Since the launch of the "Red Whirlwind", the front-line Red Army Air Force units have participated in the operation at full capacity, but this does not include the No. 1 ace fighter unit in the hands of the Western Front Air Force: Major Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin, acting commander of the 1st Guards Fighter Division and captain of the 2nd Guards Brigade, is now very annoying, because his brigade, like other units in the division, has been transferred to other units to serve as the backbone, leaving him with a group of new pilots. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"If Comrade Sergei is here, who would dare to ask for someone in our troops!"

For a few days the captain of the first brigade, Captain Ivan Nikitovich Kozhdub, was a little indignant - how could this big battle be without the 1st Guards Fighter Division, but now they are training new pilots at the reserve airfield 100 kilometers from the first line!

Sergey is still being treated in Moscow, beyond the reach of the whip. "You just don't say a few words, the order from above, it's useless for the division commander to be here, forget the words of Commander Kobets?"

Kozhdub was a little arrogant, it didn't matter if he shook his head, he didn't think as much as Pokryshkin - he didn't feel happy without a fight!

"It's your turn to go up."

As soon as he heard the words of the regimental commander, the captain ran to his own rag.

The Minsk air battle in the early stage consumed more than half of the first division, and with the transfer of personnel, the old pilots who were still in the division were less than one-tenth of the original: the newly sent rookies must go through tactical learning before they can be put into combat, otherwise with the ability of the aviation school, it would be in vain to drop the plane, not to mention that it is not easy to train pilots.

Kozhdub also made a few complaints -- he also understood that it was the care of the top to prevent the 1st Division from fighting on the front line, and to give the troops a time to readjust and revive the glory of the 1st Division!

Kobets left behind the most teachable veteran pilots, which would be tactical learning, emphasizing the need to be familiar with the experience accumulated by his comrades. Let the new pilots understand in their hearts that learning with actual combat experience is a matter of life and death for them, and it should become a habit and a rule of life!

After teaching and observing during this period of time, Pokray Shinjin understood that many of the things that the pilots who had supplemented the troops had learned in aviation schools were outdated -- tactics were changing very quickly, and all he could do was to teach them his own experience.

It's also a front-line place, and new pilots can already feel that almost everything here is new and new to them. Taking tactics as an example, the tactical knowledge they learned in aviation school obviously did not meet the requirements of war. As soon as they arrived at the first division, the old comrades who remained behind taught them by word and deed, allowing them to master the valuable experience that the old pilots had bought with their blood, so that they would not repeat the mistakes made by the old pilots.

Just now, Pokryshkin told the new pilots about the advantages of a two-plane formation and the disadvantages of a three-plane formation, the optimal direction of entry, angles, and flight altitudes when striking ground targets, how to maneuver in the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery fire zone, the enemy's weapons and tactics, and so on. In a self-dissecting way, he also analyzed the reasons for his own several defeats, as well as the tactical mistakes made by Semenov, Milonov and other pilots.

Kozhdub drew a miniature picture of the enemy planes on the blackboard in order to vividly explain the best target projection ratio and distance for firing at the enemy planes -- of course, it was indispensable to boast about the division's combat achievements and the glory of the division commander every once in a while.

The final stage of the training was the actual practice of air combat maneuvers, using a brand new Lag-5 aircraft - a daily cycle.

The sky was a little gloomy, and as the supreme commander of the airfield, Pokryshkin stood on the rudimentary tower made of wood, and "from above" observed the "air combat process" of the new batch of pilots with a telescope -- Kozhdub stared at the sky, ready to come down and point out the problems of the novices.

The lads "hit" each other in the air in full swing, and the action is well done - the same situation has been going on for many days, and these two are the last ones.

"Stupid as a donkey! You won't swoop out of it! Looking at the "bite" rag from the sky, Pokryshkin had a fire in his heart - a novice is a novice after all, and it is not good to have a board and an eye.

Just as the two new pilots were "dueling" in the air, a Junkers-88 bomber suddenly appeared in the airspace where they were and headed straight for the airfield!

All fighters take to the air with ammunition, "Brave enough, come here, there is a problem with the sense of direction, right?" My student will give you a "great" look! ”

But the more Pokryshkin looked at it, the more he felt that something was wrong -- the enemy plane had already flown close to the airfield, but those two people in the sky were still there concentrating on chasing after me, and it was difficult to "fight" them!

