The bombers that had dropped all the supplies felt as if their bodies had been hollowed out. (((((()) The nose of each plane rose sharply, and the shock was very strong.
"The airdrop has ended, and all planes will return immediately!" After issuing the order, Ivanov was thinking about the unknown way home. He said to himself: "I hope the Germans haven't even gotten up."
The fleet returned to the rising sun. In order to avoid possible dangers, all bombers flew high to their maximum altitude.
However, all their efforts were made on top of the German army. How could the Germans ignore such a huge fleet as Ivanov hoped.
In fact, that night, the Bryansk occupation forces heard the rumbling in the sky. The radar had been put into actual combat by the British army, so every air combat attempt by Goering was discovered early by the British army. As a result, the surprise of the German air raids was always greatly reduced.
On the eastern front, the Soviet Union and Germany did not use radar. For air raids, they could only stand on sentries and look up at the sky.
Air raid sirens were sounded in Bryansk, but the air raid never took place.
It was two or three o'clock in the morning when the airport near the city started to commotion, and the sleeping German pilots were awakened urgently.
Late at night, there was only a huge moon in the sky. The surrounding area of the airport was covered with snow, and the earth was very brightly illuminated by the moon. The pilots gathered urgently. They thought that their superiors ordered them to risk taking off for combat at night, but they were indeed on standby.
Order.
The searchlights in Bryansk illuminated the sky, seeming to have found the location of the enemy planes. Even some anti-aircraft guns were urgently pulled into the city and had been caught unexpectedly.
"The Soviets probably won't air attack this city that is originally theirs! They probably won't bomb this place, so there are still Soviet citizens in the city!" the commander of the Bryansk occupation forces sighed. He stabilized his subordinates' emotions, but at no point
Not daring to be negligent, he immediately ordered the garrison to prepare for an evacuation.
In this way, Ivanov's march left only a noise, but the German troops on the ground were frightened. They could not find any trace of the Soviet aircraft and had to order the air force to prepare for battle.
The fleet returned along the original route, and when they arrived at the outskirts of Chernikov, the rumble in the sky was heard again. This must be an airplane, and it was a large fleet.
Twenty BF1o9 fighter jets scrambled into the air.
Because the Soviet army still occupies Crimea at this moment, the German army's offensive pressure on the Odessa front line is currently relatively small, but it does not dare to neglect it for a moment.
The world war was about comprehensive national strength. A country's war machine consisted of nothing more than powerful soldiers, steel, crude oil and food. Both the Soviet Union and Germany knew each other's destiny. The Soviet army was bombing Ploiesti in Romania frantically.
oil fields, and even tried to risk bombing the more distant Silesian oil fields (this was an action with no return). When the German army attacked Ukraine, they even tried to capture the Soviet Union's largest grain-producing area here, as well as the Baku oil fields in the Caucasus.
Soviet bombers were frequently dispatched. In order to better deter the enemy, the Germans replaced the fighter jets with one cannon, while the Junkers 87 had two.
Therefore, what Ivanov will encounter is this kind of war machine. He thinks that he has flown so high that the man on top of the machine gun tower has dozed off.
Even though Ivanov emphasized that it was already dawn, everyone must remain vigilant. After several hours of daylight flying without encountering enemy planes, people gradually became more and more careless.
They never expected that these twenty German fighter jets would rely on the cover of the dazzling sunlight to come straight from the sun.
All German fighter jets had onboard radios, and the captain ordered the leader and wingman of the entire combat group to use cannon salvos.
The cannon is 37 mm in diameter and uses high-explosive shells. This weapon fires slowly. In order to fly lightly, each aircraft only carries twenty shells. However, as long as it is hit on the wing, an enemy aircraft will basically crash.
The sudden shells hit the Soviet bomber formation at an angle, and the explosion occurred suddenly. The Soviet army lost four bombers in just one round of German shelling.
Because the wings had been blown off, this TB3 bomber was an old Soviet model and its structural strength was not excellent. The aircraft with broken wings emitted black smoke and fell with a terrifying roar.
All those who had dozed off were awakened, and the life-or-death moment suddenly arrived. Without Yevlov's order, all the machine gunners were already in their positions. The machine guns fired blank bullets, and the bullets were like splashing water.
The Soviet army began to counterattack in self-defense, which gave the German army great resistance. Facts have proved that Ivanov dared to carry out this order fearlessly. His people were naturally a group of desperadoes and also very skilled and tactical pilots.
"Now order everyone to keep raising the plane! Abandon all useless debris!" Ivanov decided to take a gamble, and the plane worked hard to reach its limit of eight thousand meters.
The air at such a high altitude is thin, and the lift provided by the aircraft is reaching its limit when the aircraft is flying. The pilot is horrified to see that the propellers of the engine are shaking abnormally. It is also extremely cold here. Fortunately, it is a bad winter on the ground and at high altitude. The crew
Exhaling and continuing their adventure.
But the limit of BF1o9 is 10,000 meters, so what Ivanov faced was a gamble.
"Everyone, pay attention and fight hard. Our fuel reserves are far away from theirs. As long as we persist and their fuel reaches the limit, they will inevitably retreat!" Ivanov's words gave the soldiers hope.
