"There are so many tanks, you should be able to break through at once, right?"

At the distance from Otto. Less than 3,000 meters from Skorzny is located on the second-floor balcony of what appears to be an abandoned farmstead. Pen ~ fun ~ Cabinet www.biquge.info Golikov of the Soviet Military Observation Corps was frowning and talking to himself. Although Stalin was determined to wage war, his mission in Ireland was still not complete, and he now needed to find out as much as possible the actual combat effectiveness of the German army by observing the engagements between Britain and Germany.

However, in the first thirteen days after his arrival in Ireland, his aim was not achieved, for the British and Germans were only entrenched in the plains of central Ireland. At the same time, the forced movement of troops to the island was intensified, and there was no large-scale engagement, at best some tentative firefights. It was not until 17 May that he was taken by Admiral Wavell to the upper reaches of the Boyne River near the front of Triem.

According to Wavell, the British armored forces were to break through the German infantry lines in Trim and then outflank the rear of Dublin. After completing the outflanking mission, the British Army will take Dublin with the support of 2 old battleships (the USS Utah, leased from the United States, and Britain's own Centurion).

And by observing this large-scale offensive, Soviet military experts can have a very intuitive understanding of the latest tactics of mechanized forces and the combat effectiveness of the German Army, which is very beneficial for the offensive they are going to launch on the Eastern Front.

Just as Golikov craned his neck and held his binoculars and waited to see the German Nazis being cleaned up by British imperialism, someone suddenly shouted in English: "Air raid!" Air raid! ”

Although Golikov didn't know much English, he had heard the word "air raid" too many times in the past ten days in Ireland, and he subconsciously wanted to go downstairs to drill a bomb shelter.

However, Admiral Wavell beside him looked calm and relaxed, just smiled and said: "It must be the German HS-123, a biplane ground attack aircraft, a very outdated aircraft, the main weapon is a 250-kilogram bomb hanging under the belly and four 50-kilogram bombs under the wing." ”

What the? Double-winged HS-123? This plane has not been eliminated yet? Wasn't the Air Force of the Germans very advanced? Belfast's port is being bombed every day these days, and it's all monoplanes.

As if seeing the suspicions of his Soviet friends, Admiral Wavell smiled: "The Germans have been turning their attention to the sea since 1940, and the planes they use for anti-ships are very powerful. You must have seen it in Belfast...... Aircraft that were huge and flew fast and high enough to drop remote-controlled gliding bombs were a complete disaster for the Navy.

But it would be inappropriate to use them to attack ground forces on the move, these aircraft are too large and are vulnerable to ground fire when attacking at low altitudes. And in order to drop remote-controlled gliding bombs at high altitudes, these aircraft are high-altitude models with poor performance at low altitudes. ”

Because of the advent of remote-controlled gliding bombs, the Luftwaffe and naval aviation are now replacing twin-engine medium bombers with good mid-altitude performance. However, high-altitude performance and low-altitude performance cannot be taken into account, and the aerodynamic shape and engine model of the aircraft used for high altitude are different from those of the main aircraft at medium and low altitudes. Moreover, high-altitude aircraft do not need to be equipped with speed brakes to play dive bombing - even if it is the same large series of aircraft, such as the FW-190, the following medium- and low-altitude models are not the same as the medium- and high-altitude models.

Although the cutting-edge models of the Germans, such as the HE-219, DO-217, and JU288, all have medium and low-altitude models, and they also have dive-bombing models equipped with speed brakes. But neither the Luftwaffe nor naval aviation was equipped much.

Dropping remote-controlled gliding bombs at altitudes above 6,000 meters is a safe and efficient means of anti-ship warfare, and who wants to dive bombing?

But remote-controlled gliding bombs are reliable and efficient for attacking surface ships, and they can't be used to hit tanks, not only is it not cost-effective, but at an altitude of 6,000 meters, who can see clearly a small tank on the ground?

When Wavell and Golikov were talking, 24 German HS-123s had already flown over, and there was no famous Fokker Zero escort - because the HS-123 was a very solid aircraft, and even the worst field airfields could take off and land, so the HS-123 attack planes were deployed very close to the front line, and they could almost fly together to the battlefield.

"Sure enough, it's a two-winged HS-123." Golikov hurriedly raised his telescope to observe, in fact he was very familiar with the performance of the HS-123. At a time when the Luftwaffe was heavily equipped with such aircraft, Soviet-German relations were still in the honeymoon period, so Soviet officers had many opportunities to observe the HS-123.

