Tukhachevsky had two options, either abandon the Lightning program or continue to build up troops. It was natural and simple to abandon the plan, just let the paratroopers pull the talk, but Tukhachevsky was unwilling to give up, and his final choice was to continue to increase his troops.

According to the predetermined plan, the 4th and 5th brigades of the Airborne Forces were supposed to land in Unecha by transport aircraft after the 1st Guards Airborne Division seized the airfield. However, because the airfield was not captured for a long time, the two brigades had to stay on standby at the rear airfield.

Seeing that the situation in Unecha was not ideal, Tukhachevsky hit the idea on the two brigades: "Another airborne operation, after increasing the troops, we will definitely be able to capture the relevant targets of Unecha in one fell swoop!" ”

That's what Tukhachevsky thought and did. The 4th and 5th Brigades, which had been stuffy at the airport all day, were told that they immediately changed their airborne equipment and prepared for parachuting.

At 12 p.m., the exhausted 4th and 5th Brigades changed into parachute equipment and hurriedly boarded the plane an hour later and flew directly to Unetcha.

Tukhachevsky's courage in decisively increasing troops is admirable, but the approach is not necessarily reasonable, first of all, the 4th and 5th brigades were tossed very badly, not to mention the consumption of the whole day, and they had to be airborne in the middle of the night, which was simply fatal.

Secondly, according to the original battle plan, the two brigades were supposed to be airborne, and they should arrive in Unecha with a part of heavy equipment specially designed for anti-tank use. However, Tukhachevsky was so tossed that the support firepower that had been prepared to be airlifted over was left at the airfield, which directly led to the fact that in the face of the German armored forces in the future, the Red Army paratroopers would suffer a great loss.

At last. The Air Force cannot withstand such a toss-up either. Anti-tank guns and other supplies that had been in the engine room were hastily removed. Switch to parachute equipment, and then have to attack in the middle of the night. It is also a great challenge for pilots who have already had a busy day.

Let's put it this way, because of fatigue and hasty preparations, mistakes were inevitable, and in the confusion the 4th and 5th Airborne Brigades were stuffed into the engine room, and the commanders of the two brigades later discovered that most of the ammunition was not brought on board at all, and the paratroopers of the two brigades each carried only half a base of ammunition. What's that ammunition for?

Not only was the ammunition forgotten, but what was even more terrible was that the Red Army's transport pilots lacked experience in night flights, and at one point could not find a predetermined airborne landing site, so they circled around Unecha several times, and when the fuel siren lights sounded, the pilots had to let the paratroopers jump in a hurry.

This inevitably led to another catastrophe, as about two battalions of paratroopers were thrown directly into the city of Unecia, where they were almost a live target in front of the German garrison that was waiting for them. According to the recollections of the parties concerned, a third of the comrades died in the sky. Of the remaining two-thirds, a small half were captured by the Germans just after landing. The other half was caught up in the superior German firepower and could not move.

Commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 1st Guards Airborne Division Sergei. Sergeyev recalled: "At about three o'clock in the morning, I was awakened by the sound of German gunfire. At first I thought it was the German panzers coming, but I soon found out that the gunfire was coming from the city, and these damn Nazi dog mongrels were preparing for a night attack? Just as I was about to give orders to the battalions to prepare for battle, the roaring of engines came overhead, and countless transports and bombers were flying over me! ”

Sergeyev was a little puzzled, at first he thought that this was the air force coming to bomb Unechsa, but he did not receive relevant notice, until the white parachutes opened in the night sky, he exclaimed: "Damn, they are crazy, that's the city!" ”

The city is one of the forbidden areas of airborne operations, and a large number of buildings, wires, and other obstacles greatly hinder airborne operations, and cities are generally key fortified targets, and airborne in the city will inevitably be hit by the enemy's superior firepower, which is simply death!

