The success of the Red Army's bombing made the old smoker Churchill envious and jealous, and if the Royal Air Force had bombers with a long enough range, this result would not have been able to escape. Then there will be much less pressure on him, the prime minister. And now, all this honor has been snatched away by the Bolsheviks, and for a time Churchill wants to put an end to the so-called "joint bombing" operation.

Because of how this so-called joint bombing made the British Empire lose face, the Red Air Force basically blew up all the targets that could be bombed, and it can be said that there is nothing to do with the Royal Air Force. What's the point?

Not only was it boring, but Churchill also felt embarrassed that he had a bad opinion of the Royal Air Force, which had always insisted on high-altitude bombing at night.

"You have to tell me, why did the Russians achieve a dozen times more than a dozen times more in their low-altitude bombing during the day than we did at night? And the losses are completely within an acceptable range? Tell me, why is that? ”

Naturally, the Royal Air Force couldn't give an answer that satisfied Churchill, because they couldn't figure out why the Russians were so bombing the sky, and the low-altitude bombing in broad daylight did not destroy the regiment, which is unscientific! And what about the Luftwaffe? And what about the anti-aircraft artillery in Romania? You're napping all the time, aren't you?

Naturally, the Royal Air Force did not know how much work the KGB had done before the bombing, and even less did it know that the signal flag destroyed the German radar station. So they can only attribute this success to a fortuitous accident and the thinness of German air defense on the territory of Romania.

This explanation was honestly marketable at the time, because the British always felt that the Soviet Union was inferior to them, both in terms of technology and tactics. We are all two-dimensional beings. And the reason why the elite Royal Air Force was not pleasing in front of the Luftwaffe. It's not that Spitfire and other fighters are not powerful. Rather, the Germans used their most elite air power against the Royal Air Force and placed second-rate units on the Eastern Front.

In the words of the Royal Air Force: "If the Soviets can destroy Ploiesti with those rags, then the elite Royal Air Force will achieve many times their results!" ”

So under Churchill's expectations, the confident Royal Air Force attacked. Seventy-two Lancasters departed from Egypt and passed through Pakistan. Lestan, Yi. Rak then crossed the border. Lang, fly to Ge. Military airfield on the outskirts of Rugia Sukhumi. After a night's rest, refuel again and take off for a non-stop flight. The port of Yevpatoria in Crimea. After another night's rest at the military airfield on the outskirts of the port, the final overhaul was carried out with the help of Red Army ground crews. In case of air strikes at night.

There may be comrades who will have doubts, didn't it be said before that there were only 48 Lancasters? How is there 24 more? The reason is simple, in order to satisfy Churchill's wishes, and also to prove to the world the combat effectiveness of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Air Force has specially strengthened the strength of the bomber formation, striving to bomb all the remaining targets in Ploiesti into the sky in one fell swoop.

The pilots of the Royal Air Force were very excited, and most of them had arrived on Soviet soil for the first time, and they were very curious about this magical land. The commander of the formation, Henry. Colonel Byron recalled: "After leaving the cabin, the Russians offered lieba and salt, and according to their custom we each tasted a sip. Taste ok. At least better than we thought. After that, the Russians showed their hospitality. We were invited into the best barracks, and the food was quite good, but it was too greasy. ”

"Of course, not all of them can enjoy the hospitality of the Russians. Some of the ground crews and mechanics who flew with us to Yevpatoria remained on Lancaster. Their task was to supervise and cooperate with the Russian ground staff in the maintenance of Lancaster. Of course, we all know that this is, and what they really want to do is to prevent the Russians from getting too close to Lancaster, especially to prevent the KGB. Spy steals Lancaster's secrets. To be honest, this was a bit petty, because the Russians were not interested, or rather dismissive, in Lancaster. ”

"Interestingly, when the Russians were very 'cold' and 'disdainful' towards Lancaster, the liaison who arrived with us in Russia (in fact, MI6 intelligence. Report. Official. Members) appeared somewhat indignant, believing that the Russians were blind and dismissive of Lancaster. To be honest, it makes me laugh, is this a typical British disease? ”

"The little episode about Lancaster was just the beginning, and soon the liaison was in the thick of a series of 'out. After a sumptuous dinner, the gentleman first made sarcastic and sarcastic remarks to the Russians: 'When the Russian civilians are hungry and have no clothes to cover, the Bolsheviks are still eating and drinking, what a bunch of heartless beasts!' ’。 To be honest, I personally don't think it's necessary, even the poor will serve the best food they can get when they entertain guests, is it that the Russians are satisfied with us eating chaff? ”

"My good friend Lieutenant Colonel James said to me: 'Henry, ignore these MI6 guys, they're all paranoid. If the Russians entertain us with chaff vegetables, they have something to say, and he will tell us: 'Guys, see, the Soviets don't even know basic hospitality etiquette, it's an insult to Chiguo!' Or, "See, even the pilots of the Soviet Union can only eat chaff vegetables, which shows that its domestic hundreds. The surname is what kind of dire situation to live in! ’。 I think James has a point, since we're going to work together to fight the Nazis, why can't we be more generous, at least be a gentleman with the Russians. ”