This kind of aircraft was a little outdated when it first appeared, and now, after so many years, it is really a very old aircraft, and it cannot be compared with the Soviet Il-2 at all.

Boom ......

A shrill whistling sound interrupted Golikov's thoughts, and he looked up in the direction from which the sound came, only to see that several HS-123s had begun to dive down from a height of more than 2,000 meters, and let out frightening screams as they dived.

However, the British troops on the ground were not deterred by the strange cries of these German aircraft, and more than a dozen Crusader Mk1 and Crusader Mk2 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns that followed the tank cluster immediately opened fire on the German aircraft in the air. The two HS-123s were suddenly beaten into turkeys and dragged down with thick smoke.

"If it was the Il-2, it wouldn't have been shot down so easily......," Golikov thought to himself, "If the Germans only had the HS-123 on the Eastern Front that could be used to directly support the infantry and armored troops on the front line, then General Pavlov's Western Front might really be able to break into Berlin!" ”

Boom Boom!

The fireball of the bomb explosion rose in the British armored group, and the British self-propelled anti-aircraft guns shot down some HS-123s, but still many more HS-123s dropped bombs. However, due to the threat of ground firepower, many HS-123 planes could only hurriedly drop bombs, and the bombing was not very accurate, only six or seven British tanks were blown over or blown up, and the large cluster of hundreds of tanks was only scratched the surface. Unlike the Il-2, which is equipped with a 20mm cannon and an 82mm air-launched rocket, the HS-123 is only a small aircraft with a limited bomb load, and the weapons that can be used to attack after dropping the bomb are two small machine guns of 7.92mm caliber, which are completely ineffective against tanks and armored vehicles on the ground, and can only kill and injure some infantry at best.

Rumble......

Otto. Behind Skorzny came the sound of cannon fire, not very loud, this kind of cannon sound did not belong to the PAK40 75mm anti-tank gun standard equipped by the army anti-tank company, let alone the FLAK41 88mm anti-aircraft gun owned by the army's divisional heavy anti-aircraft artillery battalion, but to the PAK38 50mm anti-tank gun. The power is a little insufficient, but for the Airborne Forces, the weight of more than a ton is just right.

Before the sound of cannon fire had died down, a cloud of smoke rose from the open and flat land opposite, and it seemed that the shells had slightly deviated from the target. Before Skorzny gritted his teeth and said "pity", the sound of cannon fire continued to come from the side and rear, and the cannonballs that broke through the air crashed into the ranks of the attackers in an instant, and a large steel body immediately ignited into a fireball, and after moving forward by inertia for a short distance, it lay still.

"Hit, hit! Wipe out all the skinny guys, and the rest of the thick-skinned tanks will be easy to deal with. ”

Otto. Skorzny recognized the destroyed tank as the M3 Grant/Lee medium tank, which it said was a medium tank, but it had the size of a heavy tank and was very thin in armor. With a 50mm anti-tank gun, at a distance of 900 meters, it was guaranteed to penetrate its front.

Behind the 11th company of Skorzne was 3 gun squads of 1 anti-tank platoon, with a total of 3 50mm anti-tank guns, but they did not fire together, but took turns firing, one gun fired in 3-5 minutes before shifting positions, the other gun continued to fire, and then changed to a third gun, and the cycle in turn ensured that the fire continued to output, and also failed the British artillery counterattack. Moreover, these guns were very strong, not the sturdy Churchill tanks, but the M3 Grant/Lee tanks and the Crusader cruiser tanks, which were not well defended. Basically, three or five shells could destroy a British tank.

However, the density of firepower output in this firing mode was insufficient, and although British tanks were constantly being hit on the battlefield, most of the tanks were still advancing steadily. However, Comrade Golikov, who was observing from the rear, gasped again and again -- he was too accurate, and even if he was a Red Army soldier, he would not be so accurate!

And how the British M7 self-propelled guns could not suppress those German anti-tank guns, which shows that the Germans are constantly shifting positions...... The Germans have really trained their elite after three years of fighting the world war! It seems that General Pavlov will have some difficulty in liberating Berlin.

Golikov began to worry about General Pavlov. Otto. Captain Skorzny and his men were already in position, and three 50mm Type 36 mortars and three 75mm LG40 recoilless guns were also set up in very concealed positions. MG42 machine guns, which make a screeching sound when firing, are also in place.

Most of the soldiers also had optical scopes attached to the powerful FG42 paratrooper rifle - the German paratroopers would fire at a distance of 600 meters, use the FG42 rifle for accurate fire, and wait until the enemy reached 300 meters in front of the position, and then use the FG42 as a light machine gun. (To be continued.) )