Chapter 837 Caspian Sea Counterattack (Part 2)

Groups of He-218 dive bombers and Ju-188 medium bombers flew over the Caspian Sea under the cover of Bf-219, dropping bombs and incendiary bombs on the Soviet formations like they were free. The retreat of nearly 70,000 people was not something that could be successfully transferred in the next minute with just a word from Manstein. Sufficient time must be left. Since casualties must be avoided as much as possible, the only way is to let the Air Force do more.

The bombing was still in progress, and the Fw-190 series carrying ground-strafing suits rushed to the battlefield again, sweeping all suspicious places below with fierce and intensive firepower. Hoffman once positioned the Fw-190 as an air superiority fighter, requiring that "not one kilogram of weight should be used for ground attack", but as the Do-412 and Ta-152 were put into use one after another, the Fw-190's position as a main fighter began to waver. It was not as good as the Ta-152 in high-altitude interception, not as light as the Do-412 in mid-air combat, and not as good as the Bf-219 in low-altitude horizontal combat. It began to follow the footsteps of the Bf-109 and became an "all-round fighter" that could do everything, but was not the best in any niche field.

Wolff once hoped that Dr. Tank could launch a weight-reduced version of the Fw-190 and replace it with a new engine to compete with the Do-412, and even wanted to enter the carrier-based aircraft market. However, after careful analysis, Dr. Tank believed that there was not much meaning in doing so. Not only was there not enough time, but it was also facing strong competition from the Do-412 and might not win. After all, he was quite familiar with the data and performance of the Do-412 in all aspects. But the 190 has its own unique advantages compared to the previous generation "all-round fighter" Bf-109: large body, heavy weight, upgradeable and large space redundancy.

He quickly found a good place for the 190 - ground attack. The Fw-190F series with added armor, enlarged fuel tank and reduced speed was born. 70% of the parts are compatible with the Fw-190A series, which increases the value of the original production line. Not only did it continue to win orders for the company, but it also expanded the air force. The armament department was very satisfied with this improvement and changed all the cut A series orders to the F series.

The improved 190F series has a maximum range of nearly 1,300 kilometers, can carry 2 250 kg bombs or 48 R4M rockets, or neither, and hangs a firepower pod under the belly to perform anti-tank tasks. Combined with the 4 MG213 aircraft cannons on the wings, the firepower density has exceeded the cannon bird modified from the Ju-87. Although the performance of air combat is a bit worse, it is not a big problem to escape. If you encounter the enemy's Il-2 attack aircraft or a lone bomber, the F series, which was born from fighter jets, can still win in air combat.

This new equipment is very popular among frontline officers and soldiers. In fact, the Soviet fighter units, which have been repeatedly hit, are very weak. It is rare to see large-scale air combat. At best, they just come to sneak attack. With the battlefield becoming larger and larger, more powerful ground support combat aircraft are urgently needed. The F series has seized the opportunity.

Now only the Bf-219 has not been updated. Faced with the reality that the Do-412 (Shiden Kai) has been put on board and achieved good results, and also seeing the successful breakthrough of the 190F series, the research and development team headed by Jiro Horikoshi carefully chose the solution for fine-tuning. The technical positioning of Bf-319 (Gale Kai) has been changed from a high-performance all-round fighter to a first-class medium- and low-altitude horizontal maneuvering and long-range escort fighter. Its performance combines the horizontal maneuverability of 219 with the long range of P51B. The fuel capacity in the aircraft reaches an abnormal 1,330 liters, and the maximum take-off weight is nearly 5 tons.

This big guy of more than 4 tons can fight with the Bf-219 of less than 3 tons at low altitudes below 3,000 meters. At 3,000-5,000 meters, it has its own advantages and disadvantages with Do-412. At most, it can only be said to be slightly inferior. If it reaches a low fuel state (the last hour of fuel), even 412 can't stop it. The maximum range of the carrier-based version is 1,600 kilometers, and the maximum range of the land-based version is 1,800 kilometers. It can also carry two 250 kg bombs or two 350 liter auxiliary fuel tanks or one 650 liter large auxiliary fuel tank. After carrying the auxiliary fuel tanks, the maximum range can reach 2,600 kilometers (land-based), which is three times that of the short-legged Bf-109. Moreover, this range is achieved at an altitude of about 6,500 meters. If the altitude can be raised (need to cooperate with the new 901 engine), the range can be increased by another 10-15%.

