"It's time to come, it's finally coming." An urgent telegram was delivered to Xu Jie's desk. Just yesterday at noon, on June 15, 1920+15, a German merchant ship sailing in the Persian Gulf accidentally struck a mine. Subsequently, the German government issued a statement claiming that German merchant ships had been attacked by Iranian troops, and that the two sides would enter a state of war from now on. For Italy, the Allies were more or less tactful. But for Iran, which is like a fish belly, the Germans don't have so much patience to play word games with each other and go straight to a state of war.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Luftwaffe began to launch tentative attacks on targets in Iran, and launched the first massive air raid the next morning! The air power of the entire Allied Middle East Theater is divided into two major parts, of which the air force located in the northern part of the two river basins and the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian air forces have a total of three air forces and most of the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian air forces, with a total of about 2,800 aircraft of various types. Its mission is to launch air strikes and bombardments in northern Iran, destroy supply depots and communication hubs, and strike as many military targets as possible. The southern air force consists of an air force and part of the navy's land-based aviation, and its size is about 1,000 aircraft. The air forces of the south are too weak relative to the northern air cluster. And of the remaining 1,000 aircraft, a part of the forces had to be drawn up to cover the German maritime transport forces from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. The actual number of aircraft that can be used in air combat and in support of the army is much smaller than on paper. This unfamiliarity is incomprehensible to many people.

And the reason why the Luftwaffe made this layout was entirely in response to the current situation. "Britain and the United States are not in the habit of fighting a large-scale war with us in Iran, and it can even be said that they only send a part of their troops to fight symbolically because of their direct alliance with China. This can be seen in the number of troops they have contributed and in the positions where they are deployed at a later stage. Not only did they abandon the border area, but even the main forces were out of range of our single-engine attack aircraft. This means that our land forces need to go deep into Iran before they can engage the Americans. They have no intention of fighting us anytime soon. This is a very good opportunity for us to temporarily concentrate the main forces of the air force in the north and concentrate on the Chinese and Iranian air forces. And when the field airfield in the south was built. We will push forward one by one and launch an attack on the US-British coalition forces. Richthofen once explained this to the Kaiser.

The Germans had realized that in the war in Iran, Germany's biggest opponent was Huaxia, so whether it was the Air Force's operational plan to attack northern Iran with a hit force, or the German Army's strategy of attacking the south, the ultimate goal was to target Huaxia. As soon as the two sides attacked, they used almost all their strength, and in the early morning of the second day after the German Foreign Office issued a declaration of war, the Luftwaffe decisively launched an unprecedented large-scale air campaign.

The Germans covered as wide the range of their attack planes as possible, carefully planning the attack routes of each wing according to the range and bomb load of the aircraft. Overall. Their air offensive in the northern theater was divided into two parts, a front-line tactical attack group and a campaign attack group.

The composition of the front-line tactical attack aircraft group consisted mainly of BF109 fighters and dive bombers. Their mission was to attack the Chinese Army units, transportation hubs and military stations in the area between 400 KM and 500 KM from the airport. In order to attack Kirkuk, the deployment of its troops was generally relatively close to the border area, so as to shorten the attack distance and supply distance as much as possible, and the German aerial reconnaissance and underground intelligence network in the early stage had already gained insight into this, so in order to ensure the safety of the oil fields in the two river basins, the Luftwaffe at the request of the German General Staff focused on the front line of the Chinese troops at the beginning of the war. In order to weaken the opponent's combat power as much as possible.

The composition of the campaign attack aircraft group is much more complex, with the fighters dominated by the BF109 and BF110. The bomber is a mixture of JU88 and HE111 bombers. Because of the long range, the Luftwaffe believed that relying solely on the combination of BF109 fighters and auxiliary fuel tanks could only theoretically guarantee escort. In actual combat, the BF109 is likely to throw away the auxiliary fuel tank because of the opponent in advance. This does not guarantee the combat radius. Therefore, the Luftwaffe knew that the performance of the BF110 as a fighter was not outstanding, so it could only bite the bullet. The latter two types of bombers carry out dive bombing and horizontal bombing missions respectively.

Compared with single-engine dive bombers, the Luftwaffe was equipped with medium bombers that were much stronger in terms of quantity and quality, which coincided with history. Later generations of military enthusiasts in general knew how the German JU87 Stuka bomber was. But in fact, both in terms of production and role, the core strength of German bombers has always been twin-engine bombers. It was the JU88, HE111 and Dornier bombers that really contributed to German expansion, not the single-engine bombers.

The range of these medium bombers covers all military-related targets, such as railway dispatch stations, factories, transportation hubs, power plants, radar stations, etc. Even civilian facilities that can be converted to military use are within the scope of the attack. For a time, the entire northwestern region of Iran trembled under the wings of German bombers.

However, to Huaxia's surprise, the Germans did not commit to strategic bomber wings such as the Lancers, and the giant war engines that had been fighting in Italy did not appear on a large scale in the first wave of attacks. According to the German style of play. In order to shorten the war as short as possible, they will usually do everything in their power to attack their opponents in the first wave of attacks. If the Italian war took the other side by surprise. The Germans had to warm up slowly and not well prepared in order to reach their full strength. So what was the purpose of the Germans in this war? This makes many people wonder.

