At dawn on September 26, the 34th Regiment of the Sixth Fighter Air Force received an emergency takeoff order and headed to Kiev to block German fighters.
A few minutes ago, the headquarters of the Sixth Air Force received reports from ground lookouts and reconnaissance aircraft at the same time. A squadron of Messerschmitts, covering a squadron of Death Stukas, headed for Kiev to perform a combat bombing mission.
The Sixth Fighter Aviation Base was built on the edge of a forest on the north side of Kiev. The airport runway is very hidden and can accommodate large groups of aircraft taking off and landing at the same time. At this time, the surrounding air defense forces had withdrawn as the highest levels abandoned Kiev and headed for Moscow with the Sixth Air Force headquarters.
This base was previously responsible for the important task of defending Kiev. The battle was very fierce, and the Sixth Air Force withdrew more than half of its casualties. Now, only the 34th Aviation Regiment, which has been replenished and fully staffed, is stationed in the entire base and is responsible for covering the troops withdrawing from Kiev.
The Soviet Union was a vast territory, and it was sparsely populated, making it difficult for enemy agents to find it.
The first to take off were 9 I-153s, and 5 minutes later, 18 I-16s also took off. These two fighter jets have very good short take-off and landing capabilities and are easy to control for novices.
At this time, there were many rookie pilots in the Soviet Union, and the I-153 and I-16 were quite suitable.
Five minutes later, four more Hurricane fighter jets and three I-16s from the regiment took off. Zhou Zhihan piloted No. 214 Spitfire and finally took off.
Zhou Zhihan was invincible in the No. 214 Spitfire during the defense of Dunkirk and London. Therefore, in order to improve morale, General Gromagin prepared a brand new No. 214 Spitfire fighter for him early.
At this time, the Soviet army used the backward dense flying phalanx for large aircraft groups, and the old three-machine formation for small team operations.
Zhou Zhihan did not raise any objection to this. The pilots were accustomed to a three-plane formation, and suddenly changing to a four-plane formation would actually reduce their combat effectiveness.
People's habits cannot be changed overnight.
The 34th Aviation Regiment has three fighter squadrons, each with 9 fighter jets, plus the 3 fighter jets under the direct jurisdiction of the regiment. The 34th Aviation Regiment has a total of 30 fighter jets. All are dispatched under the leadership of the regiment commander, Major Pisanko, plus 4 A Hurricane and Zhou Zhihan's Spitfire should be able to cope with 12 Messerschmitts and 12 Reaper Stukas.
In fact, regardless of whether it can cope with German aircraft, the 34th Regiment has to attack with all its strength, because they are currently the only fighter unit in Kiev.
The commander of the regiment, Major Pisanko, knew that the performance of his own fighters, except for 4 Hurricanes and 1 Spitfire, were far inferior to the Messerschmitts, so after discussing with Zhou Zhihan, he decided to use the tactic of I-153 Some of the I-16s fought against Stuka bombers, and most of the I-16s assisted the Hurricanes in fighting against 12 Messerschmitts.
In order to familiarize himself with the climate of the Soviet Union and the fighting conditions of the Soviet army as soon as possible, Zhou Zhihan asked to go to the front line as soon as he arrived at the Sixth Air Force stationed in Moscow.
After careful consideration, General Gromagin decided to let him go to Kiev to temporarily assist the 34th Regiment in covering the retreat of the troops. He also told the commander of the 34th Regiment, Major Pisanko, to ensure Zhou Zhihan's safety and discuss everything together.
On September 14, 1941, the 2nd Armored Group led by Guderian and the 1st Armored Group Kleist successfully joined forces in Lochvita, 240 kilometers east of Kiev. The entire Soviet Southwest Front fell into The giant German pocket.
It was not until September 17 that the Soviet Supreme Command finally issued an order to retreat eastward, but tragedy could not be avoided. On September 19, Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, fell.
