The Rise of the Third Reich

"Comrade General Secretary, this is a photo just sent from the Red Air Force headquarters."

Just after 1:30 on June 1, Voroshilov came to Comrade Stalin with a large pile of photos in his arms and showed the glorious military exploits of the Red Air Force to Comrade Stalin who was enjoying a delicious meal.

All military exploits are evidenced by photos! The black-and-white photos show either burning oil fields or bombed-out airports, as well as enemy positions and various important facilities that are smoking and burning.

These were the results achieved by the Red Air Force before 10 a.m. on June 1. After the film was developed, it was immediately airlifted to Moscow and finally delivered to Comrade Stalin who was having a meal at about 1:30 p.m. in front of.

These are really appetizing photos!

"This is the big oil field in Kirkuk, and it's all burning!" Voroshilov introduced in an extremely cheerful tone.

"This is the scene after the Abadan Refinery was bombed. Judging from the photos, the damage was huge!"

"This is a photo of the German airports we bombed in Poland. These are also photos of the German airports we bombed. These are... at least thirty or forty airports were bombed, and at least 1,000 aircraft were destroyed on the ground. !”

"Comrade General Secretary, this is a photo of the Red Air Force planes bombing Warsaw, Lublin, and Krakow. In addition to bombs, the Red Air Force also dropped millions of leaflets on these big Polish cities..."

"How is the situation in Batumi and Baku?" Stalin looked at the photos carefully, but suddenly asked about the situation in Batumi Oil City and Baku Oil Field.

"The losses... are a bit heavy, especially at the Batumi refinery, where output may drop by more than 30%..."

Voroshilov said hesitantly: "The Germans have two types of aircraft that can fight at extremely high altitudes, and they are very fast. Even our MiG-3 cannot deal with them."

Stalin's face darkened, "Not even the MiG-3? Didn't it say it can fight at an altitude of 10,500 meters?"

"But, but the German planes can fly to an altitude of 12,000 meters!"

The reason why the MiG 3 cannot reach the Ju288 and He-219 is due to the generation difference of the engines. The power of the Ju288 and He-21222 engines and the DB603G engine, and both have turbochargers, far exceed the performance of the MiG-3 at high altitudes. 3 uses the AM35 engine.

In particular, the maximum output power of the 24-cylinder liquid-cooled engine Jumo222 exceeds 2,400 horsepower! It can allow a twin-engine bomber to fly as fast as the Fw-190A-4, both at 670 kilometers per hour. And this is only the initial model of Jumo222. Future development models with a maximum output horsepower of more than 3,000 horses can be achieved.

So the current Ju288 and He-219, that is, the American P51, can catch up with those Soviet aircraft at the same altitude (the maximum speed also depends on altitude, some aircraft fly faster at 4,000 meters, and some fly faster at 8,000 meters) It flies fast, and aircraft with high speed at low altitude are not a threat to aircraft that fly fast at high altitude.) Both are more than 100 kilometers per hour slower than the Ju88 and He-219. This is because the German aircraft did not use MW50 afterburner. situation.

"Then what about the air defense in Moscow and the Ural Industrial Zone?" Stalin slapped the photo on the dining table with a somewhat displeased look on his face. "Are we just going to let the German imperialist planes bomb us indiscriminately?"

The oil city of Batumi was bombed by German high-altitude and high-speed bombers, which made Stalin begin to worry about the safety of Moscow. Moscow is only 800 kilometers away from Germany's large airport in the Baltic States, and is completely within the strike range of the Ju288.

What the Soviet Union is fighting now is a world revolutionary war, not a Patriotic war. If Moscow was bombed every day, the Soviet people's support for world revolution would probably drop significantly.

Voroshilov knew what Stalin was thinking. He consoled him: "Comrade Stalin, according to reliable intelligence, the Germans do not have a strong strategic bomber force. The aircraft they used to bomb Batum was actually a super anti-ship missile." It is a long-range tactical bomber, and its number is very limited, and its bomb load is not very large (only 3.6 tons, which is 400 kilograms less than the bomb load of the Soviet Pe-8).”

Molotov further introduced: "In fact, the Germans currently do not even have a long-range strategic bomber available, so that they have to rely on the Italian P.108 bomber when carrying out strategic bombing operations against Britain. And the P. The 108 cannot fly above 12,000 meters, and our MiG-3 can shoot it down. And we also have 130mm heavy anti-aircraft guns, which can shoot down German bombers above 12,000 meters.”

In fact, Batumi Oil City also has 130mm heavy anti-aircraft guns, but to hit targets above 10,000 meters, radar fire control is required. It is best to have radio proximity fuzes and automatic loading systems to increase the firepower density, otherwise the targets will not be hit at all.

