Look at Khrushchev's eyes so seriously. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info Andre is also embarrassed that the co-author is not criticizing himself for being distracted, but because of his past deeds, he thinks that he has not found a problem with the counterattack plan, and Andre knows that in fact, the base camp of the counterattack plan is ready, that is, he raised the question himself. Hundreds of thousands of troops are ready, how can it be said to stop?

You must know that for this decisive battle, the Soviet Union has pulled over sixty percent of the troops that can be mobilized in the entire theater of operations, and seeing Andrei constantly moving his eyes there and not speaking, Khrushchev was anxious, and he immediately said seriously: "Andrey, don't worry so much, if you find a problem, say it immediately, what do you look like when you hesitate?" If you are worried about anything, I can take it on my behalf! ”

Seeing that Khrushchev had said everything about this, Andrei knew that he really had to say something, otherwise, if the boss just knew that he was distracted, then he would not have to eat himself, don't forget that Beria will be killed by him in the future. So Andrei said: "Comrade Khrushchev, now that the time for this counteroffensive has been set, and all units have entered preparations, but now there are two big problems in the Air Force?" I'm afraid that the planned air support will be on paper! ”

"What!" Khrushchev was anxious when he heard this, and he immediately said: "Andrey, what basis do you have for saying this?" So Andrei first told him about the situation he encountered at the airport, and then said: "In order to maintain combat readiness, the plane has to warm up the engine frequently, knowing that this will give rats a chance to spread the disease!" As you know, the weather has been going on recently, and I believe that the comrades of the Air Force are very professional, and it should not be modest for them to dare to guarantee that they will be able to attack! ”

Of course, this Khrushchev has no military talent, but he is not an idiot to be a military commissar for so long, and Andrei's words are very clear, the logic is very clear, and Andrei's ability is also known to him, but such an important counteroffensive is not supported by the air force, wouldn't it be a huge risk, and as far as he knows, in order to control air supremacy, the air force has transferred a large number of fighters, what should I do? But the time for the counterattack has been finalized by Stalin, and it can't be changed, you must know that now all the troops are ready, this knife has been unsheathed, how can you say stop it!

Seeing that Khrushchev was really thinking about the question he raised, Andrei finally relaxed, but then Khrushchev immediately asked: "Andrey, how do you think this problem should be handled?" ”

And Andrei said: "Our army must make a plan for counterattack without air support!" As for the Air Force, I believe that there will definitely be comrades who will notice this problem! ”

Indeed, in November 1942, the combat effectiveness and initiative of the Soviet Air Force increased, and the Soviet Air Force already had a numerical advantage over the German Air Force. By the beginning of the counteroffensive, the Soviets concentrated 1414 aircraft, and the Germans had only 1216 in this direction. The new aircraft used by the German army on the battlefield included the improved fighter M-109 and the new fighter 190, and the tactical performance of these new fighters was slightly superior to that of the aircraft produced by Germany before. And the Soviet Air Force also has two new fighters: the La-5 and the Yak-9. The La-5 fighter had a higher horizontal flight speed than the German fighter and was equipped with two 20-mm guns; The Yak-9 fighter has a maximum speed of 580 kilometers per hour, is equipped with one 37 mm cannon and two 12.7 mm machine guns, and the American P39 Flying Snake fighter is ready for the next victory.

The Soviet aviation units participating in the counteroffensive were intensively prepared. However, the concentration of aviation forces at the Stalingrad regional airfield was delayed beyond the time limit set by the High Command. Neither the reserves of aviation fuel nor ammunition were sufficient. General Novikov reported to Zhukov that "aviation is not ready to carry out a counteroffensive." There are only two bases of fuel reserves, and ammunition is insufficient. The reinforced aviation units have not yet been concentrated. Zhukov reported the above to Stalin. On 12 November Stalin replied as follows: "If the preparation of aviation fire is not satisfactory, then the campaign will end in failure." The experience of fighting against the Germans showed that victory in the war against Germany could only be won if the air superiority was mastered. Because our air force must carry out the following tasks: first, in the area of our assault force's attack, our air force must concentrate on combat, suppress the German air force, and reliably cover our army; second, to open the way for my attacking troops, by constantly bombarding the German troops in front of me; Third, to pursue the retreating enemy through regular bombing and assault activities, to completely disrupt it, and to prevent it from holding on to the nearest defensive zone. If Novikov believes that our aviation forces will not be able to accomplish the above tasks now, then it is better to postpone the start of the campaign a little later and concentrate more aviation. "The important role of the Air Force in the counteroffensive is fully visible from this passage of Stalin.

