Fleeing like a flight in an infantry fighting vehicle, Major Anderson's doubts were not unique to him.

On the first day of the "Operation Typhoon", on the 100-kilometer Armenian border, from the dawn of the sky to the west, the NATO ground forces that acted as the vanguard of the attack encountered strong resistance from the Soviet Seventh Guards Army.

In the face of a large-scale invasion by multiple forces and a vigorous and well-equipped enemy, the front-line units of the Seventh Guards Army carried forward the glorious tradition of "attacking for the sake of attacking"; they not only relied on the support of front-line aviation and long-range ground firepower of group armies and divisions to hold the defensive line, but also launched a powerful tactical counterattack in many areas, successfully repelling the frantic attacks of NATO ground forces in almost all areas.

After a whole day of desperate fighting, and under the battlefield conditions that neither side had gained air supremacy, the Soviet Red Army and the NATO coalition forces, two powerful forces with very different equipment systems and operational principles, once again met on a narrow road, and although the Americans' repeated offensives consumed the strength of the Seventh Guards Army, they themselves also suffered heavy losses in the high-intensity confrontation. In the face of this extremely difficult situation, the US military, which has always been accustomed to asymmetrical warfare and has just recovered from the shadows of Central Europe, can only reluctantly admit once again that without the backing of powerful air power, even the elite of NATO's combat sequence will not be able to break through the ironclad defense of the Soviet Guard.

To put it bluntly, a simple land battle cannot win a polar bear, and this has become a consensus from top to bottom of NATO.

Since the war situation is so unfavorable, what is NATO's tactical air force, which NATO has always been proud of, at a time when fierce fighting on the front line of the Caucasus is raging and the ground forces are struggling?

This question, the Soviet front-line aviation could give an answer.

Just a few days ago. In accordance with the deployment of the Supreme Command of the Union of Soviets. Anticipation of an imminent all-out NATO offensive on the Caucasus front. The Soviet Red Air Force and the Territorial Air Defense Force seized the opportunity to adjust their deployment and made the necessary combat preparations.

With the completion of the mobilization of the first phase of the Soviet Union's wartime system, the front-line aviation in the Caucasus theater has been greatly strengthened, and several veteran front-line fighter regiments equipped with the latest MiG-29M fighters have been stationed at military airfields in Georgia.

At the beginning of the war, in the face of NATO's tactical air force, which was technologically superior and not far superior in numbers, the Soviet front-line aviation broke out with extremely strong combat effectiveness on the first day of the implementation of "Operation Typhoon." Although the commanders and fighters of the front-line units were not fully aware of Moscow's true strategic intentions. However, as soon as the order of "hold on for a week" was issued, the pilots, who had the belief that the war would be won, took to the air without hesitation, spilled blood in the sky under the vast blue sky of the Caucasus, defended the ancient and long-suffering land of Transcaucasia with their blood and lives, and resisted most of the air pressure for the ground troops!

In the face of an aggressor armed to the teeth, the battle was unprecedentedly tragic but epic.

In the face of a large-scale offensive by NATO's tactical air force, the front-line aviation of the Soviet Air Force, which also went all out, maintained a situation of more than 100 fighters in the air in the Caucasian theater at any time, and single-handedly undertook a relatively unfavorable exchange ratio, but it has been stubbornly pressuring NATO fighters who tried to fly to the airspace over the theater to drop bombs and air attacks.

in the sky. Groups of combat planes rushed back and forth, and one after another fierce battles broke out one after another. In the sky over Armenia, which is only 200 kilometers wide from east to west, the intensity of fighters on both sides exceeded that of the English Channel, which was also full of fierce battles, for a while!

Under the vast sky, between the rolling gray clouds, hundreds of fighter planes meet in a narrow way in the wind and thunder all the time, making them fight to the death with all their skills. In the fierce battle, the flying missiles pierced the sky, the fury of the aircraft guns illuminated the sky, in the face of the US Air Force painted with the Stars and Stripes and the Turkish accomplices of the crescent moon and white stars, the MiGs with the red stars shining on the wings forgot to die and fought bloodily, the explosions and fires almost reflected the clouds on the horizon, and the momentum of the rainbow offensive was so fierce that it seemed to tear the sky apart at once!

Such a tragic and vicious battle and astonishing combat losses surprised the Americans, or rather, completely unexpected.

Before the start of the war, it took a great deal of time to complete the operational preparations for Operation Typhoon, and after the previous month of air suppression, the US Central Command was convinced that Russian air power had been severely weakened; Although the terrible "Caucasian Grim Reaper" still haunts the war zone, no sensible general will be intimidated by a single person, and no matter how terrible the "Grim Reaper" is, can he still win a war alone?

It is precisely because of complete confidence in NATO's air force that NATO, which has received reinforcements from its own aircraft carrier battle group and air force, has replenished a considerable number of warplanes and personnel, that NATO, which is ready for ground forces, has launched a ground offensive with great ambition.

