The two fighters returned safely to the base one after the other and landed on the long runway of the airfield. There were more ground crews than usual, and two people were waiting to get to the edge with fire extinguishers.

The gripping combat ground tower just now is already known, but the final evaluation of the battle process depends on the flight reports of two people and the pilot's confession. Of course, the exact number of enemy planes shot down is not known, after all, the tower can only hear intermittently intermittent exchanges between the two planes.

Everyone knew that the two of them had a fight with Soviet planes in the air, but the specific process could not be judged by radio communication, everyone only heard that the squadron leader's plane had broken down in the sky, so they all came to the airport to see what was going on.

"Why is it smoking? Is it a problem with the gas circuit?" asked a ground crew member to the veteran soldier next to him. He was also one of the staff members in charge of inspecting the squadron leader's aircraft, and his mood was naturally very nervous now. The mechanical failure of this kind of aircraft during the mission can be regarded as one of the most stringent operational errors of ground crew.

If the procedure is followed and the source of the aircraft failure is finally checked, then the ground crew who inspect the area will be dealt with immediately, and in many cases they will be demoted or even fined salaries, and even punished for reducing supplies and even sent to the front line to join the combat unit. That is, the supply of mechanical maintenance talents in Germany is now in short supply, otherwise they will be shot directly.

If it is dealt with within the squadron, then at most everyone will have a meeting, and a few ground crews will apologize and share some supplies and cigarettes. If it goes to the brigade or even the General Staff of the Air Force, it will be the rhythm of peeling off a layer of skin.

The veteran frowned and shook his head, then replied, "If the oil circuit is broken, it is impossible for the smoke to be so strict...... When I heard that the engine was back running, I speculated that there might be a problem with the fuel additives that promote combustion. ”

He replied a little helplessly, if it is pushed to the fuel, then it will be a lawsuit with the logistics department and the industrial department, the advantage is that this lawsuit cannot be finished for a while and a half, then no one will be punished for this, the disadvantage is that this matter is estimated to be broken, then the personnel involved will only be more and more complicated.

"Don't talk nonsense, fuel is used by several troops, and I haven't heard of any problems!" The commander of the logistics unit on one side immediately set the tone for this matter, he didn't want to write materials to the Supreme Command, the Ministry of Industry, and the Air Force Staff because of such an accident, which would make him die a miserable death.

The two planes were firmly on the lawn, and the ground crew swarmed up and quickly helped the two pilots out of their planes. The squadron leader was choked by the smoke from the plane, and after crawling out of the plane, he could still see blackened marks on his face, and there were still residues from the fire extinguisher.

"Check this plane! See what's wrong!" The squadron leader has always been very calm, he did not blame his ground crew as soon as he got off the plane, but gave an order to investigate: "Don't record the cause of this failure in detail on the squadron flight record, and cover up the past casually with accidental events." This thing...... We worked it out ourselves within the squadron. ”

God forbid, since it is an internal solution, it is easy to say that all the ground crew let out a deep breath of turbidity. There is no problem with cigarettes and beer being distributed to everyone, as long as this matter is not investigated, it is definitely better to save a small life than to smoke without a cigarette.

"How's that Hardeman not messing with you, is it?" asked the pilot of the long plane who had flown with Hardeman last time as he approached the squadron leader and pouted. He had just gone to see two planes, and although the squadron leader's plane was out of order, it had all the cannon shells, but the Hardeman plane that had not failed had some 20mm cannon shells left. In this way, it seems that the facts are very clear, and it seems that the squadron leader covered Hardeman's safe return.

"He covered me, and I came back safely. The squadron leader remembered the moment when his plane malfunctioned, and he still had palpitations, at that time he had almost no vision, and when the malfunction was relieved, he realized that he had wasted all the shells because of his nervousness.

"Huh?" The pilot of the long plane was stunned for a moment, then looked at his squadron leader, and finally squeezed out this sentence: "Even if the Führer is sent to the front, the squadron leader, you don't have to give him your battle record for nothing, right?"

He didn't mean to exclude Hardeman, but he really didn't expect that Hardeman would be able to suddenly burst out with such amazing combat power after a delayed flight. Don't say it's him, if it's any person, I don't have the imagination to come up with such a scene as Hardeman's enemy eleven.

