Everything has to be told by facts, so can the new air combat strategy have good results? Let's take a brief look.

From mid-November 1942, the militant air generals, led by Rudenko and Krasovsky, launched an offensive to "chase the enemy". The commanders of each fighter squadron could leave the bomber group at their own discretion and plunge into the engagement with enemy fighters.

Rudenko, Krasovsky, and others envisioned that if enemy fighters did not rise to meet them, the Red Army's bomber groups would sweep their airfields, command posts, transport hubs, and all worthy targets. And if the Germans take to the skies to meet them, the advanced Yak-2, Yak-3 and La-5 will be the same as the fighting masters, no matter who wins or loses, the short-legged fighters represented by the BF-109 and FW-190 will not be able to harass the Red Army's bomber group, and the result will be the same.

Everything seemed perfect, but things didn't go as smoothly as Rudenko and Krasovsky thought. On November 17, 1942, 655 bombers (including Il-4, Tu-2, Tu-3 and Pe-8) attacked, accompanied by more than a dozen regiments of Yak, La and Pe-2 fighters.

However, the climate in Belarus and Ukraine in winter was very harsh, and the meteorological conditions in the areas of the original bombing targets were bad, and the aircraft group was forced to switch to attacking secondary targets. As a result, there was a problem with the "air superiority" escort system, which was already in the initial stage. Due to bad weather and poor communications, some fighter groups were not able to lead the way in front of the bomber group all the time.

This allowed the Luftwaffe to find a gap, and a large number of rocket-carrying BF-109 and FW190 fighters hit the bomber formation hard, and only two regiments of Yak-2 and La-5 were fighting against hundreds of German fighters. About 30 Tu-3 and Pe-8 were shot down, and 59 Il-4 and Tu-2 were lost. And the Red Army shot down only 45 incoming enemy planes. There were also a large number of bombers who dropped their bombs in advance because they were avoiding enemy planes, and the final bombing effect can only be said to be very unsatisfactory.

Time. The bomber troops, especially the four-round heavy bomber units, were full of grievances, and the gossip was endless, and even Alxnis found Li Xiaofeng again, but a certain immortal sent him away with two sentences: "This air raid was unsuccessful, not only because of tactical problems." The main problem is the weather and poor communication, and one failure doesn't mean anything! ”

Fortunately, the Soviet Union now had the confidence to let Li Xiaofeng say this, and with the war machine running at full speed, the Red Army surpassed Germany by several times in its ability to replenish attrition and battle losses. Even the loss of a four-engine heavy bomber in an enemy-controlled area meant the loss of more than ten aircrews, but the Soviet aviation school was constantly transporting well-trained reservists. On the assembly lines of several major aircraft factories, huge bomber planes were manufactured at the fastest speed. In contrast to the Soviet Union, Germany's war machine was always in a state of half-opening, and the German army lacked four-engine long-range bombers, which basically could not threaten the Soviet Union's industrial base far away. Under the trade-off. The Germans will only get weaker.

Moreover, the air force generals of the Red Army were also rapidly summing up lessons and lessons, constantly refining the details of the new tactics. In early December 1942, the massive air raids known as the Week Breaker began:

On the night of December 3, the First Army of the Red Army Air Force launched a large-scale air raid on Warsaw.

On 4 December, despite the bad weather, the 1st, 2nd and 5th armies of the Red Army Air Force dispatched more than 700 bombers from 16 bomber regiments to attack Berlin and Dresden under the cover of about 800 fighters from 18 fighter regiments. In this battle, the Red Army bombers suffered minor losses, and the two historic cities above were in the heaviest pain since the outbreak of the war.

December 5th. The weather remained bad, and the Red Army did not carry out a large-scale bombing campaign. But fighters led by the Yak-3 began to wander and hunt fighters from German front-line airfields.

December 6th. The Red Air Force's fighter and long-range bomber units were all dispatched to attack the Ruhr industrial area from long range, and to attack the main German industrial bases in Stuttgart and Dortmund.

After two days of rest, on December 8, reconnaissance found that the weather over Germany was good, and the Red Army long-range bombers refueled through East Prussia returned to the German mainland. Focus on striking German fighter manufacturing plants. In this operation, the power of the new escort system was fully demonstrated, with bombers claiming to have shot down 67 German fighters and escort fighters claiming to have shot down 89 German fighters. 245 Tu-3 and 33 lost, 236 Pe-8 lost 11.

During these seven days. The Red Army made a total of 3,800 bomber sorties. The loss of bombers was 226 units, and the loss of fighters was only 32 units. Compared to previous bombing campaigns, the bomber damage rate was only 3.5 percent, a significant decrease from the 9.2 percent loss rate in October.

