The loudspeaker announced that the German air raid would arrive in twenty minutes. They deliberately shortened the time during the publicity, just to make the citizens aware of the urgency of the situation and urge everyone to go to the nearest air raid shelter as soon as possible.
Moscow has long faced the risk of air strikes. Some people believed that Moscow's air defense system was impregnable. The air strikes in mid-August destroyed all optimism.
Subway stations and long tunnels are the best air-raid shelters, but there are still nearly 800,000 peaceful residents distributed in such a large city. It is impossible for everyone to enter the nearest subway station to take shelter in a very short time.
In many districts, the Soviet army dug some temporary air raid shelters, which were "cellars" twenty meters deep underground. A layer of barbed wire was added to the walls of the "cellars" and the walls were plastered with cement. The walls of each "cellar"
The ventilation system can only rely on exhaust fans, and when an air raid occurs, all machines are shut down.
Some dry bread cubes and canned food are also prepared in the "cellar", the so-called emergency food for refugees. There are also large water tanks for long-term storage of drinking water.
Compared with simple air-raid shelters, every station on the subway network has a kitchen, and evacuated citizens can even drink hot vegetable soup in the tunnels.
The air raid finally happened.
"Damn enemy, you are really crazy! Come and bomb, so that we can destroy all your bombers."
Stalin was furious when he heard the air defense siren. Just a minute later, he received a hotline call from the commander of the Moscow Air Defense Front.
Stalin wanted to know the specific situation of the German army. Without letting the other party speak, Stalin asked angrily: "How many German aircraft are there? Have the fighter jets taken off? What is the air defense situation in our city? Have all personnel entered the position?"
The commander was a middle-aged man with great military exploits. His troops were reorganized and expanded into a front army, and his troops reached unprecedented combat effectiveness.
It's just that this time the enemy is coming in a very strange way.
He said cautiously: "Comrade leader, the enemy is a special kind of aircraft. Our radar detected their weak signal. When the patrol fighter went to intercept it, we found that the enemy aircraft was so fast that our fighter planes could not intercept it at all?"
"What? There is such a weird thing."
"Please rest assured that we will do our best to ensure the safety of Moscow. Please stay away for the time being."
"I hope you can win. Otherwise, you will be dismissed!"
Stalin felt the insult from Mustache. In a few words, he suddenly felt that Germany might have used some new type of weapon—a new type of bomber that was difficult for fighter jets to intercept.
On this issue, it can be said that Stalin was half right.
In terms of the results of the so-called aircraft bombing, as long as the bombs are stably dropped into the target, the result will be achieved. As long as this goal can be achieved, it is a success. As for the process of achieving the attack, the German army decided to use a new weapon that they are proud of.
——VI missile.
Because Yang Mingzhi was the first to use long-range rockets during the Battle of Gomel, the German army believed that the Soviet regular army also mastered such weapons.
Germany's long-range rockets must catch up with the Soviet Union and do better than the Soviet Union.
The first V1 rocket quickly rolled off the production line. It launched an air attack on London without a few launch experiments. Precisely because it was a rushed project, it was named a missile, but it was actually a "pulse engine installed"
"Glide missile", many Germans who know this weapon are still willing to call it a rocket based on its performance.
Hitler personally issued an order requiring relevant domestic arsenals, under the supervision of von Braun, to increase efforts to produce all parts of the VI rocket.
Germany's industrial capabilities are very strong. They produced 190 bombs in ten days. Of course, Mustache is not satisfied with this achievement. Germany has exposed very big problems on the battlefield. To change the decline, the German army needs to
A large number of new weapons bring a qualitative leap in combat effectiveness.
Nearly two hundred VI rockets were all secretly transported to the German army's "Sechovka Salient" on September 2.
Mustache instigated an operation to bomb Moscow with VI rockets, which he personally named "Operation Avenger." The key to the operation was that all V1 rockets could take off smoothly, but they had to reach the limit of flight distance before they could fly.
The probability is that it will fall within the Moscow city area.
In order to achieve their tactical goals, von Braun's R&D team also had to secretly arrive in a car and a convoy carrying rockets at a village called Gronovoskoye.
The German army had long occupied this village, and all the villagers were expelled a year ago. Now, all the buildings in the village have become barracks for a battalion of the German Fourth Army, and there are other German army camps near the village.
