The "Gao Lao" passed through the thick smoke, and from time to time you could hear a rumbling explosion from under the belly of the plane, and even the clanging sound of shrapnel hitting the Tu-3 casing. For a while, the frightening jingle was so frequent, that Dmitry was terrified that his plane would crash in the next second.

However, the "Gao Lao" perfectly embodies the value of the Flying Fortress, and the sturdy fuselage is quite resistant to beating, even if there is a mess under the belly, the "Gao Lao" still rushes out of the smoke. But as soon as he came out, Dmitry was startled again. Suddenly, a silver-glowing cable appeared directly in front of the "Tall Guy", which was the towing line blocking the balloon, and if the "Tall Guy" hit it like this, then the next one, the engine room of the "Tall Guy" would be cut in half by the cable!

Just when Dmitry thought that his wing could not be saved, the rapidly rotating propeller cut the cable, and after a dazzling spark erupted, the propeller on the inside of the right wing was declared to be reimbursed, and the fatal cable was also cut off.

The immortal "high-ranking guy" finally rushed out of this "land of death", and when he slowly pulled it up, Dmitry could see that many of his comrades-in-arms around him were not as lucky as him. The "fat man" who followed him hit the blocking balloon headlong, and then fell to the ground fiercely, the left wing was broken on the spot, and the nose of the plane was deeply inserted into the earth, and after a few seconds, the "fat man" began to burn, and no one could escape from this coffin.

It was not only the problem of blocking the balloons, but also some of the pilots who were hit by anti-aircraft guns. Lost control of the aircraft. Or hit the trees. Either they fell headlong to the ground, and even the plane was blown up by a volley.

However, compared with the loss of the Tu-3 fleet, the Germans were even more miserable, the Knaben molybdenum mine was basically destroyed, and it was not ordinarily difficult to re-exploit, and the local anti-aircraft artillery units did not take much advantage of the Tu-3's counter-fire, and they hurried into the field. A considerable part fell under the machine-gun fire of the Tu-3.

The bombing lasted about half an hour, and by the time all the Tu-3 and Pe-8 had finished dropping their bombs and were pulling up and leaving, Knaben had already declared it finished, and under the two rounds of air raids, all the mines had collapsed, and there was basically no hope of resuming production.

Of course, the Red Army's bomber fleet also paid a heavy price, of the 127 bombers thrown into the bombing, 21 were shot down on the spot, and another 26 suffered heavy damage. For example, the Pe-8, nicknamed "Victory". An 88-mm shell hit the tail and tore off part of the tail. And killed the tail machine gunner on the spot. When asked by later generations how he felt, he replied: "I tell the rest of the crew to be ready to parachute at any time, God knows when this thing will fall......"

Of course, there were some interesting stories from this bombing campaign, when the Tu-3 bomber, nicknamed "Matador", was controlled by the Spanish pilot Calderón to lower the nose of the aircraft and lunge in the direction of the pit, and the castration was so fierce that the mechanic behind him was thrown out of his seat, so much so that the co-pilot, Second Lieutenant Popov, thought that this time he was dead.

Behind Calderón, his younger brother Fernández was less fierce, and the Spanish guy was quite nervous and scared at this time. The reason was very simple, the smoke in front of him covered the sky, and the black smoke clearly set off the dense and frantic trajectory of the anti-aircraft shells, and he felt that hell had just broken out of the cocoon under the surface. Especially when he saw that his friendly plane was hit from the front by an 88mm shell and crashed with his plane on its back, the young Spaniard could no longer bear it anymore and began to cry.

Interestingly, Fernandez cried but did not affect the pilot, and in the midst of his crying, he flew to the target accurately, and then began to accelerate his escape without wiping his nose and tears, so that he got the nickname of a good cryer.

After completing the bombing, the remaining bombers reformed over Knabaen, and then lowered their altitude again and began to return home. By this time, they had been flying for almost 5 hours, the fuselage was riddled with bullets, and the crew was exhausted.

At this time, although the fire net composed of anti-aircraft guns of various calibers had been thrown off, the German fighters were like a swarm of hornets that had been stabbed in a hornet's nest, and they were angrily pounced. However, these fighters also face great risks when diving at extremely low altitudes, and more than one plane crashed because it was not pulled up in time.

However, the situation of the Soviet bombers was not much better, a considerable part of the Tu-3s had been battered by anti-aircraft guns, they did not fly so fast, they were no longer so agile in maneuvering, and the only thing that pleased the Red Army pilots was that they had completed their mission.

Of course, it was not only the Red Army pilots who were happy, but also the Norwegian people, who were not in a bad mood, and compared with the later Anglo-American carpet bombing in Germany, the Red Army's bombing at Knaben was quite accurate, and this also reduced the casualties of Norwegian civilians to a minimum.

Let's put it this way, the casualties of the crew members of the Red Army during the bombing of Knabaen were several times higher than the casualties of civilians on the ground. Later, when most of the cities in Europe were attacked, uncontrolled high-altitude bombardment caused a large number of innocent casualties. In return, the Red Army pilots who were captured after parachuting were welcomed by the Norwegian population, and even a considerable part of the patriotic Norwegian population took great risks to shelter and help the Red Army pilots evade the Nazis.

