A large number of F84 fighters were entangled with the Cossack Air Force's Golden Eagle 4A fighters, and many of the remaining Sahr Wellington tactical bombers took the opportunity to fly at low altitude towards the convoy of transport ships sailing on Lake Ladoga.

"Enemy aircraft are coming, all gunners pay attention to air defense." Major Vasily loudly reminded the fighters through the electric horn, and at the same time ordered the fleet to form a ring anti-aircraft formation so that anti-aircraft fire could be crossfired......

The fighters, who had already entered the anti-aircraft gun positions, turned their muzzles, looking for the approaching enemy aircraft. Soon more than 200 Wellington bombers flew over the transport fleet, dozens of anti-aircraft guns of various calibers began to shell one after another, and a dense barrage exploded in the sky, and several bombers were caught off guard and were immediately hit by fire and fell.

Coming to the target, the Sahr Air Force bomber group began to circle and descend, the bomb bay door opened, and one high-explosive bomb after another slid down in an instant, rushing towards the transport fleet below.

A huge column of water erupted around the transport ship, and several transport ships were hit by bombs, bursting into flames, but fortunately, in order to increase the density of bombs, these Wellington bombers chose small bombs, so that the transport ships were not directly sunk.

Seeing the enemy dropping bombs, the sailors on the transport ships also raised the muzzles of their anti-aircraft machine guns, put the unique aiming rings of the anti-aircraft machine guns around the opposing planes, and began to fire fiercely. For a while, the entire convoy was covered with bullets, and fire dragons staggered by, and although those anti-aircraft machine guns did not shoot high, they had no problem dealing with Wellington bombers that dropped bombs at reduced altitudes.

The wellington bomber with corrugated aluminum skin did not have a high fuselage strength, and they had to choose a self-made replacement for the Saar Empire when the production of the two bombers in the Boston Empire was insufficient, and its performance was not as good as that of the Kunpeng 2 bomber.

One bomber after another was shot down, and the burning wreckage of the planes covered the nearby lake, but the anti-aircraft artillery fire was a passive defense after all, and in the face of a large number of bombers, the flotilla also suffered heavy losses, three river gunboats and twelve transport ships were sunk, and the others were slightly damaged.

The battered fleet slowly sailed into the harbor of Fort Paladin, and despite the smell of gunsmoke, the sailors at least returned alive, and most of the sailors on the sunken ships were rescued, and their fleets could continue to sail as long as they were still alive, and new ships would be built from the shipyards.

"Our air force is very inadequate, and if it weren't for the dense anti-aircraft artillery positions near the military airfield, I'm afraid my air force would have to retreat to the area east of Lake Ladoga. This will not work, and we should ask the Chinese Empire for support. "General Denikin took the report of the air battle he had just received, and at this time he was already the chief of the General Staff of the Cossack army.

Marshal Kolchak, who had just flown back from Beijing, shook his head and said: "No, even if we ask for resources, we can't get it, NATO's allies are at a disadvantage in all battlefields on the western continent, and the air force everywhere is fighting more with less, and there is no strength to support us at all." ”

Admiral Denikin said: "But there is still one of the most elite Guards air forces in the Chinese Empire that has not been dispatched, and it is said that his fighters are much better than ours, and if they are dispatched, they will definitely be able to defeat the Axis air force." ”

Marshal Kolchak shook his head and said: "This is impossible, the Chinese Empire is preparing for a full-scale attack on the New World, they will not be able to draw troops to support us, now we must insist, as long as the Chinese Empire makes progress in the New World, our life will naturally be better." ”

Admiral Denikin sighed and said: "The progress of the Chinese Empire in the New World, what does it have to do with us, they can plunder the territory of the Boston Empire, while we endure the enemy's bombardment on our own land, if this continues, when will the Cossack Empire return to its former glory." ”

Marshal Kolchak shook his head and said: "There is no turning back for us, now we must fully support the Chinese Empire, only if they win, we can win, otherwise as a defeated country, the Cossack Empire will be even more difficult." ”

Denikin nodded: "I also know this, but I am just unwilling, how powerful the Cossack Empire was back then, but because of a major civil strife, it ended up being a vassal of the Chinese Empire." ”

Kolchak comforted his old friend and said: "Don't be too sad, in fact, even if our Cossack Empire does not have this civil strife, it is also not the opponent of the Chinese Empire, and I only have complete admiration for Fang Xiaoyu, who established this powerful empire." ”

Denikin smiled: "yes, he's such an amazing person, I just don't know where he is now?" Is he really in outer space? ”