The German army identified a piece of flat land on the edge of the village, and von Braun ordered the launch base to be built here.
It must be said that the German army's infrastructure level is quite high. It only took two days to complete the construction of five steel launchers. They were so rigorous that they even laid transportation rails and rail cars for mining.
One hundred and ninety bombs were unloaded in a simple wooden shed, and as many as one infantry regiment of German troops rigorously built defensive positions around the launch site to prevent any sabotage by Soviet guerrillas.
Are there still guerrillas here? No! Not only are there not, everyone within a radius of ten kilometers is German.
All the installation and debugging work went very smoothly. Von Braun personally calculated all parameters. He finally confidently determined that at least 90% of the missiles would be able to hit Moscow. As for the lost 10%, he certainly had a huge interest in rocket engines.
Confident, he also knew that the Soviet army had deployed a large number of guard air bases outside Moscow, and what was worse, the Soviets were also using air radar.
Even if some missiles fall accidentally, more than a hundred rounds must be fired to complete the tactical purpose.
The warhead of each bomb is a monster with a charge of 700 kilograms. For urban targets, think about it, the damage delivered to Moscow is at least one hundred tons of TNT, which may directly kill Stalin. In that case, the Soviet Union will quickly
If the dam breaks, Germany will quickly win.
So who will be the main contributor to the victory? Von Braun believes that he is the biggest contributor, but this scientist is very obsessed with science. He doesn't want to get involved in politics. He only cares about who will continue to invest desperately after completing the glorious victory.
, enabling him to continue to complete his scientific research.
Of course Stalin could not be killed by a bomb. Even Germany's most terrifying 1,800-kilogram super aerial bomb was destined not to harm a single hair on his head.
Like the vast majority of citizens, the people's leaders, like the people, have gone underground without peer.
As the leader, Stalin had privileges. For example, if the people were hiding fifty meters underground, the leader would have to hide even deeper.
All Kremlin staff quickly began to evacuate, and among them, Stalin evacuated the fastest. Because he felt that since the German army seemed to be using new weapons, the German army might have known the real Kremlin, and the focus of the air raid was probably on him.
By the end of 1940, the Soviet Metro Engineering Bureau secretly excavated a giant underground bunker near the Kirov Station of the Moscow Metro.
Kirov stood fifty meters underground, and the secret bunker was twenty meters deeper. There was a shaft that went directly from the ground to the ground, and there were several passages that directly connected to the subway corridor leading to Kirov Station.
That was one of Stalin's secret headquarters. There were many such underground headquarters in the Soviet Union. One of them was very close to the Kremlin, and it was built under the leadership of Beria. So Stalin, when he learned that the air raid was coming, he
I hurriedly got into the car and drove only 1,500 meters to the entrance of the secret bunker.
Stalin and a large number of accompanying personnel followed the spiral staircase ten meters underground, and then took the elevator to rappel down to the bunker, which was ninety meters above the ground.
At such a depth, nothing could threaten Stalin's safety. After he breathed a sigh of relief, he immediately began to use the equipment left in the bunker to contact various agencies and units and a large number of factories staying in Moscow. A person's successful escape is nothing, as long as he understands that the people left behind are
He only really felt at ease when the only people on the ground were officers and soldiers of the air defense force.
Finally, the attack happened!
Von Braun has been staying at the launch base that he personally determined. On September 5, he received a telegram from Mustache himself, confirming that the launch time was set at eight o'clock in the morning Moscow time.
"We will give the Russians an unforgettable gift. They will never forget today's horrific scene. Gentlemen, you are witnesses of the new era. Let's start taking action. All V1 missiles will be launched today!"
Von Braun made a brief mobilization for action. All members of his R&D project team arrived, and many of them personally went to the battle to guide the staff in silver-white protective suits as they poured dangerous octane into the fuel tank.
In the early morning of the launch day, the first five bombs were hoisted by a crane onto a twenty-meter-long launch track. The target was Moscow!
As soon as eight o'clock arrived, the once very calm launch site was suddenly filled with smoke, and the V1 rocket took off into the sky. The fog was still strong in the morning, and the fire-breathing rocket left a pure white trail, but it flew higher and higher.
The trail also disappeared.
The slide rails were still warm, and the crane immediately began to guard against the second round of projectiles.
