USSR 1941

Then, with a burst of roar, batch after batch of Li-2 transport planes took off amidst the roar of the engine and then broke into the night sky.

At this time, Manstein was commanding another force to withdraw from the front.

At this time, he should have just breathed a sigh of relief, because the retreat in the direction of Karachi has entered the program, and the defense lines on the south and north flanks of Miloven are also stable. It is no longer a problem for the Don Army to withdraw safely.

At this moment, the communication soldier reported: "Your Excellency, Marshal, we found a large number of enemy planes flying into the air and flying in the direction of Miloway!"

Manstein didn't take it seriously, although it is indeed abnormal for the Russian army to have a large number of planes taking off at night.

But Manstein's first thought was that these planes were bombers... The Russians couldn't break through the defense line, so they pulled in the bombers to help.

So Manstein immediately issued two orders:

"Order the air force to intercept immediately!"

"Order the Milloway defense line to prepare for battle, the enemy is likely to launch a general attack!"

"Yes!" The communications soldier turned around and conveyed the order.

No wonder Manstein misjudged, who would have thought that the Russians would use paratroopers at this time? What the Germans knew was that the Russian paratroopers were almost exhausted fighting on the ground.

The German Air Force did not expect this, so they, like Manstein, thought that these take-offs were bombers, even when the intercepted German night fighter pilots saw these transport planes... the military type of the Li-2 transport plane was regarded as Used by bombers, so pilots still think so when they see them.

What arrived was a team of six night fighters. The reason why they arrived so quickly was that they happened to be performing patrol missions nearby.

Major Rennie was in command of this team. When he saw such a huge fleet in front of him, he couldn't help being startled, and then immediately said to his subordinates: "Be careful, they may be armed!"

The military version of Li 2 does have an additional machine gun, especially the machine gun turret on the back of the machine can rotate in all directions, and there is almost no shooting dead angle.

Major Rennie knew it well, having dealt with it before in aerial combat, so he knew what to do with it.

"Attack from the bottom!" Major Rennie ordered. "Repeat, attack from the bottom, avoiding their machine gun turrets!"

As a result, the six German fighter planes lowered their altitude and attacked the Su "Li 2" transport aircraft group from bottom to top.

Amidst the sound of gunfire, three "Li-2" were fired into flames and black smoke in an instant. One of them exploded and disintegrated in the air with a loud noise a few seconds later, and the other two seemed unable to survive. ... German pilots can also use it so freely in the night attack and have such a high hit rate, which is enough to show their quality.

But in fact, Major Rennie's order was unnecessary.

In order to carry enough people and supplies for this batch of "Li 2" transport planes of the Soviet Army... each transport plane carries 20 fully armed soldiers, and there are also ammunition and supplies that these 20 soldiers may need.

Therefore, all these transport aircraft have removed the machine gun turret and even the nose machine gun,

Of course, it is even more impossible to carry a bomb.

In other words, these transport planes are targets for German fighter planes, targets that have no power to fight back.

In fact, Major Rennie had already discovered this at this time, because a few people jumped out from behind the two damaged transport planes that had not yet exploded, and then opened their parachutes one by one...Obviously, it was because the plane failed. Emergency skydiving.

Major Rennie thought he was dazzled, so he drove the fighter plane around and returned to the original place, and found that there were indeed five paratroopers...they must be paratroopers and not escaped pilots, because the injured "Li 2" The flight attitude was still maintained, which means the pilot was still in the aircraft and controlling the aircraft.

"Paratroopers, it's paratroopers!" Major Rennie yelled, "These are airborne transport planes!"

The other pilots were also stunned.

They were not in a daze because they knew how dangerous these planes would be if they were transport planes used for parachuting. In fact, if they were used for parachuting, it almost meant that there was no danger.

They were in a daze because they knew that Milovey's internal forces were empty, and if it was a bomber that dropped the bomb, it would be useless, but if it was a paratrooper...

Then, Major Rennie's guess was quickly confirmed, because the hatch of the "Li 2" aircraft fleet had been opened, and then black figures jumped out of it in groups, and they quickly turned into blossoming parachutes. , The white umbrellas are like dandelions, which are particularly dazzling against the backdrop of a little moonlight.

Major Rennie did not hesitate, and immediately reported the situation to the air force base.

The air force base immediately passed the information to Manstein.

The moment Manstein received this information, his face changed suddenly... This was something the adjutant had never seen before. As a veteran general and an imperial marshal with rich actual combat experience, Manstein, Not even in the most critical moments.

But now, the adjutant actually saw a little panic in Manstein's eyes.

"Paratroopers? How many are there?" Manstein asked.

"The exact number is still uncertain, Your Excellency the Marshal!" The adjutant replied: "It is estimated that there are about 3,000 people. They airborne near the city of Milloway!"

This estimate is still very accurate. In fact, it is not difficult. German pilots can calculate it from the number of transport planes and the number of people that the enemy's transport planes can carry.

Manstein looked at the map, and then immediately ordered: "Immediately, order the 291st Infantry Regiment to reinforce the Milloway Railway Station. At all costs, the railway station must be guarded!"

"Yes, Your Excellency the Marshal!"

Manstein is worthy of being a veteran of the battlefield. He only glanced at the map and immediately knew that the focus of the Russian parachute was at the train station.

But although Manstein knew how to fight, he didn't know much about politics. He never imagined that the main enemy that the 291st Infantry Regiment stationed at the railway station would face were not Russian paratroopers at all, but mites pouring in from all directions. Lowe people and guerrillas.

At the moment Manstein gave the order, Trufanov also gave the order to attack.

In fact, it was not only the 51st Army that launched the attack at the same time as the airborne troops, but also the Southwest Front Army in the north.

Among them, the offensive of the Southwest Front Army was particularly fierce. Needless to say, the tank troops and infantry on the ground charged, and they also sent bombers to bombard the German roads and railways indiscriminately... Although the bombing effect at night is not good, it can be effective Solidarity with the paratroopers and told the people of Milove: The Soviet army will soon return and will win.