"It's hard to say what the situation is at the moment. I only have one guess, whether it is correct or not depends on the situation of the battle in the past few days before making an analysis. Qin Yue faintly felt the idea of the Luftwaffe, but he didn't know whether this tactic was aimed at himself or Britain and the United States. Because both the Chinese rear base in northeastern Iran and the British bomber base in southeastern Iran were a nail that had to be pulled out for the Germans, but it is not known where this heavy hammer will end up!

"The three-color sword squadron is normal. We have flown near the target area and have not found a large group of aircraft from the opposing side. There are some little guys scurrying around us, it should be the American P40 fighter and some new aircraft from the Huaxia. The situation is now under control, and bomber units can enter the area. "Captain Falke, who was in charge of the twin-engine fighter fleet, after observing the situation around him, sent a report to the bomber formation in the distance. At this time, the BF110 fighter group under his command was cruising 50 km west of Tehran, and their mission was to attack a large military airfield in Karaj, which, according to German intelligence, was an important pillar of the entire Iranian capital's air defense circle and was a target that had to be destroyed.

"Boss, the bomber formation behind has called back. Said to wait. They need to wait for the BF109 fighter formation behind them to arrive before attacking. It probably takes at least 20 minutes. The machine-gun shooter and radio operator in the back seat reported.

"It seems that the guys in the bomber unit are really scared in Italy, and they are all cautious. The other side is taking off fighters at the airfield, waiting until those BF109s are in place, and then flying over, I'm afraid that Huaxia and the Americans have already seized the advantageous position. Captain Falck looked at the group of fighters rising in the distance and shook his head. At first, he did have the idea of attacking the other side's airfield, but the constant appearance of small crews around him and anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground made him throw a mouse. A 4-plane formation tried to strafe targets on the airfield tarmac, but before entering the attack position, it was frightened back by a dense range of 90MM anti-aircraft guns and 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns. There are only 2 squadrons in his own hands, and one of the squadrons is temporarily allocated to himself. AFTER HESITATING, HE GAVE UP THE PLAN TO ATTACK IN ADVANCE, AND FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF EQUIPMENT, THE BF110 FIGHTER WITH ONLY 20MM CANNON SEEMED TO HAVE NO BETTER ATTACK METHOD EXCEPT STRAFING.

Although Falck was somewhat unhappy with the timing of the entry of the bomber unit. But it's kind of understandable.,Or maybe it's forced by the form.。 While the Italian war caused the Luftwaffe to suffer heavy losses, it also learned a lot. Long-range bombing looks like a beautiful thing, but it faces opponents of the same level. The slightest carelessness in planning can cause heavy losses, and with the popularity of such a thing as radar. The opponent can spot the incoming aircraft group at a greater distance, and then calmly concentrate its forces to deal with these intruders. Long before the official attack. The cross-border flights of both sides have already begun. The German pilots, having lost several aircraft, finally had a certain understanding of the speed of reaction of the Iranian air defense forces, as well as the laws of their actions, and, based on intelligence, developed today's battle plan.

The group attacking Karaj is divided into three parts, namely the BF110 twin-engine fighter group responsible for hitting the front station and clearing the field, the JU88 bomber and accompanying aircraft group responsible for attacking the target, and the BF109 fighter group taking another route.

The first to set off is the BF110 fighter unit, their task is to build an air safety corridor in the air for the follow-up bombers, the fighter escort for the bomber is not only accompanied by the escort can be called escort, enter the battlefield in advance and then suppress the opponent's fighter over the airport is also a way to escort, and if the action is more hidden, then before the opponent's large number of aircraft take off, make full use of the altitude and energy advantage BF110 is also possible to have an advantage. What's more, the task of the escort fighters is to ensure that the bombers can carry out the bombing mission safely, and if the opposing fighters are willing to engage the fighters responsible for clearing the field, the Luftwaffe does not mind fighting with the numerical superiority. Although the exchange ratio was not good because of the difference in aircraft performance, in the eyes of the Luftwaffe, it was undoubtedly a very cost-effective decision to exchange a twin-engine fighter for a twin-engine bomber, both economically and in terms of crew numbers.

In addition to frontal suppression, the sortie of the twin-engine fighter unit also disrupted the operation of the ground-based air defense radar, after all, it is easy to use the radar to find the target, but it is difficult to determine the opponent's aircraft type. A bunch of light points flew by on the radar, how do you determine if this is a twin-engine fighter or a bomber? The core of the task of the defending side is to deal with bombers. Fights with fighter jets should be avoided as much as possible. But when opposing fighter jets are blocked over your airfield, engagement is inevitable.