Sergeyev, of course, could not watch his comrades die in vain, on the one hand, he called the transport planes and bombers overhead through the radio to tell them not to continue the airborne landing; On the other hand, he immediately ordered his main battalion to march to the airborne center, trying to pick up those unlucky comrades.

It's just that what Sergeyev didn't expect was that his call to the Air Force was useless, for the simple reason that the preparations for this airborne operation were too hasty, and the Air Force had not yet had time to send the contact code to the radiomen of the various crews. That is, the ground and the air are not connected at all. If it weren't for the Germans' resolute fire, the fire of light and heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns that woke up the crews that had not yet been airborne, perhaps the 4th and 5th airborne brigades would have been thrown into the city of Unechia, and it would have been a real disaster.

In fact, it is already a disaster, according to the establishment of the Airborne Forces, an airborne brigade has eight battalions, including 6 airborne infantry battalions and two fire support battalions, and it can be said that this mistake directly led to the reimbursement of almost a quarter of the combat effectiveness of an airborne brigade.

The paratroopers who were mistakenly thrown into the city were naturally unlucky, and those who narrowly escaped were no better. Because of the confusion, the remaining units of the 4th and 5th Brigades were airdropped into a square area 30 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide. It is simply impossible to quickly complete the assembly in such a vast area, not to mention the fact that the formation of the two armies has been completely disrupted.

In the following time, the two brigade commanders were busy gathering their troops, but there was not much time left for them. It was not Tukhachevsky who gave them time to die, but the Germans did not give them much time.

Why Tukhachevsky rushed into the 4th and 5th Airborne Brigades in such a hurry was entirely because Guderian and Kleist's armored troops moved too fast, Guderian said that he wanted Unecha's garrison to hold out for 48 hours, but he knew that he couldn't really pinch his watch and rush to Unecha, he had to hurry.

So before the 4th and 5th airborne brigades were airdropped, Guderian gave his forward troops a dead order: "Press the accelerator to the bottom and move at the highest speed that the tracks and wheels can maintain!" ”

And the advance of the 2nd Tank Group faithfully carried out Guderian's order, and it was really a galloping rush, after an afternoon and an evening of rapid march. They were already only two hours away from Unechia.

The 4th and 5th Airborne Brigades were extremely unlucky to be parachuted in the path of the German armored forward. If you can't complete the collection work in time. These scattered light infantry could really only rely on flesh and blood to resist the enemy's armored forces.

Time passed minute by minute, and after dawn, the Red Army paratroopers resumed their offensive one after another, for example, the 1st Regiment of the 1st Guards Airborne Division, which was frustrated in yesterday's attack, successfully stormed the airfield and controlled all the runways, leaving only a small group of German troops to resist stubbornly around the airport.

However, this little bit of progress did not make much difference to the bigger picture, what really mattered was the bridge over the river, which the Red Army paratroopers had to capture and destroy and hold off the German armored forces along the riverbank. Only these are the only things that have been done. It can be regarded as stopping the German army. And now, not to mention seizing and destroying bridges, the 2nd and 3rd paratrooper brigades can't even get close to the bridges!

"Tell them that no matter how difficult I am, no matter how difficult the enemy is, I only want to take and destroy those damned bridges, and there are no conditions for this!"

Tukhachevsky was furious, hung up the phone viciously, and then sullenly at the map on the table. After a long time. He called Arxnis again: "The Air Force should step up its support for Uneccha if necessary. Two more large-scale bombings could be considered...... Only by defeating Unecha's defenders will we be able to annihilate the enemy's main forces in one fell swoop! ”

After calling Arksnis, Tukhachevsky dialed Rokossovsky directly: "Can the Bryansk Front be faster, the situation in Unecha is very dangerous, you must race against time, you can't watch the airborne troops desperately swim around!" Comrade Konstantin, can you take on the appearance of a soldier and also take a stand! ”

When Rokossovsky put down the phone, his face was quite unpleasant, when did the Bryansk Front swim well? In order to catch up with the enemy as soon as possible, the two mechanized armies had already fought hard, scrapped more than 30 tanks in one day, replaced hundreds of gearboxes, and a considerable number of drivers were tired and fainted, and even some tankers suffered from heat stroke. Nima, have you heard that Russia will suffer from heat stroke in December? You can imagine how high the temperature in the car was due to the frenzied rush at that time.

