() "George, I heard that you are going to be transferred to the 'Reverse Cross'?" A familiar pilot said to George E. Brody.

"Well, yes, I just received the notice." George replied, "They also gave me a week's leave. Apart from the time on the road, I can also go home and have a look."

"I really envy you." The pilot said, "Our little Costa is almost two years old. I miss him so much."

"Michael, are you thinking about the mother of the child?" George E. Brody smiled.

"I do. Of course I do. I haven't been back for almost a year." Michael said, "By the way, how do you leave?"

"There are still a few pilots who are going to serve in the "Reverse Cross", and we will fly back together on a plane. Is there anything you need me to bring to you, little Costa?"

"Thank you, George. If you still have room in your bag, I want to ask you to bring something. I want to bring a pipe and two bottles of scotch for my dad; and then my wife said, she listens

He said that British silver tableware is very good, and he really wants a set; in addition, I also made some toys for my son using 20-gun eggshells, and..."

"Wait a minute! Michael, you have too many things! Even if I don't bring anything, I can't hold so much in my bag!"

"I'm just joking. Actually, all I really need you to bring is a set of tin soldiers. In addition, I have a very important thing to ask you." Michael suddenly straightened his expression.

"What's the matter?" Seeing his serious look, George also became serious.

"When you get back, seize the opportunity and beat up Chief Ron, Dad, Banger, and MacGe'a for me."

…

Just as the fighter pilots selected by the "Reverse Cross" were packing their things and preparing to go home, at Nellis Air Force Base, the officers of the "Reverse Cross" were also discussing the issue of the new squadron.

"The new squadrons are an attack aircraft squadron and a light bomber squadron. Before establishing these two squadrons, we must first understand what the training missions of these two squadrons are?" Ron said.

"Although it is not stated clearly above, I am sure that in the future we will land on the European continent from the coast of France to fight. Because the mountains in northern Italy are too steep, the problems that large forces will face if they cross them to attack Germany are unimaginable.

Judging from our previous experience in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, all of our weapons are far superior to those of our opponents, except for our

Tanks. This is not because we are technically inferior to the Germans, but because our tanks face many more obstacles than the Germans. Our tanks must travel across thousands of miles of sea territory by ship, and must survive the enemy or being attacked by us.

The main reason is that our Army Air Forces landed at the enemy ports that were blown up by ourselves - those ports will most likely be destroyed in the battle to the point where not even a decent crane will be left.

After landing on land, they must move forward along the roads that were blown to pieces by our bombers. And the bridges on these roads were either blown up by us or by the enemy - of course, the chance of being blown up by us is higher.

High. So in order to cross the river, our tank troops must be able to move quickly on temporarily repaired bridges or even temporary pontoons.

The ability to pass quickly. And all this means that our tanks must be lighter. We know that the Germans have some very heavy tanks, the Panther tank weighs 45 tons, the Tiger tank weighs more than 56 tons, and

The Ferdinand self-propelled artillery and King Tiger tanks we encountered in Italy weighed more than 70 tons. Our M-4 tank only weighed about 30 tons.

Greater weight means thicker armor and more powerful artillery. When our M-4 competes with these German heavy tanks, it is like a lightweight boxer weighing less than 45 kilograms.

Challenge the heavyweight champion with no weight limit. Heavyweight

If the boxing champion stands still and lets the lightweight boxer fight for a long time, the heavyweight boxing champion's skin will not be broken even a little bit, while the heavyweight boxing champion can beat a lightweight boxer weighing less than 45 kilograms with just one punch.

It flew directly into the auditorium. So anti-tank will become a big problem for us.

And this problem now depends largely on our army aviation. Therefore, our attack aircraft units must master the skills of attacking armored targets to directly kill enemy heavy tanks. And our light bombers must

Can relatively accurately attack areas such as assembly areas, stations, and warehouses

We lack experience in this area, but fortunately our allies do not lack experience in this area. I learned about such second-hand experience through them. Scott

, tell us what you learned from our allies."

"Okay General." Scott stood up and opened the slide projector, and some pictures of airplanes appeared on the screen.