Von Braun knew very well that his actions must be fast, otherwise if he launches slowly, the Russians will quickly burrow into the ground like mice after realizing the danger. If they want to cause maximum damage, they must use extreme speed
emission.
All he needed was a speed, and immediately after completing the second round of launches, all launch positions were allowed to launch freely.
Almost every four minutes, a bomb takes off from the orbit and flies towards the target.
Various radar stations of the Soviet Army captured some weak signals. The reason was for no other reason than that the V1 rocket was small in size and flew very fast. The fluctuations on the oscilloscope were almost the same as those of a flock of wild geese, but it was not a wild goose. The violent fluctuations passed by in a flash.
, forcing the radar antenna to constantly adjust its direction to track it.
Such a magical sight made the radar station dare not neglect it. They notified the cruising patrol aircraft and discovered some "small planes" flying at incredible speeds in the direction of Moscow.
The air defense siren sounded across the city, but the Soviet Air Force was a step too slow. They did not launch an interception at all, and the attack had already occurred.
Each of the V1 rockets deviated in a certain direction. The technical disadvantages of this early cruise missile turned into an advantage in the face of Moscow's huge urban area.
The first five bombs were far apart from each other, the timers on their warheads had expired, the engines were shut down, and the entire missile body began to land rapidly like a glider.
It is really a tragedy for the Soviet Union. Many of the Soviet air defense balloons rose to 4,000 meters, and only a few dropped to an altitude of 2,000 meters. Many V1 rockets in the gliding state were only 800 meters high, and finally ended up at a lower angle and 60
%The crazy speed of sound hit the buildings in Moscow and exploded violently.
A bomb directly hit the roof of the circular stage of the Moscow State Circus. The entire building collapsed in half, and violent black smoke quickly rose into the sky. The powerful shock wave caused by the explosion was like a razor, cutting the rope of the air-proof balloon. The heat wave soared.
Many anti-aircraft hydrogen balloons were also ignited.
This is just the beginning!
Kutuzov Street was bombed, and Lenin Street was bombed. The large number of camouflage for air defense was meaningless, and the neat and clean streets were instantly in a mess.
All the building glass near the explosion area was shattered, and buildings with a radius of 100 meters from the center of the explosion were damaged to varying degrees.
This is still just the beginning!
Tver District, Presniya District, and Arbat District, these three districts have withstood the most violent attacks. There is no other reason. They are all districts located in the eastern suburbs of the city. Due to the fact that the V1 rocket is actually designed to fly
Those who attack to the extreme are naturally the most miserable.
There was a stubborn V1 rocket, or it received help from the wind direction. It flew higher and naturally slid further during the gliding phase. It actually landed in the Kremlin.
The bomb exploded violently, immediately creating a large crater with a depth of five meters. I can only be thankful that the current Kremlin was built in the first half of the 19th century. All the walls are made of granite and lack glass.
.
The buildings of the palace were damaged to varying degrees, and all the window glass was shattered. Fortunately, except for the collapse of part of the base wall of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower, and the Tsar Cannon in the square was deeply dented by supersonic shrapnel.
marks, there will be no more serious damage.
For the Soviet air defense forces, the numerous officers and soldiers at the anti-aircraft artillery positions witnessed a brand new attack!
In many previous air raids, German bombers mainly used 100kg aerial bombs. The main aircraft type, the Henschel bomber, often loaded more than 20 bombs at a time. Good results were often achieved through large-scale drops of small bombs. It was only 100kg.
The damage caused by bombs to reinforced concrete buildings is limited, but the V1 rocket warhead of 700kg TNT brings a truly terrible blow.
The Stalin-style B&B building that was hit could have accommodated nearly fifty households. In the face of a new type of attack, a single bomb caused the entire building to collapse.
When the air raid occurred, some confident people decided to hide at home. They stayed away from rooms with glass, hid under wooden tables, and wrapped themselves in blankets, hoping that these protections would weaken some of the attacks. But what they encountered was the earth shattering.
Completely buried by the collapsed building!
Of course, those who suffered heavy losses were not these reckless citizens who refused to escape. After all, they were a minority.
All soldiers of the Moscow Air Defense Front must sacrifice their lives when necessary to defend the sky of the "Eternal Capital". Now, they are using their flesh and blood to wield inappropriate weapons against Germany's brand new weapons.
This responsibility and helplessness as soldiers also made them understand who the attackers were! (To be continued)