Chapter 145: The Polish Campaign (8)

More than 100 Mosquito bombers of the Third Air Regiment of the German Army Air Force rushed to various airports near Warsaw, the capital of Poland, without the cover of fighters.

Because Warsaw is only more than 400 kilometers away from the German border, even the short-legged Stuka can fly back and forth, let alone the Mosquito bombers.

These bombers carried more than 3,000 50-kilogram SC50 bombs, enough to plow the airports near Warsaw.

Although the bombers had to lower their altitude in order to achieve precise bombing, the pilots found that there was almost no threat. The Polish fighters had been left behind, and the Polish ground anti-aircraft artillery, which was not very fierce, was also left behind by the speed of the aircraft.

As the bombs in the magazine were detached one by one, the aircraft became lighter and lighter. When the last few bombs fell, the flight speed exceeded 600 kilometers per hour, which was far beyond the reach of those Polish fighters with a maximum speed of less than 400 kilometers per hour.

The pilot on a bomber sighed. "It's a pity that this plane doesn't have a cannon, otherwise I could have shot down those Poles."

The co-pilot on the side smiled. "No way, notify those guys in the Air Force, there are more than 30 records here, it's too late to lose them."

He didn't say fighter planes, but records.

In his opinion, those Polish planes that took off were indeed records. They couldn't even deal with bombers like himself, how could they be opponents of professional anti-aircraft fighters?

Just when the Polish pilots in the air were depressed and about to vomit blood, suddenly a sharp-eyed pilot shouted. "German planes!"

Accompanied by his warning, one BF-109 fighter plane after another swooped down from the clouds in the sky, whistling towards these Polish fighter planes!

In the cabin, Adolf Garand stared at his prey with cold eyes.

Adolf Galland was born in Westerholt, a small town in Westphalia. He was the second child in the family. The eldest son was a lawyer and he had two younger brothers (these two younger brothers were also ace pilots, one shot down 17 enemy planes, the other shot down 54, and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross).

Galland started making airplane models at the age of 12 and started flying gliders at the age of 16. In 1932, after graduating from Hindenburg High School, he entered Lufthansa Aviation School for civil aviation flight training and obtained his first pilot's license one year later. At this time, the German military began to establish the "Black Air Force", and he was "invited" to join the Air Force as a fighter pilot.

In 1935, he had an accident while flying a Fw 44 biplane for training. A small piece of glass remained in his eyes forever, causing partial blindness. Although he was able to continue flying with the assistance of Commander Major Reiter, he crashed again one year later and was hospitalized. But he didn't give up. He memorized the order of every letter and number on the hospital's eye chart and passed the physical examination.

He also participated in the Spanish Civil War, but unfortunately he was not the first batch to enter. During the entire civil war, he shot down a total of 9 enemy fighters. He was depressed for a long time because he couldn't shoot down 10 and become a real ace.

Just after hearing the news from the dispatch center that there were enemy fighters near Warsaw, Garland, who was leading a small team and doing nothing, immediately increased his horsepower and rushed over, fearing that he would miss these hard-earned achievements.

Now he is about to become a real ace! Garland calmed his excitement and put a Polish fighter into his mechanical sight!

The Poles seemed to have discovered them and were clumsily making evasive moves. Unfortunately, they would soon understand the disadvantages of their equipment, which sometimes could not be compensated by technology.

The most important thing for a fighter is speed. As long as there is speed, there is maneuverability. The performance of the German BF-109 far exceeded that of the Polish fighter plane, and it dived from the clouds, leaving the Poles only a moment to react.

He pulled the trigger of the machine gun suddenly, and the rain of bullets blew up the Polish fighter plane he was aiming at.

"Yeah!" Garand clenched his fist excitedly, the tenth record! He finally joined the ranks of aces!

In World War II, a large number of ace pilots with more than 100 records appeared in the German Air Force, and these people also became the spiritual idols of the German Air Force and even the army.

In the military forums of later generations, many people questioned whether the German Air Force's achievements against the sky were too exaggerated? But if you read the biographies of Hartmann, Novotny, Schnaufer, Helmut Lant, Marseille, Prince Wittgenstein and others carefully, you will find that the Germans' deep-rooted rigor is also reflected in their confirmation of air combat records.

Even if your combat effectiveness suddenly explodes and you single-handedly challenge a squadron of enemy planes and shoot them all down, if the investigation department does not find direct witnesses, indirect witnesses, or evidence from an aerial camera gun (it should be noted that a camera gun is just a camera gun, not even a camera gun. Therefore, it is not a panacea. On the contrary, as a camera from the 1940s and a common product that was produced in the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of units, its shooting quality of targets hundreds of meters away is questionable, and the frame rate is limited. In fact, it cannot completely restore the process of attacking enemy planes, and the image quality is also very poor), sorry, we do not think you shot them down, and we will not give you any military merit.

At the end of World War II, Novotny flew the me262 for the last time. After returning to the ground, he claimed to have shot down a B24 and a Mustang, but only the B24 was confirmed; and Lant shot down a four-engine bomber after a night battle. Another pilot also claimed to have shot down one. After arbitration by the investigation department, the victory was awarded to the other pilot.

If it were not for such a rigorous confirmation method, Hartmann's effective record plus "unconfirmed results" would definitely be more than 352.

However, few people have a deep understanding of the reason why the German Air Force has a high record. These pilots have to fight to the end when they go to the battlefield. The record of good talent and high level is really amazing. But it is not conducive to passing on knowledge, so the level has plummeted in the later period. The pilots of the old Americans and the Niuniu are sent back to the rear as instructors after flying for a few months, and they educate rookies with actual combat experience. This is a virtuous cycle. War is not a matter for a few elites. What needs to be looked at is the backbone of the largest number.

Yannick certainly would not let this "tragedy" repeat itself. Although compared to the British, American and French pilots who shot down five enemy planes, the current German fighter pilots are considered to be aces only if they shoot down ten enemy planes. But once they shoot down ten enemy planes, these pilots will be immediately transferred to the rear, spend a month imparting experience to the bird eggs in the bird's nest, and then return to the front line to continue fighting.

Because they do not need to undertake escort missions and do not have to fight with opponents, these German fighter planes have fully developed the "one-hit-and-leave" tactics. In less than a few minutes, all the Warsaw Fighter Brigade had been wiped out, and the German planes that resolved the battle flew away.

Marshal Smigwi, who rushed to the headquarters, was stunned to hear the news that the Warsaw Fighter Brigade had been destroyed, and he muttered to himself in disbelief. "It seems that we need the help of our British and French friends, and we need better planes..."