Mipalatinsk, Advance Command of the North-Western Front.

Liang Tianhe, who had a tired face, nodded to Lieutenant General Yongyang, the commander of the Second Air Group, who was sitting in front of him, and signaled that he could start.

At the beginning of the war, the Second Air Group, which was attached to the Northwest Front, had one fighter wing, two reconnaissance-bomber wings (referred to as reconnaissance and bombing wings), and one independent reconnaissance squadron, including its direct subordinate units, with a total of 155 aircraft of various types, including 54 fighters, 37 reconnaissance and liaison planes, 58 twin-engine light bombers, and 6 twin-engine tactical transport planes. However, due to various reasons, the main force of the group was not immediately deployed in the Northwest Theater, and part of the troops were even transferred to the Nanyang operation. It was not until after 3 of that year that the main forces of the group were successively deployed to the theater of operations, and according to the needs of the campaign, they were divided into two parts: the main force group and the southern group, the former belonging to the main group of the front army, and the latter to the 10th Army deep in southern Turkestan.

The Turkestan Front of the Russian Army was only equipped with a dozen or so aircraft, and it failed to exert any effect before the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Second Air Force, and the harsh natural environment and support conditions were the biggest enemy of the Chinese army's aviation units -- the planes and pilots lost in the accident far exceeded the battle losses, and because the Northwest Theater was in the auxiliary direction and far from the center of the aviation industry in the interior, it did not receive much replenishment, and by mid-July, the entire group was in a state of first-class combat readiness (with a complete crew, can be dispatched at any time) has dropped to more than 90 aircraft, of which more than 70 are in the main cluster and more than 10 in the southern cluster.

Before and after the Battle of Semipalatinsk, the frequency and intensity of the activities of the Russian air force on the Irtysh River continued to increase suddenly, from a small formation of a few planes to a large group of more than 30 planes, as long as the weather was clear. The assault was launched regardless of the losses, which caused great pressure on the main force cluster of the Second Air Tank, and the basic combat strength of the troops was constantly weakened, and some squadrons even had only a single aircraft left to dispatch!

The loss of air supremacy has brought great inconvenience to the ground forces' operations: it is impossible to prevent the enemy from reconnoitring the actions of our troops, still less can it guarantee that our troops can effectively reconnoiter the enemy's movements; Liang Tianhe could not tolerate Liang Tianhe's inability to prevent the enemy's bombing and harassment of our main lines of communication and strategic hubs, still less to effectively attack enemy targets and provide additional firepower support to ground troops.

"Shame! It's not even as good as the Aussian-Asian War! ”

Liang Tianhe, who was full of complaints, quickly received assurances from the base camp: First, the army aviation would take the restoration of the combat strength of the Second Air Force as soon as possible as the highest priority, and transfer planes and skilled officers and men from various nearby units to supplement it; By mid-August, 3 fighter squadrons and 2 heavy bomb squadrons [~ reconnaissance aircraft squadrons, totaling 63 aircraft, will be added to the group, and the 1st Transport Wing (40 four-engine strategic transport planes), the 1st, 2nd, or special airships, which were directly under the base camp, and the 4th Floating Wing (each with 6 tactical attack or reconnaissance attack airships) directly under the base camp will be transferred to the Second Air Group.

Today. Liang Tianhe specially summoned Fang Yongyang to find out how much the base camp's guarantee had been fulfilled so far.

"As of 12 noon yesterday, the main force group had maintained a state of first-level combat readiness of 130 aircraft, of which the three squadrons of the 3rd Fighter Wing and the 6th Reconnaissance and Bombardment Squadron had achieved full strength. Two of the three fighter squadrons scheduled for new additions have also been deployed in place, the heavy bomber squadron has arrived at one, and the other squadrons have not yet been heard. Fang Yongyang quickly reported that this person was a well-known reformer in the army aviation, and he was even more in-law with the popular nobles of the dynasty (at the age of 40, he married the wife and sister of the current army chief of staff, Zhang Yao, a former general, ten years ago), and it was a time for a promising future. was specially arranged under Liang Tianhe, who had a close relationship with Zhang Yaoqian, which had implications. Self-explanatory.

"What about the transport planes and airship units that are attached to it?" Liang Tianhe seems to be more concerned about this.

"The 1st Transport Wing has two squadrons in place, the 9th Special Service Wing is all in place and the team is in two squadrons, the 2nd Service Wing is in 1 squadron, the 1st and 2nd Air Wings are all in place, and the other units are still in the process of being transferred."

Liang Tianhe erected two tobacco-smoked fingers, twisted the thick stubble on his chin, and looked over Fang Yongyang's head, wandering on the map behind him.

"I want you to promise two things."

"First, it starts tomorrow. It is guaranteed to regain air supremacy around Aleysk and the city of Seychelles. ”

"Second, and starting tomorrow, the airdrop to Aleisk is guaranteed to go smoothly, as soon as the weather allows. The daily airdrop volume is not less than 100, and the ratio of grain and ammunition in the airdropped materials is tentatively set at three to seven. ”

"On the premise of guaranteeing these two items, I also hope that you can seize the fighter. Take the initiative to attack and crush the enemy's aviation units on the ground, radically turning the tide. ”

After Liang Tianhe finished speaking, he moved his gaze down slightly, looking directly at the other party expectantly.

Fang Yongyang pondered for a moment, and quickly replied confidently: "On the Alleysk side, I plan to send 3 full squadrons equipped with new fighters to patrol the battle first, and another squadron will be in charge of Saicheng, and the other fighter units that are not yet full will continue to reorganize and wait for the opportunity to attack again." ”

"As for the air supply to Aleysk...... The first airdrop can start tonight, and the 6 Dragons of the Ninth Secret Service Wing can be shipped 140 ~: The air parachute drop method, although the spread will be a little larger, but as long as the contact is smooth and the instructions are correct, the veterans of the Ninth Wing will not let us down. ”

"Attacking enemy air bases requires accurate and timely intelligence, and I hope that the new high-speed reconnaissance aircraft that have been supplemented can play its due role, and I also hope that the front command will share information from other sources with us in a timely manner. Please rest assured, as long as the intelligence is sufficient and the timing is right, I will concentrate all my efforts to launch a surprise attack and wipe out the enemy's lair in one go! ”

Liang Tianhe smiled with satisfaction, got up and patted Fang Yongyang on the shoulder: "Very good, what you want is this momentum - the fate of the life and death of the 60,000 brothers in Acheng depends on you." ”

Fang Yongyang stood up and saluted, his voice was sonorous and majestic: "Fang Mou should go all out!" Commander, look at it, the shame of the past, our second air assembly will be doubled back from the enemy! ”

Seeing Fang Yongyang go out, a slightly restrained report came from outside: "Major Lin Yuqing, commander of the 1st Independent Special Artillery Battalion, has come to report. ”

This shy brother-in-law came quite quickly-Liang Tianhe hugged his arms and replied with a straight face: "Come in." ”