Chapter 1820: Bomb the German airfield

  Chapter 1820 Bombing the German Airfield

  According to Smirnov's deployment, there are now five reconnaissance teams deep behind enemy lines, and as many as twelve teams carrying new rockets.

  The location of the enemy's air defense positions and airports has long been known by the reconnaissance team, and the specific location is provided to the team. It's just that the previous task of the squad was to destroy the German missile launch positions, so the enemy's air defense positions and airports were spared.

  At this moment, after receiving a new order from Smirnov, various reconnaissance teams and squads launched attacks on the air defense positions that had already been mastered. Air defense positions are different from artillery positions. Except for anti-aircraft artillery, there is no infantry covering them at all. Therefore, facing the sudden attack of the Soviet army, they immediately become lambs to be slaughtered.

  By dawn, according to the summary of the information sent back, a total of seven German air defense positions were destroyed, 47 anti-aircraft guns of various calibers, and 12 anti-aircraft machine guns were destroyed. Huge loopholes appeared in the originally perfect air defense system of the German army in the Uman area.

  After listening to Smirnov's report, Sokov was silent for a long time, and then said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why didn't you attack the airport?"

"Comrade Commander," Smirnov heard the other party's dissatisfaction from Sokov's tone of voice, and quickly explained: "We are currently near the German airfield, and there are only two reconnaissance teams, neither of which is equipped with new rockets. , with twenty or so of them alone, there is no way to get close to the German airport."

  Sokov didn't understand that if more than 20 infantrymen with light weapons were to attack the heavily defended airport of the German army, it would be tantamount to letting them die. But if you find the enemy's airport, but ignore it, this is obviously not in line with Sokov's character, so he continued: "Then you should contact the squads carrying new rockets as soon as possible, move closer to the airport, and try to Attack the airfield before noon."

Regarding the order issued by Sokov, Smirnov only paused for a moment, and then asked: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask, what do you plan to do with the German airport? Is it to destroy all the airfields in the airport?" aircraft, and render the enemy's airfield useless?"

"That's not necessary." Sukov knew very well that even if a small team with new rockets rushed over, it would not be an easy task to destroy the German military airport. It's all in. "As long as they can destroy a few enemy planes, destroy the runway, and prevent the German planes from taking off for a few hours, it is a victory without unnecessary sacrifices. Got it?"

"I fully understand." Smirnov felt a lot more at ease when he heard Sokov say this: "I immediately ordered the squad carrying the new rockets to move closer to the enemy's airport and destroy the enemy's airport as soon as possible. .”

When Sokov put down the phone, Stemenko who was sitting on the side asked curiously: "Comrade Sokov, I want to ask you, since your subordinates have the opportunity to attack the German airfield, why don't you just destroy it?" Woolen cloth?"

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff," Sokov replied, "Why don't I want to completely destroy the German airfield? But no, the enemy's defenses are tight, and our numbers are limited, and our equipment does not occupy an advantage in firepower. It is obviously unrealistic to force them to completely destroy the German airfield. Therefore, I will give an order to the chief of staff to use new rockets to attack the airport, destroy several German aircraft and damage the runway, so that the enemy's aircraft will be in the air. It won't be able to take off for a short time."

   I don’t want Shtemenko to listen, but shook his head and said: “Comrade Sokov, why don’t you get in touch with Marshal Konev and ask the air force to dispatch to bomb the enemy’s airport?”

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, to tell you the truth, I did have such an idea." Sokov said cautiously: "But the enemy's airport has a strict air defense system. If our bomber formation breaks through like this, It is very likely that there will be huge losses.”

"Before our formation of bombers arrives, you can order the ground troops to use new rockets to destroy the air defense firepower network in the airport." Shtemenko replied confidently: "As long as there is no air defense firepower in the German airport, then Aircraft parked at the airport will become targets for bombing by our military bombers."

Why did Sokov not want the air force to bombard the enemy's airport, but he was worried that his proposal would be rejected by Konev. In order to avoid this situation, he had no choice but to use infantry to destroy the enemy's airport runway, so that their aircraft could not take off for a short time.

