely, and the losses of German aircraft increased day by day, prompting Hitler to announce to his army chiefs in June 1941 that he had decided to attack the Soviet Union. On October 12, Hitler finally officially admitted that the invasion of Britain had failed. In the "Air Battle of Britain", the Germans dispatched more than 4.16 million sorties, dropped 60,000 tons of bombs on Britain, killed and injured more than 86,000 British residents, and blew up more than 1 million buildings. The British destroyed 1,733 German aircraft at the cost of 915 aircraft and 414 pilots, and killed and captured 6,000 German pilots. German bombers prepare to bomb German BF109 fighter jets over the industrial area of London. The first Spitfire fighter to use the "four-finger" combat formation to turn the tide is the "patron saint" over Britain. In the Battle of Britain, the Germans lost about 1,500 aircraft and the British lost 915