Thomas saw that the two AC-47s were getting closer and closer to him, and he was a little hesitant now. Two targets appeared in his shè range, and they were also unarmed targets, which was definitely a godsend. However, he also knew that even if he launched a surprise attack, with the firepower of 4 20 guns, it would be difficult for him to shoot down a transport plane at once, because such targets are generally relatively strong. As for shooting down two transport planes at once, it is even more impossible. As soon as he fired, even if one of them was shot down, the other aircraft would quickly radio his position to the other attack aircraft.

However, if one transport plane can be shot down, even if another transport plane can call an attack plane, at least, before the attack plane arrives, he and his friends will have a chance to abandon the tank and flee in all directions.

So Thomas made up his mind, he turned the anti-aircraft gun and aimed his crosshair in front of Stephen's AC-47. Now, in Thomas's eyes, this C-47 flies low and slow, literally meat on a chopping block. But it's not that easy to make sure you shoot him down. If you can smash its cockpit to shreds with a shuttle cannonball, that's certainly the best. But the cockpit is too small to hit the target, so in fact, the best thing to do is to attack its engine. When an engine is hit, it may not only shut down and lose power to the aircraft, but also cause a fire. And as soon as the engine catches fire, at this altitude, the enemy basically has little to do but parachute.

Thomas took a moment of aim, then decisively pressed the shè key and fired, and the flying shell hit the side engine of the transport plane accurately. A smug smile appeared on Thomas's face, but the smile immediately froze on his face. Because he found that the armor-piercing incendiary bombs he had shèd had not ignited the engine, they had only knocked out a string of sparks outside the engine, and had done no damage to the plane.

"Oh my God, Americans are extravagant! Equip a transport plane with such thick armor! Thomas couldn't help but sigh, "If I knew this, I might as well hit the cockpit." Unbeknownst to Thomas, the cockpit was also heavily armored and immune to 20mm guns.

Thomas's attack was not as useless as he had imagined. Although the AC-47 attack aircraft was modified with armor in key parts, it was clear that they could not wrap most of the area with armor as they did with the P/A-38 or P/A-47. Therefore, most parts of the AC-47 are still unarmored, such as its big belly, which is not armored at all. Several shells that did not hit the engine shè hit the fuselage of the AC-47. They easily penetrated the thin layer of aluminum skin of AC-47 and penetrated it. Then he got out from the other side.

Although the cargo compartment is not protected, the cargo compartment is not critical, let alone drilling a few holes, even if a hundred holes are drilled, it is nothing to the aircraft. However, it would be an absolute disaster for the people in the cargo hold of the aircraft to really have a hundred holes drilled by enemy shells. Fortunately, only a few shells hit the cargo compartment this time, but one unlucky guy was still injured.

Tony, the deputy gunner, was pushing a large box of 25mm shells along the track on the ground towards the 25mm Gatling gun, and a 20mm high shell came in and hit Tony's own kettle hanging next to him. The entire kettle exploded at once, and a piece of blown aluminum pierced Tony's eye directly, and blood flowed out immediately.

"Hell! Damn it! Where is the medicine box! Cocu lunged forward and grabbed Tony, who was swaying, and shouted at the same time.

"Here, here!" Tommy, the navigator, flies over with the medicine kit.

……

The sudden attack startled Captain Stephen, who understood that the most important thing now was not to fight back, but to quickly pull away. So he began to fly the plane into the distance.

Thomas also continued to fire at the transport plane. Strings of shells kept flying towards the transport plane. But, as Thomas had predicted, the shells failed to cause fatal damage to the plane.

But the barrage frightened the guys in the cabin. Flying shells whizzed past them, and a single hit could kill them instantly. Fortunately, this time the blow was lucky, no one died, no one was injured. But when this round of shelling was over, everyone looked at the cargo hold, but found that at some point, a 20-mm shell concentrated the 25-mm Gatling and damaged it.

There are wounded on the plane, and everyone doesn't care about revenge, after all, the most important thing is to rush back and send their comrades to the hospital. Tony's eye was injured and he was taken to the hospital late, and maybe he would lose one eye forever. Besides, isn't there another AC-47 next to it? It won't let go of that high shè cannon.

