The rising sun is rising in the east, and the rays are brilliant. It is fair to both warring parties at this time. The sun in the autumn morning is not very dazzling, covering the entire earth with a layer of golden color.
Surrounding Messerschmitt to the left, Zhou Zhihan could clearly see the Messerschmitt-style fuselage signs, including a penguin holding an umbrella under his arm and carrying a leather bag.
Zhou Zhihan recognized that this was also an old rival - JG51 from Werner Modes.
At this time, four Hurricane fighter jets also surrounded Messerschmitt's rear and right side.
Zhou Zhihan said to the four British pilots: "Now that the enemy is strong and we are weak, everyone dives with me and strives to kill 5 enemy planes in the first wave of attacks and catch them by surprise."
"Understood! Commander-in-Chief!"
The four British pilots had experienced the baptism of war in Western Europe. They were all experienced veterans. They knew whether they could change the situation of the war lay in their dive. Under the leadership of Zhou Zhihan, all the fighter jets turned sideways and changed their course, heading towards The unsuspecting Messerschmitts dived.
Today, the commanders of the escort fighter Messerschmitts are Captain Wolfgang Scheelmann of JG27 Squadron and Lieutenant Willy Stanger of JG23 Squadron.
The former is a veteran of the Spanish Civil War. He has 12 victories during the Battle of London. Since the invasion of the Soviet Union, he has shot down 23 Soviet fighter planes. He was promoted to captain just a week ago, which is when he is very proud of himself.
The latter's record was also extraordinary. On the 22nd alone, it shot down 4 I-153s and 2 SB-2s.
Lieutenants Wolfgang Schchermann and Willy Stenger saw the Soviet fighter plane from the sky. They were both eager to fight. They wished they could devour the Soviet plane in one gulp and get the Iron Cross as soon as possible.
A month ago, the Germans could win the Iron Cross with 20 victories. As Eastern Front pilots shot down Soviet planes as easily as dropping them in a haystack, now they need to reach 40 to get the Iron Cross.
Especially Willy Stenger, who was on equal footing with Wolfgang Schchelmann just a week ago. They were both lieutenants. However, due to a difference of 3 battles, he was surpassed in rank. He felt very unhappy, which made him even more unhappy. What he was unhappy about was that his squadron had to be commanded by the latter today, so he was so eager to fight that he never thought that the God of Death would quietly appear behind him.
Wolfgang Schiehlmann naturally knows Willy Stanger's inner thoughts. The competition between ace pilots has been going on for a long time.
Just like Moldes and Garland.
So Wolfgang Schellmann ordered eight of Willy Stenger's fighters to assist the Destroyers, while he himself led seven of his fighters to attack the Iraqi planes that drove away the bombers.
In this regard, Willy Stanger was very dissatisfied but had no choice but to do so. The Bf110 Destroyer was more than enough to deal with the I-16. He basically wouldn't get much benefit if he went there, while Wolfgang Schiehlmann went to attack the old-fashioned ones. The Yi-153 can feast again, but he is unwilling to be left further and further behind by his opponents, so he can only dive and attack with speed full of complaints.
The I-153 of the 601st Squadron and the I-16 of the 602nd Squadron were unable to prevent the Stuka and He111 from dropping bombs. Especially the maneuverability of the I-153 was a disaster, which had been clearly revealed on the battlefield in China. Moreover, the Soviet Union at this time Most of the pilots were rookies with little combat experience. Facing these experienced German guns, they looked very immature. They lacked firepower for long-range shooting and could not penetrate the bomber's defensive steel plate. They were afraid of the bomber's rear machine gun when shooting at close range. Nothing can be done.
The bomb roared down and exploded on the remnant position led by General Potapov, causing a bloody storm. Sand, gravel and soil were splashed, body fragments were scattered around the crater, and blood was everywhere.
General Potapov lost his heavy weapons when he led his troops to break through, so they were unable to break through the blockade of a German regiment.
Just when Major Pisanco was scolding foreigners for being unreliable, the Messerschmitts who dived from the sky did not all rush towards them, but half of them were divided to attack the 601st and 602nd Squadrons that were chasing away the bombers. .
Luftwaffe commander Wolfgang Schellmann was experienced. They knew that the I-16 could not take advantage of the Bf110 Destroyer, so they asked Willy Stenger, who was dissatisfied with them, to assist the Destroyer. .
suddenly.
Major Pisanco discovered that several fighter planes appeared above the Messerschmitt. It was the No. 214 Spitfire and four Hurricane fighter jets that he had just scolded. Then, he saw the spray from the Spitfire's cannon. The flames blasted into the body of a Messerschmitt that looked like the squadron leader's aircraft as easily as cutting through tofu.
"boom!"
A few seconds later, the Messerschmitt exploded in the air, and its body was torn apart. The exploding gasoline ignited a fire and fell from the sky. The No. 214 Spitfire succeeded in one hit and rolled sideways to avoid the exploding Messerschmitt. type, and in a blink of an eye, he was on top of another Mei-type and launched an attack.
