Sergei Ivanovich Grytsevets, commander of the 109th Fighter Aviation Regiment, now has a headache, the conference room is full of noisy men, and a mission briefing has become the best place for pilots to brag to each other. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

More than three months ago, the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense transferred his aviation regiment as a whole from the distant Kharakha River to the Leningrad Military District, and this transfer excited the pilots of the 109th Regiment for a long time, and in their opinion it was a commendation for the great contribution made by the 109th Regiment in the war against Japan. I don't know how much stronger it is in Leningrad than in the remote Mongolian plateau, whether it is a few people with families or those bachelors, even before they have even started, there is a rumor among young pilots: "Leningrad girls are not only beautiful, but also like to find brave pilots as lifelong companions!" ”

It's rare to see a stone on the grassland, even if you see it, you think it's public, and the news of the transfer makes the boys more excited than getting a medal! It seems that as soon as you arrive in Leningrad, you will be able to get rid of the singles years.

The pilots wore their own medals, the whole regiment packed up and took a glamorous train from Central Asia to the Baltic Sea, and the fighters in Leningrad were all replaced with the latest improved Lag 3 equipped with 23-mm mid-axis cannons, becoming one of the most advanced combat units equipped with the Red Army Air Force's fighter unit. Since all the pilots had real combat experience, Sergei knew that the captain did not let his troops come to Leningrad to enjoy looking for wives, and that the Finns' air force units would be the next target for his own troops.

In the first wave of attacks in the early hours of this morning, its own aviation regiment made a full sortie to cover the DB-3 fast bomber unit and carried out a surprise attack on five Finnish airfields. Most of the Finns' planes were destroyed on the ground before they could take off, and the few Finnish fighters that took off became small prizes for their bunnies, which were not enough for a group of "wolves in the air".

It is not too much to call the 87 pilots under his command "wolves in the air"; as long as they hear that there is a combat mission, even the replacement pilots will rush to him to ask for battle, not to mention the veterans who basically have actual combat records, all of them hope that they can take out a few more enemy planes and become trump cards, hoping that one day they will be able to add a "gold star medal" to their chests.

Sergei can also understand the feelings of his comrades, the whole regiment, together with more than 1,000 ground crews, after a battle on the Harakha River, he is already one of the only three people in the whole Soviet Union who have twice won the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union", and in front of him are all former captains of his own brigades: Comrade Andrei and Comrade Yakov Vladimirovich Smushkevich, Deputy Director of the Air Force. He himself had nothing to do but shoot down more enemy planes and train young pilots, but his comrades won a lot of medals and medals, but there was no second "Hero of the Soviet Union" in the regiment, which made everyone's stomachs suffocate.

There are no weak soldiers under a strong general, but it is a group of hungry wolves in the air, and air combat is a collective operation, and this is also the magic weapon of fighter air combat emphasized by the group commander -- no matter how strong an individual is, it is limited, and the world air combat will certainly develop in the direction of formation coordination.

Sergei himself has already begun to follow the teachings of the brigade commander, not to mention the troops he brought out single-handedly, and as a result, the results of the battle have appeared in the general pattern of "equal distribution and big pot rice": in addition to himself, there are two "second trump cards" in the regiment, and each of them has seven red stars on the landline, which is still accumulated in many battles, and it is not enough to qualify for the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union".

A group of vicious wolves commanded by a tiger, if you take outsiders to visit the airport, visitors will definitely be awe-inspired: most of the landlines are painted with battle markings, but only one or two, two or three. When I met with Comrade Andrei some time ago, I was joking with other commanders: "Comrade Yakov, when will the 109th regiment have a few more super trump cards?" Everyone else is there, and there are rumors that the 109th Regiment has any local policy? ”

The captain's tactics still had to be carried out, but Yakov was not happy in his heart, hoping that he could bring out a few "Heroes of the Soviet Union", but it was in vain to fight nothing.

When the opportunity came, the "wolf pack" was ready to move, but in the information directly given to him by the group leader, the Finnish Air Force had less than 50 fighters, about 18 British-made "Blenheim" bombers, and more than 60 old close support planes, reconnaissance planes, and liaison planes.

The opponent has only two fighter squadrons, one of which is equipped with about 10 old British Bristol "Bulldog" biplanes, and the other squadron has about 36 relatively advanced "Fokker" monoplanes. In addition, the Finnish Air Force has a small number of "Fokker" biplane fighters and British-made "Blackburn" two-seat fighters.