When the Red Army bomber fleet returned to the Baltic Sea again, the fuel warning lights on the German fighters were on, and the short-legged BF-109 could only give up the pursuit and return sullenly. However, this did not mean that the bomber fleet was safe, the German fighters coming from the Danish direction were already on the way, and they had already tried to intercept them once that morning, but unfortunately that time was very unsuccessful. And this time, they somewhat gained something, at least three Tu-3 and two Pe-8 were shot down.

Next, while East Prussia was in sight, BF-109Gs and FW-190s taking off from the direction of Szczecin arrived again, but fortunately, Jewish pilots from East Prussia and fighter pilots from the Red Army arrived in time to cover and help the bomber fleet escape.

During this period, there were also many touching stories. For example, on the "International Worker". Borisov was disturbed to find that there was already very little fuel on the plane. He had never seen the Tu-3's fuel pointer sit so low. While crossing the Baltic Sea, Borisov asked the crew to vote on whether to parachute immediately or venture across the Baltic Sea. At this time, the gunner Viktonov answered him in one sentence: "The Volga is much wider than here, fly!" Let's go home! ”

It was not only Borisov who was troubled by the fuel, but also Major Congreve, who had made a mistake in navigation and turned a bad thing into a good thing, when the fuel tank of the major's car was punctured, leaking a considerable part of the fuel, and according to the route from which he came, he would definitely not be able to fly back.

At that time, Major Congreve sketched the map. Trying to find the shortest route. And when Major General Lavinsky, who was next to the major, found out that he was trying to avoid violating Swedish airspace, the major general asked: "What are you doing?" ”

"I'm looking for a route to avoid the airspace of neutral Sweden."

Major General Lavinsky was on fire at that time: "Fuck neutrals, fuck Sweden!" He roared, "I just need a straight course!" ”

Eventually, Congreve's bomber swaggered over Sweden and landed in Königsberg nearly an hour early. By the time of landing, all three engines of the aircraft had stopped working, and they almost landed on the runway in an unpowered taxi.

Of the 148 bombers at the time of departure, only 87 returned to Königsberg, and the last to land was the "Seal", the poor Pe-8 lost course and spared two laps in the Baltic Sea. It took 12 hours to fly. After landing, the pilot collapsed in his chair. He was finally lifted from his seat by the crew. The pilot was still alive, but he was too tired to stand up, and the co-pilot next to him had been dead for almost 4 hours.

The operation ended, so did the suffering of the pilots, and for the first time the long-range aviation of the Red Army proved its worth, paying the price of close to 273 killed. Shortly after the results of the operation were confirmed, the Military Commission awarded 20 people the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin, including Major Hargreve, who had bravely rammed the target. The Major was not only awarded the highest honor in the Soviet Union, but was also honorably posthumously awarded the rank of Communist, and these were the reasons for him!

However, not everyone was happy and satisfied with the bombing campaign, for example, Tukhachevsky was quite complaining, believing that even if the iron ore supply to Narvik was cut off and the molybdenum mine was destroyed, it would not help to change the passivity of the Red Army on the ground battlefield.

"The Air Force should pay more attention to the situation in East Poland than to bomb targets that will only be effective in six months to a year," he said. What does this do for the war? What's the point? It seems to me that the Air Force should concentrate all its strength on bombing the ground forces of the Germans, and not on some unseen and unheard places! ”

Alxnes angrily refuted his statement: "The Air Force is striking at the enemy within its capacity, and the bad situation on the ground is caused by the General Staff miscalculating the enemy's posture and wrongly counterattacking, what does this have to do with the Air Force?" Moreover, Narvik and Knaben and Berlin are not places that cannot be seen. The bombing of Berlin greatly boosted the morale of the people of the whole country, how can it be said that the bombing of Narvik made the supply of iron ore to Germany tight, and the bombing of Knababen would reduce the quality of the enemy's weapons. The only thing that didn't seem to me was the General Staff, which, after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, made a series of erroneous decisions, and was fully responsible for the unfavorable situation on the battlefield! ”

Arksnis is pointing a sword at Tukhachevsky, he has had enough of the latter, and he no longer has the patience to go around in circles with him, so he simply broke the words.

Also impatient is Li Xiaofeng, at this time the troops on the front line are about to collapse, Tukhachevsky did not think about how to rescue these young men, but continued to engage in the battle between the branches of the service, isn't this nonsense?

So he immediately opened fire: "The General Staff should indeed take full responsibility, the two successive counterattacks were too hasty and reckless, not only did not achieve the set goal, but threw all our precious living forces into it." I will replace it with another more stable and reliable comrade to preside over the work of the General Staff! ”

Tukhachevsky's face turned a little pale, he knew that Li Xiaofeng was going to settle accounts with him, if he let the other party succeed. He doesn't say that there is no place to bury when you die. can only withdraw from the stage of history in disgrace.