Kolchak shook his head: "I don't know about this, I only know that he once promised that he would definitely come back once the Chinese Empire was in danger, so our war is a sure win, and now all we have to consider is how much to pay." ”

Turning to the map table, Kolchak pointed to the detailed topographical map of the Paladinburg area on the table and said: "Today's bombing shows that the offensive of the Axis army is about to start again, and now with strong fortifications and a large number of anti-aircraft fire, we have a strong ability to counter the threat in the air, we don't have to worry too much, just pay attention to protecting the supply line on Lake Ladoga." ”

Hearing that Kolchak began to analyze the enemy situation, Denikin also walked to the map table, he nodded: "Indeed, the supply line on Lake Ladoga is our most important direction now, as long as the supply line is kept, we can hold the Paladin Fort." ”

As he spoke, Denikin pointed to the Vyborg region in the north and said: "Both northern countries have been fighting fiercely with us here for a winter, and according to the conservative estimates of the front-line troops, tens of thousands of them have been wiped out in one winter. Perhaps we can take advantage of the fact that the Axis forces are not starting to attack, and preemptively defeat the threat from the north in one fell swoop. In this way, we will be able to make land contact with the outside world in order to avoid too many losses due to the weak anti-aircraft fire on Lake Ladoga. ”

Kolchak was also very moved by Denikin's proposal, but he looked at it carefully and shook his head and said: "This can't be done, now we only have two million troops in our hands, and the alliance of the two northern countries still has about 1.2 million troops until now, how can we attack." There are still more than 3 million Axis armies in the south, and if we attack in the north, they will launch a fierce attack in the south, and it is a big question whether our remaining troops will be able to withstand it. ”

Denikin thought for a while and said, "I think that most of the combined forces of the two northern countries are pure infantry, they just rely on a large number of people, and their weapons and equipment are not good. If we select an elite armored unit, commanded by a capable general, and only need 300,000 to 400,000 troops, I believe that we can achieve great results, not to mention that there are close to 100,000 defenders in the Vyborg area. ”

Kolchak said: "This can be considered, but who has such courage to dare to launch an attack with such a small number of troops?" ”

"I think Zhukov can go on this mission." Denikin was unequivocal.

"Zhukov? I know this kid, he is a very motivated commander, and now he is just a division commander, is it appropriate for us to let him go? Kolchak hesitated.

Denikin said: "It's a time of war, you can be promoted unusually, let's let him act as the commander of a group army first, if he fights well this time, we will officially appoint him, if not, we will demote him." ”

Kolchak nodded and said, "Okay, we'll talk to him first, and if he thinks it's feasible, then let him go." ”

The new battle plan was soon refined in the Cossack High Staff, and the four corps of the same formation as the Chinese Empire were assembled in the direction of Vyborg, and Zhukov, who had just been promoted to lieutenant general, accepted the appointment. To the surprise of Marshal Kolchak and Admiral Denikin, Lieutenant General Zhukov only needed 200,000 troops, because he felt that once his offensive began, the Thar army in the south would attack frantically in order to contain the Cossack army. The task of defending the Paladin's Castle will become heavy at that point, and it is always good to keep a few more reserves on the safe side.

Marshal Kolchak was deeply impressed by Lieutenant General Zhukov's good view of the overall situation, and he secretly decided that even if Zhukov lost the battle this time, he would put Zhukov in a more important position, because in him Kolchak saw hope for the revival of the Cossack Empire.

Lieutenant General Zhukov was very meticulous in the arrangement of the campaign, and in the movement of troops, he asked the troops to move at night as much as possible, and during the day all combat vehicles and trucks were covered with camouflage nets, and personnel were not allowed to go out, so as to confuse the enemy's air force reconnaissance.

After a week of preparation, all four mechanized corps were in place, and on the night of March 29, 927, the Cossack Third Army under the command of Lieutenant General Zhukov finally began to attack.

Without any aircraft bombing or artillery preparations, a large number of trucks carrying soldiers followed by 600 Grizzly 3 vehicles and launched a surprise attack on the positions of the two coalition forces.

The soldiers of the Grand Duchy of Gothenburg and the Viking Kingdom did not expect an attack by the Cossack army, and they did not receive much information due to the secrecy of Lieutenant General Zhukov in advance. Unprepared, the troops of the two countries retreated one after another, and the Cossack chariots rumbled past their positions without hindrance, opening the position to death.

Aiming at this gap, Lieutenant General Zhukov threw all his forces, and with the help of mechanized equipment, the Cossack corps quickly passed through and outflanked the rear of the positions of the two armies, and even the troops of Vyborg launched a diversionary offensive, disturbing the judgment of the top brass of the coalition forces of the two countries from all directions.