Chapter 1860 Turning the tables

  The soldiers counterattacked spontaneously, and still formed intensive firepower, causing considerable casualties to the German officers and soldiers walking through the smoke. Many soldiers had to look for bomb craters to avoid, and then stuck their heads out to shoot at the Soviet commanders in the distance.

  Seeing that the troops in front were intercepted by Soviet firepower, the German troops behind immediately set up mortars to bombard them. Fortunately, there was smog. Although the German mortars fired lively, they did not cause much casualties to the Soviet army.

  At this time, a machine gun on the Soviet side rang out, and the machine gunner was eager to eliminate the threat of German artillery fire, so he fired in the direction of the mortar. But unfortunately, the aimless shooting did not suppress the mortar fire, but attracted more firepower. After a while, the machine gun misfired under the intensive firepower of the German army.

  The Soviet commanders and fighters who lost the cover of machine gun fire could not help falling into chaos. The German army took the opportunity to concentrate their firepower and fired at the location where the Soviet army might be concentrated. The intensive firepower knocked the Soviet commanders and fighters on their backs, and in less than a minute, many people were shot and killed.

Colonel Surodenko in the distance, seeing his subordinates being suppressed by the firepower of the German army, was so anxious that he beat the ground with his fists again and again, and wanted to rescue him, but the Germans had the advantage in firepower. It is to let more people die.

   "Comrade division commander," the chief of staff came to Surodenko's side, and said anxiously: "The troops in front may be wiped out by the Germans at any time. We should do something to rescue them from danger."

"Chief of staff, tell me, what can we do now?" Surodenko pointed to the distance and said angrily, "You haven't seen how fierce the enemy's firepower is. If we can't suppress them, we will send another If more troops go up, it’s just to let them die.”

"But, Comrade Division Commander." Although the Division Chief of Staff knew that what Surodenko said was true, he could not help but feel his heart being pierced when he watched his subordinates under the firepower of the German army and suffered continuous casualties. Feeling unwilling to say: "Are we just watching them being wiped out by the Germans?"

   "What can I do?" Surodenko said helplessly: "The enemy has long-range heavy artillery. As long as our troops are concentrated, they can carry out violent shelling and cause us huge casualties."

   "So what do we do now?"

   "Let the soldiers dig fortifications." Surodenko felt that under the current circumstances, he could only abandon the troops that were in danger ahead and keep the remaining troops. As for the blocking orders from the superiors, let it go to hell, my troops are about to be defeated by the Germans, so there is no way to stop the fleeing enemies. "With the fortifications, even if we are bombarded by heavy German artillery again, we can minimize casualties."

   "Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander." At this time, the operator carrying the telephony machine trotted to Surodenko, and reported a little emotionally: "It is Comrade Commander calling you."

"Comrade Commander, I am Surodenko." Putting on the headset, Surodenko said into the microphone: "Our division is currently under heavy attack from the German army, and the situation is very dangerous. I repeat, the situation is very dangerous .”

"Colonel Surodenko," Melekhov's voice came from the earphones: "I know the situation of your division is very bad, but don't worry, Comrade Commander has sent the air force to support you. Wait for our army later The plane is here, remember to do a good job of ground guidance, and don’t let the bombs they drop hit our own people.”

Knowing that the air force is coming to support soon, Surotenko, who was already on the verge of despair, suddenly saw a glimmer of hope. He hurriedly asked: "Comrade commander, when will our air force arrive? Our current situation is very serious." Oops, if air support doesn't arrive in time, the entire army is in danger of being wiped out."

"Colonel Surodenko," Melekhov's voice continued to come from the earphones: "The air force supporting you will arrive soon, please hold on for another ten minutes. Repeat, the air force will arrive soon, please be sure to come again." Hold on for ten minutes."

  After Surotenko ended the call, the division chief of staff asked anxiously: "Comrade division commander, what did the army commander say?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, good news, good news." Surodenko said emotionally to the chief of staff of the division: "The commander told me that the superior sent the air force to support us, and asked us to do a good job of guiding the air force on the ground. So as not to blow up your own people by mistake."

   Now it's the division chief's turn to be in a dilemma. Under the current circumstances, how to instruct the air force on the ground attack target?