After dinner, he wandered to the quarters where the Russian pilots lived, tried to get close to the Yak-3 fighters parked in the hangar, and when the guards discovered and stopped him, he lost his temper and arrogantly declared that the Russians had restricted his people. From. By, but also protest Yunyun. To be honest, it was a really clumsy performance, and even we were ashamed of it. ”

"The only thing that reassures us is that the fool's rude actions didn't destroy the operation. The Russians tolerated all this with great tolerance and still methodically prepared for the bombing campaign. They sent liaison officers to communicate with us and negotiate tactics, and they took every detail very seriously. For their professional attitude. We feel at ease. ”

The bombing campaign was carried out in the early hours of the morning. That day Henry. Colonel Byron and his boys fell asleep after sunset, and after a good five-hour sleep, they refreshed themselves for a final round of communication and discussion with the Soviet liaison to perfect the last details of the bombing campaign.

"The Russian friends shared aerial photos of their aerial reconnaissance, and from the photos, it can be said that their last bombing was a brilliant result. The vast majority of targets have been attacked, so much so that we can only barely select a number of secondary targets for supplementary bombardment. They told me that in order to make it easier for us to identify targets at night, we had infiltrated Ploiesti in advance. The workers will use light signals to instruct us...... Let's be honest. This was so surprising to us that we never imagined that the Russians would carry out such meticulous preparations. Workers risk indicating bombing targets. You know, this is very dangerous, and the Ploiesti, which has just been bombed, must be a key target of the Nazis, and will increase search and investigation. There are special conducts. Work is so dangerous! ”

"We are grateful for the bravery and generosity of our Russian friends, well, the only one who disagrees with this is still our liaison man, who is completely indifferent to the kindness of his Russian friends. He even ridiculed and ridiculed us again indifferently, and he even told us about that boring politics over and over again. Joke: Trotsky and Churchill meet in Moscow. The two of them were bored during the break, and they began to be more loyal than whose bodyguard. Churchill came first. He called his bodyguard in, pushed open the window (it was 20 floors outside) and said, 'David, jump off here!' David cried and said, 'How can you do this, Mr. Prime Minister, I still have a wife and children.' Churchill was moved, and with tears he said that he was wrong, and told David to go. Then it was Trotsky's turn, and he also shouted to his bodyguard Ivan: 'Ivan, jump from here!' Ivan was about to jump down without saying a word, but Churchill grabbed him and said, 'Are you crazy?' You'll die if you jump! Ivan struggled to jump off and said, 'Let go of me, bastard, I still have a wife and children.' ’”

"Of course we know the meaning of this joke told by Mr. Liaison, it is nothing more than that the Bolsheviks were cruel and inhuman. Dao, these alone. Cutters will force their people. The people do whatever they want. For example, forcing the poor Russian to Workers risk their lives to indicate their targets. However, we all did not like his attitude, it was not that we wanted to say good things about the Bolsheviks, it was true that there were very bad and terrible things in that country, but during the war, could it be more tolerant of those who risked their lives to defend their homeland, with more praise and less ridicule? ”

At two o'clock in the morning, 72 Lancasters started their engines and soon disappeared under the sea antenna. Colonel Byron was a little sorry, he had expected the Soviets to provide the most advanced Yak-3 to escort them, but they were accompanied only by the La-5 and Pe-2, of which the La-5 was only responsible for escorting the air over the Black Sea, and the Pe-2 would accompany them for the entire flight.

The colonel recalled: "I would have liked to see how amazing the famous Yak-3 really was, but the Russian friends apparently kept a hand, only the La-5 and the PE-2. But it's better to have an escort than nothing...... There were no interceptions by German planes along the way, and to be honest, it was incredible, was it true that the Germans sent their best pilots to France and North Africa, while second-rate goods were used against the Soviet Union? ”

"Soon, this doubt disappeared, and when we arrived over Ploiesti, a considerable number of BF-109s and FW-190s flew from the direction of Bucharest, all of them were piloted by veterans, and the Pe-2 escorting us was in big trouble for a while. Just when the Pe-2 was about to run out of support, the Yak-3 miraculously arrived on the battlefield, and these small, nimble planes seemed to have taken on some ground attack missions, dropping bombs (actually auxiliary fuel tanks) at a rapid pace, and then quickly joining the ......"