But at this moment, with the endorsement of the deputy chief of staff, Shtemenko, Sokov didn’t have to worry that Konev would reject his proposal, so he said smoothly: “Okay, comrade deputy chief of staff. Marshal Nev got in touch and asked him to dispatch the air force to bomb the German airfield."

  After connecting the phone with the Front Army Command, the person who answered the phone was Chief of Staff Zakharov. After recognizing Sokov's voice, he asked curiously: "Comrade Sokov, I heard that your headquarters was attacked by German missiles. How are you? Are you not injured?"

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov replied: "The place where the enemy attacks at night is where my headquarters is located. And I have established a forward headquarters in the Safran area. The enemy's attack, It didn't affect me in any way."

  Knowing that Sokov is fine, Zakharov is also relieved. After all, the other party is a person whom the Supreme Commander himself values ​​very much.

"Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov was in a hurry to get the air force dispatched, and he didn't have any intention of chatting with Zakharov here, so he directly changed the topic to normal: "I called you because I hope to get an air force. Help, bomb the German airfield in Uman."

"What, bombing the German airport in the Uman area?" Zakharov frowned after hearing Sokov's words, and said with a straight face: "Comrade Sokov, have you forgotten, A few days ago, when we sent four reconnaissance planes to Uman to perform combat missions, they were attacked by enemy planes and ground artillery fire, and only one came back in the end. Did you learn the painful lesson?"

"Remember, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, of course I remember this incident." Sokov explained to Zakharov: "Our reconnaissance team and detachment went deep into the enemy's rear and attacked seven German air defense positions. According to incomplete statistics, 47 anti-aircraft guns of various calibers and 12 anti-aircraft machine guns were destroyed, successfully destroying the German air defense system."

After hearing this, Zakharov said pleasantly: "Comrade Sokov, it's a very good record. Your subordinates destroyed so many German air defense weapons, which greatly reduced the threat of the German air defense network to our air force. "

His actions were approved by Zakharov, and Sokov was also very happy in his heart. He quickly said while the iron was hot: "My subordinates have discovered the German airport, but they are not strong enough, so they can only cause some damage to the airport." Therefore, I request you to send out bomber formations from the Air Force to bomb the German airfield and completely destroy their air power in the Uman area."

Sokov's words made Zakharov a little tempted, but in two days, the front troops will launch an attack on the Uman area. If the German army's airport in the Uman area can be destroyed in advance, it means that when the ground troops attack, Basically, it will not be hit by the German army from the air.

   "Okay, Comrade Sokov." Zakharov said: "I will report this matter to Marshal Konev immediately to see what he means."

Sokov guessed in his heart that the detachment that had received the order was rushing to the vicinity of the German airport at a rapid march. If the Air Force could not arrive as soon as possible, the results they could obtain would be very limited, so he asked anxiously: "Front Army Comrade Chief of Staff, I wonder when Comrade Marshal will give an answer?"

   "It's hard to say." Zakharov said hesitantly: "Comrade Marshal should still be sleeping at the moment. I think it's not too late to report this matter to him when he wakes up to the headquarters at the earliest."

   Hearing what Zakharov said, Sokov couldn't help being anxious: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, time is running out, please report to Comrade Marshal immediately, otherwise it will be too late."

Before Sokov could finish speaking, Shtemenko put his hands on his shoulders and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade Sokov, let me talk to General Zakharov." , and took the microphone from Sokov's hand.

   "Hello, Zakharov?" Shtemenko pressed the receiver to his ear and said, "I'm Shtemenko."

Zakharov never dreamed that he was talking with Sokov when Shtemenko’s voice suddenly came from the receiver, and he asked in surprise: “Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, are you in Sokov’s office?” Command?"

   "Yes, I'm here with Sokov." Shtemenko turned his head and glanced at Sokov, and continued: "To be precise, I'm staying in his forward headquarters at the moment."

   "When did you arrive?" Zakharov asked respectfully, "I don't know anything about it."

