. Chapter 670: Supplies Arrive

"The reason why we can sleep comfortably in the comfortable bed at home today is because there is a group of strong soldiers standing guard for us outside the door!" Preface to Su Tong's memoirs.

A total of 226 "Giant" transport planes carrying more than 1,800 tons of food, clothing, and ** flew to several field war airfields and airports in the suburbs of Moscow, and they were accompanied by more than 200 newly manufactured P-51 "Mustang" fighters accompanying the escort.

This freshly baked new fighter has just arrived at the front line of Soviet Russia and has been warmly sought after by the air force pilots, originally Sun Liren did not want to send this latest fighter out in front of the Germans, but from Yekaterinburg to Moscow that more than 2,000 kilometers of distance so that the BF1O9 and P-47 are sighing, and only this new P-51 in service can have such a long range, so this latest Mustang was publicly unveiled in front of the Germans and Soviet Russians.

The screams of Captain Rechkalov did not last long, and six warplanes were separated from the front to intercept them. As soon as Lechkalov and the opponent fought, he was surprised, the performance of the opponent's fighter was simply beyond his expectations, and the excellent performance of circling and climbing was something he had only seen in his life. Moreover, the vitality of the six 12.7 caliber heavy machine guns mounted on the wings of the opposing side was also surprisingly violent, and as soon as the two sides met their own squad, three fighters were planted on the ground with black smoke.

"I am the Sixth Flying Snake Squad, we have been attacked by the Huaxia people, the enemy's new fighters are extremely ferocious, ask for reinforcements, ask for reinforcements!" Soon Colonel Pokryshkin received a distress message from Captain Rechkalov. However, in a hurry, Captain Rechkalov made a big mistake, he did not report the number of opponent's fighters to his captain in time, so that Colonel Pokryshkin made a mistake in judging the number of Chinese fighters in front, and he did not order the Flying Snake Brigade to close in time, but only ordered the second squadron to come forward and connect, and this mistake was fatal for him.

Soon after the 2nd Squadron went for reinforcements, Pokryshkin received another call from the 2nd Squadron: "Comrade Colonel, there are too many enemies, the sky is full of enemy aircraft, we have heavy losses, we have heavy losses, ah"

With a loud "boom", Pokryshkin lost contact with the commander of the 2nd squadron forever.

Only then did Pokryshkin realize the seriousness of the problem, it was too late to reorganize the formation, and a dense crowd of planes had already appeared in the sky, and they were rushing towards the airspace where the Soviets and Germans were fighting fiercely.

Colonel Pokryshkin knew that if he retreated now, the other side would definitely chase after him, and it would be good if he could return a small part of his fighters, so he gritted his teeth and led his remaining less than a hundred fighters to meet them.

"Da Da Da"

When Pokryshkin pulled the trigger on a fighter plane in front of him with a crocodile with a bloody mouth drawn on the nose, the other party had already jumped above Pokryshkin's landline and immediately disappeared without a trace.

"Comrade Colonel, the enemy is behind you!" The wingman's exclamation came from the headset.

Pokryshkin didn't have time to think about it, and with all his instinct, he pulled the joystick to the right with all his might, and the "P-39" immediately rolled to the right, and several flashes of fire flew past his fighter.

"What a powerful fighter, such a skillful skill!" Pokresh's head suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

It can't be fought any longer, there are too many planes on the other side, and Pokryshkin doesn't need to look at it to predict what will happen to his side if he continues to entangle. Relying on the superior quantity and quality of the opponent's fighters, coupled with the skillful combat skills of the opponent's pilots, the opponent's fighter has no chance of winning at all, and the only way to do this is to slowly organize resistance and retreat layer by layer.

I have to say that Pokryshkin is indeed an excellent commander, under his decisive command, the remaining fighters of the Soviet army covered each other and retreated alternately, slowly and resolutely withdrew from the battlefield, and the Huaxia Air Force did not dare to pursue too much because of the huge transport aircraft group in the air, and finally Pokryshkin fled back with more than 50 fighters.

Located in the headquarters of the Sixth Army of the Central Cluster Army Group on the Don River outside Moscow, the officers went in and out from time to time to report on the battlefield movements, and everything was as usual on the surface. The constant ringing of the telephone, the sound of typing, the sound of the end of the phone, the sound of leather boots as you walk around, and the sound of giving orders, but anyone who enters this place will find that there is a strange atmosphere in the place.

The commander of the Sixth Army, Field Marshal Paulus, had a deep sorrow on his thin face, and now he was more reticent than before, and on many occasions he would inadvertently wander into deep thought, even when giving orders. Not only him, but also the staff officers of the headquarters who did not have to endure the cold and hunger like the front-line soldiers, there was no trace of joy in the eyes of them, and they only showed indescribable sorrow.

