Then, with bursts of roaring sounds, batch after batch of cargo planes took off amidst the roar of their engines and burst into the night sky.
At this time, Manstein was commanding another unit to withdraw from the front line.
At this time, he should say that he had just breathed a sigh of relief, because the retreat in the direction of Karachi had entered the process, the defense lines on the southern and northern flanks of Milowe were also stable, and it was no longer a problem for the Don Army Group to withdraw safely.
At this moment, the communications troop reported: "Your Excellency, Marshal, we found a large number of enemy aircraft taking off and flying towards Miloway!"
Manstein didn't take it seriously, although it was indeed unusual for the Russian army to have a large number of aircraft taking off at night.
But Manstein's first thought was that these planes were bombers... The Russians were unable to break through the defense line, so they pulled in bombers to help.
Therefore, Manstein immediately issued two orders:
"Order the Air Force to intercept immediately!"
"Order the Miloway defense line to prepare for battle. The enemy is likely to launch a general attack!"
"Yes!" The communications soldier turned around and conveyed the order.
No wonder Manstein misjudged it. Who would have thought that the Russians would use paratroopers at this time? What the Germans knew was that the Russian paratroopers had almost been exhausted in ground operations.
The German Air Force did not expect this, so like Manstein, they thought these takeoffs were bombers, even when the intercepting German night fighter pilots saw these transport aircraft... The military version of the transport aircraft was regarded as a bomber.
Used, so pilots will still think so when they see them.
What arrived was a squadron of six night fighters. The reason why they arrived so quickly was because they happened to be performing patrol missions nearby.
The commander of this team was Major Lenny. He was startled when he saw such a huge fleet of aircraft in front of him, and then immediately said to his subordinates: "Be careful, they may be armed!"
The military version does have a machine gun installed, especially the machine gun turret on the back of the machine that can rotate in all directions, with almost no shooting dead spots.
Major Rennie had dealt with this kind of aircraft in air combat before, so he knew it very well, so he knew how to deal with it.
"Attack from the bottom!" Major Rennie ordered: "Repeat, attack from the bottom and avoid their machine gun turrets!"
As a result, the six German fighter planes lowered their altitude and attacked the Su "Li" transport aircraft group from bottom to top.
Amidst the burst of gunfire, three "Li"s were hit in an instant and erupted into flames and black smoke. One of them exploded and disintegrated with a loud noise in the air a few seconds later. The other two were also unable to survive...
...German pilots can use it so freely in night attacks and have such a high hit rate, which is enough to show their quality.
But in fact, Major Lenny's order is unnecessary.
In order to carry enough people and supplies for this batch of "Li" transport planes of the Soviet Army... each transport plane carries 0 fully armed soldiers, in addition to the ammunition and supplies that these 0 soldiers may need.
Therefore, these transport aircraft have all removed the machine gun turrets and even the nose machine guns, and of course they cannot carry bombs.
In other words, these transport planes were targets for German fighter planes, and they were defenseless targets.
In fact, Major Lenny had already discovered this at this time, because several people jumped out from behind the two damaged transport planes that had not yet exploded, and then opened the parachutes one by one... Obviously, that was because the plane was out of service.
Emergency skydive.
Major Lenny thought he was dazzled. He flew the fighter plane around in a circle and returned to the original place. He found that there were indeed five paratroopers... They must be paratroopers and not the escaping pilots, because the injured "Li" was still there.
Maintaining the flight attitude means that the pilot is still in the aircraft and controlling the aircraft.
"Paratroopers, paratroopers!" Major Lenny shouted: "These are transport planes used for airborne landings!"
The other pilots were also stunned.
They were stunned not because they knew how dangerous these planes would be if they were transport aircraft used for parachuting. In fact, if they were used for parachuting, there would be almost no danger.
They were stunned because they knew that Miloway was empty of troops. If a bomber dropped the bomb, it would not have much effect, but if it were a paratrooper...
Then, Major Rennie's guess was quickly confirmed, because the hatch of the "in" fleet had been opened, and then groups of black figures jumped out from inside, and they soon turned into parachutes.
The white umbrella cover is like a dandelion, which is particularly dazzling under the moonlight.
Major Lenny did not hesitate and immediately reported the situation to the air force base.
The air force base immediately passed the information to Manstein.
The moment Manstein received this information, his face suddenly changed... This was something the adjutant had never seen before. As a veteran general and an Imperial Marshal with rich practical experience, Manstein
Even in the most critical moments, there is no such performance.
But now, the adjutant actually saw a little panic in Manstein's eyes.
"Paratroopers? How many are there?" Manstein asked.
"The specific number is not yet certain, Your Excellency Marshal!" the adjutant replied: "It is estimated that there are about 3,000 people. They airborne near the city of Miloway!"
This estimate is quite accurate. In fact, it is not difficult. German pilots can calculate it from the number of transport aircraft and the number of people the enemy transport aircraft can carry.
Manstein looked at the map and then immediately ordered: "Immediately, order the 91st Infantry Regiment to reinforce Miloway Railway Station. We must defend the railway station at all costs!"
"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal!"
Manstein was indeed a veteran on the battlefield. He could immediately tell at a glance at the map that the focus of the Russian parachute drop was at the train station.
But although Manstein knew how to fight, he didn't know much about politics. He never imagined that the main enemy the 91st Infantry Regiment stationed at the train station had to face was not the Russian paratroopers at all, but the rice soldiers pouring in from all directions.
Lowe people and guerrillas.
At the moment Manstein gave the order, Trufanov also gave the order to attack.
In fact, it was not only the 51st Army that launched the attack at the same time as the airborne troops, but also the Southwest Front Army located in the north.
Among them, the Southwest Front's offensive was particularly fierce. Not to mention the tank troops and infantry charges on the ground, they also sent bombers to bomb the German roads and railways indiscriminately... Although the bombing effect at night is not good, it can be effective.
He expressed his support for the airborne troops and told the people of Miloway: The Soviet army will fight back soon and will win. (To be continued)