"I came here with Colonel Yakov last night." Shtemenko said with a smile: "I came to the front line this time mainly to observe how General Sokov directs the battle, so I came directly to his advance." Command, I haven't had time to greet you, I'm just sorry."

After the two chatted for a while, Shtemenko turned the topic into serious business: "General Zakharov, Sokov intends to order the enemy's rear squad to use new rockets to attack the air defense units and runways on the German airport, causing the enemy to Aircraft cannot take off. If you are quick, you can destroy all of the enemy's aircraft on the ground before the runway can be repaired."

Now that Shtemenko had spoken, Zakharov felt that even if he did not ask Konev for instructions, he could directly give the air force commander General Goryunov an order to attack. He quickly said: "You are right, deputy Comrade Chief of the General Staff. Every minute on the battlefield is precious. I will immediately inform General Goryunov to send a formation of bombers to bomb the German airfield in Uman and completely destroy their presence in the area. air power."

   Half an hour later, the 12 bomber planes of the 6th Army of the Air Force, escorted by the same number of fighter planes, flew towards the German airfield in Uman according to the coordinates provided by Sokov.

  The defenders of the German airport never dreamed that the Soviet army would appear above the airport just after dawn, and they hurriedly sounded the battle alarm. Although their reaction speed was fast, they were still a step late. The Soviet bombers swooped down from the sky, and the first thing they attacked was the gasoline drums piled up like a hill.

  As the aerial bomb fell on the gasoline drum and exploded, a sea of ​​flames shot up into the sky immediately, and the German airport began to burn. The fire turned every petrol canister into a flaming bomb that flew in all directions with the sound of explosions, smashing hard at the planes on the runway and the pilot's quarters next to the runway.

  When the Soviet bombers dropped their bombs for the second time, an aerial bomb accurately hit the ammunition depot. With the detonation of the ammunition depot, the entire airport made an explosion that shook the ground and knocked down all the surviving buildings on the airport.

  The team that had just joined the reconnaissance team in the distance couldn't help being stunned when they saw the scene like a region in the airport. Originally, their task was to use new rockets to destroy the German anti-aircraft firepower and destroy the runway, so as to ensure that the Air Force could successfully bomb the German airport. But now it seems that they are simply redundant, and the brothers in the Air Force have done their work.

  Seeing this situation, the scout in the reconnaissance team who was in charge of taking pictures immediately picked up the camera and took pictures of the scenes of the bombing of the German military airport one by one as the information for the report.

   "Comrades," the squad leader said to everyone: "Our air force has completely destroyed the enemy's airport. It doesn't make much sense for us to stay here any longer. Let's move now."

When the bomber formation of the Soviet army returned, the German airport was still burning. All the planes were turned into wreckage in the bombing, and all the buildings were razed to the ground in the fire and bomb explosion. With the charred bodies of German pilots, ground staff and security personnel, the entire airport has become a purgatory on earth.

After the bomber formation successfully returned, Goryunov, after confirming the results of the battle, called Zakharov to report: "Comrade Chief of Staff, all the bomber formations I sent have returned. Man’s airport has been turned into a sea of ​​flames, depending on the situation not only all enemy planes have been destroyed, but no one in the airport will survive.”

   "Very good, General Goryunov, your subordinates have done a good job." After listening to the report, Zakharov said approvingly: "I will ask for credit for them."

After finishing the phone call here, he connected to Sokov's former headquarters and said with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, I have some good news for you. The bomber formation sent by General Goryunov, The air raid on the German airport in Uman has been successfully carried out. According to the pilot's description, all the aircraft, buildings and personnel in the airport have been wiped out in the air strike."

   "This is really exciting news." Sokov said happily: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, thank you for bringing us such good news."

"The German airport, I've already solved it for you." Zakharov knew that Sokov would not plan to attack the airport for no reason, and there must be other plans in the future, but since Sokov didn't say anything, he himself Asked, but couldn't find anything, so he simply didn't ask: "If you want to take some action, do it as soon as possible."

  (end of this chapter)