At this time, although the German army was still on the offensive on the surface, but its own family knew its own affairs, the German Army Group Center had used the last trace of strength, Tanyuk had no fuel, artillery had no shells, and even the soldiers were still fighting in autumn clothes, they had to search for all the clothes that could protect themselves from the cold, and the original elite German army now looked more like beggars than soldiers. The situation of his Sixth Army was even worse than that of the other armies, and I heard that this morning a regiment was ordered to attack a railway station opposite, and the whole regiment had only enough fuel to carry out an attack on a tank, and the artillery fire covering this attack was only a dozen mortars, and they found nothing but dozens of corpses after attacking all morning. When the head of the regiment reported the news to himself, the Germanic man, who had been with him for more than ten years and never knew what tears were, finally couldn't help crying on the phone.

"Sir, we can't fight like this anymore, no matter how strong our soldiers are, they can't attack in single clothes and hungry, not to mention that they don't even have enough ammunition medicine now, these of my subordinates are the best soldiers, and they can't be sent to death in vain like this!"

The words of the regimental commander undoubtedly stabbed Paulus in the psyche, he did not know how unfair and cruel it was to the soldiers, but he knew that if he did not continue to maintain the offensive, once Zhukov sensed that the German offensive was weakening and weakened, the fox-like cunning fellow would surely throw all the reserves in his hands into a counterattack against the Germans, and then the Germans would be in a catastrophe.

Paulus reprimanded him on the phone with grief, and ordered him to continue to organize his troops and prepare for the next attack.

"Kobe, have we had logistical supplies?" Paulus gathered his emotions and turned to ask the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Bryant, who had been standing behind him.

"Sir, no!" Kobe Bryant shook his head helplessly, "A railway bridge in our rear was just blown up last week, and the sappers are rushing to repair it, and it is expected that it will take another week to repair, and no materials can be transported from the railway until it is repaired." ”

"These damn guerrillas!" Paulus became angry as soon as he heard the word partisans, and if it weren't for the wanton destruction of these partisans in the rear, the supply of supplies for the German army would not have been so difficult, even to the point that even the winter clothes of the soldiers could not be transported in time.

"What about the road?" Paulus thought of another passage that he had usually forgotten.

"Sir, don't count on the road, our trucks simply can't meet the needs of more than five million soldiers, and the trucks are more vulnerable to guerrilla attacks."

After listening to Lieutenant General Bryant's words, Paulus became even more silent.

"Sir, didn't Tianyuan send a telegram a few days ago, saying that he had asked the Huaxia Air Force to help us airlift supplies?"

Paulus smiled bitterly, "How many supplies can be loaded on a plane is amazing, one or two tons will reach the sky, our army group has more than 300,000 people, according to the most basic consumption of three catties of materials per person per day, that is nearly 500 tons per day, and this is only the needs of our Sixth Army, if you add the entire Central Army Group or even all the German troops on the Eastern Front to calculate, then at least more than 8,000 tons of materials must be airlifted every day to meet the most basic survival requirements, which is almost an impossible task. At least I don't think the Huaxia Air Force alone can do it. ”

As if to cooperate with Paulus's words, at this moment a German staff officer stumbled in, he came to Paulus and gasped and said, "Sir, here you are, here you are." ”

Paulus frowned and reprimanded: "What's the matter, as a soldier of the German Empire, have you forgotten even the most basic calm?" ”

"No, sir," the staff officer said breathlessly because he was running too quickly, "Sir, the transport plane of the Huaxia people has already arrived over our airport and has begun to land!" ”

"What? Are the fighters of the Huaxia really coming? Paulus and Lieutenant General Kobe Bryant looked at each other in surprise, when they received Yuan's telegram a few days ago, they thought it was just an unattainable pie of Yuan's painting, but they didn't expect the Huaxia people to really come.

"Let's go, Kobe, let's take a look!" Paulus reached out and picked up the military hat on the table and immediately walked towards the door.

When Paulus and Kobe Bryant took a jeep to the nearest field battle airfield, the originally silent airport was already full of people, the sky was hovering with black pressure groups, and countless German soldiers were desperately clearing the snow on the runway. There was already a plane that began to descend on the cleared runway.

I saw a huge transport plane bow its head and rush straight down the runway, everyone at the airport, including Paulus, held their breath to see if the transport plane carrying life-saving supplies could land, after all, it is a certain risk for a large transport plane to take off and land in this kind of ice and snow.

"Squeak"

The huge tires of the "Giant" transport plane hit the snowflakes in the sky the moment they touched the runway, and the transport plane rushed straight forward with 6 backwards, until it reached the end of the runway 700 meters away before slowly stopping.

The "Long live" airport resounded with bursts of cheers, with the first transport plane forming a demonstration of six, followed by the second and third transport planes landing.

Watching more and more transport planes landing, Paulus's excitement in his heart at this time was simply indescribable, and his steady nature flashed tears in his eyes and shouted incoherently to the chief of staff beside him: "Kobe, we have been saved!" The Sixth Army is saved! ”

"Yes, sir! We are saved. Lieutenant General Kobe nodded with tears in his eyes, only he knew how much pressure Paulus was under these days, the war on the front line and the poor logistics almost crushed this strong marshal, and Yuan, who was 7,000 kilometers away, kept putting pressure on him, and was about to crush this strong Germanic man, and these supplies sent by the Chinese people today finally solved the urgent needs of the Sixth Army.

