Chapter 390: Prepare to Attack

When he thought of the "painful experience" that almost cost him his life, he couldn't help shaking his head.

At the beginning of the war, Rudel, who was a rookie and had never had any actual combat experience in ground attack, was just like the young German pilot in front of him, and he looked down on the inferior Soviets claimed by the German propaganda agencies.

But some things can only be awakened and repented after experiencing them personally.

Today, Rudel dares not neglect the ground anti-aircraft firepower of the opponent Soviet army. Rudel, who has personally experienced the death god passing by him, firmly believes that the goddess of fate will never favor the same person all the time. Only by facing the true strength of his opponent can he finally survive in this cruel war. Rudel himself is convinced of this conclusion.

Seeing the young pilot in front of him still smiling and not taking the battle seriously, he couldn't help but shook his head. Rudel, who was a talkative and joking person in his spare time, couldn't laugh at this critical moment when he was about to fight the Soviets again.

Rudel didn't want his mistakes and experiences to happen to his comrades again, so he took a step forward with a sigh.

"Felix, don't despise the Soviets too much. Although I don't care about their ideology and the rotten Bolshevik regime, these Russians are indeed much stronger than any opponent we have ever experienced."

"If you don't want to die in the Russian sky, you'd better put away your self-righteousness. I don't want to attend your memorial service after the mission is over. Remember how Eberle died last month? The whole plane crashed into the ground and even the parachute was destroyed. It turned into a big fireball with the bomb. I don't think you expected this result?"

The young pilot was obviously unexpected and a little surprised by Rudel's active persuasion. He smacked his lips and moved up and down, not knowing how to respond. He was stunned for a long time and couldn't speak.

Thinking of the scene in Rudel's mouth where the German pilot named Eberl plunged into the Soviet position with his plane and turned into a fireball, the young pilot, who was flying his plane at an altitude of 800 meters and witnessed all this, could not help but feel a chill and swallowed his saliva.

"I thought it was Eberl's own poor driving skills that caused that. Didn't everyone always say that he was a truant student who ran away from the aviation school? Could it really be the Soviets' fault?"

The idiotic words of the young pilot called Felix by Rudel were obviously very unpleasant to hear.

A group of German pilots who were still laughing and talking stopped talking immediately after hearing this. Lieutenant Eberle, who graduated from the aviation school as one of the top ten in the same period, was definitely an elite, even if he could not be called an ace. The tragedy of his carelessness and being directly pulled down by the Soviet anti-aircraft machine gun barrage was unexpected by everyone. The only thing they did not expect was that Felix, the little idiot, actually took the nickname he joked about seriously.

"Don't use the dead as teaching materials anymore, Rudel. Even if it is for teaching rookies, this seems inappropriate."

Faced with the sudden reminder from his comrade, Rudel, who knew that the words he just said were indeed somewhat disrespectful to the dead, nodded in response.

"I understand, but I don't want this kid to make the same mistake as Eberle. If he dies like this, it would be too easy for those Russians. Am I right? Felix."

"Uh"

Compared to Rudel, who already has sophisticated combat experience, Felix is ​​just a rookie who has just been transferred from the rear of Germany to the front line as a reserve pilot to fill the shortage. He has only flown a single-digit number of sorties. Even if the Soviet tanks that have been abandoned are counted, he has only achieved less than ten results. The average record of destroying a Soviet tank per sortie is really not good enough in the German Air Force, which is full of strong players.

Thinking of the embarrassing and abnormal results and the repeated mistakes in his past experiences, Felix, who deeply realized that he was not in the same dimension as Rudel, who had already made outstanding achievements, immediately lowered his head quietly with some shame.

"I know where I made a mistake, Lieutenant Rudel, and I promise I won't make the same mistake again, not in the future, not ever."

"Yeah"

He patted the young pilot in front of him, who looked like a child who had done something wrong, on the shoulder to encourage him. Rudel, who was about to say something again, was interrupted by a sudden sound of hurried footsteps. A ground crew member who had just cleared a large pile of snow and was running over and was a little out of breath, spoke up.

"Captain Brückel, the snow clearing and de-icing work on the runway has been completed. You and your squadron can take off at any time. Dukeman has already pushed all your planes out of the hangar and is ready."

The officer named Captain Brücker was the commander of the 3rd Group of the 2nd Ground Attack Wing where Rudel served. This man had been driving a Stuka to spread the scream of death since the beginning of the German blitzkrieg in Poland. The captain who arrived in Warsaw was already a veteran ground attack veteran with very high qualifications and experience. Rudel, who had only officially piloted a Stuka on ground attack missions since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, learned a lot from him.

"I understand. Thank you for your busy work, Sergeant Dobler. Remember to come to my dormitory when you get back from this sortie. I will bring Rudel and treat you to a drink."

After hearing this, the ground sergeant smiled as expected. Sergeant Doppler, who had already formed a tacit understanding with Captain Brücker, could not remember how many times he had heard this. Such farewell words.

"It's still the same, Captain Brücker, good Munich beer and Bavarian weisswurst. Only you can get these good things. Remember to prepare double portions for me when the time comes."

Captain Brücker, who had already formed a tacit understanding, smiled slightly after hearing this. The Luftwaffe, which has high-quality supply quotas and an exclusive air supply line between Germany and the front line, has never lacked these rare flavors of hometown.

"Of course, I may prepare two bottles of French wine for you. You should also change your taste that has not changed for several years."