On September 26, most of the 5th, 21st, 26th, and 37th Soviet Army Groups and part of the 38th and 40th Army Groups trapped in the Kiev encirclement were wiped out. The Germans captured 665,000 Soviet troops. More than 800 tanks and more than 3,000 artillery pieces were seized.
The top commanders of the Soviet Army, Bordonos, his political commissar Burmistenko, and Chief of Staff Tupikov, the three top commanders of the Southwest Front, were all killed in the breakout.
Since the various organs of the Front Army Headquarters first withdrew from Kiev and broke out separately to the east and west, they were reunited with the remnants of the 5th Army led by General Potalov along the way. Together, only 5,000 people broke out, and almost all the rest The army was destroyed.
Currently, the 5,000 people led by General Potalov, some of whom are civilians without combat effectiveness, are temporarily blocked by a German regiment in a mountain valley. The German Air Force has sent fighter jets and bombers to use intensive lethality to assist this regiment in dragging them down. 5,000 Soviet troops were stationed there, waiting for the large forces to arrive to complete the encirclement and annihilation.
The sky in Kiev is clear, the weather is getting cooler, and the clouds are higher. Zhou Zhihan looked down during the flight. There are green grass, brown country roads and rural buildings. This is the granary of the Soviet Union. The harvest season at the end of September is everywhere. Yellow rice fields.
In order to save fuel, the I-16 and I-153 flew at low altitudes. Moreover, the weather in Ukraine turned cold at this time, so the pilots sat in the open hood, which consumed a lot of money over time.
Seeing the Soviet pilots sitting in the windy convertible ahead, Zhou Zhihan suddenly felt that driving the best Spitfire was a bit luxurious.
Four Hurricane fighter jets flew in two two-plane formations eight kilometers behind the Iraqi fighter jet at an altitude of 7,000 meters.
The main task of the Hurricane is to detect high-altitude enemy aircraft and form a high-low combat formation with the Iraqi fighters.
Since most of the Iraqi fighters do not have radios, before departure, Major Pisanko specifically asked Zhou Zhihan which flight formation to use.
According to the Soviet Union's current aircraft fleet combat mode, the entire Yi-type aircraft fleet should be maintained at an altitude of 6,000-7,000 meters, so that it will not suffer a big loss in altitude when engaging the enemy.
When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, it was able to destroy more than 2,000 Soviet aircraft on the first day. First of all, it was because of the successful raid. Another reason was that the Soviet army's tactics were backward. As a result, more than 400 fighter aircraft that successfully took off were also destroyed during the war. shoot down.
On the second day of the war, the Soviet army entered a full-scale war state. More than 700 fighter planes were still shot down by German planes in the air. This was partly due to the old models of the aircraft, but the main reason was the Soviet army's backward tactics. After the Iraqi fighter planes took off, Just climb to a high altitude and fight with Messerschmitt, it would be weird if you don't get shot down.
But Zhou Zhihan believed that it was wrong for the Iraqi fighter to fly at such a height, because the ceiling of the Iraqi fighter was 8,000 meters. At this altitude, the power of the Iraqi fighter dropped significantly, and this altitude was Messerschmitt's favorite. Yes, this is tantamount to using one's own shortcomings to meet the enemy's strong points.
In an air battle, no fighter aircraft's performance can 100% suppress its opponent.
For example, the hovering ability and turning radius of high-energy fighter jets are likely to be inferior to those of low-speed, low-wing-loaded fighter jets.
The Yi-style was flying below 3,000 meters, and when it found Messerschmitt, it quickly lowered its altitude, which was equivalent to breaking the Messerschmitt's diving expertise.
Major Pisanko decided immediately to implement the tactics given by Zhou Zhihan.
This is not because Pisanko believes in Zhou Zhihan, but because Zhou Zhihan is an ace pilot personally invited by General Gromagin.
Zhou Zhihanfei was at the back of the team as a trailing defender. He would do a side roll every few minutes, covering the entire rear of the fleet.
