Chapter 44: Go for Broke (Part 2)

The screaming propellers dived rapidly towards the oncoming land. The Soviet anti-aircraft guns, which relied entirely on manual rotation of the elevation and directional controls, were doomed to their impending fate.

Boom boom boom——

Da da da da——

When the joint performance of the 20mm aircraft cannon and the 92mm aircraft machine gun resounded over the Soviet air defense positions, the Soviet anti-aircraft gun crews who had been operating their anti-aircraft guns to fire at the air a second ago did not even have time to escape. They were torn to pieces and fell to the ground under the whip of the sudden oncoming rain of bullets.

The tragic wailing was accompanied by a large amount of human blood, flesh and internal organs like sticky ketchup, which was smeared all over the gun barrel of the Soviet anti-aircraft gun. The Soviet anti-aircraft gun crews, who operated the anti-aircraft guns in a completely open-air shooting environment without even a gun shield to protect them, suffered heavy casualties after only the first wave of German ground strafing.

The Soviet anti-aircraft artillery positions, which were originally teased by those experienced German pilots, were even worse off because of the firepower gap. The German BF109E3 fighter pilots, who were unwilling to miss such a good opportunity, naturally understood the principle of taking advantage of the situation to kill you. They immediately waved the joystick in their hands and fell straight into the firepower gap of the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery that was no longer operated.

Bang, bang, bang——

When the last burst of 20mm machine guns fired and the last surviving 76mm anti-aircraft gun crew on the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery position was killed, the battle died down.

The heavy Stuka dive bombers, unable to resist and evade the Soviet anti-aircraft fire, finally got their chance thanks to the efforts of their comrades. After gently shaking their fat, seagull-like fuselages, they dived straight down towards the Soviet artillery positions that were still firing, with the terrifying whistling sound produced by the Jericho trumpet sounder.

"It's the German air raid, those Stukas! Get out of the way!"

Although the Soviet commander who was in charge of commanding the artillery regiment of the 20th Tank Division to conduct close artillery fire on the German front-line positions had issued a loud warning in time, the Soviet artillerymen who heard the warning also began to run towards the nearest bunker as simulated in the previous exercise to avoid the air raid as much as possible to save their lives.

But the legs driven by human power could not compare with the Junkers JUMO 211D 12-cylinder inline water-cooled engine. The JU87B-2 Stuka dive bomber, driven by 1,200 horsepower, quickly spread the seeds of death and destruction to the Soviet artillery positions.

Boom--

The violent explosion shook the earth as if it was the scene of the Judgment Day when the end of the world came.

The Soviet artillery positions, which were accurately hit by several 250-kilogram aerial bombs, suffered a series of disasters. The piles of 122mm and 152mm shells that were opened and placed on the ground in the open air for reloading and increasing the firing rate were almost swallowed up by the flames after the German aerial bombs exploded in the blink of an eye, and then a huge ammunition explosion accident of unprecedented power occurred.

The scene of the ammunition of an entire artillery regiment exploded like a domino, and a chain reaction quickly occurred. In the strong explosion flames and spreading shock waves, the Soviet artillery positions were quickly connected into a whole fire dragon, and it was difficult to find even a complete and intact gun position.

The Soviet artillerymen who always advocated caliber justice and artillery truth were severely pitted by the excessive ammunition base they carried in order to ensure the absolute victory of the battle.

Those who have not seen the scene of tens of thousands of heavy artillery shells of various calibers from 122 mm to 152 mm exploding together can never imagine the magnificence and horror of the horrific scene.

Those Soviet artillerymen who had no time to escape from the affected area in just a few seconds of escape time almost didn't even have time to scream, and were completely swallowed up by the huge fireball that attacked like a doomsday catastrophe in the blink of an eye.

Even after the tyrannical flames and the smoke of the explosions dissipated, there was still no trace of these people standing here.

When the earth-shaking explosion came from the position of the artillery regiment of the 20th Tank Division not far behind the front-line command post, almost all the relevant personnel in the front-line command post were shaking with the earth.

Before that, when Cherniaev ordered the artillery to open fire to suppress the German front-line positions in an attempt to make a last-ditch effort to turn defeat into victory, Political Commissar Petrov, who had felt an indescribable and unknown feeling in his heart, finally realized while standing unsteadily that what he had been worried about was the German support aircraft hovering over the entire battlefield.

"So stupid, so stupid!"

"Yuri had long reminded me to be careful and alert to the German air force, but I still stubbornly believed that those god of war artillery in the last war could lead us to the final victory."

"So that's it, it turns out that this is the magic weapon that the Germans relied on to conquer the whole of Europe. It seems that the key factor that determines the outcome of the war on the battlefield in the future will no longer be the artillery praised as the god of war. These iron eagles soaring in the sky will definitely change the entire pattern of future wars!"

It took a lot of effort to stand unsteadily before he could barely hold on to his body that was about to collapse. Realizing that the battlefield situation and the scale of victory had completely and irreversibly changed, Commissar Petrov had clearly realized the current situation of the war. the final result.

Political Commissar Petrov, who forcibly suppressed his inner trembling but still maintained a calm demeanor, then patted Commander Chernyaev on the shoulder and said loudly.

"We can't go on like this, comrade division commander! Look at those German planes in the sky! Without the help of the air force, we would only be bombed in this open field environment!"

Facing the loud reminder from his partner next to him, Commander Chernyaev also had an anxious look on his face when he realized that the illusory victory was gradually getting further and further away from him.

"You tell me this, I definitely know that there is nothing we can do against those German planes now! But I am just the commander of a tank division, not the commander of an air force division. You told me that there are no aircraft to help in the battle, and there are anti-aircraft artillery positions. They are no match for the huge fleet of German aircraft. Should I give wings to our T34 tanks?”

Just when Political Commissar Petrov and Division Commander Chernyev, who were overwhelmed by the three-dimensional German air-ground integrated tactics, were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, they were also in the forward command post of the opposite German position, because of the battle situation. Commander Dietrich, who was confident of winning and with a smile on his face, was giving the final order to his personal adjutant.