Age of Rebirth

The air force of the Transcaucasus Military Region of the Soviet Union was mobilized, and Liu Cuigang used all his strength. With ten fighter regiments and more than 620 fighters, he faced more than 560 fighters of the three fighter divisions of the Soviet Army.

With four fighter regiments, the focus is on attacking the Soviet bomber formation. In terms of numbers, it is slightly inferior. However, there is not much suspense in the air combat between fighter jets and bombers. Leave a fighter regiment as a reserve team. At critical times, you can Joining any air battle field will definitely change the outcome of the battle.

From the perspective of the number of fighter jets, Liu Cuigang's fleet is slightly better than the Soviet fighter fleet, but the advantage is not great. The previous frontal assault and outflanking tactics and style of play are obviously not suitable for today's air combat. Liu Cuigang knows that today's The air battle will be a head-to-head bloody fight. He believes that his fleet will win the final victory, but he has to pay a considerable price.

"Perhaps, many of the pilots who follow me today will never be able to fly back, but after this battle, the strength of the Soviet Transcaucasus Military Region Air Force will suffer a devastating loss. The sacrifice made by my own troops is worth it ,” Liu Cuigang thought to himself, feeling a little heavy.

But thinking about his emotions, he laughed at himself, "What's wrong with me, every time I lead the team to play, I'm not so sad," but he quickly adjusted his emotions, and ordered: "The formation continues. Climb altitude, reach 500 meters, form a battle formation, all leading aircraft, turn on the airborne radar, pay attention to the location of the search for the Soviet army fleet, flying altitude, the first to third regiments, the climbing altitude is 4000 meters, the fourth, The fifth regiment went out five kilometers ahead of the formation, and the altitude and position of the remaining regiments remained unchanged.”[

At 21:10 am on September 10, on the north bank of the Selenge River.General Kurykin received a call from General Konev, Commander of the Air Force of the Military Region, "Comrade Commander, the fighter formation will reach the combat airspace in [-] minutes, and the bomber formation will reach the bombing area in [-] minutes. According to your order, the three reconnaissance aircraft brigades of the Air Force will conduct aerial reconnaissance in the area from Lake Baikal to Uzhigentala after eight o'clock, and report to you immediately if they find any situation!"

There was a hint of respect in his tone.It should be nonsense to completely straighten out the relationship between superiors and subordinates.No need for Admiral Konev to say.General Kurykin was in the tent, and he could hear the roaring sound in the northern sky, but he still said happily: "Comrade Konev, you have worked hard. Comrades in the Air Force, you will Open a channel for the attack of our military region troops, here. I first wish the Air Force victory."

In fact, except for now, Admiral Konev's attitude towards General Kurykin, whether it is talking or reporting to work, is very respectful, but it is by no means the respect and obedience that is from the heart today. Therefore, General Kurykin was very pleased with this feeling. Perhaps, this guy Konev was aware of the crisis, and he made an exception to say these things in the so-called reciprocation, which he would never say in normal times.

Ten minutes later, at 10 o'clock in the morning, the formation of Soviet fighter jets passed the Soviet position in a huge formation, and flew over the Selenge River and the north bank. When the huge group of Soviet fighter jets flew by, the Soviet soldiers, They couldn't help throwing the helmets on their heads into the air, and bursts of cheers of "Ulla!" in Russian resounded on the north bank of the Selenge River.

Sun Zhenbang, who received the warning telegram from the division commander Tang Qiuli, has urgently withdrew the front troops through the traffic trenches to the rocky mountains behind. On the front positions, each regiment left only one battalion of troops to monitor the Soviet army on the spot. trend.

Sun Zhenbang lay on the lookout of the bunker, saw the cheering Soviet soldiers through the binoculars, and cursed in a low voice, "Damn it, don't look at the happy dance now. When the plane from the Gang comes up, it won't be like that." Like a rabbit, I was so frightened that I ran around!"

At 10:[-], dense black dots suddenly popped up on Liu Cuigang's airborne radar screen. At the same time, he also received reports from other leading aircraft, "Commander, the formation of enemy aircraft has been spotted and has already flown over the sky. Over the Lengge River, we can meet the enemy in [-] minutes!"

Liu Cuigang said: "The fourth and fifth regiments are the first to attack, and the movements must be fierce. First, disrupt the formation of the Soviet aircraft fleet. The first, second, and third regiments will cut into the middle of the Soviet aircraft fleet, and the rest of the regiments will attack from the front!"

Ten minutes later, two huge fleets met more than 10 kilometers south of the Selenge River. The commander of the air formation commander of the Soviet fighter group and the chief of staff of the Air Force of the Transcaucasus Military Region, Major General Sashkov, flew over from the fleet. After flying over the Lengge River, the string in my heart was tightened. Judging from the lessons of the last air battle, Liu Cuigang, the commander of the Northern Aviation Group of the Independent Division Air Force, is a very cunning person.

