Chapter 1659

As it gets colder and colder, it gets later and later. The first trial of the transport plane did not take place until 9 a.m.

When I received a call from general boleynin saying that the transport plane had taken off, I was always in a state of anxiety. I was always worried about the gain and loss in my heart. I was afraid that the enemy would find out our attempt and send a fight to intercept us.

Seeing that I had been walking anxiously around the headquarters, marinin enlightened me and said, "Rita, don't worry. I think today's trial will surely succeed. For the sake of safety, bolenin sent two fighters to each transport plane to escort. Even if the enemy sent out air force to intercept, it would not have any fighting back force. "

Malining's words made me feel a little relieved. I sat back at the table and said to kazakov, who had just returned to the headquarters today: "Comrade artillery commander, do you think you can send two anti-aircraft artillery divisions to the landing site on the other side to build a new air defense position there and protect the new route we are about to open up?"

"Comrade deputy commander," karzakov explained patiently to me after I finished saying, "we have six anti-aircraft artillery regiments in each of the two landing sites of magnushev and puwai on the West Bank, and the air defense force is sufficient. If more troops are drawn from the east bank, I am worried that air defense in Lublin and the surrounding areas will not be guaranteed. "

"Don't worry, general kazakov." Malining continued: "since September, German planes have never crossed the visva river. They have no strength to carry out air strikes in Lublin. I suggest that the air defense forces deployed here can be transferred to the visva river."

Seeing that karzakov frowned and began to think, I suddenly thought of the self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery which had been brilliant in the air defense battle before, and then tentatively asked karzakov, "how many self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiments do we have now?"

Kazakov hesitated for a moment and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, are you talking about the new type of dual 57mm self-propelled antiaircraft gun?" After getting my affirmation, he went on to say, "at present, there are more than 20 four door anti-aircraft artillery companies, which can just form two anti-aircraft artillery regiments."

It was said that there were still two self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiments left, so I immediately told khazakov: "send them to the West Bank, and arrange an anti-aircraft artillery regiment at a landing site." After telling karzakov, I said to malining with a smile, "chief of staff, I have seen the power of this kind of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun with my own eyes, which is completely comparable to the strength of an anti-aircraft artillery division. I believe that as long as they are deployed near the runway, no matter how many planes the enemy comes, there is no need to worry."

"Comrade deputy commander, you don't know something." As soon as I finished, karzakov said to me in embarrassment: "I have received the order from the superior, because this new type of antiaircraft gun has been discontinued. In order to prevent the manufacturing technology from being stolen by the German, if it is to be used, it must be authorized by the people's Commission of national defense."

After listening to kazakov, I almost want to curse my mother. This kind of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun came out almost at the same time as the t-5455 tank. It has been in the army for such a long time. It is estimated that the Germans have captured a lot of them on the battlefield, and even launched imitations. It's really unreasonable that the superior should put a curse on us at such a time and forbid us to use such powerful air defense weapons casually.

However, orders from the higher authorities are orders. It's OK to complain in private, but it's impossible to resist orders. Looking at the helpless kazakov, I said awkwardly, "Comrade artillery commander, since this is the case, let's deploy these two self-propelled high artillery regiments near Lublin, and transfer other anti-aircraft artillery units to the West Bank of the river."

When I spoke, I saw kazakov's lips move twice, as if trying to explain something, so I raised my hand to stop him, and continued: "as the chief of staff has said just now, German planes have not crossed the visva River since September, and I don't think they can take air strikes on Lublin in the next time, so I order you, All the air defense forces except the self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiment will be moved westward to advance our air defense positions to the banks of the viswa river. "

While we were discussing strengthening the air defense forces on the West Bank, trakov's phone call came in: "Rita, I have good news that the transport plane from Lublin has successfully landed at the temporary airport. I'm preparing the men to unload the supplies from the plane. "

"Great, that's great." When I heard the good news reported by trakov, the stone that I had been hanging in my heart fell to the ground, but I asked: "when the transport plane landed, it didn't attract the attention of the enemy, did it?"

"No, absolutely not." "I saw with my own eyes in the observation post that as soon as our transport plane flew over the visva River, it lowered its flight altitude and almost wiped the treetops. It was impossible for the enemy to find it," trikov said positively on the phone

"Well, I see." I told trakov, "now that a new transportation route has been opened, you should arrange for people to unload the cargo on the plane as soon as possible. There will be more planes landing at your landing site later."

"Don't worry, Rita." Trekov assured me confidently, "I've arranged for enough people to unload the goods. I believe that all the goods on the plane will be unloaded in half an hour."

The transport plane to the landing site of magnushev landed successfully. I then called kolpakchi to find out about his situation: "Comrade General, has the transport plane landed safely?"

"Yes, comrade deputy commander." "The plane has landed safely, and I'm organizing people to unload it," colpakchi said succinctly

"When landing, nothing happened, right?" I asked casually.

"It's no big problem," kolpakchi said disapprovingly. "When the transport plane landed, there was a German reconnaissance plane in the air, but the escort fighters had driven it away."

"What, a German reconnaissance plane?" When I heard that there was a German reconnaissance plane in the sky above pwawi, I couldn't help but feel nervous again: "I was just driven away, didn't I be shot down?"

"Yes, it wasn't shot down." From my tone, kolpakchi guessed what I was worried about, and quickly explained: "when the transport plane landed, the escort fighter had been circling in the air. When they found the enemy's reconnaissance plane, they immediately met it and drove the enemy away from the landing site."