Immediately, the Luftwaffe was caught in a dilemma: if it attacked in a concentrated formation, it would inevitably be involved in an air battle with the Red Army fighters, and would not be able to deal with its main target, the four-engine long-range bombers. However, if you don't concentrate your forces, the small and flexible formations of targets will be torn to pieces by the Red Army four-shot bombers with 12.7 mm machine guns and 20 mm cannons in a few minutes when attacking a group of bombers.

According to German statistics, when 20 aircraft attack a network of 1,000 machine guns at the same time, each aircraft faces an average of 50 machine guns, while each pilot will face 250 machine gun fire when there are only 4 aircraft! And note that the Red Army's aviation machine guns and cannons were of the bloody type, and their rate of fire was much faster than that of the British and Americans, which meant that their firepower was even greater!

For the first time in this major week, Germany's domestic industry was hit hard, for example, the fighter factory was forced to shut down for a time, but Speer was able to resume production in time with his ingenuity. But the aircraft can be in production, but the loss of those experienced old bird pilots is not so good to replenish.

Over the course of December, 225 German fighter pilots were killed or missing, and another 141 were wounded and exited the battle. This month Germany lost 17.9% of its total number of active fighter pilots!

Note that Germany's human resources were too limited compared to those of the Soviet Union, and even if the quality of its citizens was higher, it was far less numerous than that of the Red Army. And with the death of those elites who have participated in the air war since 1939. The average quality of the Luftwaffe was inevitably declining.

The heavy losses gave both sides a break, but soon, in January 1943, the Red Air Force launched a new offensive on its own initiative. This time they took aim at Berlin again, telling the Red Army generals about their previous successes, even if it was a matter of face. Herman. Goering would devote all his strength to defending the heart of Germany.

On January 10, 730 bombers went to Berlin, surrounded by 803 escort fighters. The Luftwaffe intercepted with all its might, making a total of 528 sorties. The Red Army's bomber losses again reached 10%, with a total loss of 75 bombers. But the Germans had only achieved a Pyrrhus-style victory (the Pyrrhus had won at great cost), as it had lost 118 of its own aircraft, and after another loss of about 15% of its fighter pilots, the Luftwaffe could no longer resist another air raid on Berlin two days later.

This time, 650 bombers, escorted by nearly 900 fighters, returned to Berlin, while the Germans were able to intercept them only in 150 sorties (120 single-engine fighters). 30 twin-engine heavy fighters). The Red Army claimed to have shot down 77 German fighters, while its own losses were only 35 bombers.

And a day later, when the Red Army came for the third time, the Germans could not piece together a single decent air defense. For the first time, the Luftwaffe could only stand by as its opponents attacked its main defensive targets. Of course, another reason why the Germans were on the sidelines this time was important was that there was a big problem with their gasoline supply. When Ploiesti was destroyed, fuel supplies became strained, and previous bombardments consumed large quantities of Luftwaffe jet fuel to keep the front line supplied. The capital and hinterland can only be "undefended".

Of course, the losses on the part of the USSR were actually not light. In February, large-scale strategic bombing had to be suspended, and pilots could not bear it, and the attrition of aircraft was also a big problem. But this time, instead of complaining to a certain immortal, Alxnis accepted the result with joy.

Because Arxnis felt that this was the strategic bombing he wanted, even if it didn't get more accurate statistical results. Judging by the feedback from the front alone, this new, more aggressive tactic has also been successful.

Why? Because the front-line aviation reported that from late December, when they covered the Il-2 or Su-2 to attack the German front-line positions, it was obvious that the German fighters were a little out of pace. Especially in the continuous air raids. The German fighters easily took a break.

And without the cover of German fighters, the Luftwaffe medium bombers and Stuka threats were significantly reduced. It was basically difficult to organize large-scale air support, and even if they barely took to the air, they would soon be rested after the escort fighters were overwhelmed by the Red Army.

Rokossovsky also had a say in this: "A year ago, when the enemy brazenly provoked a war, our air force made a great impression on us. Most of the armored forces of our army were actually destroyed by the enemy's air force, and several large-scale counterattacks organized by Marshal Tukhachevsky were lost in the air. And by the end of 1942, when the enemy again tried to break through the defense line of our 2nd Belorussian Front with combined air-ground tactics, the situation was completely different. Our superior air force firmly controls the skies, and the enemy Stuka can no longer destroy our tanks with impunity. Now it's our Il-2's turn to tell the German armored forces how to be man with their tail between their legs! ”

Rokossovsky was right when he said that in the face of the air superiority of the Red Army, the Red Beard, on which Hitler had high hopes, soon appeared to be weak. After entering December, the Red Army's air strangulation, strict defense on the ground and fierce counterattacks, coupled with the impact of fuel shortages, the German armored forces once again faced the situation of being dumplings!

Just when the whole world was waiting for the Red Army to win another victory in the Battle of Kursk, two far-reaching events happened, one was done by the Germans themselves, Manstein, a master tactician, gave full play to his talent, and took advantage of the Ukrainian Second Front to turn to the direction of Bryansk, and actually broke through the defense line of the Ukrainian First Front in one fell swoop and surrounded Kyiv again!

