Looking from a distance, thick smoke is still billowing over Kiev, and artillery fire is still flashing on the ground. Although Kiev has fallen, the fighting is still going on. The remaining Soviet troops have no way out and are still fighting in the streets and alleys. Resist desperately and buy time for the breakout troops.
The fleet continued to fly forward. Twenty kilometers ahead were the remnants of the Fifth Army led by General Potapov. They were blocked by a reinforced German regiment and were trying their best to break out because a large German army was coming from the direction of Kiev. Once surrounded, they cannot escape.
suddenly.
Zhou Zhihan discovered that dozens of fist-sized black spots appeared at a distance of 30 kilometers.
His eyesight now is astonishing.
It was a German bomber.
They were 12 Reaper Stukas and 12 He111 bombers, flying at an altitude of 3,000 meters. Behind them, 5 kilometers above the sky and 5,000 meters away, were 12 Bf110 fighter jets.
The fuselage logo of the 12 Df110 fighter jets is a black top hat with three vertical white bars on it. This is the old opponent during the Battle of Dunkirk - the J88 "Ibis" fighter group.
The commander of the Destroyer fighter is also an old rival of Zhou Zhihan and the four British pilots - Captain Werner Palm.
The 12 Reaper Stuka bombers belong to the JG27 wing. The fuselage is painted with "The Dog from Hell". The dog has six tails on its tail, which looks weird and bloody. The commander is Captain Walter Dahl.
The fuselage of the 12 He111 bombers is painted with a jumping Mickey Mouse holding a pistol. This is the logo of the 67th Squadron of the JG54 Bomber Group. Its commander is Captain Rotter. During the invasion of London, England, the bomber was hit by ground artillery fire. , Roth was forced to parachute and was captured. Later, the two sides exchanged prisoners of war and returned to Germany.
The above three fighter bomber units all come from the Western Front. The pilots are all experienced and experienced. Many of them have become aces, and their military ranks have improved compared with those during Dunkirk.
At present, because there are many aces in the German Air Force, many aces with less than 10 aircraft are still in the squadron. During the Battle of London, the aces with 10 aircraft records were at least the position of squadron leader.
This shows how heavy the Soviet fighter force has suffered since the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
Zhou Zhihan carefully observed the sky at 125 degrees in front of him on the right, but still did not find Messerschmitt.
Even if the Soviet Union did not have excellent fighter jets, it was not normal for the Germans to use Bf110 fighter jets to escort bombers.
This is definitely not normal.
After the London air battle, the shortcomings of the Bf110 and the Bf109 were all revealed. The former was bulky, slow in flight, clumsy in circling, had poor dogfighting capabilities, and was not suitable for escort, while the latter was obviously short-legged. Before the invasion of the Soviet Union, auxiliary fuel tanks were added to improve the range.
After the air battles at Dunkirk and London, Zhou Zhihan knew that wherever there were Stuka bombers, there must be Bf109s, which were the standard configuration of the Luftwaffe.
Zhou Zhihan immediately accelerated forward and used hand gestures to remind Major Pisanko, who was driving the I-16: Enemy bombers and Bf110 fighter jets were found at 125 degrees ahead on the right, 30 kilometers away, and no escorting Messerschmitts were found so far, but we I believe they must be hiding in the sky a little further away.
Can enemy planes be detected at 30 kilometers? Major Pisanko didn't believe it. He looked to the right and forward at 125 degrees, but found nothing.
He quickly took out his binoculars, and sure enough, the round head of the Stuka bomber suddenly appeared in the lens.
While secretly admiring Major Pisanko, he immediately ordered his wingman, Sergeant Pradov, to quickly step forward and notify the 601 I-153 Squadron and 602 I-16 Squadron, which did not have radios, to intercept the enemy bombers head-on. He personally led the remaining The fighter planes began to pull up to meet the escorting Destroyer Bf110.
Zhou Zhihan was able to detect the German aircraft fleet in advance at a distance of 30 kilometers, which shows that his air combat capabilities are absolutely superior, so Major Pisanko immediately felt like he took a reassurance. The opponent only had 12 escort fighter jets, and he had this Chinese ace and 4 Hurricanes assist in the battle, which has obvious advantages.
According to the previous tactical arrangement, the I-153 mainly dealt with German bombers, while the I-16 intercepted and escorted the fighter jets.
The task given by the top brass of the Soviet Air Force to each fighter unit was to attack the German bombers at all costs.
Compared with the Bf109 fighter, the bomber will bring a heavy blow to the Soviet army that is fighting intensively.
