"Kill him!"
"Duoduoduo..."
With a loud shout, eight machine gunners opened fire at the same time. Sixteen fiery red bullet trails formed a huge barrage, facing No. 214, which was swooping down at a small angle from behind and above the tail.
This may be the most spectacular air battle scene that Soviet pilots have seen since Germany invaded the Soviet Union. No pilot has ever been treated like this.
The treatment of being bombarded head-on by sixteen machine guns.
The He111 bomber was no more than 50 meters above the ground. The height at which Spitfire 214 dived downwards to increase energy was about 200 meters. The two pursuing Messerschmitts did not dare to dive with them. They were afraid of diving too low. He couldn't get up, and he was afraid of being accidentally hit by his own machine gun, so he could only press the lever, pull out, and fly to both sides.
Spitfire No. 214 was well prepared. Before the gunner opened fire, he slightly pulled the lever and raised the nose of the aircraft. When the hail of bullets came towards him, Zhou Zhihan quickly pulled the lever. Spitfire No. 214 quickly pulled up and jumped. In the blink of an eye, there were four aircraft. Seventy degrees above the bomber's nose.
"Damn..."
The eyes of the eight machine gunners followed the Spitfire 214 upwards and backwards. There was fear in their eyes. The nose of the damn Spitfire was pushed down, and the shooting advance was arranged. As the bomber flew forward, other bombers flew forward. The location was exactly the blind spot for their machine guns to shoot - a ninety-degree angle where they could not point vertically into the air.
Zhou Zhihan pushed the stick, pointed the nose of the aircraft directly at the ground, and pressed the launch button. Two machine guns and four machine guns sprayed fire at the same time, firing a fierce and large deflection angle shot.
"Duoduoduo..."
Red tracer bullets mixed with high-explosive incendiary bombs were like jumping fireballs, hitting the cabins and wings of the two bombers flying side by side.
"Wow..."
The cabin glass looked very crisp under the bombardment of the sextet at close range. The bullets flew into the cabin effortlessly, shooting into the heads, shoulders, and chests of the two pilots and exploding.
The human body simply could not withstand such a brutal bombardment. The upper bodies of the two pilots were torn to pieces, slipped from their seats and fell into the cabin. Blood and internal organs spurted out and splashed everywhere, scaring the navigator and bombardier out of their wits. , his face and head were covered with plasma and broken limbs, and he was so red that he couldn't see anything clearly. He could only scream like crazy, scaring the other machine gunners so much that some of them wet their pants.
"Oh... God..."
One of the machine gunners looked back and saw that his pilot was in a mess. He was trembling and untied the strap, "Damn No. 214, I'm going to kill you. Brothers, let's parachute quickly, the plane is about to crash..." Damn it...the plane rolled..."
The two wings of the two bombers, which were almost side by side, were hit by artillery shells, blasting out several large holes. Iron debris scattered everywhere, and the impact on the aircraft made a constant "ding" sound. Without the control of the pilots, the aircraft collapsed. Spin, inevitably hitting the wings of two other bombers.
"Damn... my wing was broken... Everyone, hold on tight... it's going to crash..." As soon as one of the pilots finished speaking, his plane went into a roll, got too close to the ground, and hit the ground. On the ground, no one on board survived.
"Damn it... My wings were also broken... Everyone, prepare to parachute..." another pilot shouted, "After parachuting, float in the direction of our own people. Don't fall into the hands of the Russians... …”
The eyes of the rear machine gunner were full of fear: "Damn it Carl... pull the plane up quickly... We are only forty or fifty meters away from the damn ground... Where are we going... ah..."
The rear machine gunner screamed, and the bomber rolled to the ground and continued to roll forward as it disintegrated, scaring the Soviet Red Army into hiding.
Spitfire No. 214 fired at a large deflection angle, defeated the four bombers, collided with each other, fell to the ground and continued to roll forward. The explosion was deafening and the momentum was so loud that it scared the other eight bombers into forming two attack formations. The He111 bombers quickly dispersed, and the Yi-153, who had nowhere to go, seized the opportunity and attacked separately.
The I-153 is like a stupid bird among current fighter jets, but the ultra-low-altitude flying He111 is even stupider. It is huge and can easily be attacked after losing the cover of the machine gun group. When fighting alone, the pilots can only Pull the lever and climb into the air.
Suddenly, the threat of SD 2 fragmentation bombs to the Red Army on the ground weakened.
This time, both sides were even more confused.
The bomber, which had lost its overall protective power, could only fight alone. Under the desperate pressure of Soviet fighter jets, its advantage quickly turned into a disadvantage.
The pilots of the I-153 were suppressed all the time, and they were holding back their strength to attack with all their strength, preventing the German bombers from forming a defensive formation again.
