Chapter 399 Vultures and Falcons

Losing the self-defense machine gunner in the back seat is undoubtedly the worst news for Rudel, who is currently in dire straits. The Stuka, which was already bulky and unsuitable for aerial combat, encountered the situation of losing its self-defense machine gunner. Even Rudel, who was known as the Eagle of the Eastern Front, couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

"What the hell, why don't those damn 109s come here!? If this continues, they will be slaughtered by the Russians!"

At the combat arrangement meeting before the ground attack mission, Rudel, who was worried that his side might be intercepted by Soviet fighter aviation after arriving in the battlefield airspace, asked Colonel Yetter, who was responsible for arranging specific combat missions. Regarding the arrangement of escort fighter jets.

But what Rudel didn't expect and didn't expect at all was that Colonel Yettle, who usually seemed to have a thoughtful mind, would develop a gambling disorder on such a life-and-death matter.

"Don't worry about this problem, Rudel. We have reason to believe that those Russians will not appear in the battlefield airspace in time to intercept you. After all, they have always been too slow to catch up. Think carefully about every battle you have experienced in the past, those Aren’t the Russians chasing the engine exhaust behind our butts every time?”

Rudel wanted to put forward a counter-argument at the combat mission arrangement meeting, but for a while he couldn't find any good evidence to support his opinion.

After all, the truth is exactly what Colonel Yetter said. The Soviet fighter aviation, which has outdated tactics and poor communication and command, often waits until the frontline ground troops report an air attack before taking off urgently from the airport to intercept the Germans. The Air Force's ground attack wing.

Therefore, whenever the belated Soviet fighter aviation units arrived in the battlefield airspace, the Luftwaffe, which had devastated the Soviet ground forces, had already walked away. The Stukas, who were extremely experienced in combat, often had no choice but to fight. The battle can be over in ten minutes and all the ammunition carried has been dropped. At this time, the Soviet fighter jets are usually still on the way.

Rudel used the excuse that maybe he was just overthinking, but he felt an unspeakable deep worry about the mission from beginning to end.

If we had to describe this worry, perhaps only the word intuition could sum up Rudel's truest thoughts.

The cruel facts of what happened now have once again proved at the cost of blood that Rudel's previous worries were by no means unnecessary. The Soviet MiG fighter jets flying in the sky frantically hunting down the German Stukas were like a pack of wolves letting loose. Enjoy harvesting any German prey within sight.

After all, there are only a few perverted pilots like Rudel who can go down in history in the history of human warfare and leave a mark of their own. The vast majority of German pilots who are only good at ground attack and dive bombing are really in a state of confusion right now. Their poor flying skills let alone the miracle of bombers downing fighter planes like Rudel, even whether they can win from the Soviet Union. The possibility of escaping from the tiger's mouth under the fangs of military fighter jets is extremely slim.

Since the Soviet fighter group suddenly entered the battlefield, Rudel, who has been watching the surrounding airspace out of the corner of his eye, made a rough calculation. So far, at least 12 German Stukas have been shot down by Soviet fighter jets and crashed to the ground. A blazing pile of scrap metal.

On the other hand, the Soviet fighter jets, which were dedicated to air combat, only lost one MiG-3 fighter. It was the one that Rudel took the initiative to kill from the sky before, with the fighter's overwhelming performance advantage against the bomber. As a result, the Soviet army is currently engaged in a one-sided massacre.

"Hell, if this continues, I'm going to die here."

Rudel, who was thinking about the consequences he might face, had just been distracted when a sudden death sound accompanied by the roar of the engine propellers forcibly interrupted Rudel's thoughts.

Rudel, who felt a chill down his spine in just the blink of an eye, almost subconsciously waved the joystick in his hand, and a string of tracer machine gun barrages that hit the engine glass canopy scratched the metal cockpit frame. A shower of sparks flew up.

"Damn Russian, just that little bit more!"

"Hmph, your reaction is quite flexible, German."

Driving his fighter plane and passing by Rudel, Pokryshkin, who failed to score a single blow, disdainfully responded to his opponent with a mocking whisper. On the other hand, under the barrage of machine guns pulled out by Pokryshkin Rudel, who relied on luck and subconscious reactions to escape from danger, was not so relaxed.

"Cole, Cole! Damn it, are you dead!?"

Rudel, who loudly called out the name of the self-defense machine gunner in his back seat, originally hoped that his partner would have some ability to fight back, enough to have a small self-defense ability against the Soviet fighter jets flying up and down in the sky.

But judging from the current result of the silence and lack of any reaction from the birds in the back seat, Rudel's hope in his heart has obviously been completely disappointed. The self-defense machine gunner in the back seat, with his head drooping and dripping blood, has lost blood and is unconscious. Half a reaction.

After driving his plane head-on and climbing into a high enough airspace, he stepped on the rudder pedal again and held the joystick tightly in his hand. Pokryshkin had no intention of letting go of the German Stuka.

Ever since the showy Stuka shot down an unsuspecting friendly fighter with one blow, Pokryshkin, who paid close attention to every detail of the battle in the sky, had already set his sights on Rudel. Unknown to him, Pokryshkin, who has the reputation of the Eastern Front Eagle on his head, now only has the firm will to shoot down the opponent in one fell swoop.

Rudel, whose plane was too heavy to climb head-on, had no chance to counterattack Pokryshkin. Rudel, whose palms wrapped in leather gloves were getting colder and sweatier, finally realized that this was It is really not that simple to fly the Red Star No. 5 MiG fighter that has been mentioned frequently on the radio channel just now.

"This guy knows how to take advantage of his own fighter jets. He's not like those Russian rookies at all!"

Pokryshkin, who did not engage in dogfights with Rudel at all, even if he got away with one blow, he still went straight forward without any delay. This situation was almost a death sentence for Rudel.