It's all spelled out like this, and it's even called Youzai, Rokossovsky almost had to contradict Tukhachevsky at that time, but he endured and endured it before he held back the words. Yes, Rokossovsky was tempted to question Tukhachevsky at that time: "If you had informed the paratroopers of the relevant information earlier, explained it in advance, instead of temporarily catching the Bryansk Front and the Air Force by surprise, would it be like this?" ”

It is also true that Tukhachevsky's airborne play was too sudden, and the Air Force and the Bryansk Front were not prepared at all before, and had to temporarily revise their plans to cooperate with the Airborne Forces, and the relevant organizational work was too normal. And even in this unfavorable situation, the Bryansk Front is also trying its best to cooperate, but this is still considered not strong enough, you Tukhachevsky is really hurtful!

In fact, Tukhachevsky also regretted a little after putting down the phone, he was indeed a little unscrupulous just now, he knew in his heart that this time the Bryansk Front was indeed doing its best to cooperate with his plan, which can be said to be hard-working. But the situation on the battlefield is not ideal, he is in a hurry! If you are in a hurry, you can't take care of anything!

In fact, Tukhachevsky did not know that there was someone who was even more anxious than him, and this person was Guderian, whose face was darker than the bottom of the pot when he received the Red Army for the second airborne landing. He had already understood that the Russians had made up their minds to keep their troops, otherwise it would not have been possible to commit them to the airborne forces again and again at such short intervals.

Don't look at the airborne troops as light infantry, but their personnel quality requirements are extremely high, and it can be said that they are the top in the infantry. The average second-rate country simply cannot afford the cost of the Airborne Forces. And this time the Red Army threw almost three divisions of the Airborne Forces in one go, and this is not yet telling?

Guderian was worried that although the defenders of Unecha were still resisting stubbornly, who could guarantee that the Red Army would not continue to increase its troops? According to the information obtained before the war, the Red Army did not pay much attention to the Airborne Forces, and the size of its Airborne Forces far exceeded five divisions or more. Once the Red Army committed two more airborne divisions, even if it could not capture Unechia, it would become an obstacle in the way of the escape of the 1st and 2nd tank clusters.

So. Guderian was in a hurry. Repeated orders were given to the troops to accelerate their advance. In order to rush through Unecha before the landing of the third wave of the Red Army's airborne forces. Of course, Guderian did not know that he miscalculated the size of the Airborne Forces of the Red Army, the typical paratroopers of the Red Army were actually the size of three divisions (one paratrooper division and four paratrooper brigades), and the two divisions that were overestimated were actually air assault brigades (five brigades in total) attached to the KGB.

Airborne divisions and air assault brigades, it seems, all the way. But in essence, it is completely different. The former is mainly airborne operations, and is equipped with fixed-wing transport planes and large bombers as carrier aircraft. The latter, on the other hand, does not require soldiers to master parachute skills, but more to carry out missions in helicopters. The former has a larger combat radius, while the latter has a stronger build-up and assault capabilities.

And this time the blitzkrieg did not have the participation of the air assault units of the KGB, not that Tukhachevsky looked down on the air assault forces, nor was he unwilling to give credit to a certain immortal. It's because helicopters are so slow to move around, and it's too time-consuming to assemble helicopters that can deliver one or two air assault brigades. In order to gain time, Tukhachevsky could only let the Airborne Forces carry out the blitzkrieg alone.