"I think ......" Tukhachevsky was just about to argue for himself. Trotsky stopped him: "Comrade Andrei, now is not the time to attack each other and pass the buck. The most important thing now is how to safely withdraw the troops on the front line in East Poland, this is our first priority, and the rest will be talked about later! ”

Li Xiaofeng didn't want to talk about it later, but Sverdlov immediately emphasized: "The main agenda of today's meeting is to solve the most difficult war problem at present, and as for the personnel issue, postpone it!" ”

At the same time, Ruzutak also gave Li Xiaofeng a slap in the look. Ask him to give Sverdlov a face, and stop chasing after him at this time.

And Frunze also spoke: "Let's discuss military issues first, and put other issues on hold for the time being!" ”

If it was just Trotsky, even if Sverdlov and Ruzutak were added, Li Xiaofeng would not give face if he said that he would not give face, but Frunze opened his mouth differently, he represented Lenin's attitude, no matter how arrogant Li Xiaofeng was, he would not dare to confront the three bigwigs at the same time.

Of course, he didn't give in either. Instead, he said: "Today only military issues will be discussed, yes!" But. The question of man-made disasters cannot be left undiscussed forever. Some comrades must be held accountable for the previous erroneous command, and I will definitely investigate this responsibility to the end! ”

Trotsky's eyelids jumped, if someone else said this, he would probably think that it was to find a step for himself, but Li Xiaofeng was different. After so many back and forth, he can be regarded as having mastered someone's character, and the statement just now is his declaration, which is to express to the Military Commission and the Politburo: "I will never let go of Tukhachevsky's responsibility!" ”

Trotsky's head was a headache for Trotsky with such a tough and sharp statement from someone, who was such a crutch in the Military Commissariat that was Tukhachevsky, and if he was broken, he would be really lame. But Tukhachevsky's expression is too weak, it is simply clumsy, which makes it difficult for him to help Tukhachevsky speak, that is, this time Xiao Si also helped him, otherwise Tukhachevsky would be torn apart in minutes.

The problem is that although Tukhachevsky barely survived, the problem has not been solved, especially since he has no effective solution to his current predicament.

"We lack a stable defensive line, and if the front-line troops retreat sharply, the consequences will be unimaginable. My opinion is that the front-line troops continue to confront the enemy, and at the same time draw troops from other military districts to build a defensive line on the Brest front, and when there is a solid defensive line, the front-line troops can retreat with the situation, so that the losses can be minimized! ”

Tukhachevsky's plan sounds like nonsense, and it is inevitable that troops will be transferred from other military districts, but the problem is that it will take time, and it will still take time to rebuild the defensive line. The most important question is that the Red Army does not have so much time, and the collapse of the front is already imminent!

In Li Xiaofeng's opinion, Tukhachevsky went to find the toilet when he had diarrhea, what did you do earlier? At this time, I thought about transferring troops to rebuild the defense line, and it was too late!

"Then what do you say!" Tukhachevsky, on the contrary, became angry.

"My opinion is the same as last time," Li Xiaofeng replied coldly, "I can only break my wrist by a strong man." Only a few troops were left to block and delay the enemy in place, while the main forces retreated as quickly as possible, and withdrew as much as possible to Minsk and Kiev to build a defensive line......"

Tukhachevsky indignantly accused: "How many troops are you going to lose if you do this?" The remaining blocking forces will inevitably be wiped out! ”

Li Xiaofeng coldly counterattacked: "According to your method, it is not only the blocking troops that will be completely annihilated, but all the main forces of the Ukrainian Front, the Belarusian Front and the Baltic Front!" It's rare to be able to escape a few three-legged cats in the end! ”

"You are increasing the enemy's prestige and destroying your own morale," Tukhachevsky was considered to have a certain immortal, "Our soldiers can still hold on, and we must not give up any Red Army soldiers, your cold-blooded tactics will greatly dampen the morale of the Red Army!" ”

Before Li Xiaofeng could speak, Arksnis sarcastically said: "A good one can still hold on, and a good one will not give up on any Red Army soldier." Comrade Tukhachevsky, the remnants of the 3rd and 10th armies in the encirclement are also holding out, they are also Red Army soldiers, why don't you save it! ”

Tukhachevsky was suddenly unable to speak, and only after a while did he squeeze out a sentence: "This time and that time, and I firmly oppose a hasty retreat before building a defensive line, in case the blocking troops cannot stop the enemy, the enemy will not easily drive straight in, at that time, it will not be possible to defend Brightsk, Kyiv, and even Leningrad and Moscow will be very dangerous!" ”

Li Xiaofeng sneered: "Do you think there is still time to build a defense line?" Before you can get to Minsk and Kyiv with troops drawn from other military districts, the front line will already collapse, and then Minsk and Kyiv will really fall, and Moscow and Leningrad will be even more dangerous. What's even more terrifying is that the elite troops we formed before the war will all be annihilated by the enemy, and what will you do to defend your home and country at that time? ”

As he spoke, Li Xiaofeng took a deep breath and said, "Although my plan is very cruel and will inevitably pay a heavy price, it can keep the elite of the Red Army and preserve our strength for future counterattacks." Otherwise, we will suffer a catastrophe! will fall into a situation from which you will never recover, and you will never be able to turn over!! (To be continued......)