Chapter 424: Opponent

Shulka did not return to the army until the evening, when the Soviet bombing of the German 28th Infantry Division was basically over.

Just as Shulka thought, the Soviet army divided the bombers into fifty groups to bomb the 28th Infantry Division in turn, which directly caused the German Air Force to dare not act rashly.

Manstein discussed this with Lieutenant General Ellen, commander of the Tenth Air Force.

"The 28th Infantry Division needs your cover, Lieutenant General Ellen!" Manstein said on the phone: "I am being bombed by the enemy and they are unable to advance!"

"I'm thinking about this too!" Lieutenant General Ellen replied.

"What's the meaning?"

"The Russians have been using some tactics frequently recently!" Lieutenant General Ellen said, "They used a small number of fighter planes to attract our attention, but when our main fleet rushed over them, their main bombers took the opportunity to bomb another location. !"

Manstein couldn't help but let out an "oh".

"So, it's actually the same for us!" Lieutenant General Ellen replied: "It doesn't make any difference when we start at any time and fly to any airspace to fight. The problem is..."

"I see!" Manstein then put down the phone.

Obviously, the problem was not Lieutenant General Ellen. As long as Manstein asked, the plane could fly over the 28th Infantry Division to cover at any time.

The point is that if this is just a decoy, if the German fighter planes fly over the 28th Infantry Division, it means that Zhankoy is likely to be bombed by the Russian army on a large scale, and Zhankoy is the top priority at this time .

Therefore, Manstein thought about it, and finally endured it.

But who would have thought that the Soviet bombing of the 28th Infantry Division would be round after round with almost no interval between rounds. Manstein endured it again and again, and finally couldn't help calling Lieutenant General Ellen.

"Can we send some warplanes to stop them?" Manstein said, "I mean only a few!"

"No problem, General!" Lieutenant General Ellen replied, "As I said before, the air combat is the same wherever we fly!"

So twelve fighter planes took off from Yamyansk... The German army rushed to repair the airport located there immediately after occupying Yamyansk, and the fighter planes and bombers were transferred to the airport to become the forward base of the German fighter planes.

Twelve fighter planes rushed over the 28th Infantry Division smoothly and joined the battle to drive away the bombers.

However, just as they were doing this, dozens of Soviet fighter planes suddenly swooped down from the clouds and chased the German fighter planes, shooting wildly.

The German fighter planes caught off guard immediately lost three of them, and the remaining nine planes were surrounded by densely packed enemy planes... The Soviet Army had fifty bombers plus thirty fighter planes, and the total number was eight times that of the German fighter planes. many.

Although bombers did not pose a great threat to German fighters, the problem was that it was difficult for German pilots to find their target, that is, fighter jets, among them.

So after losing three more fighters in a few minutes of fighting, the German fighters had to withdraw from the battle.

"That's a trap!" Lieutenant General Ellen said to Manstein: "They seem to know we will do this!"

"Why don't we show them some strength!" Manstein said: "Send our main force up and beat them all down!"

"Maybe before that!" Lieutenant General Ellen replied, "But now, it doesn't seem to make much sense to do so, because it's getting dark, General, and their air strikes will stop soon!"

Manstein looked out the window, and then replied helplessly: "You are right, we should continue to keep an eye on Zhankoy!"

After putting down the phone, Manstein vaguely felt that he had met his opponent. He believed that if the opponent could do this, that is, all of this was planned by the opponent, including the small-scale batch bombing of the bombers that made the German army in a dilemma. There must be someone in the Russian Army who knew him well enough.

Who could this person be?

Lieutenant General Kozlov, commander of the Russian Crimean Front?

Manstein believed that he had no such skills, because he had known him when he was commander of the Caucasus Front, and knew that he was as bad at using tactics as most Russian commanders.

So the Supreme Command representative Mehlis?

This is even more impossible. He is a well-known idiot, only Stalin himself does not know it.

Then Manstein remembered a man, the "breakout hero."

The reason why "Breakthrough Heroes" comes to mind is because Manstein has played against him once before.

To be precise, Manstein came to Kyiv to clean up the mess... The German army was in a good situation in the direction of Kyiv, but was beaten into a mess by a sergeant, who is now the "breakout hero".

Manstein threw the documents in his hand on the table, and asked the adjutant: "Detrich, do you know the number of the Russian landing force? Especially the tank unit that penetrated Zhaniko!"

"No, General!" the adjutant replied, "Due to the sudden situation of the war, we haven't found this yet!"

This is only one aspect. On the other hand, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade has been attacking and advancing.

As I said before, one of the advantages of attacking is that the wounded, logistics, etc. are in the rear, and the battle is always won (only when the battle is won can you move forward), so it is very rare for the opponent to catch prisoners and ask something.

"Find a way to do some reconnaissance!" Manstein said, "I want to know if the designation of this unit is the 1st Guards Tank Brigade!"

"The 1st Guards Tank Brigade?" The adjutant couldn't help but widen his eyes: "You mean the 'T34' unit that repeatedly defeated our armored forces in Moscow?"

"Yes!" said Manstein. "Any questions?"

"No, no, General!" the adjutant replied, "I'll arrange it right away!"

Seeing the back of the adjutant leaving, Manstein shook his head.

The adjutant was worried about the 1st Guards Tank Brigade itself, but Manstein was more worried about a person in this unit.

The news was quickly confirmed.

It is not difficult to implement. The adjutant asked several Ukrainians to go directly to the road that the enemy passed to inquire... When the German army attacked, the army usually brought a few Ukrainian guerrillas as guides and translators, and they could do a good job at this time Take advantage of it.

Then the adjutant hurried back to the headquarters and reported to Manstein: "You guessed it, General! That is indeed the 1st Guards Tank Brigade. They were transferred from the Moscow battlefield to the Caucasus not long ago!"

Manstein nodded silently.

This also means that his previous guess is correct, his opponent has always been the former "sergeant", that is, the current "breakout hero"!