But deaths still came one after another. The TB3 bomber flew too slowly, and the BF1o9 was twice as fast. This was not a stratospheric fortress at all, and its strength was far less than the main American model B17. Even if the soldiers risked their lives, the German army was still far away.
Fire from a distance.
Several aircraft were riddled with holes from enemy machine guns, their wings and direction were shaken to pieces, and they were finally killed by artillery shells.
By the time the Germans were forced to return due to fuel bottlenecks, the Soviets had already lost ten aircraft. The Soviet-controlled area was getting closer and closer, and this risky airdrop operation eventually turned into a massacre when the fleet returned.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, Front Army Commander Timoshenko received the news that the aircraft fleet had returned.
The messenger read the document, and Timoshenko, who stood up excitedly, immediately sat down again. He held his chin and lamented: "The German army actually installed artillery on the fighter jets. I underestimated their strength! Although this airdrop was successful, we also suffered losses.
Twelve heavy bombers."
During this operation, ten bombers were shot down on their way back. All the crew members fell from high altitude and died in the sky. The remaining two had accidents during landing. One plane failed to make an emergency landing and caught fire. Many people were seriously burned and their lives were worse than death.
.
But he did not deny the results of this operation. At night, he received repeated messages from the 284th Guards Division.
Yevlov ordered the radio operator to send a brief message to the Gomel underground municipal committee: the firearms, ammunition and bedding were received in good condition!
This is exactly what Timoshenko hoped. Although it cost a lot, Belarus's largest combat force behind enemy lines has been replenished with supplies. They can still fight in the most difficult environment, and perhaps they still have the ability to launch a winter offensive against Germany.
, respond to the leader’s call.
On the other hand, the results of the air battle were immediately reported to the occupying force headquarters in Kiev. After a simple analysis, the strategic purpose of the Soviet army was clear. There was already too much intelligence indicating that Soviet guerrillas were entrenched in the swamp area north of Kiev.
important military force.
The Soviet guerrillas made the German army tireless. In Kiev, some people supported Germany because they opposed the Soviet Union. Some people were at a loss. Others were resisting in various ways, including "terrorist actions" as defined by later generations.
The guerrillas echoed this, the fires and bridge bombings in Chernobyl, and the frequent attacks on road towns in southern Belarus, all around swamps.
The German army felt bitter and sent troops to sweep there. It was the middle of winter and it was extremely difficult to deploy troops. Almost all the soldiers who dared to fight were trapped in the battle to capture Moscow, and the advantages they gained in the early stages of the battle were disappearing little by little.
.
The information also reached Johan Kube, the Nazi commissioner in Belarus.
Regarding this person, the Gomel Underground Municipal Committee listed him as a person to be assassinated, and the information was also passed to the 284th Division. Yang Mingzhi knew this person, and he was eventually killed by a bomb in his home by the guerrillas.
This man was a murderous demon and a man who pursued order. The SS was killing Jews everywhere, often breaking into homes and killing them. In Slutsk, Jewish corpses were everywhere on the streets, as if they were slaughtering a city. The Party
Although the Guards would not openly massacre Belarusians, terror was spreading.
John Kube was furious and reported to Hitler: "The SS is destroying discipline. This is an incredibly despicable act. They are killing people on a large scale in various cities and deliberately creating an atmosphere of terror. They are basically destroyers of order.
, it will do nothing to restore the economy for our use, it will only turn the occupied areas into no man's land! Or it will force the collaborators back to Stalin!"
Therefore, he was very disgusted with the 707 Division's behavior of killing good people and taking credit for meritorious service as in the Middle Ages. In the end, the Soviet guerrillas incredibly disabled this unit, and the army's strategy of crazy massacres in an attempt to destroy the foundation of the guerrillas was temporarily over. But the job given to him was more
It was an arduous task, not to mention that the Soviet army showed no fear of the powerful German air force and risked their lives to provide aid to the guerrillas.
He ordered the various German troops stationed on the Mozyr-Lechitsa highway. "Considering that your south is an area with frequent Soviet guerrilla activities, do not actively provoke them now. Your task is to maintain the stability of the highway with all your strength and ensure that
Smooth transportation roads to the front lines.”
What else can the commander of the German 715th Division do? Schultz complained: "The enemy is increasing its strength, and their superiors don't know that it may not be an ordinary guerrilla at all. We call it the Swamp Guerrilla Brigade, and there may be at least one brigade there.
The troops are powerful and have tenacious combat effectiveness!”
"So what should we do? Those bureaucrats only believed what they saw. Our precise reconnaissance all failed. We can only use side evidence to prove that the Soviet troops there are powerful." The chief of staff said helplessly, but he also made a suggestion.
recommendations.
"Now that we have occupied the southern town of Homnage, we will increase our troops there as a formal forward position and engage in a strategic confrontation with the enemy. We must take the initiative, so that it will be beneficial to us."
Schulz agreed with the decision. "Okay, then send a battalion there. Bring more ammunition and supplies to ensure that the troops can be stationed for a long time in this bad environment. I am also worried that the Soviet army will go crazy."