Novikov led an operational group in the Stalingrad region to exercise general command of all aviation and personally remained on the battlefield to observe the operations of his subordinates, and the commander of long-range combat aviation, General Golovanov, also remained in Stalingrad. As a result, the battlefield of the Battle of Stalingrad became the birthplace of many high-ranking military leaders of the Soviet Union, such as Rokossovsky, Chuikov, Yeremenko, Moskalenko and Malinovsky. Novikov went to almost all the airfields of the troops preparing for battle, talked with the pilots, gave instructions to the commanders, and solved many problems concretely. He had an extraordinary memory, knew almost all the commanders of aviation divisions, was familiar with their strengths and weaknesses, and also knew many commanders and captains of aviation regiments.

And at this time, Novikov also came to the airfield of the front line, at the moment in the front headquarters, Andrei was not worried, after all, he remembered that although because of the blizzard, the Soviet Air Force did not attack on the day of the counteroffensive, after the start of the Stalingrad counteroffensive, the troops of the Southwestern Front broke through the German defenses on the first day and advanced more than 30 kilometers, and by the fifth day of the campaign, they advanced up to 150 kilometers, liberated Karachi and occupied several airfields of the German army. This forced the Germans to urgently transfer their aviation to rear airfields, thereby reducing their actions in the area of the Soviet offensive. The troops of the Stalingrad Front began a counteroffensive the next day, advancing 115 kilometers in four days, capturing the Soviet City and joining up with the tank corps of the South-Western Front in the Karachi area on November 23. At this point, the 22 divisions of the German 6th Army and part of the 4th Tank Army and some independent units, totaling 330,000 people, were all surrounded in an area shaped like a "cauldron". Soon around this "cauldron" were gathered 1 million Soviet troops.

During the encirclement of the German group, the Soviet aviation actively flew more than 1,000 sorties, despite the fog and low clouds. They attack enemy tanks and cavalry, attack enemy forces and technical equipment on the battlefield, attack enemy flag car columns and airfields on the road, and support ground forces in battle. Soviet pilots carried out combat missions in complex meteorological conditions, showing courage and skill. On November 21, Captain Golubev, Hero of the Soviet Union, took off with six Il-2 crews to assault the "October Victory" state farm airfield. Approaching the target, they came under intense anti-aircraft fire. Without fear, the pilots first suppressed the enemy's air defense weapons with all their might, and then began to attack the airfield, destroying eight enemy planes. On the way back, they were attacked by enemy fighters, and the Soviet fighter pilots bravely met the battle, shot down two enemy M-109 planes, and returned to the landing with no losses themselves.

From November 24, the weather began to improve, and Soviet aviation made an average of 800 sorties per day to cover the attacking fast corps, destroy enemy ground forces and technical weapons, conduct aerial reconnaissance, raid enemy airfields, and deliver supplies to the troops of the 62nd Army.

Due to the fact that the German air force was forced to move to the rear airfield in the face of the rapid advance of the Soviet troops, and because of the heavy losses suffered, from 19 to 30 November, an average of only 115 sorties were made every day and night. The Soviet aviation flew about 6,000 sorties from November 24 to 30 alone, which played a huge role in enclosing the main German grouping in the "cauldron".

In other words, the next thing is that the Soviet Air Force will still attack even if the weather is bad, and the air supremacy of Stalingrad will also fall into the hands of the Soviet army!

In this way, as the days passed, Andrei knew that the next battle was about to enter the second stage, and he was also busy, knowing that this battle would have to capture a large number of prisoners.

Although I hated the invaders to death, these captives were a lot of wealth!