The strength of the 109th Air Regiment is outstanding, and in Sergei's opinion, this is not enough for the Finnish Air Force, and the Finns have scattered their planes in a dozen airfields, and it is impossible to have a Harah-style air battle with themselves, and they have to be dug out like hide and seek.

The Finns wanted to fight a "guerrilla attack," and the captain of the group ordered to adopt the tactics of an old nest and launch a surprise attack first, and did not hesitate to mobilize a large number of bomber units originally scheduled to bomb targets in the Finnish rear to bomb airfields and let the best fighter units take up the escort mission.

Strangling the enemy's air power and seizing absolute air supremacy, Sergei from Spain and the Haraha River agreed with the captain's decision, and the only thing that dissatisfied his gang of lads was - a slap killed a fly, and the boys would become lonely eagles in the sky over Finland, unable to find an opponent.

In order to get a rare result on the first day, adding one or two red star symbols to their respective landlines, the "bad wolves" poured out of the nest and used all the housekeeping skills, plus the reason for the raid, the first sortie at 10 o'clock in the morning reimbursed all the targets that could be found at 5 airports. And the information from the command that the fraternal troops are in a similar situation.

The Finns sent most of their air power near the isthmus, but the old "motley planes" that made up the bulk of the numbers didn't dare to do it at all, leaving the pilots with a standard of more and less people, and apart from the monoplane Fokker D.21 fighters, which made it a little difficult for their own side, everything else was as easy as a toy plane.

In the morning, he also flew his own planes to attack the Vyborg airfield, the most powerful of the five airfields, and a group of 24 fighters covered 18 fast bombers, and appeared over the airfield on time at dawn.

The Finns had raised the air raid alarm, but only six Fokker D.21s had scrambled into the air, the rest were destroyed in hangars and on the runway. Even those 6 Fokkers lasted less than 3 minutes before they were all shot down. Whether it's speed, maneuverability or firepower, the Finn's licensed Fokker D.21 is no match for the Lag 3, not to mention that its own lads are veterans of real combat and know how to fight.

The captain reminded himself that the Finns still have some excellent pilots, and they should not take it lightly, but after a battle, their troops were unharmed, and the brother troops were in a similar situation, the losses were very small, and the Finns were basically not as powerful as the captain said.

Why is this soSergey understands: his own advantages are too obvious, not to mention his own troops, other aviation regiments are basically a situation where veterans lead novices. New pilots only need to be in one or two battles to know how to fight, and the Finns basically have no actual combat experience, and when they encounter a unit composed of old birds like themselves, coupled with the difference in aircraft performance and numbers, their own troops will win so easily.

Today, I shot down a Fokker, and the opponent's quality was okay, but after being targeted by myself, it only lasted 15 seconds, and after two rolls, it was beaten into the air. If it was an ordinary pilot in the regiment, it would have taken a little effort to meet one-on-one, but the Finn had not had a chance to adapt to the battle before he went to see God, and it became his forty-ninth victory.

The captain said that he was enough to be on an equal footing with those super aces in World War I, and the record of the veteran birds in World War I was obtained in many unbearable combat sorties, and the number of times he participated in air battles could not be compared with those people, not to mention that he was already the "No. 1 trump card" born after World War I.

Sergei was satisfied, but the boys were a little dissatisfied, and during the second sortie did not even see a single "chicken feather" of the Finns, except for a few pitiful anti-aircraft fire, the bomber formation completed the task without encountering any other trouble, and the fighters of his own unit on escort duty did not fire a single shot except for the few rounds of ammunition that were test-fired.

"Regiment commander, can we participate in the attack on the enemy tomorrow after completing the escort mission? After each return voyage, less than half of the fuel was used. The second captain asked.

The conference room became quiet, and everyone was eagerly awaiting.

"The escort mission must not be relaxed, and this is related to the safety of the bomber troops. In this way, if the squadron is the escort unit, half of the fighters can be sent to attack the ground target after the bombing is over, and the specific captains are assigned to get it. If anyone dares to forget their task and mess around, report to the Ministry of Internal Affairs themselves. ”

There was a cheer in the conference room, which made Sergei cry and laugh: "These guys are all idle and panicked, and they are so happy about the task of fishing for some targets!" ”

The lonely Stalin Eagle could not find an opponent in Finland! I wonder if those future Finnish aces have also made Sergei's troops bloom in the air? (To be continued.) )