Zhou Zhihan was sure that Messerschmitt was hiding high in the sky. He pulled the control stick and pushed the throttle. The Spitfire No. 214 climbed upward at full speed. He ordered the Hurricane: "Pull the Hurricane fighter up into the clouds, from the left , make a detour to the 110-degree direction, and do not engage the enemy without my order."
The British pilots who flew the four Hurricanes immediately replied "Yes". They had fought with Zhou Zhihan during their stay in the UK and knew that this Chinese Air Force ace had extraordinary abilities.
Spitfire No. 214 climbed to an altitude of 8,000 meters, and sure enough, 16 Messerschmitts were found 6 kilometers behind the Stuka. Their iconic yellow noses were very conspicuous against the background of the blue sky. .
The German fighter-bomber formation arrived one step ahead. Above the remnants of the Fifth Army led by General Potapov, almost at the same time, the Soviet fighter formation was also discovered. Immediately, 12 Bf110 Destroyers rushed towards the Soviet aircraft group. .
The Reaper Stuka and the He111 bomber prepare to drop bombs at low altitude.
The distance between the two sides was quickly shortened. Since they were heading towards each other, the speed of the collision was extremely fast. After a while, both sides could clearly see the increasingly larger nose of the other side.
Because Zhou Zhihan was the first to discover the enemy's situation, the I-16 flying below an altitude of 3,000 meters was able to quickly rise to an altitude of 4,000 meters to face the Destroyer.
The 601st and 602nd Squadrons directly attacked the German bomber group.
"Duoduoduo..."
At a distance of 400 meters, the I-16 and the Bf110 opened fire almost at the same time. Red tracer bullets flew densely in the blue sky. In an instant, the two sides were engaged in a head-on confrontation.
Judging from the weapon configuration, the Df110 clearly has the upper hand. Except for its turning radius and hovering ability, which are slightly inferior to the I-16, its firepower, speed and fuselage protection are all far superior to its opponents.
After the first round of shooting, the fuselage of an I-16 caught fire and exited the battlefield with billowing smoke. The pilot was forced to parachute before flying very far.
Another I-16 had two bowl-sized holes punched in its wing. It was smoking, but it could barely still fight.
After a round of shooting, the Bf110 was almost unscathed.
The I-16 was too far behind and was no match for the Destroyer. It shot head-on and was immediately at a disadvantage.
The aircraft from both sides missed each other, and the I-16 relied on its lightness to turn quickly.
Major Pisanco looked up to look for the four Hurricanes and the Spitfire No. 214. He had just hoped that these five high-performance fighter jets could catch the opponent off guard and kill a few of them first.
But in the air ahead, no British fighter planes appeared.
Where did the Brit in the Hurricane go?
Major Pisanco didn't find the Hurricane and felt nervous. Then he discovered that the Spitfire 214 had also lost its trace.
"These damn hurricanes and spitfires."
Major Pisanko finally became furious, "At the critical moment, the damn British guy actually escaped, and the Chinese who is known as the world's top ace probably also escaped with him.
As expected, foreigners are unreliable. At critical moments, we have to rely on the brave Soviet Red Army. "
"Damn it... where have the big-nosed British guys and the timid Chinese gone..."
"What the hell...why are Hurricane and Spitfire gone...where are they..."
"What happened? We were fighting with the Germans. Why did the British and Chinese disappear..."
Not only Major Pisanko was furious, but all the members of the 603 Squadron also cursed. They fully thought that the hurricane and Spitfire would catch the Germans off guard. Unexpectedly, after one of their own was destroyed and one was injured, they found several foreigners running away. .
Seeing the five foreigners running away, Major Pisanko knew that his side was going to be in a tough fight today.
Although 24 of the 36 German fighters are bombers, these bombers are thick-skinned and have fierce defensive firepower. They are not easily dealt with by the I-16 and I-153, not to mention that the opponent also has 12 twin-engine fighters. In the first round of shooting just now, our side suffered a big loss from the Destroyer, losing one and injuring another.
At this moment, the 601st Squadron and the 602nd Squadron also got into fire with the German bombers. The Stuka and He111 relied on their own defensive firepower to force the I-16 and I-153 not to approach. At the same time, the bombardiers began to open Drop device, ready to drop bombs on Soviet troops on the ground.
Suddenly, Major Pisanko heard the slightly panicked voice of his wingman Pradov: "Major, behind us, there are a large number of Messerschmitts."
Major Pisanko turned around in surprise when he heard this. Sure enough, at a height of 120 degrees behind him, the yellow noses of more than a dozen Messerschmitts appeared, with a cold and cold light flashing under their noses, and they rushed towards them with murderous intent. .
