Novikov was also very surprised that Vasilevsky, the chief of the General Staff, did not stay well in Moscow and actually appeared in the 8th Army of the Air Force, and he was keenly aware that something important might have happened.

"What's going on in Moscow?" He asked nervously.

"Moscow is fine, it's the Don that has an accident." Vasilevsky briefly introduced the battle situation, "Now that Comrade Zhukov is in command in the center, and I am the representative of the base camp to coordinate and communicate with the armies of all sides, I think that solving the enemy's warships in the waters of the Don River is the most important thing, so the first stop is to you. ”

"We have received relevant briefings and orders, and have just arranged an air raid plan...... However, at present, the strength of the army group is insufficient, and it has to deal with enemy aircraft in the Black Sea and Caucasus directions, as well as cover our troops in the Don direction, and the number of aircraft is stretched. Sokolov reported and waved Vasily to retreat, but Novikov caught a glimpse of his movements and asked, "The strength is insufficient, did Major Vasily's formation be sent?" ”

"This ...... No. Sokolov replied awkwardly.

Novikov snorted angrily: "Destroying the warships of the Don River and seizing air supremacy in the meanders of the river are the highest tasks at present, and since the strength is insufficient, any force must be fully utilized, and I will never allow anyone to watch the excitement with nothing to do." ”

Seeing that Sokolov was about to explain, Vasilevsky stopped him, and after thinking about it, he said: "Actually, it is okay to arrange Comrade Vasily to carry out this task. ”

"It's more dangerous, can you arrange for him to perform other tasks?" Sokolov glanced at Vasily. Worriedly.

Although Vasily stood motionless, he did not wander into the world but listened carefully to their conversation, as a big figure in the circle of power. Seeing the appearance of the commander of the Air Force and the chief of the General Staff at the headquarters of the Air Force Group Army, he immediately understood the importance of this task, and he had the impulse to take risks in his bones, which was created by rebellious feelings, otherwise he would not have applied for flight school in the first place, and as far as he was concerned, he did not refuse to fly out to carry out the mission, and besides, it seemed to him that it was not particularly difficult to cover the bombers to deal with the warships in the Don River. So he had the urge to take a chance.

Vasilevsky stared into his eyes and asked: "Comrade Vasily, can we trust you?" ”

"Chiefs, I am ready to carry out this task. We promise not to let you down. Vasily's serious answer almost patted his chest and said that it was wrapped around me.

"It's not a small thing." Novikov frowned and explained, "It's not a chance to be reckless and show off. ”

"I know very well that our formation is full of old pilots, and I dare not say what the level is. But at least experienced. And I resolutely obeyed the command. ”

"Okay, you go and get ready now." Vasilevsky ordered, "Discuss a more feasible plan and implement it, the sooner the better." ”

"Is he okay?" Looking at Vasily's back as he quickly disappeared into the doorway, Novikov asked suspiciously, "Don't be beaten down by the Germans in a big way, then how can we be worthy of Comrade Stalin?" ”

"Whether his technical and commanding skills are up to date will be known by asking Comrade Sokolov."

"This, probably...... Maybe...... Probably...... Okay. Sokolov opened his mouth with a slurrel. I didn't dare to admit it bluntly, and I used three vague words before I came to a conclusion.

"You can't say yes. You can't say no. Vasilevsky smiled, "Everyone agrees with my fears, but I don't think that the blame can be placed entirely on him, just as the glorious mission of commanding the Great Patriotic War cannot be placed on Comrade Stalin, we must use his momentum and experience, and at the same time overcome his recklessness and frivolity." ”

"What's your best plan?" Hearing Vasilevsky say this, the other two came back to their senses and immediately asked.

"Let him command the escort formation to cover the bomber group and set off for bombing first, but we should make it clear that such an important task cannot be completed by his team alone, and his greatest value is to undertake the decoy mission, so that he can attract the fire of the German army and create opportunities for comrades in other formations."

"Is that possible?" Novikov set his sights on Sokolov.

"Theoretically quite possible, except ......" Sokolov apparently did not dare to expect too much from Vasily.

"If the Germans were fooled, whether Comrade Vasily could cover the group or not, he would have made a meritorious service in the first place; If he is not fooled, his life is not in danger, at most he will let other formations charge. ”

"That's it." Novikov weighed it and finally decided on this plan.

Vasily, who had retreated, also held his breath, he desperately wanted to prove himself, partly because he wanted to show Novikov a little color with facts, and partly because of the competitive character peculiar to young people. Although he was a playboy and drunkard, he still had at least a sense of mission and honor, and he didn't bother to speak ill of Novikov behind his back - he knew that his father would not listen to him easily, and if he had this kind of influence and ability, he would have stayed in the center of power in Moscow instead of being sent abroad to become an air force major.

