USSR 1941

  Chapter 839 Airborne

   Then, with a burst of roaring, batch after batch of Li-2 transport planes took off amidst the roar of the engine and then broke into the night sky.

  At this time, Manstein was commanding another force to withdraw from the front.

   At this time, he should say that he has just breathed a sigh of relief, because the retreat in the direction of Karachi has entered the program, and the defense lines on the south and north flanks of Miloven are also stable. It is no longer a problem for the Don Army to withdraw safely.

   At this moment, the communications soldier reported: "Your Excellency, Marshal, we found a large number of enemy planes taking off and flying in the direction of Miloway!"

  Manstein didn't take it seriously, although it is indeed abnormal for the Russian army to have a large number of aircraft taking off at night.

  But Manstein's first thought was that these planes were bombers... The Russians couldn't break through the defense line, so they pulled in the bombers to help out.

  So Manstein immediately issued two orders:

   "Order the air force to intercept immediately!"

   "Order the Milloway defense line to prepare for battle, the enemy is likely to launch a general offensive!"

   "Yes!" The communications soldier turned around and conveyed the order.

   It's no wonder that Manstein misjudged it. Who would have thought that the Russians would use paratroopers at this time? What the Germans knew was that the Russian paratroopers were almost exhausted fighting on the ground.

The Luftwaffe did not expect this, so they, like Manstein, thought that these take-offs were bombers, even when the intercepted German night fighter pilots saw these transport planes... the military type of the Li-2 transport plane was used as a bomber Used, so pilots still think so when they see them.

   What arrived was a team of six night fighters. The reason why they arrived so quickly was that they happened to be performing patrol missions nearby.

  The commander of this team was Major Rennie. When he saw such a huge fleet in front of him, he couldn't help being startled, and then immediately said to his subordinates: "Attention, they may be armed!"

  Li 2’s military model does have an additional machine gun, especially the machine gun turret on the back of the machine can rotate in all directions, and there is almost no shooting dead angle.

  Major Rennie knows how to deal with this aircraft because he has dealt with it in aerial combat.

   "Attack from the bottom!" Major Rennie ordered: "Repeat, attack from the bottom, avoiding their machine gun turrets!"

  Therefore, the six German fighter planes lowered their altitude and then attacked the Su "Li 2" transport aircraft group from bottom to top.

Amidst the sound of gunfire, three "Li-2" were fired into flames and black smoke in an instant. One of them exploded and disintegrated in the air with a loud noise a few seconds later, and the other two seemed unable to survive. …The fact that German pilots were able to use it so freely and have such a high hit rate in attacking at night is enough to show their quality.

  But in fact, an order like Major Rennie's is unnecessary.

  In order to carry enough people and supplies for this batch of "Li 2" transport planes of the Soviet Army... each transport plane carries 20 fully armed soldiers, and there are also ammunition and supplies that these 20 soldiers may need.

  So, all of these transport aircraft have removed the machine gun turret or even the nose machine gun, and of course it is even more impossible to carry bombs.

  In other words, these transport planes are targets for German fighter planes, targets that have no power to fight back.

In fact, Major Rennie had already discovered this at this time, because a few people jumped out from behind the two damaged transport planes that had not yet exploded, and then opened their parachutes one by one...Obviously, it was because the plane failed to carry out emergency operations. parachute.

Major Rennie thought he was dazzled, so he drove the fighter plane around and returned to the original place, and found that there were indeed five paratroopers...they must be paratroopers and not escaped pilots, because the injured "Li 2" was still alive. The flight attitude is maintained, which means that the pilot is still in the aircraft and controls the aircraft.

   "Paratroopers, it's paratroopers!" Major Rennie yelled, "These are airborne transport planes!"

  The other pilots were also stunned.

   They were not in a daze because they knew how dangerous these planes would be if they were parachuted transports, in fact, if they were used for parachuting, it would almost mean no danger.

  They were in a daze because they knew that the troops in Milloway were empty. If it was a bomber that dropped the bomb, it would be useless, but if it was a paratrooper...

Then, Major Rennie's guess was quickly confirmed, because the hatch of the "Li 2" aircraft fleet had been opened, and then groups of black figures jumped out of it, and they quickly turned into blossoming parachutes. , The white umbrellas are like dandelions, which are particularly dazzling against the backdrop of a little moonlight.

  Major Rennie did not hesitate to report the situation to the air force base immediately.

  The air force base immediately passed the information to Manstein.

The moment Manstein received this information, his face changed suddenly... This was something the adjutant had never seen before. As a veteran general and an imperial marshal with rich practical experience, Manstein even Even in the most critical moment, there is no such performance.

  But now, the adjutant actually saw a little panic in Manstein's eyes.

   "Paratroopers? How many are there?" Manstein asked.

   "The exact number is still uncertain, Your Excellency the Marshal!" The adjutant replied: "It is estimated that there are about 3,000 people. They airborne near the city of Milloway!"

   This estimate is still very accurate. In fact, it is not difficult. German pilots can calculate it from the number of transport planes and the number of people that the enemy transport planes can carry.

  Manstein looked at the map, and then immediately ordered: "Immediately, order the 291st Infantry Regiment to reinforce the Milloway Railway Station. At all costs, the railway station must be guarded!"

   "Yes, Your Excellency the Marshal!"

  Manstein is worthy of being a veteran of the battlefield. He only glanced at the map and immediately knew that the focus of the Russian parachute was at the train station.

But although Manstein knew how to fight, he didn't know much about politics. He never imagined that the main enemy that the 291st Infantry Regiment stationed at the railway station would face were not Russian paratroopers at all, but mites pouring in from all directions. Lowe people and guerrillas.

   At the moment Manstein gave the order, Trufanov also gave the order to attack.

  In fact, it was not only the 51st Army that launched the attack at the same time as the airborne troops, but also the Southwest Front Army in the north.

Among them, the offensive of the Southwest Front Army was particularly fierce. Needless to say, the tank troops and infantry on the ground charged. They also sent bombers to bombard the German roads and railways indiscriminately... Although the bombing effect at night is not good, it can be effective. Show solidarity with the Airborne and tell the people of Miloway: The Soviets are coming back soon and will be victorious.

  (end of this chapter)