Arc of Gunfire

At this moment, in the air.

Kharlamov personally led a squadron to carry out this unprecedented bombing mission.

Before that, the pilots of the destroyer group didn't even know that their Yak-1 could carry bombs.

Mainly, Ant Air Force places special emphasis on specialization. When designing an aircraft, it only considers one mission and performs it to the extreme for the requirements of this mission.

They even want to remove the rear seat machine gun of the IL-2 to reduce the weight of two to three hundred kilograms.

Under this design idea, it is no longer clear why Yak 1 can carry bombs. The pilots had no idea why there were two kinds of bombs, 100 kilograms and 50 kilograms, at an airport where mainly destroyer aircraft were stationed.

The pilots even discussed excitedly, saying that it proved that a female pilot flying a Wave 2 bomber was about to come over. Otherwise, how to explain these bombs?

Until today they hung bombs and went out.

This was an easy and simple job, because most of the Prosins had not been attacked by air raids, and the few Prosins who had been attacked by air were still attacked by Bo-2 at night.

Most of the Prosin soldiers had never seen the Il-2 daytime air raid.

They were not disguised at all. Some Plosans waved when they saw the Jacques 1 flying across the sky, probably thinking that Kharlamov's squadron was a friendly force.

Captain Semyon, the No. 3 aircraft of the Harlamov Squadron and the leader of the second two-aircraft formation, asked on the radio: "What should we bomb? It seems like there are targets everywhere."

Kharlamov: "Of course we have to blow up high-value things, such as giving our respected major general another general victory."

Kharlamov kept saying "respected major general". He did not mean it in a sinister way, but added an adjective in front of "general" to describe his admiration for Rokossov.

Captain Semyon muttered: "Let's not talk about whether we can find the house that is 'full of' antennas as we imagined. Even if we find such a house, we still find that there is a Prosen flag pole in front of the door, and there are hundreds of people. Conferring Medals - Even if we find such a target, our bombs may not be able to be thrown accurately.

"All I received was air combat training. I did learn ground attack in aviation school, but I flew an Il-2.

"I haven't had a single ground attack training since I joined the army. Since the war started, I have only strafed enemy troops on the ground."

Kharlamov: "Stop complaining, this is the same for everyone. Just try to find the target. Even if the bomb cannot be thrown accurately, we can shoot."

At this time, the No. 4 aircraft of the squadron said: "I saw a big house on our right. It may be the manor of Mr. Boyer. I bet there must be a division headquarters inside, at least one division headquarters."

Harlamov glanced to the right and happened to see the manor in the distance, which seemed to be slowly retreating because of the distance.

"Then let's circle over," he said, "break up the formation and operate in two planes. Semyon, you and I maintain visual contact."

The formation change of a four-plane formation in the air is very complicated, so pilots usually enter a two-plane formation when entering an air battle. It is very simple to change the formation of such a formation.

In addition, when changing formations, Kharlamov cannot see Semyonji, so he must be reminded to maintain visual contact with him. Make sure the two-plane formation does not spread out.

It is easy for an aircraft to lose its target in the air - whether it is an enemy or a teammate. It is normal to find that you can't see your teammates while flying.

Therefore, each pilot has his own map package to ensure that when he is alone and cannot contact his teammates, he can rely on the landmarks on the map to fly back to the base.

Another function of the map pack is to ensure that friendly-controlled areas can be selected when making an emergency landing.

After completing the formation change, Kharlamov shouted on the radio: "Semyon! Do you see me?"

"I saw it, don't worry, boss, go and have a look at Boyer's manor, it must be a division headquarters."

A few minutes later, Kharlamov tilted the plane and circled the manor, cursing: "Who just told me this was a division headquarters?"

There was nothing in the manor, and the series of large-caliber craters in the yard announced to the pilots the reason why there was no enemy division headquarters here.

Captain Semyon: "If you think about it carefully, none of the Plosen troops we flew past can't live in houses. So what should we do?"

Kharlamov sighed: "See if there are any enemy tanks. If you blow up the tank troops, you will also hit the high-value target."

At this time, the pilot of the No. 2 machine said: "Isn't there any obvious target? I mean, the enemy's artillery doesn't fire? It's a great achievement to blow up the artillery, right? And the artillery fire makes such a big noise, it should be very far away. Can we see it?"

Targets that are too far away are generally not visible from the ground because of the curvature of the planet.

But now Yak 1 flies at a low altitude of about 500 meters, so the field of view is greatly expanded.

The pilots' vision was screened, and the most powerful clairvoyant in Kharlamov's destroyer group could detect twin-engine bombers ten kilometers away.

However, there are too many ground targets and even pilots generally cannot detect ground targets several kilometers away, so Kharlamov chose to fly at a low altitude of 500 meters.