To get back to the point, under Guderian's orders, the 2nd Tank Cluster Striker was in a frantic hurry. Finally, at ten o'clock in the morning of the next day, they arrived on the outskirts of Unecha and ran headlong into the 4th and 5th airborne brigades that had been airborne yesterday. An encounter broke out.

At the beginning, the unprepared paratroopers were ruthlessly crushed by the German armored forces, and the small group of paratroopers was not at all the enemy of the German tank armored vehicles, and it can be said that the German army was a long drive straight in. Fortunately, the commanders of the 4th and 5th paratrooper brigades quickly adjusted their deployment, ordering those paratroopers who had not yet gathered not to fight hard with the enemy, to let go of the enemy's sharp offensive spearhead, and to go to the enemy's rear to harass and attack.

This naturally avoided the loss of the troops, but it also made the German armored forces more rapid in their forward assault, according to the German commander Kabenz reported to Guderian: "Our troops are proceeding well, and will reach the city of Unecha in an hour at the latest." ”

However, this confident report was soon slapped in the face, and after continuing to advance for several kilometers, Kabenz was stubbornly resisted by the main forces of the 4th and 5th Airborne Brigades. A good show of light infantry fighting tanks began.

Years later, the Red Army paratrooper hero Amocinich would cry as he recalled the hard battle: "We were given orders to stop the Nazis and not allow a single enemy to enter Unechia...... However, the comrades did not have a clue about how to accomplish this mission, we were short of ammunition, and most of the fighters carried only four other magazines and four grenades with them, in addition to the one on the ASM-30 assault rifle (an improved version of the AS-30). That's all we have for ammunition. ”

"To make matters worse than the shortage of ammunition, we lack anti-tank weapons, the battalion is equipped with 100-mm recoilless guns and 76-mm ultra-light howitzers that are left at the airfield, and the only anti-tank we can use is RPG-7 rocket launchers, and we are also facing the dilemma of ammunition scarcity."

"As we all know, the RPG-7 rocket launcher is an easy weapon to use, but it is difficult to use well, although the maximum range is about 400 meters, but generally even the best shooters will not be able to hit the target at that distance. And the wind speed at that time was very fast, and the rockets of the RPG-7 were easily interfered with by crosswinds, and in order to destroy the enemy's tanks and armored vehicles, we could only put the enemy within 100 meters before fighting, and even quite a few comrades opened fire at a distance of thirty to fifty meters! ”

"This is hand-to-hand combat between light infantry and a torrent of ironclad armor, at that distance you only have one chance to shoot, and if you don't destroy the enemy, you will be destroyed by the enemy!" ”

This is definitely not a joke, the big problem with the RPG-7 is that the smoke and fire at the time of launch are too large, and at a distance of one hundred and ten meters, only a blind person cannot see the fire fired by the RPG-7. And once the bazooka shooter is exposed, wait for his soldiers to overwhelm the fire.

For example, Amocinich experienced: "The No. 3 tank was very fast, and the previous two comrades tried to attack it without success, and then they were all torn apart by the enemy's artillery fire and bullets. I'm the last bazooka player in the platoon, and if I can't destroy it, then it will kill all the remaining comrades...... I lassoed it firmly with my scope, then silently estimated the wind speed, and in order to be able to make sure that I could destroy the enemy, I waited until it was twenty meters in front of my side before I fired! The moment I opened fire, the enemy spotted me, and machine guns, mortars and howitzers came at me together......"

Speaking of which, Amocinic lifted his shirt, and you can see that his chest is covered with centipede-like wounds, and he says: "I have taken thirty pieces of shrapnel from my body, and ten more have been with me ever ......"

Amocinich destroyed the enemy's tank, and by the time he was carried off the battlefield by his comrades, he was almost already a bloody man. "We all thought Ivan was dead, but no one expected him to survive, and we lost too many brothers in those most difficult days............"

PS: Bow and thank you to Admiral Hood, xuyiqing1985, hzwangdd and Comrade Juventus!