Chapter 587: scam
Good news spread from the pilots to Colonel Fred's headquarters one after another, and there were cheers from the pilots one after another:
"I took out another target!"
"I can't count how many times this is, but I can guarantee that my victory will break the record tonight!"
"Me too, but they are as numerous as ants, and they can't be beaten!"
…
Of course Colonel Fred doesn't care about these things, he cares more about the battle damage ratio.
However, he is not dissatisfied in this aspect, because only two fighter planes have been lost so far tonight, one was hit by enemy anti-aircraft artillery, and the other plunged into the river without controlling the height properly.
The pilot of the latter will definitely not be able to survive, flying at high speed and plunged into the river, not to mention being drowned or blown to death, no one can bear the momentum.
Although the former pilot parachuted, the plane flew to the east bank of the Volga River at the last moment... The east bank is an area controlled by the Russians. It is conceivable that the pilot will probably never come back.
Therefore, Colonel Fred also gave the pilot a warning: "Once your fighter plane is hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire, you should pull the plane as far as possible to the west bank of the Volga River before parachuting! Otherwise, I think it would be better to die with the plane." choose!"
The subordinate laughed: "Maybe some people like to see the snow scene in Siberia!"
It was no secret to the German army that the Russians sent prisoners of war to Siberia to do hard labor.
In particular, Germany’s hype about this aspect also helps to boost its morale...Let all soldiers know what will happen when they are captured by the Russians, so they would rather choose to die in battle than become a prisoner.
However, the losses of these two fighter planes and pilots are obviously insignificant compared with the results they achieved, because so far they have confirmed that they have destroyed 35 ships.
35 ships?
Colonel Fred felt a little strange. At this time, the Russians should have stopped the transportation as before, but they didn't do so.
Then the phone rang, and it was Paulus.
"How's the situation, Colonel?" Paulus asked.
"Everything is under control, General!" Fred replied: "We have confirmed the destruction of fifty-one amphibious landing ships!"
Although the German army is well-trained, there is a bad atmosphere, that is, there is a serious exaggeration from top to bottom. They will get used to exaggerating their achievements to show their merits, even the "Desert Fox" Rommel did not exception.
This was not a big problem in the early days when the German army won many battles, but in the middle and late stages... these falsely reported results often affect the accuracy of the mid- and upper-level commanders' judgments on the battle situation.
Exaggerating 35 ships to 51 ships like Fred can be said to be a conscience.
"51 ships?" Paulus asked suspiciously, "Have they still not stopped shipping?"
"No, General!" Fred replied, "I think they must have prepared a lot of amphibious landing ships!"
After a moment of silence, Paulus said: "No, Colonel, I don't think that's the case!"
"I don't understand you, General!"
"Colonel, we should put things in context!" said Paulus. "If the Russians have so many amphibious landings, why didn't they go into use a few days ago? I mean, before we found them using When the amphibious landing ships are transporting, they should put all the amphibious landing ships and do everything possible to transport crazy!"
Fred understood what Paulus said, and immediately knew that Paulus was right.
The reason is very simple: Two days ago, the Russian military used amphibious landing ships to transport it was completely safe, because the German army did not know, of course they would not intercept it with fighter planes or artillery fire.
At the same time, Stalingrad is short of supplies, so the Russian army should use as many amphibious landing ships as they have.
In other words, the amphibious landing ships seen by Fred and other pilots that day are the real number owned by the Russian army.
"General, you mean to say..."
"Are you sure it's an amphibious landing ship?" Paulus asked.
"I don't know, but my men saw them come ashore, I mean...they crossed the sandbar!"
"That may be their deception plan!" Paulus shook his head and said, "Those amphibious landing ships that didn't really go ashore may just be modified with sidecars or something else!"
Then Colonel Fred understood.
"These damned Russians!" said Colonel Fred. "No wonder they keep transporting after we've destroyed so many targets!"
Immediately Colonel Fred asked again: "But what purpose do they have in doing this?"
"Supply, Colonel Fred!" Paulus sighed: "They are systematically consuming our supplies. If we continue to fight like this, we will run out of fuel reserves tomorrow, which means we will only have to I can just watch them transport!"
Although the bullets and bombs used by fighter planes are also large, they are insignificant compared to the fuel required by fighter planes... Bullets and bombs can be launched when they see the target, but the fuel consumption is generated as soon as the fighter jet engine starts.
In addition, it is not only the night aviation regiment that needs fuel, but also the aviation team responsible for daytime combat, as well as reconnaissance planes, transport planes, etc. All they need are aviation fuel.
Fred couldn't help but wiped his sweat secretly when he heard the words, and then asked: "So, what should we do, General?"
"Anyway!" Paulus said: "What we are doing now is meaningless. It cannot stop the enemy's transportation, but it consumes a lot of resources of our army! So, stop the interception operation immediately!"
"Yes, General!"
As a result, the sky over the Volga River quickly became quiet.
It was also a battle between the fighter planes and the landing ship, and the fighter planes also won a big victory, but last night and tonight got two completely different results: the former ended with the suspension of the Soviet army's transportation, and the latter ended with the German army's cessation of bombing Finish.
As soon as the German army stopped bombing, the Soviet army immediately mixed real amphibious landing ships into the transport team.
"Don't mix in too many!" Shulka confessed: "Twenty ships are mixed in for each transportation line, and the Germans may attack suddenly!"
"Yes!" Andrianka responded, and immediately conveyed the order.
This also means that the supply of Stalingrad has returned to normal.
(end of this chapter)