Just as Stephen's plane was attacked, Shrek, the captain of another AC-47, immediately began to distance the plane from the grove and gave the order: "Prepare for battle, attack with 40mm guns." ”

Compared to the 25 mm Gatling gun. The single-barreled 40mm gun has a much lower shè velocity, but the 40mm gun also has its own advantages, first of all, because the shell is heavy, it slows down in the air more slowly than the 20mm gun, so it has a longer shè range, and its armor-piercing power is also stronger. Judging from the enemy's attack just now, it should have been a self-propelled quadruple 20-mm anti-aircraft gun. Shrek knows that there are many kinds of chassis used in this quadruple 20mm anti-aircraft gun, from the half-track chassis to the chassis of the Czech 38t tank, and then to the chassis of the No. 3 tank, the No. 4 tank, and even the chassis of the Leopard tank, if it is a half-track chassis, the 25 mm Gatling sweeps a few bullet chains, which is definitely enough to destroy this thing, but if the enemy uses the chassis of the Leopard, the 25 mm Gatling gun has no chance to destroy the opponent even from the side. Only a more violent 40mm gun can effectively destroy the target. And Shrek also heard that when Chief Ron proposed this plan, he didn't think of a 40mm gun at all, but the 76mm gun on the M-10 tank destroyer. It's just that this thing is a little too big, and the recoil is even more terrifying, even if you use a bigger guy like the MD-4 to pretend, you can't withstand its terrible recoil. So in the end, in desperation, Ron accepted the plan to install 40 guns.

When the distance between the plane and the enemy anti-aircraft gun was about 600 meters, Shrek ordered again: "Open the hatch and attack the target!" ”

The distance of 600 meters is still within the range of the enemy's 20-mm guns, but if the distance is longer, there is no guarantee that it will be able to penetrate the enemy's armor. And the enemy is still firing at Stephen's plane, which also gives Shrek a chance.

The hatch of the plane was pulled open, and the barrel of the 40-mm gun stretched out and began to fire at the enemy anti-aircraft guns in the distance. The AC-47's platform is stable, which makes the guns on it more effective than those found on specialized attack aircraft such as the P/A-38. The first string of shells covered the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery quite accurately.

The enemy's anti-aircraft artillery was immediately dumb, but Shrek was not at ease, he commanded the gunners and fired nearly 40 more shells. It wasn't until black smoke rose from below and flames rose that the attack stopped.

……

Originally, Ron thought that except for Stephen's injured AC-47, the other planes would have to work on that road for two hours before coming back. Who knew that these guys would all come back quickly, almost an hour earlier than Ron expected. When I asked the reason, it was actually Qingyi who ran out of ammunition. It seems that the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division has really suffered a big loss today.

However, Ron's mind was no longer on the 17th Panzergrenadier Division. This afternoon, the US ground forces will launch an attack on the enemy's stronghold of Saint-Sauveur. In each battalion of the ground forces on the attack mission, Ron sent a liaison officer in charge of ground-air liaison. This afternoon's fire reconnaissance-style assault was a test for Ron to test their coordination with the ground forces.

At noon, all the attack aircraft returned to the airfield in preparation for the afternoon operation. The first round of feints will be launched at half past one in the afternoon to get an idea of the enemy's firepower, and the 21st Attack Aircraft Wing will be tasked with attacking the enemy's exposed artillery, especially suppressive artillery and anti-tank artillery. In order to facilitate the attack on trenches, pillboxes and other targets, the wing has prepared a lot of napalm for this purpose. However, in order to catch the enemy by surprise in a real attack operation, the 21st Attack Aircraft Wing did not intend to use this weapon in this attack.

At 12:45 p.m., the group of attack aircraft had completed their preparations and began to take off. At half past one, all the planes have arrived at their predetermined standby positions. It was also at this time that the American artillery group began to launch a fierce artillery attack on the enemy.

In terms of the number of artillery alone, the US artillery does not seem to be as terrifying as the Soviet army, and when the Soviet army launches an offensive operation, it may arrange more than 100 artillery pieces per kilometer at the first-line breakthrough point. The U.S. artillery group is not so large. However, this does not mean that the shelling of the US military is easy to deal with. Compared with the Soviet army, the artillery of the US army also has an advantage, that is, the proportion of large-caliber artillery is higher, and the shells are more powerful.