Generally shortly after the departure of a twin-engine fighter. The bomber formation and accompanying escort planes would take off, and their cruising speed would be slower than that of the twin-engine fighters coming forward. In order to confuse the opponent as much as possible or avoid possible interception, the German bomber force did not follow a straight line, but a broken line. The principle of air defense of the Germans was basically that each wing had its own control zone, and in general, each one swept the snow in front of the door. The Germans believed that the air defense forces of China were also matched in the same way, and such an erratic route could bring more trouble to the opponent's defense. And this is indeed the case, and on the first day of air battles, there were mistakes in air defense in many areas. It has a certain impact on scheduling.

As for the group of BF109s acting alone, what do you say? It's not so much an escort as a disguised safari. Thanks to the voyage of sorrow. The range of the BF109 on the drop fuel tank is also not rich. But the good flying performance made the aircraft one of the top fighters of its time. (At the beginning, the BF109 and Spitfire were actually half a pound, the former could maneuver with negative G, and the latter could maneuver better horizontally.) In order to extend the combat radius as much as possible, the BF109 fleet needs to fly at the most economical speed at the most suitable flight altitude. (Historically, the BF109 has a record of flying for more than 5 hours on the auxiliary fuel tank, of course, this speed is more sad.) And try to avoid fighting your opponent too early and throwing away the fuel tank. Under the many restrictions, these fighters with complete air superiority can only choose to go all the way on their own, and they are not forced to enter the interception zone with their own attack aircraft group, as long as they can consume the combat power of the opponent's fighters.

And this set of combination punches played by the Germans with superior forces did cause some trouble to Huaxia in the early air raids. Many fighter units that were supposed to go to a certain area to support encountered the BF109 on a safari mission shortly after departure, which affected the entire combat deployment. The Germans will learn in the war, and China, which has been bombed, is also learning. For example, in this campaign, Huaxia first placed a large number of fighters on the rear airfields, and at the same time prepared a number of alternate airfields and temporary airfields for the fighters participating in the war. This decentralized arrangement greatly reduces the probability of aircraft being destroyed at the airport. At the same time, the application of new fast twin-engine aircraft and anti-aircraft rockets also cost the Luftwaffe blood.

The air battle that broke out over Karadi, located in western Tehran, can be seen as the first collision between the new Luftwaffe attack system and the Chinese air defense system. The two sides fought on a large scale, and almost always at their best. The BF109 fighters, who were responsible for escorting the bombers, were lucky enough to reach the battlefield. And the Huaxia Air Force, under the guidance of the ground command, has also concentrated the strength of a wing or so! The number of aircraft on both sides reached about 300. It was the largest engagement on the first day of air combat.

"The opposing bomber unit has already entered the field. Dominated by medium bombers, you'll be covered by two squadrons of Ishcha Falcon fighters and a squadron of Spitfires, who will clear the way for you. I wish Haidongqing new brilliance. Xu Huaiyuan, who served as the squadron leader of the Haidongqing Interceptor Wing, heard the voice of the ground tower guide in his ears, a few minutes later. He saw white tracks appear on his left side, formed by the condensation of the gases emitted by the fighter jet's flight. It seems that the brothers of the fighter detachment have arrived, and the big drama can begin!

"To be honest, I don't like Tiger Cats, I prefer Foxbats on the other." Xu Huaiyuan said to his partner in the back row.

"Hehe, in fact, it would be more suitable for you to be a fighter pilot, the Foxbat fighter is indeed better in air combat, but if you only destroy the opponent's bomber and its own defense performance, the Tiger Cat is superior, at least the latter has more firepower, and there is an armored cab. Just one short burst shot can smash a bomber to pieces, as for the defensive performance? At least we won't be too afraid of Erikon's 20MM high-explosive shells. As a heavy, that's important. The latter said with a smile that the death rate of the shooter in the back seat is the highest relative to the person in the front seat. So it doesn't matter to him how well the air combat performance is, anyway, it's not a full-time air combat aircraft, and the most important thing is to save his life first.

"The battle began. Let's see if the bombers of the Germans did a little stronger than before! Xu Huaiyuan said on the radio. Then he took his squadron and prepared to attack. Xu Huaiyuan's interceptor squadron consisted of a total of 16 planes, organized into four four-finger formations. Each formation in turn launched a rocket attack on the Luftwaffe bomber unit, and in less than 10 seconds, a formation of aircraft could fire nearly 50 rockets. The speed of the rocket at this time is not fast, the speed is just over the speed of sound. It takes about 4 seconds to fly to a target a kilometer away. So Xu Huaiyuan plans to get closer, and launch the first round of attacks when they are about 700 meters away from the target, and then they either climb or dive, and then launch a cannon attack, they have simulated this attack many times, Xu Huaiyuan is still relatively sure of this, according to his words, at least the opponent's formation can be dismantled.

Thanks to the book friend Immortal Legend, zhouyu1976, hukaikaka for the reward~~~, and the book friend anhei016 for the monthly pass support ~~~. The recommendation week has ended, and the author's promise of at least 5,000 words a day of updates has been achieved, although it has met the review, but it is definitely not in arrears! It's not easy to write on the side until now.,I hope you have the ability to support it.,Thank you for this~~~.。 (To be continued......)