Almost at the same time that Vasilevsky deployed the aerial bombardment mission, the JG52 Wing, which had been providing air cover for Army Group South, also received the task, and the task of the troops after the start of the campaign was particularly heavy, to do everything possible to cover their own warships on the Don River, but the focus was still on covering the land forces in the bend of the Don River from the opponent's air attack. After the order for the sortie was given, everyone's mood eased a little, because at first everyone did not understand why they had paid no attention to the pontoon bridges built by the Red Army in the meanders of the river for some time - this was obviously contrary to common sense.

Lieutenant Günter Lal, the leader of the second squadron of the third group of the wing, was tasked with patrolling over the Don River and holding up an air umbrella for the warship formation.

As the top pilot of the wing, he did not choose the commonly used BF-109 aircraft, but chose a new experimental BF-119, which is said to be an improved aircraft based on the Japanese Zero aircraft, using a star-shaped air-cooled engine, although the maximum speed is only 617 kilometers per hour, which is 30 kilometers per hour slower than the BF-109 fighter commonly used by the JG52 wing, but it is really easy to use in other aspects, especially the low-altitude dogfights that Soviet pilots love the most, This new aircraft is particularly capable of hovering at low altitudes. What's even more amazing is that the BF-119 has the ability to stay in the air for up to 4 hours without hanging the auxiliary fuel tank, and the engineer specifically explained that the Japanese often fly this kind of aircraft over more than 1,000 kilometers in the Pacific Ocean to fight, which makes all the German pilots feel crazy -- this is equivalent to the combat distance from Warsaw to Moscow, and the poor BF-109 flight time without the auxiliary fuel tank is only 2 hours, and the maximum range after hanging is more than 1,000 kilometers. Not to mention the return home, the spare fuel for combat time after arriving at the target is too insufficient.

Everyone is saying that if they had this kind of aircraft during the Battle of Britain, those clumsy BF-110s would not have been targeted by hurricanes and Spitfires, and the loss rate of the Stukas would not have been so high, maybe the Sea Lion plan to land in Britain would have succeeded, I heard that the Japanese were very dissatisfied with the 1500-kilometer range, and their original models were de-armored, self-sealing fuel tanks, and even desperately punched holes in the girders to reduce weight, and everyone had a more thorough understanding of the madness of the Japanese.

Now Gunter Raal is on patrol duty in the improved plane, which is more than 200 kilograms heavier than the original design, and he is reluctant to throw away the auxiliary fuel tank under the belly of the aircraft - which means that he can stay in the air for two waves of the BF-109 fleet, and he is ready to retreat with the second group of companions when they are completed.

Not far behind him, Erich Hartmann, a rookie pilot of the 7th Squadron of the 3rd Group, was flying the BF-109 closely behind the long plane Lesman, who was also a member of the patrol flight, and before setting off, the commander repeatedly warned the pilot, who had excellent training results but little actual combat experience, to pay attention to the movement around him...... Be clever with me, don't let the Russians kill you in the first round, and if you don't drown in the Don River, you will freeze to death. ”

When he was looking around, a long voice suddenly sounded in the earphones: "There is an enemy plane in the front and lower left, move closer, occupy a place, and prepare to attack." Poor Hartmann could not find the shadow of the enemy plane, and distanced himself from the long plane. After some searching, he finally found two green planes in front of him, less than 500 meters away, he thought of the word "attack", but he didn't expect the long plane to explain the words "ready to attack".

His heart was beating faster and his blood was surging, and he completely threw aside the explanation of the long plane and rushed over, firing continuously at a distance of 300 meters, and all the bullets were shot at once, but unfortunately all of them missed, and he almost hit the enemy plane. After Hartmann nervously steered the plane to avoid it, he realized that he was surrounded by enemy planes, and the long plane was nowhere to be found—yes, he rushed into the formation commanded by Vasily.

Looking at the black pressure of the red star plane around him, he was so frightened that he hurriedly dived down, and after breaking through the clouds, he was relieved to find that there was no enemy plane coming. In fact, not only Hartmann was so nervous, but Vasily was also frightened to death by this daring German pilot, not to mention the fierce but almost accurate bullet, just the moment Hartmann rushed over just now, he thought that the two were about to collide. By the time he gathered his mind and prepared to teach the daring German pilot a lesson, the enemy was long gone. (To be continued.) )