"The air forces of the Soviet Union and the Germans focused on direct ground support from the beginning. The Germans initially relied mainly on Stuka dive bombers for ground strikes. This thing can attack bridges, assembly areas, artillery positions,

to carry out fairly precise strikes against targets such as fortresses. Later the Germans

The focus turned to the fighter force. Ground attack did not receive enough attention. In order to deal with Soviet tanks, the Germans developed many anti-tank attack aircraft and converted the fw-190 into a ground attack aircraft. Basically, the Germans

This is the route: dedicated attack aircraft + modified fighter jets.

The Soviets have a very effective attack aircraft in their hands, that is, the IL-2 attack aircraft. Even so, the Soviets, who attach great importance to ground attack, still use a large number of fighter jets to perform ground missions. For example, the P-39 fighter jets we assisted them

, the Soviets liked it very much. One of the important reasons is that the 37mm gun of the P-39 is very useful in ground attacks and can be used against almost any German tank.

Taken together, both the Germans and the Soviets used a large number of dedicated attack aircraft and fighter jets to perform ground missions. This may also become the norm for ground attack operations after we land on the European continent from France. Our allies tell us

, when performing this type of mission, the biggest threat is firstly the enemy's fighter jets, and secondly the enemy's anti-aircraft firepower.

The German fw-190 fighter has fierce firepower, dives very well, and rolls even better. Once it gains a height advantage, its BZ threat is very great. However, this is not a particularly troublesome problem for us. Because according to Germany's current situation

The speed at which the air force is declining. It won't be long before its fighter force will no longer pose any decent threat.

We all know that for low-flying attack aircraft and fighter jets performing ground missions, large and medium-caliber anti-aircraft guns pose almost no threat. Their reaction speed is too slow, and their angular speed of rotating gun barrels cannot keep up.

A fighter plane passing by. Therefore, for fighters performing direct fire support missions on the ground, small-caliber anti-aircraft guns are the most significant threat.

The Soviet Air Force invested heavily in direct fire support to the ground. In order to deal with the Soviets' huge il-2 attack aircraft fleet, the accompanying air defense firepower of the German armored forces has always been very strong. The Soviets told us that attack aircraft must be launched when launching an attack.

Only through multiple lines of entry and fast in and out can we ensure safety as much as possible..."

After Ron's adjutant introduced the information provided by the Soviets, Ron spoke again:

"I think our future ground attacks can only rely on dedicated ground aircraft + fighter jets. Our existing A-20 attack aircraft is more similar to a light bomber. The new one draws on what we have learned before

Some experienced attack aircraft are being developed and may not be ready for the battlefield. So I think, perhaps, we will rely more on using fighter jets and modified versions of fighter jets to perform similar tasks. Perform close-range direct confrontation.

During the ground fire support mission, we cannot fly too high or too fast, which will affect the accuracy of the attack. At this time, the distance between the enemy and ourselves is very close, and the lack of accuracy will cause a lot of accidental damage. This is unacceptable. And once

If we reduce the speed and altitude, we will be very vulnerable to attack. Therefore, I think observation and search before attack and emergency response when encountering anti-aircraft artillery fire should be the focus of teaching. What do you think about this?"

"General, I think we should use more rockets as a means of attack. The range and power of these things exceed those of aircraft cannons. In addition, the Soviet anti-armor cluster bombs are also worth emulating," Banger said.

"The accuracy of rockets is not as good as that of aircraft guns. I still like the Germans' large-caliber aircraft gun pods." Some people objected to Banger's view.

"What does the ground handling department think about this?" Ron asked.

"Ah, General, does this need to be said? Of course we prefer rockets. Maintaining aircraft guns is much more troublesome than maintaining rockets. And rockets have a longer range, which also means that you have a greater chance of damaging the aircraft.

Xiao. Of course we support rockets.

Yu said attack accuracy. I think that when high accuracy is really needed, the worst thing is that we can fly closer. In the range of the aircraft cannon, the accuracy of the rockets will not be too different." "I have been in charge of ground handling work.

Lieutenant Colonel Rothkopf replied.

"But……"

…

It was already afternoon when the meeting ended. After leaving the conference room, Ron didn't even have time to go to the restaurant to eat, so he hurriedly drove into a jeep and left the base - tonight, Nadya's ballet company was leaving Nevada and heading to

Los Angeles. This will also be their last stop in the United States. Half a month later, he

We will leave the United States and return to the ice-covered Russia. Last night, Nadya promised Ron that after returning, she would propose to the ballet to stay in the United States. Whether the ballet company agrees to it or not should have a result long ago. Just this
Chapter completed!