Major General Sashkov, chief of staff of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Union and air commander of the mixed formation of the bombing of the positions of the independent division on the Sejingge River, already had the idea of retreating in his heart, not only the three fighter divisions, but also the situation faced by the bomber group in the face of the attack of the independent division's fighter group, which was defeated and retreated, and the situation faced by the bomber group that affected his decision.

Major General Sashkov had to admit that his opponent, Liu Cuigang, was an excellent commander, and the use of air combat tactics had reached the point of perfection; first, he used a similar number of fighters to meet his own escort fighter formation, and then took advantage of the fact that the two sides were fighting inseparably, and sent another part of the fighter group to attack his own bomber group.

Major General Sashkov received a bitter report from the commanders of the two bomber divisions, "Chief of Staff, the losses of the formation are more than one-half, and our escort fighters are simply unable to stop the fighters of the independent division, and the bombers are frantically attacking the bombers, and now, the surviving bombers, have completed the bombing mission, and I ask Comrade Chief of Staff, according to the specific conditions of the battlefield, to allow the bomber formations to return, otherwise, the losses will be even greater!" ”

In the reports of the commanders of the two bomber divisions, there was no mention of the bombing effect, and the expert Major General Sashkov, even thinking with the back of his head, also knew that the bombing effect was definitely unsatisfactory, quite bad, under the frantic attack of the enemy fighters, it could still accurately hit the bombing target, and the ghost believed it!

Colonel Meng Qingpeng, who temporarily served as the air commander of the fighter formation of the independent division, was keenly aware of the changes in the battlefield and was developing in a direction favorable to himself. Take off immediately and rush to the airspace of the Seguge River to attack the Soviet bomber group, allowing your regiment to pursue it for long distances! ”

Meng Qingpeng's order was well-founded, and the fighters of the two sides fought for nearly two hours, and according to the calculation of the fuel carried by the fighters, the time spent in the air basically exceeded 20 minutes, and the air battle was about to end. Even if the mixed fleet of Soviet troops retreats, its own fleet will not be able to catch up too deeply, and this is still in the case of carrying auxiliary fuel tanks, otherwise, it will not even be possible to return home.

The new 15th Fighter Regiment is different. When the full load of fuel plus the auxiliary fuel tank arrived, it was time to rush to the battlefield of air combat. It was the time of the retreat of the Soviet mixed fleet. It is possible to beat the Soviet bombers, even if the Soviet fighter group has the intention to block the attack, the fuel on the plane is not enough to support their entanglement. Otherwise, if you don't wait to fly back to the airport in Chita and other places, you will fall halfway, so. The 15th Regiment is a cheap way of playing.

Moreover, in Meng Qingpeng's mind, the most severe blow to the Soviet bomber formation can be permanently lifted, and the threat to Commander Sun's blocking position, without bombers, the threat to the ground position with the Soviet fighters alone will be reduced to the lowest point, if it were not for the small number of fighters in the reserve, Meng Qingpeng would even order the group to directly kill several field airfields of the Soviet army, beat him severely, and vent his evil anger for the fact that the commander was wounded.

Major General Sashkov finally gave the order to withdraw from the battlefield in mixed formations, the remnants of the Soviet bombers, such as amnesty, hurriedly turned around and ran back, under the cover of the Soviet fighter group fighting and retreating, gradually detached from the battlefield, Meng Qingpeng looked at the fuel gauge of his fighters, the pointer was close to the red danger zone, sighed hatefully, and ordered: "All formations, return immediately!" ”

In the sky, the tranquility was restored, the smoke of the war just now was blown away by the morning breeze on the steppe of Outer Mongolia, a big air battle was fought in the dark, the soldiers on both sides were dumbfounded, the Soviet soldiers, thinking that the air battle had passed, according to the order of the command, on the artillery positions of the Soviet army, one by one artillery raised their thick muzzles, and the engineering units of the Soviet army were ready to erect pontoon bridges on the Seguge River.

The attacking Soviet troops had already entered the starting point of the attack, and at this time, from the sky on the south bank of the Sejingge River, the roar of aircraft engines was heard again, so the terrible sirens echoed over the Soviet positions, and the Soviet commanders shouted: "Air attack!" All dispersed and hidden! Anti-aircraft artillery fire ready to shoot at the air! ”

However, the officers and soldiers of the Soviet army soon discovered that they were a false alarm, and more than 60 fighters of the independent division flew quickly from a high altitude and flew all the way to the north.

The 15th Fighter Regiment quickly caught up with the retreating Soviet aircraft group, pounced on it and attacked it fiercely, and moreover, it was only more than 60 fighters that attacked the bombers, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, making a mess of the Soviet mixed aircraft group, and one Soviet bomber after another, braving thick smoke and flames, rushed to the ground.

