It took 432 C-47 transport planes to transport the British 101st Airborne Division over Sicily, and the same number of transport planes were needed to transport the 82nd Airborne Division to Sicily. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Therefore, the first batch of more than 15,000 people will need about 830 C-47 transport aircraft.

Except, of course, the pilot, co-pilot, and navigator.

Each C-47 transport aircraft can carry 18 to 20 heavily armed paratroopers, and these planes fly in a V-shaped formation, one after the other, trained to fly in the moonlit night sky.

When the team leaders in these transport planes began to give the order to prepare for the parachute jump, the navigators also began to say to the paratroopers who were preparing to parachute: "Don't look down, look up, look up, God will be with you, because in the sky, your friend is our God!" ”

All the paratroopers were nervously listening to the navigator while they were sorting out their equipment.

The paratroopers are to be equipped with parachuting suits, steel helmets, shoes, gloves, main umbrellas, and spare parachutes; Mehuis life jackets, rifles, and 45-caliber automatic pistols, trench knives, paratrooper knives, hunting knives, machetes, bullet belts, spare magazines, Hawkins mines for tank blasting, several TNT explosives, first aid kits, rations for several days, distilled water, gas masks, lethal Gammon grenades, clothing, and smoke grenades, and a whole host of other things.

And these heavy loads of equipment make these paratroopers gain weight, and make their parachute jumps a little more.

However, after rigorous training, the paratroopers have overcome the heavy discomfort of these equipment. In the dim red light, when the navigator had finished speaking, all the paratroopers prayed together.

When everyone had finished praying, Jim, the head of the skydive, immediately shouted loudly, "Get ready!" ”

At the same time, the parachute hatch of the transport plane was also opened, and suddenly the thick and turbulent clouds came into the eyes of all the paratroopers.

And then in the pale moonlight, the paratroopers were able to see the buildings, farms and fields, villages, houses, creeks and barns beneath them, and even the dogs could faintly hear the sound of dogs.

And, of course, the dense swarms of planes and the flashing lights on the wings.

The pilots inside the C-47 transport plane only briefly glanced below them and the nearby sky; In a hurry, with heavy equipment, they stood in line to the cabin of the parachute jump.

"Hook!"

At this moment, the second order of the parachutist Jim was immediately given.

After listening, all the paratroopers he was responsible for leading the team quickly heard the sound of opening the parachute and pulling the rope and the hook snapping into the steel cable.

The cables were all over the heads of these paratroopers, running down the center of the cabin.

"Check your gear!"

When all the paratroopers had double-checked that they had hooked up several times, the third order from the parachutist Jim was immediately issued.

In this regard, all the paratroopers immediately checked their comrades in front of them to see if the other party had missed any equipment that they did not bring, or whether the harness was not misplaced, so as to remind them.

"Number 3, ready!"

After all the paratroopers had checked their equipment, the fourth order from the parachutist Jim was given.

The paratrooper, who heard his number, immediately squatted nervously at the open cabin door, looking for his skydiving landmark, ready to parachute.

And the other paratroopers nervously, standing behind paratrooper No. 2, waiting for the parachute.

"God bless you, jump!"

Seeing that the paratrooper was ready, the parachutist Jim immediately said loudly.

As the order to parachute was given, Paratrooper No. 2 quickly jumped out of the transport plane to the left wing of the plane, allowing the airflow of the plane to blow him to the end of the forced parachute pull rope.

When used in this way, the huge pull force is used to tear off the jacket of the T-5 parachute used by the paratroopers, so that the parachute jacket is successfully exposed and opened.

Then, under the influence of gravity, the paratroopers' bodies can successfully fall to the ground.

"Number 8, ready!"

"Number 9, ready!"

"Number 10, ready!"

"Jumping ......"

As paratrooper No. 2 successfully parachuted, Jim, the parachutist, gave a quick order.

As the command sounded loudly again and again, soon all the 20 paratroopers in the entire C-47 transport plane parachuted.

Other C-47 transport planes are constantly parachuting in this way, and when these paratroopers parachute out, the paratrooper commander will also use parachutes to drop some machine guns, mortars, high-explosive packs, and Bazooka rocket launchers and other heavy firepower weapons and equipment to reach their coordinate locations.

When the British and American air forces dropped these paratroopers, there were also terrible air raid sirens in Sicily.

At the same time, there are a large number of searchlights, tracer bullets, and explosions on the island, which cut through the dark night sky of the moon, which is terrifying.

At the same time, accompanied by the sound of 20, 40 and 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, the dense and deafening shelling was carried out.

For a time, the whole night sky was filled with terrible and dense artillery fire, as well as the terrible howls of British and American soldiers who parachuted, and the constant whistling of airplanes, as well as the sound of attacks by British and American fighter groups, and the sound of various bomb explosions.

In the face of such a terrifying hellish battle situation, many British and American paratroopers who were parachuting were pale and frightened, and they also quickly prayed to God.

And tracer shells of various colors such as orange, blue, yellow, red and other colors fired from Sicily constantly exposed the air positions of the British and American paratroopers.

At the same time, the German and Italian armies were constantly battling at the enemy, and the lives of the British and American paratroopers were quickly harvested.

Even so, the paratroopers of the British and American Airborne Forces bravely continued to parachute, especially their gliders that could carry 30 heavily armed soldiers; They were also allowed to tow their planes, unleashing their tows at 6,000 feet and then the gliders descended from the sky like giant birds to their landing coordinates.

And at this time, the operational command of Guderian, Sicily.

More than a dozen combat staff officers were busy collecting information on the deployment of troops from all sides, as well as the airborne combat situation and attack situation of the British and American air forces.

"The Anglo-American Airborne Forces suddenly appeared over us and have already successfully delivered an airdrop! And we, as well as the Italian air defense forces, have already made a counterattack! Do we need to send out a group of fighters right now and counterattack the enemy! Commander! Request Operational Instructions! ”

It didn't take long for Savik, the combat staff officer, to report in front of Guderian with a solemn expression.

And the conspirators next to the two of them continued to be busy with their respective work and combat missions.

"No, you don't! Britain and the United States want to drop paratroopers, let them come down! We will kill as many paratroopers as they succeed in landing, and we will not leave a single one! ”

Hearing this, Guderian shook his head and disagreed.

"But if we do, won't we be more dangerous! This time, the British and American airborne troops, according to the observation of our front-line reconnaissance troops, have more than 10,000 paratroopers! And they also have a large number of gliders, carrying soldiers to carry airborne! ”

"In addition to this, they have a large number of fighters, escorting and attacking our anti-aircraft artillery positions!"

Savik, the operational staff officer, was very anxious and worried.

"Leave their airborne forces alone, our anti-aircraft artillery groups can kill as many as they can! After they all have successfully landed, they will all be annihilated! This is the Führer's order! ”

Guderian smiled nonchalantly, not nervously at all.