"Haven't they spotted the enemy plane? Blind?! ”

Pokryshkin was standing tall and seeing, but there was no intercom on the wooden shelf - he was just about to shout below, when he saw the rag in the air swooping down at high speed.

"Come down and clean up you two blind monkeys!"

Pokryshkin would not be in a hurry, for Kozhdub had apparently discovered the contingency.

There was a fierce shooting, and the Junkers in the distance smoked and fell, and a puff of black smoke could be seen in the distance: until this time, the two students were still "dueling" endlessly in the sky!

At this time, the people on the airport noticed a hint of strangeness, and someone shouted to Pokryshkin on the tower: "Commander, what is the matter?" ”

"It's okay, let them all come down for me!"

Climbed down the wooden shelf and pulled a senior soldier on the side: "You go up and show me something, there was a German plane just now." ”

"Huh?!" The senior soldier was a little puzzled: why were there enemy planes, and the regiment commander was still watching the excitement above?

"I've been idle for too long, and I'm relaxed." Pokryshkin thought.

"Looks like you're a little too 'focused', aren't you!?" When the two cadets reported after getting off the plane, he said to the two "capable" young men.

The two young men looked at their regiment commander in confusion,

"Didn't you find the 'Junkers'?"

"What 'Junkers'?" A new pilot asked with a stupid smile.

"Ask your captains to go! Right behind your ass! Be as vigilant in the rear as you are on the battlefield, and don't forget that it's only 100 kilometers from the front line! ”

"It's time to send these young guys to the front line, and prolonging training in the rear will make them less enthusiastic and sluggish." Kozhdub, who jumped out of the plane, said, "You two stupid donkeys, the German plane is approaching the airport right behind you, but you two only care about yourself, this is not in Novosibirsk!" ”

What Kozhdub said was not polite at all: as the captain and absolute trump card, he was already very polite to treat two subordinates who almost got into a big disaster and were stunned.

"Captain, what about the German planes?" One of them, already aware of the seriousness of the situation, asked in a somewhat frightened and ashamed tone.

"Let your captain come down, just a few kilometers to the west, and you can see the smoke on the tower. Find a car and take a few people to check on the situation and come back to report. Pokryshkin did not want to continue scolding: young people would not make such mistakes next time, just stop on point, and there was no need to bomb indiscriminately.

The young pilot hurriedly took a few ground crews, saw the direction, got on a truck, and rumbled to the west.

"Not alive?" Pokryshkin asked: Actually, he knew that if there were any alive, Kozhdub would have called for someone to take prisoners.

"In the straight field, it may be a reconnaissance plane, or a stupid donkey who can't figure out the direction, who knows."

The captain didn't seem to care at all about the 31st result he "picked up".

"I'm going to report to the boss that we've completed the integration training and can be put into front-line operations."

"Okay, we should also let these young people exercise in actual combat." Kozhdub would call himself an "old man", but in fact many "young people" were a few years older than him - he was only 21!

、、、、、、

On the 18th, as on most days in winter, the lead-gray clouds hung low, overwhelming the people.

The phone suddenly rang in the duty room, and Pokryshkin thought that his report had been replied, "What, immediately dispatched?" ”

"Dispatch now! The command of the Front issued an important task......"

"Then you can only go out alone."

"Of course. In such a ghost weather, in a place where you can only fly alone, you must not take two planes to crowd in the fun! You have to try to find the German tank cluster southwest of Minsk, where Guderian's troops might be. Send your best pilots, but you can't go on your own, understand? ”

"Yes!"

It was impossible to find this tank cluster, and the task was very specific: under such conditions, who but the pilots could search every road, every wood, every village near the front line in an hour or two, and then report that the enemy tanks were there?

No one else can do it! Only pilots.

As long as it was possible to discover the tank cluster and report its location at this time, the Front Army would be able to find out the next battle plan of the enemy group and find out where the enemy's tank forces were headed, which was vital information for the Red Army engaged in encirclement operations in this area.

The task was given to Kozhdub: Pokryshkin himself wanted to go, but his superiors did not agree, and Kozhdub was also experienced and was the best candidate.

Two hours later, the command of the Western Front received a report of aerial reconnaissance and found the main force of the second armored group of the German army in the encirclement - the strongest armored assault force of the German army in the encirclement!

(Recently, I have been in a sub-health state, drowsy all day long, and I am persevering.) (To be continued.) )