But if the target is an artillery position that is firing, it is not impossible to raise the height to three thousand meters. This can also be screened, and only heavy artillery firing can be seen.

So Kharlamov said: "You are right, let's climb to three thousand meters and see if we can find the enemy who happens to be firing."

After speaking, he glanced at the fuel gauge and muttered: "Fuel consumption is faster than usual..."

He began to bring the control stick back, climbing steadily at an elevation angle of 15 degrees, while still keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings.

Unfortunately, there was a bulge behind the cockpit of the early Yak 1 that blocked the rear view, so we had to rely on the rearview mirror to be alert to the rear, which was obviously the most dangerous place.

Suddenly, Captain Semyon shouted: "Look at the ground! The artillery is firing!"

Kharlamov: "Where?"

"11 o'clock direction!"

Kharlamov simply turned the plane upside down so that the glass cockpit rushed down and he could get the best view below.

He saw the artillery positions firing.

"Everyone, drop bombs with me."

Captain Semyon: "Damn it, I feel like I can only rely on my faith to survive."

"Who doesn't? Drop a bomb and pray to St. Andrew!"

Kharlamov fell directly to the ground and went straight to the artillery position that was firing.

The Yak 1 is not a specialized ground attack aircraft and does not have a ground sight at all.

So Kharlamov directly attached the sight of the machine gun to a cannon.

The sight of the Yak 1 is like this. Assume that an aircraft with a length of ten meters and a wingspan of ten meters is locked by the crosshair of the sight. The enemy aircraft will occupy the first aiming ring at 500 meters and occupy the three aiming rings. That means the distance is already about a hundred meters.

According to Kharlamov's experience, if the enemy planes fire when they occupy three rings, they have a high probability of hitting.

Now Kharlamov regarded the enemy's artillery position as an enemy aircraft and set the crosshair on it.

When the gun emplacement occupied the first ring, he fired a cannon shot and watched the fall.

The machine gun landed ten meters "behind" the enemy's gun position. When it exploded on the ground, the groom in charge of the horse next to him covered his chest and fell down.

But the horse is fine!

Kharlamov suddenly realized that he had no time to correct himself. He dived towards the enemy, and the distance had already been shortened the moment the cannon landed.

Simply, he pulled the trigger, fired 10 rounds from the cannon and machine gun, then pressed the bomb release button, and then pulled it up.

The moment he pulled it up, he saw the ammunition he fired falling to the ground - the aircraft's ammunition belts were mixed with tracer bullets, so he could know exactly where it landed.

This wave of strafing basically hit the artillery positions, and several artillerymen who were concentrating on firing were knocked down before they had time to dodge.

Harlamov couldn't see the specific ones. He pulled up, and the wings of the plane blocked his view - whether it was a Yak 1 or another plane, the view behind and below the aircraft of this era was a mess. Nothing can be seen.

That’s why we have to watch out for each other’s blind spots.

Kharlamov couldn't see where the bomb went. He could only hear the explosion behind him. Looking back, he could see the flames of the explosion, but he didn't know where it went.

He could only ask via radio: "Did anyone see where I blew up?"

"You can't see it. We also dropped bombs and pulled up, so we can't see the results at all." Someone answered on the radio.

"Then let's circle left, all circle left, and confirm the results."

Kharlamov's squadron all entered a left circle. At this time, their formation had completely dispersed, but the wingman could barely keep up with the lead aircraft.

Eight smoke flowers were clearly visible on the ground, two of which were glowing with fire. The entire artillery position stopped firing.

But - at least it doesn't look like the artillery's losses were significant from the air.

Captain Semyon suggested on the radio: "Let's call in artillery fire!"

Kharlamov: "To put it lightly, do you know where we are?"

Heavy bombers have a dedicated navigator who will calculate a rough route based on various instruments and the aircraft's heading and other parameters. Through this route, they will know where they are and then guide the bomber back to the base.

Therefore, heavy bombers can fly thousands of kilometers to attack targets.

But a fighter jet like the Yak 1 only has one pilot, and he is on alert the whole time during the flight, so there is no time to draw a route on the map.

Fighter pilots generally use the landmark navigation method to determine their position through obvious signs on the ground.

So even if the pilot sees the target, he can only remember which landmark and direction the target is in.

The Proson Air Force's reconnaissance aircraft can guide artillery strikes because it has specialized observers who can determine the approximate location of the aircraft and then determine the coordinates of the discovered targets.

The Yak 1 does not have such conditions at all, and it is actually impossible to directly guide the bombardment.

Unless - they get in touch with someone who has a cheat.

At this time, Harlamov heard General Rokossov's voice coming from the earphones: "Kharlamov, I heard that you have found the target. Harlamov, report the location!"