From kolpakchi's report, I can hear that the German reconnaissance aircraft above the landing site may be performing routine reconnaissance tasks, but our transport aircraft should not be found. So after I put down the phone, I called Air Force Commander Pauline: "Comrade General, the two transport planes you sent have successfully landed at the landing site. Next, you can let all the transport planes take off in batches to airlift materials for the garrison on the landing site. "

"All right, comrade deputy commander." "At present, the airport is carrying out loading operation. In order to save time, I plan to take off one after loading, so as to improve work efficiency," polenin said politely

Considering that if this transport route is established, the scale of air transportation may become larger and larger. In order to avoid confusion and unnecessary losses, I suggested to paulenin, "Comrade General, in order to standardize the management of air transportation, I suggest that you set up ground control stations at both landing sites, which can not only improve efficiency, At the same time, it can avoid unnecessary accidents

"Don't worry, comrade deputy commander. Even if you don't tell me, I will set up ground control stations in the two landing sites. " After making a promise to me, bolenin made a request to me: "if we want to carry out large-scale air transportation for the two landing sites, the number of transport planes in my hand will be a little less. Do you think we can apply to the higher authorities for another batch. As far as I know, the Americans have assisted us with a batch of more advanced C47 transport aircraft. "

"Apply to higher authorities?" When I heard what boleynin said, the first thing I thought was that I was not familiar with the commander in chief of the air force. If I rashly put forward this request to him, it was estimated that it would be directly rejected. Then I hesitated and said, "Comrade General, I don't know the commander in chief of the air force. If I rashly put forward this request to him, it might be rejected."

"Isn't Marshal Zhukov in Moscow?" "You can ask him to consult with the people's Commission of national defense to see if he can apply for another batch of transport aircraft," he reminded me

"I see, Comrade General." As for his reminder, I said gratefully, "thank you for your reminder. I will contact Marshal Zhukov immediately and ask him to apply for another batch of transport planes for us."

I got in touch with Zhukov who was far away in Moscow by high-frequency telephone, and gave him a detailed report on our landing site on the West Bank and the newly opened transport routes. Finally, I said to him, "marshal, I heard that the United States has newly aided a batch of C47 transport planes. Would you please ask the air force to allocate these transport planes to our front army, So that we can increase air transportation? "

After listening to my report, Zhukov was not so elated as I imagined, but said thoughtfully: "Rita, although the German Air Force has not crossed the visva River since September, their bombing on the visva river has never stopped, which is also the reason why our army has been unable to repair the bridge on the visva river.

If your new route is discovered by the German army, I believe they will send a large number of planes to block your air route. Even if there are fighter escorts, I am also worried that the transport fleet will suffer huge losses. "

After hesitating for a while, I replied, "Comrade marshal, I have different opinions. The reason why our army can't expand the two landing fields in magnushev and puwai is mainly due to the lack of technical equipment and sufficient materials. Once the large-scale air transportation starts, only tanks, armored vehicles and artillery will pass through the River pontoon. Then we can speed up the assembly speed in the landing field and prepare for the next battle. "

"Well, I'll call senior general Novikov, deputy national defense people's commissar and air force commander-in-chief later," Zhukov said with some helplessness. "Talk to him about the need for a large number of transport planes. As for whether he is willing to assign the new US transport planes to our army, we can only leave it to fate."

After talking with Zhukov, I saw that jerekin shrugged and said to malining, who was sitting beside him, "chief of staff, is it really necessary for us to use large-scale air transportation to provide supplies for the troops on the other side?"

"It's absolutely necessary," marinin said solemnly, after hearing the question. Today, we have ten infantry divisions, several artillery regiments and tank brigades on the two landing fields of magnushev and puwai on the West Bank. The daily consumption of materials is astronomical. However, the materials transported by pontoons and ships can only barely meet their daily basic needs. It is impossible for them to take the initiative to attack the enemy. As long as our air routes are opened up, we will be able to transport the materials urgently needed at the front line in the shortest time. As long as we have enough supplies, we can immediately launch a new round of attacks against the enemy and expand our existing landing area. "“ Have you ever thought about it? "Jerekin said what he was worried about after marinin finished his speech:" even if our transport aircraft group is escorted by fighters, the German Air Force has no way to help us, but if they bombard the shells with long-range artillery fire, it is bound to cause us huge losses. "“ Don't worry, comrade military Commissar. " Malining said with confidence: "as long as the enemy's artillery dare to fire, we can not only use artillery to counter, but also send air force to bomb their artillery positions. As long as we do this a few times, I think the Germans will not dare to fire at our landing site. " After listening patiently to the argument between malining and jerekin, khazakov said to me with a flat expression: "Comrade deputy commander, if there is an ordinary enemy opposite the landing site, I think the method mentioned by the chief of staff is very good. It's a pity that we are facing the elite German SS like the skull division and the Viking division. In order to destroy our air supply lines, even if they suffer heavy casualties, they will do whatever they can to block the landing area of our transport planes with artillery fire. " After listening to karzakov's views on the air supply line, I was silent for a long time. Finally, I asked, "artillery commander, do you have any good way to solve the trouble caused by the Germans?"“ It's very simple, "kazakov pointed on the map on the table with his hand, and then said," unless we attack immediately and drive the enemy far away from the visva River, the threat of their artillery to our airborne field will be greatly reduced. "