"George, I heard you're going to be transferred to the 'Reverse Cross'?" A well-known pilot is interested in George?? e?? Brody said.

"Well, yes, I just got noticed." George replied, "They also gave me a week's vacation, so I could go home and see it except for the time I had to go on the road." ”

"I really envy you." The pilot said, "Our little Costa is almost two years old, and I miss him." ”

"Michael, you're thinking about the, right?" George?? e?? Brody smiled.

"Yes, of course I do, I haven't been back for almost a year." Michael said, "By the way, how do you get there?" ”

"There are also a couple of pilots who are going to serve in the 'Reverse Cross', and we will fly back together on a plane. What do you need me to bring to you little Costa? ”

"Thank you, George. If you have space in your bag, I'd like to ask you to bring something. I'd like to bring my dad a pipe and two bottles of Scotch; Then my wife said that she had heard that the English silver cutlery was very good, and that he would love one; In addition, I made some toys for my son out of eggshells with 20 guns, and ......"

"Wait! Michael, you have too much of this! Even if I don't have anything in my bag, I can't hold that much! ”

"Just kidding. In fact, what you really need to bring is just a set of tin soldiers. In addition,&a&本&read&novel{.{ yb}{du}.} There is another very important thing for you. Michael's face suddenly straightened again.

"What's the matter?" Seeing how serious he looked, George became serious too.

"When I go back, seize the opportunity and beat up Chief Ron, Daddy, Bunge, and McGaia for me."

……

Just as the fighter pilots who had been selected by the "Reverse Cross" were packing their things and preparing to go home, at Nellis Air Force Base, the officers of the "Reverse Cross" were also discussing the issue of a new squadron.

"New squadrons, a squadron of attack aircraft and a squadron of light bombers. Before building these two squadrons, we must first understand, what are the training tasks of these two squadrons? Ron said.

"Although it is not explicitly stated above, I am sure that in the future we will definitely fight from the French coast on the European continent. Because the mountains to the north of Italy were so steep, the problems that a large army had to face to cross them to attack Germany were unimaginable. Judging by our previous experience in North Africa, in Sicily and in Italy, we are far superior to our opponents in all weapons, except for our tanks. This is not because we are technically inferior to the Germans, but because our tanks face many more obstacles than the Germans. Our tanks had to sail across thousands of miles of sea, and they had to land in enemy ports that had been blown up by us, mainly our army and aviation, which would probably have been destroyed in the battle for which not even a decent crane remained.

Once on land, they had to follow the road that had been blown up by our bombers. And the bridges on these roads were either blown up by us or blown up by the enemy - of course, the chances of being blown up by us are higher. So in order to cross the river, our tank units must have the ability to quickly pass on bridges that have been temporarily repaired or even improvised pontoons. And all this means that our tanks must be lighter. We know that the Germans had some very heavy tanks, the Leopard tank weighed 45 tons, the Tiger tank weighed more than 56 tons, and the Ferdinand self-propelled guns and King Tiger tanks that we encountered in Italy weighed more than 70 tons. And our M-4 tank is only about 30 tons.

More weight means thicker armor and more powerful artillery. Our M-4 is like a lightweight fighter weighing less than 45 kilograms against these heavy tanks of the Germans. The heavyweight boxing champion stood still and let the lightweight fight for a long time, the skin of the heavyweight boxing champion would not break a little, and the heavyweight boxing champion could knock the lightweight fighters who were less than 45 kilograms directly into the audience as long as he punched. So anti-tank will be a big problem for us.

And this problem now depends to a large extent on our land aviation to solve. Therefore, our attack aircraft units must be proficient in the art of attacking armored targets in order to directly kill and injure the enemy's heavy tanks. Our light bombers, on the other hand, must be able to attack targets such as staging areas, stations, warehouses, and bridges with relative accuracy in order to interfere with the operations of the enemy's heavy tank forces. We lack experience in this area, but fortunately our allies do not lack experience in this area. I go through them. Learn about some of these second-hand experiences. Scott, tell me what you've learned from our allies. ”

"Okay general." Scott stood up and turned on the slide projector, and some pictures of the plane appeared on the screen.

