On the German Eastern Front, in a hidden field airfield in the Southern Theater of Operations, a young pilot is talking to his captain. They were flanked by a camouflage net supported by wooden sticks, which looked like a weed from the sky, but in this camouflage net was a charming Ta-152 fighter with a black tulip painted on the nose.

This aircraft, like most of the Ta-152 fighters on the Eastern Front, did not change anything special. The only difference is that the record of this plane, which should have been drawn under the cabin, was moved to the tail of the plane, because there are so many records of this plane.

A full 190 aircraft, this is the current record of the German superfighter ace pilot Hartmann, who has only been in combat for almost a year now, and in this year, he is able to shoot down an enemy plane in an average of one and a half days.

The commander of the fighter unit, General Garland, once joked to the people around him: "We don't need to produce fighter jets, we just need to produce Hartman." This terrible feats brought Hartman great glory as the youngest captain fighter pilot in the Air Force and the first person in the Air Force to receive the Knight's Iron Cross with a jewel-like leaf sword.

Even Air Force Admiral Catherine enviously commented on Hartman's personal honors: "God, if I am not promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in my lifetime, then I will not even be able to compare with Hartman." In terms of medals alone, he is almost twice as many as me. ”

Of course, the object of his complaint was Admiral Dönitz, and the admiral was also helpless, and spread his hands to Admiral Catherine to complain: "Do you think I don't have this problem? I have 5 submarine captains with a higher rank than me, not only your air force has a Hartman, our navy also has a name named Prien." ”

At this moment, Hartman's squadron leader is discussing the issue of jet fighter equipment with the legendary pilot: "I heard that this new aircraft can easily fly at speeds close to 700 kilometers per hour. I believe that in the future, this kind of aircraft, which can fly faster and higher, will definitely become the mainstream of the Air Force. ”

"If we can shoot down the enemy faster, then what do we pilots do?" Hartman smiled and pointed to the towering 88mm anti-aircraft cannon not far away, and said to his squadron leader, "The shells fly much faster than the planes, but they don't turn." ”

"But I have heard that the air defense forces of the capital have officially been converted to jets, and that it was ordered by your most revered Führer himself. The squadron leader looked at the novice pilot trainees who were running in the distance with his hands behind his back, and continued to Hartman: "Didn't you say that the Führer's words are always right. ”

"Of course! The Führer was right. Hartmann nodded, then stubbornly pointed to the Ta-152 fighter behind him, which the Soviets called the Black Reaper, and said firmly: "Because good pilots can't be mass-produced, the Führer can only mass-produce faster planes to meet the needs of rookies who can only dive and fire." ”

"Haha. The squadron leader laughed, and then nodded Hartman with his hand: "You, when you mention flying, you are sharp like a killer." Normally, when you're in the dormitory, you're at least a hundred times softer than you are now. ”

Putting away his smile, the squadron leader looked at the fighter that had won countless honors for the entire squadron, the entire brigade, and even the entire Eastern Front Air Force, and asked solemnly: "So, Captain Hartman, do you agree that our squadron will take the lead in replacing it with a new ME-239 jet fighter?"

"Yes. Hartman scratched his face with his fingers, then replied, "At least a few other squadrons are ready, let's apply." After all, we were a little more experienced when flying old fighters. And I hated the new weapons, and I hated the feeling of being in the sky all the time on the lookout for planes to malfunction. ”

It is important to know that in the process of assembling a weapon and equipment, it is not immutable, on the contrary, this large-scale refitting is a long and repeated process of modification, not that Hartman despises new types of weapons and equipment, but that the latest weapons and equipment are often synonymous with unreliability.

In the cold and thin air of the air, in the air battle of pulling and circling each other, Hartman needs to keep the plane he pilots in the best working condition at all times, and even a momentary hesitation can change the outcome of an air battle. The sense of control that Hartman has built up over time with his fighter jet is an indescribable and wonderful connection.

If you change to a new plane, challenge the air flow and the enemy, a knee-jerk action will make you doomed, and when you reach for a button and find that it is not there, it is definitely a terrible disaster. It's like the feeling of despair after changing the keyboard and often typing the wrong text.

