Chapter 172: Polish Campaign (35)

"Five minutes to prepare!"

In the cabin of a swaying ju-52 transport plane, the driver's roar came from the speaker hanging on the wall, drowning out the roar of the engine.

The ju-52 was the most widely used and most famous transport plane in Germany during World War II, but this fame was forced. If the German army had other choices at the time, it would definitely not use this transport plane on a large scale.

In 1928, Junkers' designer Sindo designed a single-engine transport plane, which was the prototype of the ju-52. The plane was purely designed for cargo transportation and had only one engine in the nose.

In 1931, Junkers added two engines to the ju-52, and its flight performance was greatly improved. It proved its high-altitude flight ability by flying around the Alps, which no aircraft in the civil aviation field could do at the time. It even flew over the Pamir Mountains calmly, which was as dangerous as the later Hump Route.

The excellent performance of the passenger ju-52 successfully attracted the attention of the military. An order for 1,200 aircraft was immediately placed. In addition to the transport model, many were converted into bomber models. The original passenger cabin was converted into a bomb bay, and defensive machine guns were added. Unfortunately, the ju-52 proved to be unsuitable as a bomber in Spain. Because although it has good flight performance and good control, it has a slow flight speed (286 km/h), and many were shot down.

Although reconnaissance aircraft, ambulance aircraft, minesweeper and other models were derived during World War II, they were mainly used for transportation. They were important models of the German airborne troops, and the German paratroopers launched raids on them.

Unfortunately, unlike the glamorous record, the ju-52 suffered heavy losses in every actual combat. Especially the small-caliber machine guns such as 20 mm are very effective against the low-altitude and slow-flying ju-52.

In the German invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium, the ju-52's towing glider raid on the Eben Emael Fortress and the Rotterdam airborne operation became classic airborne operations in history.

However, the Ju-52 and the airborne troops it carried also suffered heavy casualties during the battle. Two-thirds of the 430 Ju-52s deployed in the Netherlands failed to return or were seriously injured and could not be used any more.

At the airports where fierce fighting had taken place in the Netherlands, countless Ju-52s were shot down and destroyed, and aircraft wreckage was everywhere. Most of these aircraft were provided by the Air Force Aviation School, and the pilots were instructors who trained flight cadets, so the losses were even more severe.

In the Battle of Crete in May 1941, the German airborne troops and their Ju-52s were hit hard again, and they were seriously injured. They were no longer able to launch large-scale airborne operations during the rest of World War II.

When transporting supplies to Rommel's African Corps in North Africa, the Ju-52 had to fly over the dangerous Mediterranean Sea because the Malta Island was occupied by the British army. The slow-moving Ju-52 became an excellent target for Spitfire fighters and was slaughtered.

After 1942, the loss rate of Ju-52 exceeded the production rate. In the winter of 1942-1943, 450 Ju-52s were lost in the airdropped supplies for the German army trapped in Stalingrad, and the size of the German Ju-52 fleet gradually shrank.

In Yannick's view, this thing is simply a flying coffin and a nightmare for paratroopers!

So the current Ju-52 is just a transitional model, and it is okay to play with Poland, where the air defense force is almost gone.

"Everyone stand up!" Hearing the order, the squad leader Scheffler, who was sitting next to the cabin door, stood up and shouted loudly. The engine noise was too loud, and he had to shout at the top of his voice.

The paratroopers in the cabin stood up one after another.

"Prepare the hook! Check the equipment!" The paratroopers hung the hook of the parachute bag on the top cable and checked each other's equipment.

Soon, the red indicator light on the top of the cabin turned green. The squad leader pulled the cabin door open with force, and the cold wind suddenly poured into the cabin, blowing the paratroopers all over the place. Schaeffer pushed the weapon box next to the hatch out of the cabin against the strong wind.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

At Schaeffer's loud urging, the first paratrooper stepped out of the hatch.

The last paratrooper in the cabin jumped out of the cabin. Schaeffer looked back at the cabin and quickly jumped out of the cabin after confirming that there was nothing left behind. The closer he was to everyone, the shorter the time it would take to gather together.

Just when his body was a little unstable due to the airflow, the parachute hook suddenly pulled open the parachute. The guide parachute flew out of the parachute bag first, and then the white main parachute was pulled out and unfolded. The fierce resistance made his body stagnate suddenly, and the safety belt tightly bound him. The impact in two directions made him, who had many parachuting experiences, know that the main parachute opened smoothly.

There were dense parachutes all around, and this time they were the entire regiment.

Of course, the German army could not waste too many troops in Warsaw. This time, the paratroopers were the pioneers and continued to advance westward.

Fortunately, the Polish air defense force seemed to have never existed. The German paratroopers were densely packed in the sky, but the anti-aircraft artillery on the ground was pitifully few. The German soldiers landed on the ground in broad daylight, began to collect their own troops in an organized manner, and then rushed to the target they had planned to fight for.

Scheffler landed smoothly, opened the safety buckle on the parachute, and quickly took off all the parachute protection items on his body.

Because the German airborne troops pursue low-altitude delivery, rapid landing, and minimized time in the air, the area of ​​the German-made parachute is very small, and the weight of the parachute is strictly restricted. The average soldier only has one pistol and two grenades, and the non-commissioned officer has an MP40. Submachine guns, rifles and machine guns, as well as ammunition, are all packed in airborne canisters and dropped individually.

But just now in the sky, his MP40 submachine gun belt was torn apart by the airflow, and he didn't know where it fell. Now he only has a 9mm caliber Walter P38 pistol and a small hunting dagger.

He had to find the weapons box as soon as possible.

Fortunately, each weapon box has an eye-catching search device hung on it. There will be fluorescent rods for airdrops at night, and smoke canisters for airdrops during the day. After walking for a while, he saw the rising yellow smoke not far away.

"Great!" Schaeffer grabbed the loaded pistol and ran over quickly with his waist bent. I saw three people gathered around the weapon box. The paratrooper on guard saw Schaeffer and waved hello excitedly. "Monitor!"

Schaeffer did not know the other two paratroopers, needless to say they were from other classes. But they were all superior soldiers, and in this case Schaeffer, as a sergeant, had to lead them together. Because the German army's operational regulations stipulate that when your unit is disrupted and you can't find your commander, you can just listen to whoever has the highest rank around you. After all, people with high military ranks have either made meritorious deeds or have more combat experience, so it is safer to listen to him.

After a simple greeting, Schaeffer took out an MP44 from the weapon box. Each of them carried an extra gun in case they encountered friendly forces who couldn't find their weapons boxes.

Schaeffer took out the map and compass he carried with him, compared the terrain, and determined their current location. "We are about one kilometer away from the bridge. Let's capture the bridge first to avoid being blown up by the Poles. Otherwise, the follow-up troops will either have to take a long way around or build a bridge to cross the river."

"Okay." Others had no objections to Scheffer's proposal, and the four of them began to move forward.

On the way, they collected two more stray paratroopers and arrived near the bridge without any danger. I saw people in the small village behind the bridge, and there were fierce gunshots everywhere. The bridgehead on the bridge was empty. It seemed that the defenders here had gone to the village to help.

"What should we do now? Guard the bridge, or go in and help?" Seeing this, Schaeffer was also a little undecided, so he asked others.

After discussing for a while, everyone decided to go into the village to help.