For the German Air Force, which has been fighting farther and farther on the Eastern Front, this ultra-long-range fighter is obviously necessary. It is believed that whether the naval aviation uses it or not, they will definitely need it. In this way, in the future, when transferring to the Azores or going to the Azores for reinforcement, they no longer have to take off from the outermost airport in Portugal (which is easy to be attacked) with fear, and can completely use the airports located in the deep areas of Spain and Portugal, which greatly improves survivability. At the same time, Jiro Horikoshi also sent a telegram to Japan, stating that due to its lack of strength, Japan could not establish a multi-airspace optimal fighter joint combat system like Germany, and could only select comprehensive fighters as much as possible. That is, in Germany's combined fighter system of Bf-319+Do-42+Ta-152+Me-262, Japan was better off using Bf-319 to perform multiple tasks, and at most equip some Ta-152 or jets for high-altitude interception.

Since the United States has been unable to obtain a reliable offensive base in the Pacific battlefield, and the Indian route has been cut off and unable to import B-29 bombers to mainland China, Japan has never felt the pain of strategic bombing. The United States proposed setting up such a bombing base in the Far East of the Soviet Union, but Stalin, who had considered it for a long time, rejected it: It would take a long time to use bombing to force Japan to surrender, but if Japan knew that the Soviet Union provided bombing bases for the United States, the Kwantung Army and even the Japanese Navy would definitely attack first. Killing him all at once was a risk he didn't dare to take.

Of course, Stalin was also a cunning man. He could not reveal all his concerns. Instead, he told the United States in a high-sounding manner: "Japan and the Soviet Union are now in a neutral state. Although there are constant frictions, the superficial situation can still be maintained. This situation is facing scorn." It is still beneficial for the country. Your country can consider establishing a similar base in China, as long as it transports some supplies from the Far East to China..."

After evaluation, the Joint Chiefs of Staff determined that this proposal could not be implemented: Although the Soviet Union shared a huge border with China, the main railway network connecting the two countries was entirely in the hands of Japan and could only rely on air transportation. All the materials consumed in this part were Aid materials to Soviet Union were allocated from. Due to the 40% protection fee, 2 out of every 5 aid supplies allocated to the Soviet Union would fall into the hands of Japan. The greater the consumption of supplies, the more profits Japan would make - this is what fools do.

Military observers based in Chongqing and Yan'an also disagree with this. The Kuomintang and the Communist Party are currently focused on causing friction. Both sides have no time to purchase arms and supplies from Japan. How can they have time to deal with Japan? The Kuomintang is now in very urgent need of fuel, to the point of using any means necessary. If they are allowed to obtain fuel, they will definitely use it to fight against the Communist Party instead of Japan. So this whimsical plan was rejected. Just to continue to keep the Kuomintang and the Communist Party from saying that they would not easily fall to Japan, the United States also sent some scarce supplies and medicines to both sides through air transport. The quantity was not large, but it had more symbolic meaning. .

It turned out that the penicillin that had been shipped all the way to China was found on the black market in Shanghai within a few days. It was very expensive. After checking the batch numbers, they all leaked out from Chongqing. The United States was so angry that it was shameless! Someone suggested: "Since they want to sell it so much, then we don't want free assistance and just sell it at a clear price, and we can make some money."

Just as the Soviet side was advancing rapidly, the German troops were beginning to retreat: "Quick, quick... put the armored vehicles on the ship."

"Sibel landing craft...let's go!"

One after another German troops boarded ships and headed south, where they would land on the Iranian coast and head for Tehran.

After several days of sluggishness, coupled with the fact that the German army used ground troops to block the Soviet troops that were advancing too fast, the momentum of the Red Army's rapid advance was forced to slow down. On February 19, after paying the price of nearly 20,000 casualties, the two Red Army finally arrived on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, but the German army had completely retreated by this time.

"We found a fascist supply warehouse with all kinds of supplies."

"What? Let's go take a look." Chernyakhovsky was very excited and immediately went to check with several major officers. The Red Army officers and soldiers were counting and classifying them in an orderly manner. Although they were exhausted from marching all the way, and they made a lot of sacrifices in the battle, the officers and soldiers of the army were extremely excited because of the huge amount of supplies seized. They had always been After retreating, collapsing, and failing, everyone had been tortured to the point of numbness. Unexpectedly, such exciting results were obtained, and many people suddenly gained confidence again.

"Comrade Commander, we found the oil warehouse. The enemy retreated in a hurry and had no time to blow it up."

"Report to the commander, we found a large amount of flour, other grains and even fodder, at least 3,000 tons. The enemy actually forgot to burn them."

"Report, we found some vehicles abandoned by the German army without any signs of damage."

News came one after another, and the staff members laughed and laughed, but Chernyakhovsky's brows frowned more and more, and the smile on his face slowly disappeared. Everyone noticed something was wrong with the commander, and the cheerful atmosphere of joking slowly died down.

He mused: "If I guess correctly, these supplies were not destroyed by the enemy in a hasty retreat, but were deliberately left for us..."

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer this sentence.