Chapter 267: Paving the Way

The Heinkel 111 bomber, fully loaded with eight 250-kilogram aerial bombs, was flying staggeringly in the sky like a pregnant turkey. It did not have the dexterity, lightness, and extremely small turning radius of a fighter jet. As a twin-engine frontline medium-sized bomber, The bomber's Heinkel 111 must fly far enough away from the ground target before it can start dragging its heavy fuselage slowly back to the next wave of attack channels.

He quietly poked his head out of the bomb hole and looked at the German bombers in the sky that were turning around after flying a long distance. Malashenko, who suddenly realized something in a trance, immediately sank and spoke to himself.

"The situation is not good. These German guys should have discovered our tanks parked behind the position. They should have put on anti-aircraft camouflage and rest last night. Damn it!"

Hearing the low lament from Malashenko's mouth, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Lavrinenko, who suddenly looked bad, felt a little guilty in his heart.

Things like arranging the rest and camouflage of the troops are usually done by his deputy. Lavrinenko, who fought all day long last night and played digging holes in the soil at night, was already exhausted. Not to mention the Red Army tank drivers and loaders who needed to expend more energy to engage in battle.

Lavrinenko, who had already forgotten about the anti-aircraft camouflage of the tank, had already forgotten about it. After finishing his work, he simply found a crater left by the German shelling and used it as an "independent single room" and lay down in it and fell asleep. The subordinate tank company commanders did not think much after seeing that both the chief and deputy officers had fallen asleep. They just thought that all combat tasks today were completely over and ordered the disbandment of the troops and went to find places to sleep.

When he thought of his dereliction of duty, he couldn't help but blame himself deeply. Lavrinenko, who took all the responsibility on himself, then whispered to Malashenko beside him.

"Malashenko, I forgot about the anti-aircraft camouflage last night. I was really tired at that time. I bear all the responsibilities. This is my fault."

Malashenko, who had long expected that Lavrinenko would put all the blame on himself, was not surprised by this. Lavrinenko's name will remain in history based on the principle of doing his duty and being loyal to his troops and even friendly forces. One of his best qualities is that Malashenko never thought of shifting all the responsibilities onto his old classmate and deputy.

"Now is not the time to talk about this. Last night, not only you, but everyone including me slept as if they were dead. Only those who are bombarded by huge cannons during the day and still alive and kicking after digging holes at night are monsters! I, the battalion commander, am primarily responsible for not conveying the order, so please stop blaming yourself for this kind of thing."

After hearing Malashenko's answer, it was impossible for Lavrinenko to say that his heart was not warm, even if Malashenko was his military school classmate and an old comrade in the Polish War.

Lavrinenko, who was about to open his mouth to answer something, had no time to open his mouth before the words came to his mouth. The German bombers, roaring with the thundering roar of their twin-engine engines, had already turned around and flew overhead again.

"Okay, the appreciation time is over! Go back quickly! The German hens are about to start laying eggs!"

Before he finished speaking, the German Heinkel 111 bombers, which were continuously lowering their flight altitude while turning around the attack channel, had already dived at a small angle similar to that of modern airliners, and gradually dropped from the original flight altitude of 1,500 meters to less than 1,000 meters. flight altitude.

Even if you stand on the ground and raise your head now, it is enough to see with the naked eye those black aerial bombs hanging on the racks in the belly magazine.

"How's it going, Burns! Can you see the ground target clearly?"

The German pilot, who was controlling the flight attitude of the fighter plane, tried his best to yell and ask questions to the bombardier lying next to him in front of the bombsight. The latter, who had no spare time at all, lay in front of the sight without raising his head and spoke back. .

"It's very clear, I saw those monsters! They are the Russian KV1! The boxy shape is like fresh bread just baked in the bakery, and there are a lot of them! You keep your attitude in level flight, Hank, I'm now Start dropping bombs now!"

With his excellent eyesight as a bombardier and the assistance of an optical bombsight, he could clearly see the Soviet KV1 heavy tanks scattered on the ground. For Burns, who had dozens of bombing experiences, these motionless steel behemoths, which were obviously unmanned, were simply the best objects for practicing bomb-dropping skills.

"Okay, stand still and don't move, you guys are coming in threes and twos!"

Burns, who was sure that he had aligned the sight cross mark on the nearest Soviet KV1 heavy tank, pressed the bomb release button in his hand without hesitation.

After the electrical signal for bomb release was transmitted through the electric wire, the belly pylon instantly stretched out the bomb hook that was originally tightly held, and the 250-kilogram aerial bombs densely arranged in the belly magazine instantly hit the ground like rain. The sharp whistling sound that rent the air was simply the sound of death to the ears of the Red Army soldiers on the ground.

It must be said that Burns, who requested to drop the bomb after the flight altitude dropped below 1,000 meters, did have his own reasons for confidence. The 250 kg aerial bomb, whose error rate had been further reduced as the flight altitude dropped, was now very accurate. Even if it was not as good as the Stuka's low-altitude dive bombing at an altitude of 200 to 300 meters, the gap was already very small.

It hit the top of the turret of the first KV1 heavy tank with high accuracy like a high-altitude parabola and exploded instantly. The 125 kg charge contained in the bomb warhead immediately turned into a dazzling fireball. The small explosion cloud that rushed straight into the sky, carrying the armor fragments of the KV1 heavy tank, rose to a height of more than ten meters before it stopped.

Burns, who was absolutely confident in his bombing skills, did not stop after dropping the first bomb. He knew that it would take at least a minute to adjust the flight attitude for each attack route, so he dropped all six bombs in succession with the tacit cooperation of pilot Hank while flying forward.

After seeing that the leading aircraft in front had already started to drop bombs, the subsequent Heinkel 111 bomber group also knew what to do. The black bombs were like hail, and they broke away from the belly hooks with a creepy roar and rushed straight to the ground, leaving a catastrophe for the unmanned KV1 heavy tank group on the ground.