So Hartman himself is very cautious about the replacement of new jets. At least at such times, he was reluctant to take risks, and as a fighter pilot who spent thousands of hours in the sky, he seemed more willing to give his life to the Ta-152 fighter he was more familiar with.

"The above order, we want to strengthen the battlefield control of the southern airspace in the next few days. Finishing the previous topic, the squadron leader began to talk about the recent assignment: "It seems that the bomber unit is being transferred from the Western Front...... You know, we're a lot more fuel-rich than we were six months ago. ”

"There's nothing wrong with that, just send more fighters on patrol. The Soviets rarely sent aircraft to intercept our fighter patrol formations, and recently the Soviet Air Force seemed to be concerned about air defense near Kursk, where I shot down 6 enemy aircraft...... "Hartmann recalled.

"In the afternoon, the two of us will go for another lap. The squadron leader patted Hartmann on the shoulder, and then said in a pretending manner: "Hehe, since we have replenished so much aviation fuel, it is not too much for us to fly one more time." As he spoke, he turned and walked towards the runway, where the new trainee pilots had finished their run and were standing neatly waiting for their squadron commander to begin his lecture.

It is no longer news that the Soviet forces in the Kursk direction are shrinking, and General Guderian is slowly advancing the line of Army Group G to the north, biting Zhukov's armored cluster and preventing this force from easily moving north to Moscow. Zhukov's means of transferring the armored forces to the area south of Moscow were well known, but the Germans could not mobilize too many troops for a while to launch a fierce attack on the Soviet armored forces in the center.

The German Army Group G has been ****ing its wounds since the last Battle of Kursk, when it was forced to retreat by Zhukov's cluster. The addition of more and more King Tiger tanks also made General Guderian's waist harder and harder, and his troops could not bear the loneliness more and more than ten days ago, and began to tentatively advance northward.

Along the way, the German 1st Panzer Army was overwhelmed, capturing several important village strongholds and tearing through part of the Soviet flank, but never met the massive resistance of the Soviet Red Army. Compared with Army Group G, which was gradually strengthening, Zhukov's armored group was indeed now in decline, at least in terms of the number of tanks, the Soviet armored forces could no longer achieve overwhelming superiority.

"Zhukov's troops are moving north, and the number of troops he draws is small, but they are all relatively elite main forces. "Guderian was in his armored command vehicle and pressed his palm near Kursk. He had been silent for almost a month, which made him feel uncomfortable, known as the twin of the empire: "Blocking our advance are some tank destroyers converted from T-26 tank chassis, and some scattered infantry units, we should quickly launch a tentative assault to find out the position of the core defense line of Zhukov's cluster." ”

"The 3rd SS Panzer Division was already attacking to the northeast, and the farthest units had already reached the area. The chief of staff pointed to the map and reported to Guderian the latest progress of the troops: "The reconnaissance unit of the 1st Panzer Army met Soviet resistance in the eastern area of Kursk, and they reported that the enemy had T-34 tanks, which should be the main force of the Soviet Union. ”

"The Air Force is working hard to destroy Zhukov's lines of communication, we have attacked the nodes and railway lines, as well as villages along the way, and DO-217 bombers have been sent out to carpet bomb several of the highlighted areas. Without waiting for Guderian to make inquiries, the liaison officer of the Air Force gave a briefing on the actions of the Air Force. In the past few days, he has also straightened his back, because the reduction in the scale of bombing caused by the lack of oil has been completely alleviated, and the current air force units are attacking dozens or hundreds of sorties every day, suppressing the Soviets unspeakably.

"It's time to carry out Operation Plan 2. Guderian nodded, withdrew his gaze from the map, grabbed the walkie-talkie hanging on the bulkhead of the armored car, and commanded loudly into the microphone: "I'm Guderian, pick up the wolf's den for me, Marshal Brauchitsch...... I'm Guderian, and based on the intelligence analysis fed back by the reconnaissance troops, I feel that the time is ripe to implement Operation Plan 2. ”

Field Marshal Brauchitsch was silent for a moment on the other side of the phone, and then he replied: "Then, General Guderian, you can prepare for the attack." I will then report the situation to the Führer, and if the Supreme High Command has no other opinion, I will have no opinion. ”

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I still have to apologize to everyone, I'm really sorry to update it so late.