However, Stalin was not that expert. After hearing Voroshilov's explanation, his face became better. After all, most of the news he got now was good. He nodded and gave instructions: "But the Soviet Union still needs to have high-altitude and high-speed aircraft, either single or double-engine. If our engines are not good, we will import British and American engines."

"Your instructions are very timely," Voroshilov said in an admiring tone. "I will definitely urge the aviation industry department to step up the development of high-altitude aircraft, and within three months we will have a fighter jet that can fly above 12,000 meters."

After hearing Voroshilov's assurance, Stalin was finally relieved. He knew that his right-hand man was very reliable and would never pat his chest randomly.

"So... is the progress of the ground attack going smoothly so far?" Stalin asked about the situation on the ground again.

"It went very smoothly," Voroshilov said. "The German Army's Bug River defense line has been completely broken through by the Western Front. At present, the 9th Mechanized Corps under the 3rd Army has advanced 30 kilometers west of the Bug River. In At other major breakthrough points, the Red Army also advanced 15-20 kilometers. This is a very remarkable speed, which has exceeded the German offensive speed in the Polish Campaign and the Western Front Campaign!”

When he said this, his face was already full of smiles, "Comrade General Secretary, it seems that our thunderstorm plan will be successful soon!"

…

"Marshal of the Empire, the current situation is not bad, and it is all within our pre-war plan."

Hersmann was at the General Staff Headquarters in Zossen listening to a report from Marshal Kesselring, Chief of the General Staff. Kesselring seemed very relaxed now, drinking coffee while briefing Hessmann on the battle situation.

His relief was justified because he had already obtained the Air Force's damage and results report as of 10 a.m. The Luftwaffe's 4th Luftwaffe and 6th Luftwaffe lost less than 200 aircraft, of which 102 were destroyed on the ground and the rest were shot down in the air. However, the losses of pilots were much smaller than those of aircraft. Less than 50 captains were killed, seriously injured, or missing. There is no shortage of aircraft in Germany now, but there is a shortage of pilots.

The total number of downed aircraft reported by the 4th Air Force and the 6th Air Force exceeded 900, all of which were shot down rather than blown up to the ground. At least 500 of them belonged to the Soviet Red Air Force. This exchange ratio shows that the German Air Force has achieved considerable advantages in the air!

"The 4th Air Force and the 6th Air Force currently have a great advantage. Sooner or later, the advantage in the air will be transformed into an overall advantage." Kesselin said, "Moreover, both the Northern Army Group and the Southern Army Group have defended their defense lines. The Soviet Union The offensive of the Northern Front and Southwest Front failed to achieve any breakthrough, so the current situation on the Eastern Front is that the Red Army is advancing alone! "

"We can't say we're going in alone now," Hessmann smiled and shook his head. It was enough to deceive Hitler, a layman. A knowledgeable person could see the flaws at a glance. "The Russians' breakthrough point is 400 kilometers away, and they are now pushing across the entire line... It's like a red steamroller!"

Kesselring also laughed, "Even the red steamroller is useless. As long as we have air superiority in our hands, Stalin's steamroller will not be able to drive very far before it will run out of fuel."

"But air superiority is not that easy to get!" Hessman said. "The Russians are now competing with us for air superiority across the board, which is why the losses are so huge. But in a day or two at most, the Soviet Air Force will wake up, and then they will Shrunk and centralized support logistics lines, after all, their numbers have an advantage. "

According to the current loss situation, Stalin would lose more than 1,000 planes a day - including the planes and their pilots. Not to mention the Soviet Union, even the American tycoons can't stand it!

Therefore, the Soviet Red Air Force will soon change its tactics, from all-out attacks to logistics support, and at most support the ground forces in the main direction of attack. In this way, the Soviet aircraft flew over their own ground forces. Even if the aircraft was shot down, the pilot could parachute and be rescued.

"So we must fight back!" Kesselring said to Hessmann. "It will definitely not work if we are beaten without fighting back. We must fight back and bomb the Soviet big cities, industrial centers and transportation hubs to force the Soviet Air Force to send their best The planes were moved from the front to the rear."

"Use Ju288 and He-219?" Hersman immediately thought of the high-altitude and night combat stars in the hands of the Luftwaffe.

"There is no need to dispatch the He-219. From the situation during the air attack on Batumi, the Ju288 can be used to attack alone," Kesselring had already planned. "This kind of aircraft is our trump card, and the combat radius can cover the Urals." It is high and fast, and can also carry remote-controlled gliding bombs. There are already radio-controlled models. One Ju288 can carry up to 6 radio-controlled Hs293 bombs, and its destructive power is amazing! "

"When can the air strike be launched?" Hersman asked.

"As soon as this evening!" Kesselring replied.

Hessmann smiled and said, "Haha, Comrade Stalin won't be able to sleep now!"