  Seeing that the chief of staff of the division had been silent for a long time, Surodenko urged him: "I said, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are talking, how should we instruct the Air Force to attack targets?"

   Before the division chief of staff could speak, the radio operator handed the headset and microphone to Surodenko: "Comrade division commander, it is the Air Force pilot who wants to talk to you."

Surodenko put on the earphones again, there was a burst of electricity first, and then a hoarse voice came: "I am the captain of the special flight brigade of the 1st Army of the Assault Air Force, we will arrive at the battlefield in two minutes, please Indicate the target for us to attack. Repeat, we will arrive at the battlefield in two minutes, please indicate the target for us to attack."

   "What to do, Comrade Chief of Staff." Surodenko was anxious: "The Air Force still has two minutes to reach the battlefield. How should we indicate the direction of attack for them?"

   Fortunately, at this moment, the chief of staff of the division suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a good solution: "Comrade commander, I have a solution."

   "Hurry up!"

"We collected the red flags and put an arrow on the ground. The direction pointed by the arrow is the position of the German army." The chief of staff of the division said proudly: "In this way, our pilots can clearly see our army in the air." instructed."

  Hearing the chief of staff's method, Surodenko couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and he said repeatedly: "Good method, Comrade Chief of Staff, this is indeed a good method."

After finishing speaking, he said loudly into the microphone: "Comrade pilot, we will place an arrow on the ground with a red flag. The direction pointed by the arrow is the distance from the German army. You only need to attack in that direction." It’s gone.” After repeating the content of the call twice, he recalled that the battlefield was full of smoke at the moment, and worried that it would affect the pilot’s vision, he quickly added, “Now that the battlefield is full of smoke, your vision may be blocked, which will affect your vision. ground attack."

  If it is other fighters, in the face of the rising smoke, it may really be impossible to find the target on the ground. But this time, General Ryazanov sent aerial fortresses that specialize in ground attacks. They usually hover at a height of 100 meters, and they must be seen more clearly than planes that attack at a height of hundreds of meters.

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." The pilot said in the communication channel: "As long as we have your guidance, we can find the target of attack."

As soon as the chief of staff of the division commanded the soldiers to lay out the indicator arrows with red flags on the ground, there was a low roar in the air, and then four transport planes appeared in the sky. Compared with fighter jets and fighter planes, their flying speed was as slow as in the sky. like crawling. The officers and soldiers of the Soviet and German sides who were fighting on the ground did not know whose plane it was, so they stopped shooting and looked up into the sky.

Suddenly, the door of the plane opened, revealing two black muzzles, and then began to shoot wildly. The two long muzzle flames swung back and forth, and the dense firepower poured on the ground. Wherever they went, the German army was beaten up. . Several armored vehicles that had just driven over unfortunately became victims. Their thin top armor was easily torn apart by 14.5mm armor-piercing bullets, and the soldiers hidden in the vehicles were smashed to pieces.

After receiving Sokov's call, Ryazanov felt that the transport plane modified in the later period was equipped with a 12.7mm machine gun and only one on one side. If it hovered in the air and attacked the ground, its power would be greatly reduced, so he decisively They chose the aerial fortress rebuilt in the early stage. These transport planes are equipped with twin 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns. They attack the infantry on the ground. It can be described as a one-sided massacre.

   It is precisely because the transport aircraft rebuilt in the early stage was used. Eight 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns fired at the ground at the same time.

   In less than five minutes, there was no one standing in the place where the German army gathered. Even if some people haven't died yet, their injuries are too serious, and they are too weak to recover. They just lie on the ground and wait for the **** of death to come.

   After destroying the German infantry, the four aerial fortresses flew towards the German artillery positions.

  The German lieutenant colonel watched helplessly as the infantry he sent was wiped out by four strange transport planes. Now seeing the plane flying towards his position, he immediately realized that something was wrong, and hurriedly shouted to his adjutant: "Hurry up, pick up the artillery for me, and let them transfer immediately."

  Although the reaction of the German lieutenant colonel was quick, it was still one step too late. After all, for the plane, the distance of two kilometers was basically reached in an instant. Arriving at the air fortress above the German artillery positions, the attack on the ground was soon launched.