"I was very impressed with the Yak-3, a fighter that was more agile than the Spitfire, with a sleek fuselage that was quite beautiful, and its firepower was also very powerful, most of which were equipped with three 20mm guns, which could destroy the enemy with just one or two shots. The most eye-opening thing is its super maneuverability, in a circling dog fight. The slightest mistake on the part of the Germans would have stalled and fallen. Even if there are no more shells. They can also play dead Germans. ”

With the addition of the Yak-3, the German and Romanian fighters over Ploiesti were quickly ejected. The Lancastrians could carry out textbook bombing without distraction, at least as the RAF described it after the war.

But Henry. Colonel Byron's description is somewhat inconsistent: "When the Yak-3 had driven away the German flies, we entered the bombing course under the direction of the ground light signal. Before I tell the rest of the story, allow me to thank once again the Soviet specialists who indicated the target on the ground. Workers, they helped a lot! Guided by the light signals, we easily found the target. And then...... Then the ground suddenly became brightly lit, and hundreds of searchlights pointed straight into the sky, quickly trapping our Lancaster. After a few seconds, the ground began to flicker rhythmically, and it was clear to me that it was the anti-aircraft guns firing heavily......"

Lancaster was soon overwhelmed by a rain of bullets, and countless shells exploded around the fuselage, creating a shock wave and air currents that made Henry. Colonel Byron and his lads seemed to float on the turbulence. In his own words: "...... Even with a seat belt, I felt like I was going to be thrown out of my seat, and the violent vibration caused many guys to bite their tongues or break their heads......"

After being subjected to heavy fire from anti-aircraft guns. The British quickly paid the price for their carelessness before the start of the operation. Before the start of the operation, the Soviet side warned them: "Ground anti-aircraft fire in the Ploiesti area is strong. It's important to be prepared. Please make sure your pilots wear body armor...... "Even the enthusiastic Red Army recommended British pilots to use their body armor – body armor made of thick canvas wrapped in two layers of specially made fish-scale manganese steel sheets.

According to the Red Army, wearing such body armor, even a 20-mm shell exploding a meter in front of your chest ensures the safety of life. However, the British apparently did not take the warnings and good intentions of the Red Army seriously, and the top brass of the Royal Air Force took it for granted that since the losses of the Red Army's low-altitude bombing were not particularly large, it was safer for them to carry out high-altitude bombing in the dark.

As for the so-called ground anti-aircraft firepower is very strong, in the eyes of the British, this is something that the Russians have not seen the world at all, and they have not even shot down many bombers from low-altitude bombing, so such anti-aircraft firepower can also be considered strong?

"We quickly regretted that our Russian friends did not deceive us. The anti-aircraft fire on the ground was indeed quite powerful, the tracer shells almost weaved a large net in the sky, my plane was hit at least three times, the co-pilot was sieveed by the fragments from a shell that exploded at close range, one engine was scrapped, and after struggling to return to Crimea, I learned that there were 600 bullet holes in the fuselage......"

The heavy shelling greatly hampered the bombardment of Lancaster, and under the chase of shells, many British pilots could only hurriedly drop bombs, if you think about it, they flew high and hurriedly dropped bombs, and the natural accuracy was impossible.

Most of the bombs dropped by the British that night largely missed their targets, destroying few refinery facilities and flattening many Romanian villages. This caused angry Romanian peasants to hunt down British pilots with pitchforks, and a considerable number of British pilots who parachuted were killed.

Not only was the result unsatisfactory, but the losses of the British were also quite staggering, 15 of the 72 Lancasters involved in the bombing were shot down on the spot, and another three crashed due to their injuries on the way back, a loss rate of 25%.

A quarter of the bombers did not return, and the bombing yielded little to any noteworthy results, which was a humiliating disgrace for the Royal Air Force. In the face of Churchill's angry questioning, the Royal Air Force could not say a word, and could only excuse it by saying: "After the first bombing, the Luftwaffe increased its air defense......"

This factor is not without it, Germany and Romania did strengthen the air defense of Ploiesti, but this was absolutely not to the extent of turning it upside down. In fact, this reinforcement was extremely limited, after all, the Germans were under great pressure in other directions and could not spare much force to strengthen the Romanian air defense.

The key reason for the real heavy losses of the Royal Air Force was that they ignored the warnings of the Red Army. An important reason for the success of the Red Army's previous low-altitude bombing was that most of the anti-aircraft guns deployed by Germany and Romania in the Ploiesti area were of 88 mm caliber or higher, which was suitable for dealing with medium- and high-altitude bombers, but was really ineffective against low-altitude targets.

And this time, the Royal Air Force ran to the high altitude to scream, and naturally it was caught by the Germans, and a large number of 88 guns and 105 and 128 anti-aircraft guns were hungry. Thirsty, you say that the British are unlucky or not.

"This makes me negotiate. Will you explain to the people? Churchill asked angrily, "The British Empire is in desperate need of good news, and you have screwed it all!" Messed up, you know? ”

From Churchill's tone, the old smoker was already inexplicably angry, his chest was rising and falling rapidly, and he looked on the verge of an outburst...... (To be continued.) )