Zhou Zhihan's No. 214 Spitfire is equipped with a "Merlin" XII engine and is named Spitfire IIA. It adds cannons and cameras and is still equipped with four 0.303-inch caliber machine guns. This fighter has firepower when facing the Messerschmitt. The disadvantage was finally completely solved. He destroyed a Meiji with one burst of fire. Pressing the stick and rudder, he rolled to the top of Willy Stanger's rear right side and opened fire.
It wasn't until the organism burned and fell in the air that Willy Stenger discovered that it was one of his own. Knowing that stealing a chicken would cost him a handful of rice, he was attacked by Russians. He quickly pressed the lever and rolled over to look back, and saw two The shells came towards him and easily got into his cabin, and then his eyes were filled with blood and white.
While the No. 214 Spitfire succeeded in boosting the morale of the Soviet army, four Hurricane fighter jets also opened fire in the dive. A hail of bullets poured down, and in an instant, two more Messerschmitts were shot down, and two more Messerschmitts were shot down. Thick smoke billowed out of the fuselage, and the two pilots were seriously injured. The two pilots parachuted out.
Immediately, the troops from both sides on the ground dispatched elite teams to prepare to snatch the pilot.
One thing that must be explained here is that as long as it comes from Western information, it must be mentioned that German pilots generally did not dare to go too deep into the Soviet side of the front line to perform missions, because in the Soviet Union, as long as they were shot down and captured, German pilots would die. It was very miserable. The Soviets would use all kinds of methods to torture the German pilots until they were dying and then kill them without hesitation.
Of course, regardless of whether there are smear factors in it, the German pilots believed it anyway. Sometimes they would rather shoot themselves than be captured by the Soviet Red Army. However, human beings are also very strange when facing death, and they always have a little luck. hope, but reluctant to give up and dare not commit suicide.
In short, at the beginning of the war, the German Air Force's opponent, the Soviet Air Force, was an air force that lagged far behind. Germany maintained absolute air superiority throughout the Soviet campaign. It is not difficult to understand why the Germans were afraid of being captured. , Soviet talents don’t talk about chivalry like the British do. They know that killing a German pilot is more valuable and more deterrent than shooting down a plane.
Since the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Messerschmitt escorts have been invincible. They have accumulated rich combat experience on the Western Front battlefield. They have no pressure to deal with the inexperienced and mostly rookie Soviet Air Force, so they have gradually become arrogant and complacent. Thinking of the mantis hunting the cicada, but being caught off guard by the oriole, and suffering a sudden blow, they immediately became a little panicked. In their battle plan, they had never thought about what to do if they were hit by a sudden blow from high altitude.
Because apart from the fact that the three new fighter jets cannot be mass-produced due to unstable performance, the Soviet Union’s best current I-16 has a maximum combat ceiling of 8,000 meters, and when this fighter reaches an altitude of 8,000 meters, its power is significantly weakened, just like Slow as a duck.
As for the I-153, its high-altitude dive capability is even more disastrous. It will disintegrate when the speed exceeds 500 kilometers during the dive. Low-altitude hovering is not an opponent of the Type 96 carrier-based aircraft, not to mention the Messerschmitt, which has transcending significance.
Seeing Zhou Zhihan leading 4 Hurricane fighter jets in a single raid and knocking out 6 Meijis, Major Pisanco and his team members immediately became energetic as if they had seen a savior. No one cursed "Damn big fighter" anymore. Nose and the timid Chinese", taking advantage of the high morale, everyone headed into a melee with the Bf110 Destroyer.
Because the air attack was too sudden, six Messerschmitts were shot down in succession, causing the pilots of the Df110 fighter jets to panic. Therefore, the I-16 led by Major Pisanko immediately took advantage.
Major Pisanko was very experienced. He rolled sideways during the oncoming flight and attacked the side of a Destroyer with the rising sun on his back. The sunlight that was not dazzling would also interfere with the opponent's shooting accuracy.
Seeing an I-16 rolling to his side in the blink of an eye, the pilot of the Destroyer quickly narrowed his eyes: "Damn... I can't see him clearly... Damn Soviet sunshine..."
Major Pisanko pressed the fire button without hesitation, and the terrifying rate of fire of the four 7.62mm machine guns was released in an instant like a devil. The bullets quickly covered the vicinity of the Bf110's cabin like pox.
In an instant, the Bf110 turned into a big fireball. Although a machine gun of the caliber of the I-16 had some difficulty facing the fuselage steel plate of the BF110, the firepower was not enough. After being attacked continuously, the fuselage steel plate was beaten into pieces. Sieve, the bullets that rushed over immediately, mixed with steel plate fragments, pierced into the bodies of the pilot and bombardier. Blood instantly filled the cabin. The extermination treatment still penetrated the entire fuselage, and the dense rain of bullets jumped and hit. The fuel tank in the belly of the aircraft.
"Buzz..."
A few seconds later, the entire Bf110 caught fire. The rear gunner quickly opened the cockpit and shouted "I'm parachuting", and he was in the air.
"Ula..."
Major Pisanko cheered loudly. He had shot down the Bf110 for the first time. Then he saw the No. 214 Spitfire doing another simple side roll, changing the direction of its nose, and quickly pounced towards the German bombers.