"Sir, those Huaxia people are here." An officer behind Paulus reminded softly.

At this time, a young officer wearing a Chinese winter uniform walked over to Paulus, saluted with a "snap" and reported loudly: "Your Excellency Marshal, Xiao Feipeng, Colonel of the Huaxia Air Force, has been ordered to deliver supplies to your department, please accept it!" ”

"Thank you, brave young man, and I welcome you on behalf of the 6th Army of the German Empire!" Paulus, who was worthy of being an outstanding German general of the 6th Army, quickly calmed down the agitation in his heart, and his face returned to his previous calmness, but there was still a trace of excitement in his eyes from time to time.

"Colonel, you speak German very well, did you ever go to school in Germany?"

"No!" Xiao Feipeng shook his head, "I fought side by side with your country's air force for a few months last year, and I also learned German from my German colleagues at that time. ”

"Oh? Are you one of those Chinese pilots who delivered radar installations to our country and participated in the bombing of Britain? Paulus, who was in a good mood at this time, asked with interest.

"Yes, Your Excellency! Unfortunately, when I met my former German colleagues the other day, I didn't have the same rapport as I used to be. ”

As soon as Xiao Feipeng's words came out, the faces of Paulus and Lieutenant General Kobe couldn't help but become a little embarrassed, and the high-ranking generals of the Luftwaffe had heard of the unpleasant trouble between the Luftwaffe and the Huaxia Air Force in Yekaterinburg a few days ago, and at this time, they were said in front of them by the Huaxia officer who had sent them life-saving materials, which couldn't help but make them a little embarrassed.

Ryokubo Lus said sincerely: "Unfortunately, I believe that it was a misunderstanding and this is definitely not our intention, you and I are both soldiers, you should also understand what the duty of a soldier is, but I can tell you and please believe me, I personally have no hostility towards you Huaxia." ”

Seeing that this dignified German marshal could say such words to his little colonel, it was tantamount to being subdued in disguise, what else could Xiao Feipeng say? Xiao Feipeng also admired the marshal's fairness, he took out a list from his pocket and handed it to Paulus: "Marshal Paulus, this is the list of goods we have shipped this time, and I will trouble you to sign it after your people count it." ”

Paulus took the list and looked at it, the items written on the list in German and Chinese were winter clothes, food and **, these are the most urgently needed things for the German troops, and after looking at the total number on the list, Paulus asked with some surprise, "Colonel, are you mistaken, you can transport 1,800 tons of materials at one time?" ”

"Yes, Your Excellency." Xiao Feipeng nodded: "The standard carrying capacity of our "Giant" transport aircraft is ten tons, but because the distance from Yekaterinburg to here is too far, we have to add a few more auxiliary fuel tanks to ensure the endurance of the aircraft, which is two less cargo. ”

Paulus nodded, took out a pen from his pocket, signed it happily, and handed it to Xiao Feipeng.

"Your Excellency Marshal, won't you wait for the logistics officer to count the supplies before signing?" Xiao Feipeng asked with some consternation, what the German marshal in front of him did didn't seem to match the strict character of the Germans?

"Is there a difference between signing now and waiting to sign?" Paulus asked rhetorically.

"Ugh!" Xiao Feipeng was a little stunned when he heard this, yes! Now that their lifeblood is in the hands of the Huaxia Air Force, even if some Germans are missing after those German logistics officers count the goods, how dare they say anything, it is better to sign it now and give a good impression to the other party.

Thinking of this, Xiao Feipeng couldn't help but muttered to himself, who said that the Germans were old-fashioned and stupid? Isn't this person in front of you very shrewd and very good at being a person? At this time, Xiao Feipeng suddenly remembered something, and said one by one: "Your Excellency Marshal, there is one more thing I want to tell you, the thing is like this, this batch of winter clothes we shipped this time"

"Colonel, what the hell is going on?" Seeing Xiao Feipeng's stumbling appearance, Paulus frowned and his heart was also tight, could it be that there was something wrong with this batch of winter clothes?

"That's right, due to the rush of time, and we don't have your country's style winter clothes, so these winter clothes are all the standard winter clothes of our Huaxia 6th Army, please forgive me!"

"What? Huaxia 6 Army Winter Clothes! Paulus and Kobe Bryant's mouths were wide open enough to fit a hard-boiled egg.

"Yes, due to the time relationship, this batch of winter clothes and the winter clothes that will be shipped from the 6th will all be the standard winter clothes of our 6th Army, please forgive me!" Xiao Feipeng was also a little embarrassed, but the Germans paid real money in advance for this batch of goods, and the Germans were in a hurry, and the only troops who could immediately drum up so many sets of winter clothes were the 6th Army, so those logistics officers came over with the military uniforms in the warehouse.

At this time, Paulus and Kobe Bryant's chief of staff felt a chill when they thought of the scene of German soldiers all over the mountains and fields in the future wearing the uniforms of the 6th Army in China charging at the Soviet position.