Watching the Soviet rookies launch an attack from behind the He111, Zhou Zhihan shook his head helplessly. These rookies were still constrained by theoretical knowledge and did not understand that an excellent pilot needed to fight flexibly on the battlefield. To deal with such an organic belly and rear The best way to position a bomber with a machine gunner is to attack from below on both sides of the enemy aircraft, or to attack from head-on.
The best defense in war is to bring the flames of war to the enemy's territory.
Zhou Zhihan flew forward, chasing a He111 that was rising and flying over his head. Just as the rear gunner and the belly gunner opened fire at the same time, the Spitfire No. 214 rolled sideways, leaving a spiral shape in its wake. The downward trail reached the lower right side of the enemy plane. This position could avoid being attacked by the enemy plane's rear-firing gunner. Then Zhou Zhihan suddenly pressed the stick and turned, aiming at the upper right position of the enemy plane's nose to set the advance. And quickly fired at a 30-degree angle to hit a burst shot.
"Duoduoduo..."
The tracer bullet tore open the protective shell of the enemy aircraft's cockpit, and the high-explosive incendiary bomb entered the shell and continued to penetrate inside and explode and burn.
Seven or eight seconds later, the three gunners parachuted out one after another. Then the pilot climbed out of the cabin and opened his parachute as soon as he jumped into the air. The four of them made the sign of the cross and prayed together, thankful to have fallen into their own position.
When the bombardier climbed out of the cabin, the parachute behind him had been ignited by the fire of burning gasoline, and then he hit the ground like a cannonball. The blood splashed and bright flowers bloomed.
Immediately after the bomber crashed to the ground, the SD 2 fragmentation bomb carried on the fuselage was like a hundred thousand firecrackers wrapped in a ball and thrown on the ground and ignited. It boomed, crackled, and exploded non-stop, destroying the German soldiers who were in a dense defense formation. They were running around, looking for bunkers. Wounded soldiers and dead bodies were everywhere.
After Zhou Zhihan succeeded in the attack, No. 214 Spitfire recovered and flew towards another He111. After more than ten seconds, he followed the same pattern and shot down again.
Zhou Zhihan shook the wings left and right, meaning to tell the rookies: Now you know how to attack and shoot down enemy bombers, right?
This is simply a step-by-step tutorial.
Seeing Spitfire No. 214 recording two bombers one after another, the rookies followed suit and attacked the lower abdomen of the He111 bomber and the Death Stuka. This method worked on the spot. Two low-flying He111s were shot down and crashed in the sky. On the German position, another Stuka was beaten to smoke in the belly and left the battlefield under the cover of two Messerschmitts.
An I-153 rolled to the side of the He111. Due to a poor entry angle, the nose of the aircraft entered the attack range of the bomber gunner. The pilot was seriously injured and was unable to control the aircraft and was unable to parachute. As the fighter plane It hit the ground and burst into flames with an explosion.
The No. 214 Spitfire rushed left and right, and the situation of both sides in the air battle was reversed in an instant. Ten minutes later, only nine of the sixteen Messerschmitts were left, two of which withdrew from the battle early, and most of the twelve He111s were lost. The pilot lost his fighting spirit and retreated with the Stuka under the cover of seven Messerschmitts. Seeing that something was not going well, the remaining Bf 110 also retreated with them. After a few minutes, they all disappeared from the horizon.
The German pilots were not afraid of the Soviet Air Force, which also lost more than half, but because of the existence of Spitfire 214, they lost their belief in winning.
Seeing the enemy planes retreating, Major Pisanco asked everyone not to pursue them. The rookie pilots had little experience and went to pursue them. They could easily get trapped by the escorting Messerschmitts. Their mission was to drive away enemy bombers and assist the defeated troops in retreating.
The bodies were covered with SD 2 fragmentation bombs, and several downed He111 bombers continued to explode on the positions of both sides. The German defense therefore appeared chaotic and passive. The Soviet Red Army, which was also in chaos, took advantage of the chaos with the assistance of air fighters. Breaking through the encirclement, breaking through the German defenses in one go, finally jumping out of the encirclement and evacuating quickly.
The remaining German troops were not interested in fighting and left quickly with their wounded.
When the German pursuit troops arrived an hour later, all that was left for them on the battlefield were the corpses of soldiers from both sides.
After this fierce battle, more than half of the 34th Fighter Regiment suffered casualties. One Iraqi-153 crashed during an emergency landing nearby. The pilot parachuted and was rescued by his own people. Two other aircraft were seriously injured and barely returned home.
In this battle, the losses of Soviet aircraft were actually more serious. Thinking of the fierce battle just now, everyone was still frightened and thankful that No. 214 Spitfire accompanied the team. Otherwise, the 34th Fighter Regiment would most likely be wiped out, and the Red Army on the ground would be wiped out. It is also possible that they will be surrounded and annihilated by the large German troops arriving later.
The Kiev War ended with the Soviet defeat. After a short rest, the 34th Fighter Regiment flew to Moscow.
