Chapter 768 Opportunity

In fact, from Hans's point of view, what he said seems to make sense.

The First Infantry Regiment has armed helicopters, which are the artifact of highland warfare... Although the Soviet Seagull slow fighter is also very useful in highland warfare, it is still far inferior to helicopters.

Especially in some areas with complex terrain, such as narrow mountain passes, there are tall peaks on both sides, and the enemy and our troops are crowded on both sides of the cliffs of the mountain pass to fight. Although the Seagull fighter is slow, it has a speed of 300 to 400 kilometers per hour. Let it dive and strafe or drop bombs at the mountain pass... Not only can it not distinguish between the enemy and us, but it will also get itself into trouble if it is not careful.

Helicopters do not have these problems.

It can even hover, that is, zero speed, and then move slowly at a slow speed. There is basically no problem of not being able to react in time because of too fast speed.

On the other hand, both the enemy and us have to save ammunition on the mountain... It is exhausting to carry a box of ammunition up the mountain, and it will be used up in a few shots. Even the most powerful logistics transportation cannot support it.

Helicopters do not have this problem either. They fly up to a certain height at the foot of the mountain and then go up the mountain.

So the armed helicopters were equipped with machine guns and rocket launchers, and they were like tycoons who spent money lavishly on the battlefield in the snowy mountains, except that the "gold" here was metal gold.

So, when the Soviet army just started to attack the mountain pass, the First Infantry Regiment could actually send helicopters to repel the Soviet army, and it was easy to repel them.

But the First Infantry Regiment did not do so, and only appeared when the two companies of the 100th Regiment were about to collapse.

However, Qin Chuan had his own reasons.

The reason was simple... Six days ago, the main force of the Soviet army only moved to the mountain pass, which was more than 1,000 meters above sea level.

Qin Chuan judged that the main force of the Soviet army would definitely not continue to stay at the mountain pass waiting for a breakthrough.

On the one hand, the mountain pass was too narrow to deploy troops, and on the other hand, as mentioned before, the highlands on both sides of the mountain pass would also threaten the traffic at the mountain pass, such as setting up a few mortars to block it with artillery fire.

If at this time, the German army exposed its strength, that is, to send helicopters... Just this one stick would stun the Soviet army, and then the Soviet army would retreat in a hurry.

It was not difficult for the Soviet army to retreat from an altitude of more than 1,000 meters, so the Soviet army could almost retreat unscathed.

But now... in order to launch an attack on the German army as soon as possible, the Soviet army relied on their tenacious perseverance to rush day and night, so that they advanced to an altitude of more than 3,000 meters in these six days.

So there is no need to think about it, it must be a dilemma.

Qin Chuan guessed correctly. When the information was transmitted to the Makhachkala Command, Zhukov was stunned on the spot.

"The First Infantry Regiment?" Zhukov asked.

"Yes, Comrade Zhukov!" The staff officer replied, "They used helicopters to repel our charge, and the 35th Regiment suffered heavy casualties!"

"Where are our planes?" Zhukov roared, "Why don't you send our planes to kill them?!"

"Comrade Zhukov!" The staff officer replied, "Our planes can't fly low in that kind of terrain either!"

"I didn't say to let them fly low!" Zhukov said, "I just want to know why there are no fighters in the sky. When those helicopters appear, we will blow them up!"

"Comrade Zhukov!" The staff officer explained, "If... to do this, we must ensure that there are our planes patrolling over every unit!"

The staff officer's words are of course reasonable.

The appearance of helicopters is temporary, and the Soviet army does not know where it will appear in the next moment. It may be in the middle section, the western section, or somewhere in the eastern section. If the Soviet army wants to defend it thoroughly, that is, to ensure that the helicopter is killed as soon as it emerges from the valley... then it must be fully defended.

The theory that attack is greater than defense is actually practical in air combat.

If the Soviets could do this, then they might still gain an advantage.

The problem is that the Soviets couldn't do it...

First, the Soviets didn't have enough fuel to support such a large-scale regular patrol. All the Soviet supplies were transported from the Caspian Sea by small fishing boats. They were already overwhelmed. If they forced it, they would probably overwhelm the logistics.

Secondly, the Soviets' air superiority was only local air superiority at a certain altitude. If they really fought, they would still be no match for the German BF and FW fighters.

At this time, the air superiority actually formed a sandwich-like control in which the ultra-low altitude was controlled by helicopters, the low altitude was controlled by the Soviet Seagull fighters, and the medium and high altitudes were still controlled by the Germans.

Zhukov was a cavalryman after all, and he was not very good at air combat.

However, he soon figured out the reason, and then sat back in his chair and supported his forehead.

Vasilevsky stood aside and said nothing, because he didn't know what to say.

Because the Soviets, who had already reached an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, were in a dilemma at this time.

Let's move forward and attack the enemy... Let's not talk about the lethality of German helicopters to the Soviet army. They can be said to be tanks in the high snow mountains. The transportation capacity of helicopters alone will make the Soviet army hopeless of victory.

The reason is simple. Although the Soviet army has several times more troops than the German army, the German army's supplies are several times more than the Soviet army, and can even be said to be endless... They can use helicopters for transportation.

Retreat. The main force of the Soviet army is already at an altitude of 3,000 meters. There is a saying that "it is easier to go up the mountain than to go down." This is especially true in snowy mountains, because if you are not careful, you will slip and fall to pieces... You can still retreat this way. ?

Vasilevsky couldn't help feeling guilty, because Zhukov had been worried about the German 1st Infantry Regiment before, and he was the one who made him let down his guard.

"I'm so stupid, aren't I?" Zhukov said: "How could we not have thought that helicopters can rappel in the mountains? They can hover, they can rappel on sandbars, they can rappel on Nizhny Tusk, and of course they can rappel on the Caucasus Rappelling..."

After a pause, Zhukov raised his head and looked at Vasilevsky: "So, the Germans planned it from the beginning. They set a trap for us to jump, and we were fooled!"

"Order a retreat, Comrade Zhukov!" Vasilevsky said: "We have no other choice. It may be too late to retreat now, otherwise..."

Vasilevsky said no more. The tragic scene of tens of thousands of people freezing and starving to death in the Caucasus Mountains couldn't help but come to his mind.

Zhukov stood up and took a few steps back and forth in front of his desk, then looked at the map and said, "No, we may still have a chance!"