"From the very beginning, the air forces of the Soviets and Germans were centered on direct ground support. The Germans initially relied mainly on Stuka dive bombers for ground strikes. This thing can strike fairly accurately at targets such as bridges, staging areas, artillery positions, forts, etc. Later the Germans shifted their focus to fighter units. Ground attacks have not received enough attention. In order to deal with the tanks of the Soviets, the Germans developed a number of anti-tank attack aircraft, and the FW-190 was converted into a ground attack aircraft. Basically the Germans were along this route: specialized attack aircraft + modified fighters.

The Soviets had in their hands a very effective attack aircraft, and that was the Il-2 attack aircraft. Even so, the Soviets, who attached great importance to ground attacks, made extensive use of fighter jets for ground missions. For example, the P-39 fighter jets that we helped them, the Soviets liked it very much. One of the main reasons for this was that the P-39's 37mm gun was very useful against ground attacks and could be used against almost any German tank.

Taken together, both the Germans and the Soviets made extensive use of specialized attack aircraft and fighter jets for ground missions. This may also become the norm for us to fight ground attacks after we land on the European continent from France. Our allies tell us that when performing such missions, the greatest threat is the first enemy fighter jets, and the second is the enemy's anti-aircraft fire. The German FW-190 fighters had ferocious firepower, good diving, and even better rolling. Once it has a high superiority, its BZ threat is very large. However, this is not a particularly troublesome problem for us. Because at the current rate of decline of the Luftwaffe. It won't be long before its fighter forces can't pose any decent threat.

We all know that large and medium-caliber antiaircraft artillery is almost impossible to pose a threat to attack aircraft flying low close to the ground and fighters carrying out ground missions. Their reaction speed was too slow, and the angular speed of turning the barrel could not keep up with the passing fighters. Therefore, for fighters carrying out direct ground fire support missions, small-caliber antiaircraft artillery is the most significant threat.

The Soviet Air Force invested heavily in direct ground fire support, and in order to deal with the large number of Il-2 attack aircraft of the Soviets, the accompanying anti-aircraft fire of the German armored forces was always strong. The Soviets told us that attack aircraft should be able to enter and exit from multiple lines when launching an attack in order to ensure as much safety as possible......"

After Ron's lieutenant had finished presenting the information provided by the Soviets, Ron spoke again:

"I think that our future ground attacks can only rely on the practice of dedicated ground aircraft + fighters. Our existing A-20 attack aircraft is more approximate to a light bomber. A new attack aircraft, drawing on some of the experience we learned earlier, is being developed and may not be able to catch up with the battlefield. So I think, perhaps, we will rely more on performing similar tasks with fighters and modified fighters. When performing close direct ground fire support missions, we cannot fly too high and too fast, which will affect the accuracy of the attack. At this time, the distance between friend and foe is very close, and insufficient accuracy will bring a large number of accidental injuries. This is unacceptable. And once we reduce our speed and height, we ourselves will be very vulnerable. Therefore, I think that the observation and search before the attack, and the emergency response in the case of anti-aircraft artillery fire, should be the focus of teaching. What do you think about this? ”

"General, I think we should use rockets more as a means of attack. This thing has more range and power than an aerial gun. In addition, the anti-armor cluster bombs of the Soviets are also worth emulating. Bunge said.

"Rockets are not as accurate as aircraft guns. I still like the German's large-caliber cannon pods. There are also those who disagree with Bunge's view.

"What do the ground handlers think about this?" Ron asked.

"Ah, General, does this need to be said? We certainly prefer rockets. Maintaining artillery is much more cumbersome than maintaining rockets. And the longer range of the rocket means that you're less likely to break the plane. Of course we're in favor of rockets. As for the accuracy of the attack. I think that when you really need high accuracy, it's a big deal to be able to fly closer. In terms of the range of the artillery, the accuracy of the rocket is not too bad. Lieutenant Colonel Rothkopf, who had been in charge of ground crew, replied.

"But ......"

……

By the end of the meeting, it was already afternoon. Leaving the conference room, Ron didn't even have time to eat in the dining room, so he hurriedly got into a jeep and left the base - tonight, Nadya's ballet company was leaving Nevada for Los Angeles. This will also be their last stop in the United States, and in half a month, they will leave the United States and return to the icy Russia. Last night, Nadya promised Ron that she would offer to the group to stay in the United States when she returned. Whether the ballet agrees or not is now long overdue. It's just that there are no mobile phones in this era, and Ron can't know yet. And this made him more and more anxious.