But when the war actually started, the situation was completely different.

In the face of the explosive attack of the Soviet Air Force, which received a dense number of targets that exceeded the processing capacity of the equipment, the E-3A "Watchtower" early warning aircraft hovering in western Turkey unexpectedly made frequent command errors, and the battlefield became completely chaotic for a time; However, at such a time, the call for support from the ground forces was so urgent, and in the face of the "saturation defense" of the Soviet Red Air Force, the frustrated US Central Command was forced to similarly order the front-line troops to be dispatched.

In the entire Caucasus theater of operations, the forward airfields of the USSR and NATO were almost all overloaded, and on the third day of the fiercest battle, more than two hundred and forty warplanes from both sides gathered over the cramped skies of small Armenia!

With so many jet fighters, the originally open combat airspace suddenly became extremely narrow, and the IFF and formation combat principles have almost become a kind of ornament, and the fighters of both sides in the vicious battle are completely rushing forward in a swarm, drawing swords and fighting each other, this kind of almost complete abandonment of BVR air combat style of play makes NATO pilots very uncomfortable.

In the absence of tight air command, the Russians fought to the death and suffered casualties, and the pilots flew the fighters around the opponent and cursed on the radio. However, despite the heavy losses, they had to do so, because the battle on the ground was becoming more and more sinister, and they had lost the uninterrupted fire support of the tactical air force, and the so-called elite American GIs and their "Abrams" tanks, let alone advancing to break through the Russians' defenses in depth, were not even sure whether they could hold the positions they had occupied!

In this way, a few days after the start of the war, NATO's 200,000-strong army and countless heavy equipment still faltered on the undulating terrain of Armenia.

Although after continuous fierce battles, the spearhead of NATO's offensive has advanced to less than 10 kilometers from Yerevan, the capital of the Armenian Republic, and the architectural outline of this ancient city can be seen from the telescope, but in the face of the fighting spirit and fierce combat power of the Soviet Guards Seventh Army, the US First Cavalry Division, which the command has high hopes, can no longer move forward.

Progress on the frontal front was slow, and there was no good news on the battlefield behind enemy lines.

Before the launch of Operation Typhoon, the NATO command had wishful thinking that Armenia and other Transcaucasian countries had many grievances with Russia in the past, and had specially formulated a well-thought-out infiltration and sabotage plan for this purpose.

Immediately after the launch of the offensive on all fronts, a small group of NATO fighters tried to carry out airborne assaults or special operations behind the Soviet defense line in between the offensive and detours; However, contrary to what was expected, these infiltration forces were surrounded and attacked by the local militia and internal security forces as soon as they landed, and the imaginary "popular base" was completely lost, and almost all of them were wiped out without return.

The reason for this is that the Armenians, who were really suspicious of the Red Empire, were completely enthusiastic in this war in which Turkey participated; After centuries of fighting with the Ottoman Empire, especially the massacre of 1915, the Armenians may have some complaints about Russia, but they have a complete hatred for the Western camp that has co-opted Turkey. With such a feeling, the Armenian border guards stationed on the southern border, although they were not well equipped, were like mad tigers in battle, especially when facing their old enemy Turkey, they were completely furious to the point of trembling!

The outright deathless style of fighting, and the terrible legends that circulated everywhere, silenced the Turkish servants who fought with the American army for a while, and later began to resist any offensive orders.

The eastern front of the Caucasus, which was full of wolves, was plunged into a tug-of-war of blood and fire for a time, and faced the eastern Caucasus, which had deployed 70 percent of the front-line aviation units in the entire theater, was indeed a little helpless for a while.

This is the case in the east for the time being, but hundreds of kilometers away in Georgia, the battle over the vast Black Sea is a completely different story.

According to the overall deployment of "Operation Typhoon", which is very different from the ground offensive on the eastern front, NATO's tactics on the western side of the Caucasus are mainly airborne assaults, supplemented by ground offensives; According to the unified command of the US Central Command, the 101st Air Assault Division, the 82nd Airborne Division and other ace units are all gathered in eastern Turkey, preparing to directly attack the Georgian transportation town of Sukhumi.

However, such a well-planned battle plan was not launched for a long time when the "Typhoon operation" had entered its third day.

If you want to say the reason, it is actually very simple, no matter how heroic and good the troops of the 101st Division and the 82nd Division are, they are just a group of vegetables to die in front of the Soviet front-line aviation; In order for the elite of these United States to play a surprise role, rather than being beaten by Russian warplanes on the way, NATO's tactical air force must guarantee absolute battlefield air supremacy, which can be said to be difficult in the current Western Caucasus.

Because it is completely different from the eastern sky, the "Caucasian Grim Reaper" is smiling and wielding a blood-colored scythe in the sky!

And what's even more terrifying......

His temper has become more violent. (To be continued......)