And this is the so-called second battle for the defense of Kyiv. Of course. This time it's smaller, it's shorter, and it's easier to move with the military. The committee made a major adjustment in its decision, and the defense campaign came to an end in a hurry.

And another more significant event was the creation of the Japanese, on December 7, 1942. The Japanese Combined Fleet, under the leadership of Yamamoto Isoroku, stabbed the United States, a big beenet!

The specific process will not be detailed, it is similar to history, the Americans carelessly suffered a hidden loss and suffered heavy losses.

Of course, it was not the Japanese who were most happy about the incident, and when Churchill learned the news at the Prime Minister's House in Downing Street, he jumped up from his chair and danced like a child. I almost slipped by mistake to send a congratulatory telegram to Roosevelt.

Churchill cannot be blamed for his unscrupulous words, because the entry of the United States into the war was so important to the British Empire that it could almost be said to have pulled the British Empire back from the edge of the cliff. Spurred on by the good news that the United States had entered the war, Churchill immediately ordered Montgomery to launch a new offensive at El Alamein, in his words, "to show the American friends the strength of the British Empire."

At the Prime Minister's personal request, Montgomery naturally could not say no, and the proud British also tried to take revenge, and the last attack on El Alamein failed miserably because of an intelligence leak. And this time, Montgomery, who was well prepared, was going to bleed the Desert Fox.

According to Montgomery's arrangement. On December 15, British forces in North Africa launched Operation Arena. At 4:20 a.m., after an hour of 500 guns bombarding German positions, the British 49th Division officially launched its attack. At this time, there was a lot of dust, and because of the shelling. The entire front of the attack was covered in smoke, and at one point visibility was only about five meters.

The Haarlem County Battalion of the British 146th Brigade was the first to sort, but the advance company was soon disoriented by the dust and smoke. The battalion commander and his chief of staff were furious, but when the two tried to find the lost vanguard company, they also got lost. That is, when the Lincolnshire Regiment of the 146th Brigade, which attacked with them, began to exchange fire with the Germans. Almost the entire Haarlem County camp didn't know where to go.

It was only when the 11th Battalion of the Royal Scottish Regiment of the 147th Brigade was preparing to attack from the east that the Haarlem County Battalion was finally discovered, and they were in disarray and under attack by the Germans. Yes, comrades, you read that right, the British, who were supposed to attack, were instead attacked by the Germans, who were on the defensive, and the world is so wonderful.

Seeing the friendly pills, the 11th Battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment naturally wanted to pull the brothers, and they immediately launched an attack on the Germans. But the Germans were really not vegetarians, and even beat the 11th Battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment with machine guns under the cover of infantry guns and mortars belonging to some battalions. At one point, the battalion was about to break up, but fortunately, the officers stabilized the morale of the army in time.

However, even so, the battalion was in a very bad situation, and in the face of heavy German fire, the officers and men of the battalion were shot and fell every time they took a step forward. After fierce fighting until about 9 o'clock in the morning, the British barely captured part of the German position. However, the German defenses remained intact and resisted stubbornly with the support of most of the strong permanent fortifications.

As the 11th Battalion of the Royal Scots Regiment did not make much progress, the 147th Brigade threw in the 7th Battalion of the Duke of Wellington to attack the right flank of the German armored reconnaissance battalion. This time, the British, who were greatly superior, quickly cut off the armored reconnaissance battalion from its divisional headquarters.

As more and more British troops entered the battlefield, so did the pressure on the Germans, and by noon the British had finally made their way, penetrating three kilometers deep into the German line and attempting to outflank the Germans in a roundabout way.

Captain Ziegler, commander of the 8th German Panzer Company, recalled: "In this battle, I learned the true value of these young grenadiers. When the enemy shelled, they hid in foxholes, often squatting for half an hour, or even an hour. But everyone has no complaints. When the enemy rushed forward, they jumped out of the foxhole with their weapons in hand and engaged the enemy in a fierce hand-to-hand fight...... I can't see their expressions...... I saw with my own eyes many touching scenes: without any orders, the grenadiers automatically ran to the wounded comrade to rescue him or take his place to continue the fight......"

But in the history of the 11th Battalion of the Royal Scots, which lost 7 officers, 194 non-commissioned officers and soldiers, there are only a few words: in this fierce battle, the stubborn resistance of the enemy and the heavy artillery fire of both sides will forever remain in the memories of the soldiers who participated in the battle.

The battle continued, and the British soon lost the ability to continue their breakthrough in depth, as Rommel brought in armored units to counterattack, and under the command of the battalion commander Gertz, three armored companies of the battalion (all armed with Panther tanks) counterattacked the infiltrating British troops. Under the blow of the powerful Black Panther tanks, the British infantry who broke through the German lines appeared panicked...... (To be continued.) )

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