Major General Sashkov hurriedly ordered: "All fighter formations, immediately eliminate this group of fighters of the independent division and cover the return of the bomber group!" ”

But the answers of the commanders of each formation made Major General Sashkov very helpless, "Chief of Staff, the fuel of the aircraft is close to the alarm, and it can no longer support air combat, can no longer support air combat!" ”

In fact, when Major General Sashkov gave the order, he knew that his order was difficult for a strong man, not to mention the fighters who had been engaged in air combat, even the fuel of his own plane, there was not much left, just enough to fly back to Chita Airport, but he couldn't just watch the fighters of the independent division shoot down their own bombers so unscrupulously, and if they continue to fight like this, they will not wait for the return flight, I am afraid that there will be only a few left!

What can you do if you are unwilling, how many fighters can fight again? Unless Major General Sashkov orders all the fighters to beat up more than 60 fighters of the independent division, and then throw away the fighters that have run out of fuel, and the pilots parachute en masse, the air force of the Transcaucasian Military District will be completely annihilated, and nearly 700 fighters and bombers will be dispatched and none of them will return home, otherwise the fighters of these independent divisions can only be allowed to run rampant.

This is a continuation of the air battle just now, the 15th Fighter Regiment, has been chasing and killing the Soviet army's returning aircraft group, penetrating more than 400 kilometers into the north bank of the Sejingge River, before returning home, the Soviet fighters did not suffer any losses, but the bomber group suffered, and the remaining bombers were killed nearly half!

Major General Sashkov wanted to cry without tears, the large group of planes came violently, the lost troops were defeated, and they returned in despair, the specific losses have not yet been counted, and they must not be small, after returning to Chita, how can they explain to the commander Comrade Konev?

Major General Sashkov was thinking about how to explain to his superiors, and the commander of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Military District, Colonel-General Konev, was thinking about how to explain to the commander of the military district, General Kulygin.

Admiral Konev, who had been staying in the ground air command in Chita, knew very well about the process of the air battle and the results of the bombing, and this time, he had exhausted his hole cards and still did not get a bargain, but it was his own command error, or the fighter pilots cowered in the face of battle and did not dare to fight with the aviation of the independent division, or the tactical arrangements were improper, it was not, it could only be that his opponent was too strong and too cunning.

Admiral Konev suddenly had a sense of powerlessness, and with the mind of fate, he waited for the storm of General Kulygin.

On the north bank of the Sejinge River, at about seven o'clock in the morning of September 21, General Kurygin put down the telescope in his hand, his face gloomy, and he did not say a word, a sign before the storm.

The staff officers around him were silent, looking at the face of the comrade commander, and even walking and talking, they were doubly careful, and after staying in the military district headquarters for a long time, they all knew that this short-tempered commander was a ruthless master, and that unlucky guy did not have long eyes, and when he hit the muzzle of the gun, he would become an appetizer before the comrade commander moved the knife to the military district air force, as long as he was not blind, he saw the effect of the bombing, how to say, the hit rate was probably less than 1 percent.

The effect of destroying the positions of the independent division is basically equal to zero, "Those guys from the Air Force of the Military Region are going to be unlucky!" "All the staff officers secretly muttered to themselves in their hearts, for two days in a row, the Air Force has suffered a series of fiascos, and it has not achieved the results required by the campaign, and the grumpy comrade commander can spare the Air Force? I'm afraid there will be a lot of heads on the ground!

Not only the staff officers thought so, but also the chief of staff of the Military District, Lieutenant General Zirnianko, thought this way, before that, Commander Kurygin had to get rid of General Konev, and he felt sad for General Konev and the Air Force of the Military District, not that he did not do his best, if it is said that in the battle of the Sejingge River, he contributed the most and paid the greatest price, everyone would say, "The Air Force of the Military District!" "After all, even the two days of bloody fighting in the air were seen by everyone.

However, the war wants the result, not the process, and Zirnenko can only say that the luck of General Konev is really bad to the extreme, and when he meets such an opponent, as the chief of staff, although he has many ideas in his heart, he still has to think from the point of view of the commander of the military district.

Although it is very unrighteous to do so, and there is a suspicion of falling into the ground, there is no way, he is the chief of staff of General Kurygin, not the chief of staff of General Konev.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Zirnenko said tentatively: "Comrade commander, we have seen the bombing effect of the Air Force, it is very bad, I have prepared a telegram to report to the General Staff on the course of this air battle, the commander of the Air Force of the Military District, General Konev, has an unshirkable responsibility and must be responsible for this, this is the draft of the telegram, please read it, if you have no opinion, I will immediately order the telecommunications room to shoot it!" ”

General Kurygin took the draft of the telegram, read it carefully, a wry smile hung on the corner of his mouth, his brows furrowed and stretched, as if he had made up his mind, tore the telegram draft to shreds, and with a wave of his hand, the confetti drifted away with the morning breeze.

(To be continued)(To be continued......