He is accustomed to using surprise tactics, and his tactics are varied. Up to now, the air force intelligence department has not yet grasped the strength of the independent division aviation in Outer Mongolia. However, Sashkov believes that Liu Cuigang's strength should be comparable to that of the air force of the military region. , or in other words, with a slight advantage, when dealing with such an opponent, you must raise your spirits, and if you are a little careless, you will suffer a big loss.

Therefore, as soon as the fleet passed over the Selenge River, Chief of Staff Sashkov ordered the Second Fighter Division to be the left wing and the Third Fighter Division to be the right wing. Twenty kilometers ahead, he commanded the Fourth Fighter Division to be the center, forming Three attack aircraft clusters, with an interval of thirty kilometers between the aircraft clusters, formed three clenched fists.

According to his idea, no matter which aircraft group meets the enemy first, the other two aircraft groups will immediately outflank it and go into battle one by one, forming a continuous attack. Moreover, such a wide front has another advantage, preventing independent division aircraft groups from attacking the enemy. , bypassing your own formation, and attacking the bomber fleet behind. Of course, the best start is that the fleet of the independent division will first encounter the center of your own command. In this way, the fleets on both wings will form a situation of encirclement.

As he wished, Liu Cuigang's [-]th and [-]th Fighter Regiments encountered exactly the fighter pilots of the [-]th Fighter Division in the middle and the two regiments of the Independent Division under the command of Major General Sashkov, regardless of the Soviet fighters on the opposite side. The number was much larger than myself, like a group of fierce tigers, they headed forward, and immediately, machine guns rang out in the sky, and the fighter jets of both sides were entangled.

The brave actions of the [-]th and [-]th regiments fulfilled the orders of Commander Liu Cuigang and threw the air formation of the [-]th Fighter Division of the Soviet Army into chaos. As expected, if the aircraft groups on the two wings are ordered to outflank it at this time, it will definitely be an encirclement battle with a very optimistic ending. Whether it is the number of fighter jets or the use of tactics, it will be beneficial to him.

But Major General Sashkov hasn't lost his mind yet. He doesn't believe it. With Liu Cuigang's strength, he only sent more than 120 fighter jets to face his large fleet of more than 560 fighter jets. The fleet was in another direction, so he ordered the left and right wing fleets to continue to maintain their course, and the center fleet took advantage of their numbers to fight fiercely around the fighters of the independent division.

From the radar screen, Liu Cuigang clearly saw the layout of the Soviet fleet, and thought to himself: "The Soviet air commander has become smarter and formed three attack fleets instead of being crowded together like last time. It seems that The tactics of disrupting the Soviet air formation will not have the desired effect."

Liu Cuigang immediately changed his tactics and ordered: "The first to third regiments, attack the Soviet army's center fleet, the sixth and seventh regiments, attack the Soviet army's left wing fleet, the eighth and ninth regiments, attack the Soviet army's right wing fleet, and the tenth regiment attack the Soviet army's right wing fleet. The regiment follows me and attacks the Soviet army's mid-route fleet!"

Liu Cuigang's train of thought was very clear, using fighter jets from four regiments to pin down the Soviet fleet on the left and right flanks, gather fighter jets from six regiments, first defeat the Soviet fleet in the middle at the fastest speed, and then divide the troops into two groups, Joining other battlefields, each battlefield will form an advantage in strength. This is also the most practical tactic when the number of fighter jets does not have an obvious advantage.

The key now is how long the four regiments on the left and right flanks can hold down the Soviet aircraft fleet. Two to ten minutes is enough, and it only takes two to ten minutes. However, for the four regiments on the left and right wings, the pressure was huge. Two regiments faced three regiments of the Soviet Army, which tested the courage and wisdom of the pilots. [

When more than 180 independent division fighter jets swooped down from an altitude of 4000 meters, and after dozens of independent division fighter jets rushed towards the front, two other independent division fighter jets disappeared. Major General Sashkov took a deep breath, and an ancient Chinese idiom suddenly popped up in his mind, "Catch the thief first and catch the king!"

The air commander of the independent division had a very clear intention to concentrate superior forces, first to defeat his own center fleet, and then to divide and attack the left and right wing fleets. If this is the case, the next battle situation will be very bad for him. That's right, once the center fleet collapses, the freed-up independent division fleet will form an absolute advantage in numbers, and its own left and right wing fleets will not be able to please, and in the end, it will lead to a complete defeat.

Major General Sashkov completely gave up the tactic of beating people with three fists. He immediately ordered: "The left and right wings, move closer to the center immediately, don't be entangled by the enemy's fighter jets, move quickly!"

As Liu Cuigang's four fighter regiments joined the middle battlefield, the advantages and disadvantages on the battlefield immediately reversed. The number of fighters in the independent division was twice the number of Soviet fighters. The fighters of the fourth and fifth regiments fought fiercely The Soviet fighter jets immediately fell into a situation of being beaten.

Liu Cuigang commanded the [-]th Regiment. After joining the battle circle, he immediately caught sight of a Soviet fighter jet, escorted by a squadron of fighter jets, away from the battlefield. Obviously, it was a big fish!

(to be continued) (to be continued...)