Clusters of new tanks are advancing on the plains, and FW190 fighter jets are speeding through the sky. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

This is not the site of the Battle of Kursk, let alone the filming location of an anti-Soviet drama, but the Transylvania region of northwestern Romania.

"Bang bang bang!" The sound of gunfire, "Boom, boom! Bullet casings littered the outskirts of Timisoara, littered with craters from shells and foul-smelling corpses.

A fighter group consisting of FW190 flew through the sky, and the commander of the long plane was a major named Kalman. Thousands of meters in the air, looking down at the smoke-filled battlefield, he saw groups of Romanians leaving the city in trucks that were about to be occupied by the Germans.

"Report to the sir, enemy aircraft have been spotted ahead!" Just as he was hesitating whether to pull down the nose of the plane and attack the convoy, a group of Soviet fighters suddenly appeared in front of the group.

This Soviet fighter group consisted of 60 aircraft, mostly La-7 fighters, and a small number of Yak-3 fighters, and was a full aviation division.

"Destroy them!" Kerman firmly, gave orders to the other German pilots. Although he was shot down by a Yak-3 while piloting the BF-109 on a mission a month ago, it did not mean that this past event could affect his determination to destroy the enemy and his performance in combat.

40 FW190s, lined up in a neat formation, whizzed towards the group of Soviet fighters opposite. The Soviets on the opposite side had already discovered this target, and also aimed their noses at the Germans.

When the fighters of both sides approached and entered the range of the aviation machine guns and machine guns, the pilots of both sides did not hesitate to press the fire button.

Suddenly, a bunch of sparks appeared in the calm sky, giving Timisoara's skyline a little bright light.

There is no doubt that the Soviet fighter group has an absolute advantage in the number of aircraft, this integrated aviation division has a total of 60 aircraft, but the German flying group opposite only has 40 aircraft, but does this mean that the Soviets will definitely win? Not necessarily.

Despite the fact that the Soviets had more aircraft, they were inferior in firepower. The La-7 and Yak-3 fighters of the Soviet fighter group were each equipped with three B-20 cannons, but the German FW190 fighters were each equipped with four 20mm MGFF cannons and two 7.92 mm MG17 machine guns.

In this way, the firepower of the German fighter group totaled 160 cannons and 80 machine guns, while the combined firepower of the Soviet fighter aviation division was only 180 cannons.

In terms of the total number of firepower, the German FW190 flight group with a total of 240 machine guns/cannons undoubtedly had an advantage in firepower, but on the contrary, the front armor of the FW190 was relatively thick, and the Soviets chose to shoot at the FW190 to the death, and as a result, 10 La-7 fighters were shot down in one round, but the Germans also lost 2 FW190s.

The Soviets seemed to be aware of the disparity in firepower, and found that their La-7 and Yak-3 fighters were not going head-to-head with the FW190, so they had to adopt a strategy to avoid firing head-to-head at the FW190.

With its excellent low-altitude performance, the Yak-3 fighter pierced left and right in the air, not only got rid of the FW190's head-on pursuit many times, but also successfully shot down several FW190s.

But the La-7 was not so lucky, and was beaten by the opponent with its advantage in firepower. In addition, the La-7's fuselage protection was insufficient, it was made of wood, and more than a dozen of them were shot down in the first battle.

This air battle finally ended with the narrow victory of the German FW190 group, and the remaining Soviet planes retreated in a hurry, losing more than half of them, and the Germans gained air supremacy in that area.

Although the scale of this air battle was small, it had a warning effect on the development of the Soviet Air Force, and the pilots who participated in this air battle also provided a lot of valuable information, making the Soviet military and political top brass realize that their fighters had insufficient firepower and protection.

The gunfire stopped, so did the artillery, and the battlefield that had been full of gunfire just now was quiet again. Timisoara, a city in southwestern Transylvania, was reoccupied by fascists.

An SDKFZ251 half-track command vehicle drove into the city, and an old man in the uniform of the German Wehrmacht stood on the car, scanning the city that had just been taken down by himself.

I saw that the streets were filled with Romanian corpses, and everywhere there was a smell of blood. None of the buildings on both sides of the street are intact, and the streets are littered with rubble.

A young boy stood beside his mother's body and wept, while some Romanians risked their lives to return to the bombed-out home to pack their belongings. Their eyes were full of hesitation, and they really didn't know how to live their lives in the future.

On the contrary, the marshal standing on the armored car, the commander of Army Group South, Gerd von Rundstedt, exuded joy, and his eyes were full of confidence and pride.

He did not live up to the Führer's expectations, and he was finally able to fight a beautiful victory on the battlefield in Romania, and he made a contribution and proved his worth.

Originally, before the counterattack on Romania, Hitler had plans to depose Rundstedt, but after the persuasion of many generals, considering that Rundstedt was experienced and that his previous defeat in Western Ukraine was only due to insufficient troops, this idea was finally dispelled, and he looked at Rundstedt's future performance before making a decision.

Rundstedt understood the Führer's intentions, and if he was to keep his position, he would have to prove his worth by his records. As a result, his army easily invaded Romanian territory, capturing Timișoara, Ladia, Samature, Arad and other cities, and taking control of the western part of Transylvania.

"Report to the marshal, this is a telegram from the senator!"

Rondstedt happily took the freshly written message from the correspondent.

The telegram was indeed sent from the Berlin Chancellery, and the content was basically to praise Rundstedt for not betraying the trust of the Führer, and to tell Rundstedt to go all out to gain control of the Ploiesti oil fields as soon as possible. If the oil field is taken, Rundstedt will be awarded a knight's Iron Cross with oak leaves.

Seeing this, Rundstedt couldn't help but think of the situation when he was awarded the Iron Cross of the Knight's Order of Oak Leaves. For any German soldier, receiving the Iron Cross was a sacred honor and a recognition of the dedication of these Imperial servicemen to their country.

However, as he continued to read, he felt the pressure, and in the last part of the telegram, it was clearly written that if Army Group South could not take the Ploiesti oil field within three months, all the honors of Rundstedt would be stripped of him, and he himself would have to be discharged from the army and go home to retire.