"Uh...... I only have one record today...... The rest of the enemy planes were shot down by Hardeman, who was very good today, shooting down ten planes. The squadron leader glanced at his men and said, "His flying skills are very ...... Amazing, yes, that's the word! Amazing! I decided to change the position, and the next time he does a long plane, I'll give him a wingman. ”

...... "God, earth, isn't that exaggerated? Are you trying to kill me?" The pilot of the long plane was about to cry. The squadron leader had one of the best flying skills and combat records in their squadron, otherwise he would not have been promoted to the commander of the first-line fighter unit in the talented Luftwaffe. That's a guy who wants to have a good job of fighting -- it's definitely a nightmare for such a good man to be willing to fly a wingman for someone else! Yes! A nightmare!

"Ten planes?" Another pilot walked over with Hardeman, and when he heard the squadron leader's words, he looked at his companion who was pinching his thigh in surprise, and then at Hardeman beside him, and asked in disbelief.

The other ground crews and pilots were amazed, they had never heard of a person who killed 10 planes in a single flight, and now that this person was in front of them, the shock was much more real than what they heard.

"Actually, it's actually nine. Hardeman felt compelled to tell the truth, so he scratched his blond hair and explained embarrassedly: "The last plane was parachuted by the Soviets themselves, and I didn't fire a shot." ”

...... "I'm a little ancestor, don't you dare to be more shameless?" Everyone felt that they couldn't cry and laugh, you said that you were modest and modest, why are you mentioning this at this time? I'm afraid that everyone will not be exciting enough, so let's take some fierce medicine? Suddenly, everyone has an idea: This world is too dreamy, not real at all.

"Hardeman, in the future, we will fly in teams, you will fly the long plane position, and I will fly the wingman to cooperate with you. The squadron leader smiled and patted Hardeman on the shoulder and said, "Let's go, go back and write the flight report, I have to hand it over to the brigade, write it in more detail." I'll teach you what you don't understand......"

"Squadron Leader...... Or do you fly the long plane, and I fly the wingman...... Me, I don't think I'm good at doing long machines. Hardeman was a little shy and said to the squadron leader, "How can I take your place, squadron leader?"

"It's not that I'm taking my place, but I think that if you fly a long plane, you will achieve even more amazing results!" said the squadron leader solemnly: "Do you remember what I said to you?"

He looked at Hardeman and whispered, "I said I didn't want to go through the 1919 tragedy, I'd rather die in the sky than watch my plane be destroyed and die in my bed." You're more suitable for the position of a long-plane than me, so I'll give you a wingman, and as long as we can defeat the enemy and let us continue to soar in the sky, I'll be your wingman, so what?"

Finally, he looked at the people around him, and then withdrew his gaze: "Hardeman, I saw your flight today, so I can tell you very responsibly and be your wingman, I don't feel ashamed!"

In the end, the facts also proved the squadron leader's prediction, and in the large-scale air battle between the two sides that occurred three days later, Hardeman and the squadron leader skillfully cooperated and shot down 15 Soviet fighters in one go, becoming the most dazzling pair of fighter partners on the Eastern Front.

The two of them began to use Hardeman's tactics to attack Soviet fighters in the air, and this very oppressive style of play made the Soviet Air Force very uncomfortable. With aircraft cover, Hardeman dared to try a more adventurous approach, often flying close to a distance before firing and then disengaging from the smashed enemy aircraft at high speed.

With the help of proficient flight skills, the two piloted the Ta-152, which was originally the best piston fighter in the world, and their style of play began to gradually move away from a single high-altitude dive attack, and instead used a more flexible grappling to attack the opponent at close range, using the Ta-152's amazing speed, they could very easily bite the opponent's tail with a somersault, and then easily shoot down those Soviet pilots who thought the Germans would not be able to fight dogs in the air.

Some time ago, 500 P-40 fighters from the United States to the Soviet Union arrived at the Soviet front, which caused the Soviet Air Force to feel good about itself, and Soviet pilots thought that they could fight a war. Therefore, the wave of counterattacks of the Soviet Air Force that appeared in late April and early May was quietly repelled by the new German fighters, and by mid-May, Hardeman's record had increased from zero to 31, and he became a super ace pilot of the Garland group.

On May 15, Hardeman received his Iron Cross, which was personally awarded by Group Captain Garland and hung on his collar. No one has ever won the Iron Cross so quickly, and it took Hardeman less than half a month from joining the war to receiving the medal. R1148