In this way, the German lieutenant colonel watched as four Soviet transport planes hovered over the artillery position, and the bullets fired by eight 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns poured towards the position like mercury, detonating the bombs piled up on the position. The shells blew up the cannons to pieces, and the artillerymen were blown to pieces.

Everything that happened on the German positions was clearly seen by Surodenko through a telescope. He came out of his hiding place, stood on a mound of soil, and shouted to the commanders and fighters hiding around: "Comrades, the enemy! The artillery position has been destroyed by our air force. Come with me and avenge our fallen comrades!"

  Seeing the division commander taking the lead in the charge, the soldiers hiding around jumped out of the trenches one after another, shouting Ulla, followed behind Surodenko, and rushed towards the German positions in the distance.

The captain of the pilot group saw the troops on the ground charging, with a smile on his face, he quickly contacted other pilots through the airborne radio: "Brothers, the troops on the ground have launched a charge, and we will do our best to support them. As soon as you find where the enemy is stubbornly resisting, destroy them with intensive firepower. Understand?"

  The other three pilots heard the commander's order, and they all replied loudly: "Understood, Comrade Captain, we will do our best to support the army brothers."

  The air fortress circled around the German positions. When they saw dense firepower, they used anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot and destroy the German firepower points, so that the ground attacking troops encountered less resistance and attacked faster.

  Surodenko quickly saw the way, knowing that the air force was guiding and covering his attack, so he directed the troops to attack the area where the air fortress was attacking. Often, as soon as the firepower of the German army was destroyed by the air fortress, hundreds of Soviet commanders and fighters rushed up, drowning the remaining German officers and soldiers in the hail of bullets.

  The German lieutenant colonel originally wanted to organize resistance, but they did not have air supremacy, so they could only be beaten passively. They finally organized two anti-aircraft shootings, trying to shoot down the slow-moving transport plane, but how could their little firepower compare to the powerful firepower on the transport plane? .

Seeing that the Soviet transport planes in the sky could not be wiped out, and the Soviet troops were flooding towards his position, the German lieutenant colonel knew that if he continued to hold on, his entire army would definitely be wiped out, so he quickly ordered the troops to retreat. Order.

The Flying Fortress saw the Germans abandoning their position and fled to the west, and chased and fought for a while. Before they could expand their victories, the team leader received a call from Surodenko: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander, I am the No. Colonel Surotenko, the commander of the 130th Division, now thousands of German troops are rushing towards our position from the east. Repeat, thousands of German officers and soldiers are rushing from the east to the position we just occupied.”

   Knowing that thousands of German troops appeared in the east, the flight captain couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly said: "Understood, Comrade Colonel, we will rush over to eliminate them immediately."

   Just like that, the four aerial fortresses stopped their pursuit of the fleeing enemy, and turned around to intercept the German officers and soldiers fleeing westward. Soon, they discovered that on the open ground below, there were people running all over the mountains and plains. The captain knew that these should be the defeated German army, and quickly ordered all the air fortresses to descend to the high ground, and used anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot these fleeing enemies.

  For the Soviet pilots, these German officers and soldiers who lost their organizational system and only cared about fleeing for their lives were the best targets. After they descended, they used anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot at the ground again. After a string of bullets hit, more than a dozen German officers and soldiers were beaten to pieces. Even if they were lucky enough not to be killed, they were missing arms and legs, lying on the ground crying helplessly.

   There are a few German officers and soldiers with faster legs and feet, and now they are only two or three hundred meters away from the trenches. Looking at the trenches that appeared in their field of vision, they seemed to grasp a life-saving straw, thinking that as long as they entered the trenches, they would be able to avoid the strafing planes in the air. So everyone exerted their greatest potential and rushed to the trench at a speed of 100 meters.

But what they never expected was that when they were less than a hundred meters away from the trench, there was a sudden burst of gunshots in the trench, and the soldiers rushing to the front seemed to hit a transparent wall, twitching all over their bodies He fell to the ground. The soldiers behind quickly lay down, thinking that the friendly troops on the ground had misunderstood, and were still shouting desperately, trying to get the opponent to stop shooting.

  (end of this chapter)