Battle of the Third Reich

"Red number three, find them. In the direction of three o'clock, look down." The voice of the fourth squad leader came from the headset.

The radio signal was slightly disturbed, and some inexplicable static noise appeared after flying over Aostal. Lieutenant Colonel Hans Wolfgang probed the probe to the side of the cockpit, looking for traces of friendly forces in his report.

"It's indeed them. Let's say hello." Wolfgang reached out and tightened the strap of the oxygen mask. He swung the wing two times left and right, indicating that his men were ready to follow the long plane to change course and altitude.

Fifty-fourth United was transferred to Austria only a week ago. It should be known that transferring a main flight wing was not as easy as people thought.

The Luftwaffe’s flying brigade basically has its own dedicated airport. They can recruit soldiers from the local area and obtain daily support. The three brigades in the wing are usually stationed and only concentrated when they are fighting.

Mainly because the air bases in Germany were not very large at that time, only a few bases could be used by wing-level troops, because this required a large amount of material reserves and ground personnel, and it also added additional administrative management. pressure.

In fact, most of the European Air Forces were the same at that time. Distributing the Air Force units as far as possible, not only reduced the burden on the airport infrastructure and logistics system, but also ensured the normal life and training of the troops.

The transition of the flight team is a job that tests the capabilities of the administrative and logistics system officers. This is not just a simple task of arranging a safe and convenient route. The ground crew and administrative staff will bring spare parts and technical equipment of each brigade in advance. Departure, go to the destination airport to prepare for entry, and the brigade also need to contact the airport to arrange for a stopover to arrange for the pilot to stay in the local accommodation. In addition, there are navigation, communication, safety and other issues that must be properly arranged in advance, such as applying for a special frequency for transition flight, arranging the guidance work of each navigation station along the route, confirming the command and delivery location of each air control zone and selecting There are a bunch of alternate airports that can be selected when there are problems on the way.

The report application and the form to be filled in are enough to make the wing administrative officers swell with black brains. However, once the flight team starts to transition, the entire operation cannot be stopped, so it is necessary to prepare well before the problem occurs.

Since most of the ground equipment and supplies could not be airlifted, the 54th Wing's large forces occupied a full two trucks, from the warm French coast to the cold Austria, and almost traversed more than half of Europe. After arriving in Innsbruck, Austria It took almost a whole day to mobilize the Army’s two car regiments before transporting all supplies and personnel to the airport outside the city. The entire journey exceeded 1,200 kilometers. Two weeks.

In order to accommodate the 126 aircraft of jg.54, the Air Force’s Base Construction Corps has been busy here for more than half a month. Finally, before the wing arrived, three new buildings were built around the original airport. The field runway and the entire row of tall hangars, because the priority is to build military facilities, so until the war broke out, the camp for the wing personnel was not completely completed, so that at this time a considerable number of logistics personnel can only temporarily Live in a tent set up next to the runway.

This is only the wing of jg54. In the combat plan of the headquarters, almost half of the air force was mobilized. It is conceivable how much manpower and material resources the Third Reich will consume in this work.

Austria’s aviation power itself is very weak, and it basically relies on technical support from Germany. Therefore, there is not much difference in basic supporting facilities. The Luftwaffe does not need to deliberately rebuild, and it saves a lot of energy.

This time the Germans deployed four fighter wing teams in Austria, with the designations jg3, jg26, jg53 and jg54, all of which were the main wing teams that had participated in the British air combat. The number of ace pilots added together can make up a big team.

These troops are generally equipped with Messerschmitt 109 fighters, and most of them have been upgraded to the latest e11 type. This is a number that has never appeared in history. It looks like a junior version of history in some ways.

According to internal information from the Air Force, the next version of Legend 109 will be replaced with a new type of engine. Compared with the [Emily] (e-type) that everyone is accustomed to, [Frederick] (type) will have The big change can almost be regarded as a brand new model.

Because the production is still very limited, currently the German Air Force has only jg2 Richterhofen United equipped with 190 of the two brigades. At this time, the second wing stays on the Western Front. They will take off from the French base and launch an attack on the coastal areas of western Italy. , The Roman metropolitan area is within their attack range.

The Luftwaffe Staff estimated that the fight for air dominance in the Po River Plain area was based on four squadrons. It was proved afterwards that their judgments were generally correct, but that they overestimated the Italian Air Force’s suspicion of combat effectiveness.

In this war, the German Army Air Force officially took the stage for the first time, and the Army finally had close-to-ground support firepower that could be easily dispatched. These pilots are still wearing uniforms of the Air Force style, but they have been replaced by Army ranks on their shoulders.

These aviation units have been transferred to the army, and began to receive monthly salaries according to the status of the army officers and soldiers. The army attaches great importance to this new arm, so it is as close as possible to the air force in terms of welfare, and the salary of some personnel has even increased. .

However, at present, this force can only operate in the area where the Air Force occupies the airpower. They lack independent combat capabilities. Each dispatch requires the Air Force fighter force to provide cover. In view of the large amount of fat that has been snatched from the Air Force’s mouth, the Army At present, we can only accept this by embarrassing the situation.

Lieutenant Colonel Wolfgang led a squadron of fighters this time. The mission was to **** an army aviation squadron. These Stukas were to provide air support for the German troops fighting in the vicinity of Venice. At this time, the fuselage and aircraft A variety of bombs hung under the wing.

These seemingly obviously overloaded Stukas fly very slowly. This is when they are the most vulnerable and most vulnerable to attack. The heavy load makes them lose their ability to maneuver. The dull ones are like a group of ducks who have eaten. If you encounter Italian fighter forces at this time, the number is not too much, just need three or four mr.42, enough to eat them all.

"Green Elf, here is Firefox 4. We are at your six o'clock position and let the boys move their fingers away from the trigger of the machine gun, and we leaned over." Wolfgang tuned the radio to a predetermined frequency The Tuka Squadron’s command plane communicated.

"Here is the Green Elf. We have discovered you a long time ago, and we are very happy to be able to fly with you." The commander of the Squadron Stokka sounded very happy.

Sixteen me109s were lined up in two rows, passing at a high speed from one side of the Sturka squadron, and then made a large turn in the front, rewinding to the other side of the dive bomber squadron, reducing the speed and the speed of these squadrons. Picture cards pass side by side.

The pilots greeted each other in the cabin with the friendly forces in close proximity. A few months ago, they were all affiliated with the Luftwaffe. Many people may have been trained in the same junior aviation school.

"It has entered the Italian air defense zone. It is very likely that you will encounter Italian fighters. It's great that you can arrive in time." The commander of the Squadron of Suka was obviously relieved.

"Now we are in charge of escort, hoping that everything will go smoothly." Wolfgang raised his hand to salute the opponent's cabin, then swing the wings to lead the squadron to climb up, and there is still a short distance to reach the target area. The 109th Squadron must remain highly vigilant.

The second squadron began to follow the standard **** procedures and danced a figure of eight over the Stuka.

The Air Force Lieutenant Colonel did not know at the moment, and now they are in front of them. A fighter squadron of the Italian Air Force is rushing towards them. The two units that once fought side by side are about to start a fierce battle for their dignity and glory.

ps: There was a problem with the network, and finally it came up. (To be continued.)

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