Chapter 873: Aerial Strike
The MB152 fighter is a fighter, not an attack aircraft, and for Finland, despite the addition of the Volunteer Air Force, the air power is still stretched.
Therefore, the Finnish Air Force needs to be an all-rounder, in addition to being used for air combat, but also capable of ground attack, and in this regard, the MB152 fighter has an innate advantage.
This fighter has two weapons: two 20 mm Spanish-Swiss HS404 cannons on the wings, each with 60 rounds, and two 7.5 mm MAC1934 aviation machine guns, each with 500 rounds.
This cannon is an automatic repeating artillery produced by the Sispano-Suza company, and its derivative model was widely used as an aerial gun and land-based weapon by Britain, France and the United States during World War II.
Compared to other light weapons, the HS.404 fires a 20mm projectile and is more lethal. This made it an ideal anti-aircraft weapon for installation on light vehicles and was used to replace the 7.62 mm and 7.7 mm machine guns that were massively installed on fighters in the 30s of the 20th century.
The French HS.404 was produced by the French branch of Sispano and became a well-known family of machine guns, after all, the lethality of the 20 mm machine gun was much greater than that of ordinary machine guns.
However, when firing at the air, its main type of ammunition is high-explosive shells, which use explosions and fragments to kill, and this type of ammunition is not very effective against tanks on the ground.
However, in addition to high-explosive shells, it also has a new type of ammunition, which is the 168-gram armor-piercing tracer bullet!
Now, the 60-round drum of the MB152 fighter is stuffed with this kind of armor-piercing projectile, after all, their goal this time is to strike on the ground!
When the fighter plane turned into a dive, it let out a characteristic Doppler howl, and in Bruce's field of vision, the T-34 tank became clearer and clearer.
At this time, the Soviet tank forces had already discovered them, but they did not have any effective weapons to protect them at this time.
Hans-Rudel in history, destroyed more than 500 Soviet tanks. However, he himself was shot down a dozen times.
Later, he summed up his experience: the Soviet T-34 tanks were the easiest to attack, because those tanks were not equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns, and the M-4 "Sherman" series tanks aided by the United States to the Soviet Union were equipped with a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun, which he himself was shot down several times during dive attacks.
At this time, the dive fighter is absolutely safe, except for an accidental collision with the ground, there is no threat!
Altitude, lower and lower, this fighter is not a professional attack aircraft after all, there is no angle of attack display, there is no warning equipment, everything, completely on its own experience.
At this time, the T-34 tank on the ground was still moving at full speed, and Bruce appropriately set the advance amount, and at a distance of about 500 meters from the ground, he pressed the fire button.
"Tom tom!" The 20mm cannons on both sides roared wildly, and the entire fighter shook with it.
With just one push, he quickly let go, and even then, four or five shells flew out!
Tracer armor-piercing shells, drawing a shiny trajectory in the air, slammed straight into the Soviet tank on the ground.
For any tank, the top is always the weakest, and the top of the T-34 tank, that is, the level of homogeneous armor from 18 to 22 mm, and this armor, an ordinary 14.5 mm anti-tank gun held by a single man, can penetrate it, not to mention the current 20 mm cannon!
Almost several shells whistled into the turret, and then a loud explosion was heard inside the turret.
"Boom!"
The internal ammunition exploded, the air flow leaked out from the seat of the turret, and the entire small turret flew directly into the sky.
"Hooray!" Seeing the power of their own fighters, the Finnish soldiers on this side of the position immediately cheered.
Seeing that their position is about to be conquered by the Soviets, it is really time for their own air force to fly!
This is just the beginning!
One MB152 fighter after another, diving down from the air, using 20-mm cannons on both sides to hit tanks, their attacks were quite effective, and the offensive of the Soviet tank units slowed down all at once.
"Look, hurry up!" Pattifo shouted loudly.
The arrival of their own planes to help in the battle made everyone excited, but the anti-tank fighters, at this time, must not let up! Pattifo shouted at his gunners.
The gunners will become deaf in the future, because the sound of artillery is too powerful, and now, more than 20 cannons have been fired in a row, and everyone's ears are buzzing, and nothing can be heard.
Therefore, those who watch the artillery are commanded with flags, not with shouts, and this is the reason.
"Hurry up!" Pattifo couldn't hear his own shouts, so he lifted his leg and kicked him with his boot in the butt of the fitter.
The loader stopped looking into the distance and quickly reloaded.
"Bang dang!"
Another armor-piercing shell was stuffed into the chamber of the gun, and then, with a bang, the shell flew towards another KV-1 tank in the distance.
At a distance, the 17-pounder gun eliminated several T-34 tanks, and after getting closer, the 17-pounder gun was mainly used against the KV-1 tank, after all, this kind of big guy was its target, and the rest of the anti-tank guns were used to greet the T-34 who came like a tide.
Just now, the Soviets' tanks were like a rainbow, and now, under the air strike, finally, their offensive has slackened, and when the T-34s on the forward positions are destroyed, the Soviets are finally not as fierce as just now!
This time, the Soviets were going to fail, they lost hundreds of tanks, and still did not conquer their own positions!
In the rumbling of cannons, Pattifo finally saw hope, but then, he saw a larger group of planes flying in the distant sky.
Fighters of the Soviets!
"Tom tom!" Having taken out a T-34 tank again, Bruce pulled his plane up, and before he could find the next target, he heard a call on the radio: "Soviet planes, a large number of Soviet planes, are flying towards us!" ”
The sorties of the Soviet Air Force were not slow, they had already flown over the battle line, and their arrival, saving the tank forces on the ground and removing the threat of Finnish fighters in the sky.
"Give up the ground attack and get ready to fight!" Bruce shouted loudly, at this time, the 60 rounds of 20-mm shells on both sides were almost consumed, but he still had two machine guns!
The machine gun that uses the drum to feed the ammunition has always faced the problem of insufficient ammunition, and only the use of the bullet chain to feed the ammunition can solve this problem.