mtlumby2d Chapter 358: The Roaring Stuka Bombardment
Chapter 358: The Roaring Stuka Bombardment
Two days later, at nine o'clock in the morning, Li Haman changed into his own flight suit and personally piloted a BF-109 fighter, while giving his own orders via the walkie-talkie.
"Attention, First and Second Bomber Squadrons of A Wing. Please fly your Stuka bombers to the Huzhou battlefield 420 kilometers away. The target is the enemy's defensive position at the top of Huxiao Cliff. The specific coordinates have been sent to the airborne radar. Warriors, please use the weapons in your hands to destroy the enemy's defenses!"
"OVER! The First Bomber Squadron has received the order, prepare to take off, target Tiger Roaring Cliff!"
"OVER! The second bomber squadron has received the order, prepare to take off, target Tiger Roaring Cliff!"
Members of the first and second bomber squadrons of the A Wing respectively piloted large Stuka bombers, quickly climbed to an altitude of three thousand meters, and flew towards the Huxiao Cliff on the north side of Huxiao Town.
Li Hamman personally led the First Combat Flight Squadron and followed closely behind, following the flank of the bomber group, ready to provide firepower replenishment at any time.
Two hours later, at 35 o'clock in the morning, two bomber squadrons consisting of Stuka bombers arrived over Tiger Roar Cliff on time, and Li Haman also contacted the Fourth Army in advance.
"Members of the First Bombing Squadron, please note that we have accurately captured an area where the enemy's heavy firepower is densely populated. Please form a Y-shape, fly over the enemy's position at an altitude of 500 meters, and conduct the first tentative horizontal bombing!"
Horizontal bombing refers to the aircraft dropping bombs at ground targets while in level flight, and is the most common method of bombing.
It is necessary to master the lead time when dropping bombs.
Because horizontal bombers fly at high altitudes and have long slant distances from their targets, they rely heavily on bombing sights to detect, lock targets, and determine the timing of bombing.
The bomb does not fall straight up or down from the plane, but in a parabola. Therefore, the lead angle of the bomb must be calculated to allow the bomb to hit the target accurately. Many parameters are required, such as the aircraft airspeed, ground speed, drift angle, wind speed, flight altitude, and average bomb drop speed.
Both the fighter pilots and bomber pilots of the A Wing are world-class. In one exercise, the best bomber pilot of the A Wing was able to drop a simulated wooden bomb directly into a large water tank in the center area 300 meters below. The superb technique and accuracy of the bomb dropping were breathtaking.
"Pilot No. 2 of the First Bomber Squadron receives this!"
"Pilot Three received!"
At the top of the Tiger Roaring Cliff is an extremely flat C-shaped plain. On the peak plain, which covers an area of about four square kilometers, there are densely packed troops of the Huzhou Army, including the Tiger Army, the remnants of the 6th and 7th Armies, totaling more than 75 people. On this side of the cliff close to the only attack route of the th Army, there are countless logs with a diameter of half a meter and boulders half as tall as an adult. A large number of mortars and MM mountain cannons are lined up at the front line, ready to fire at any time at any attacking enemy troops.
As the Stuka roared past 500 meters above the peak plain, the soldiers of the Huzhou Army on the enemy position at Tiger Roaring Cliff all heard extremely harsh whistles.
"General! Look, what's that above your head?"
The head of Watson's guard regiment pointed his right hand to the sky. Watson subconsciously looked up and saw a large object like a giant bird flying far away in the sky. When it was close to the top of the mountain, the bomb bay below opened, and the SC series high-explosive bombs carried by the Stuka were dropped from the fuselage by the pilot through the Norton sight.
The calibers of the SC series are divided by kilograms, including 50, 250, 500, 1000, 1200, 1800, 2000 and 2500 kilograms, but the actual weight of different models under each caliber will fluctuate. In addition, there is a small SC 10 used as a cluster bomb. The larger SC series bombs generally have a resistance ring with a triangular cross-section welded on the head to prevent them from penetrating too deep when they touch the ground. When attacking railways, roads and dams, SC 50 and SC 250 often have extended spikes installed on the head, which can be inserted into the ground when they touch the ground to prevent the bomb from bouncing. This type is called Stachelbombe (spike bomb), or Stabo for short.
At this time, the first bomber squadron dropped 250kG spiked high-explosive bombs. Calculated based on a Stuka dropping two 250KG spiked high-explosive bombs, the first bomber squadron dropped a total of 250 spiked high-explosive bombs in just less than three minutes. The 135KG high-explosive bomb had a charge of 100KG, which was powerful enough to smash everything within a 500-meter diameter of the bomb center point to pieces, and the area within meters would be affected by the explosion shock wave.
Even the King Tiger tank, known as the king of land tanks, would be instantly destroyed and reduced to scrap metal if it was within 250 meters of the center of a 30KG high-explosive bomb.
Seventy spiked high-explosive bombs were dropped at the Huzhou Army base from different directions and distances. The shells were equipped with extended spikes on the head, which penetrated deeply into the soft soil on the top of the peak. In less than five seconds, deafening explosions as if the world was about to be destroyed followed one after another, covering a large area of the Huzhou Army base.
In fact, when the first bombing squadron began to drop bombs, Watson had already realized that something was wrong. Watson and Qu Guowei's son Qu Chen were actually cousins. The former had studied at the Moscow Military Academy and had some one-sided understanding of the Air Force.
However, before this, the Northwest Revolutionary Army had never revealed that it had an air force, so the Huzhou Army had no defense at all.
The Huzhou Army base on the top of the mountain was like hell on earth, with charred black shell craters about a hundred meters in diameter appearing one after another. The Huzhou Army soldiers in the center of the explosion were even directly blown into pieces of bloody flesh by the shock wave of the explosion. A large number of tents, sandbags placed on the ground, cannons, machine guns, light and heavy machine guns, etc. were directly destroyed.
This round of horizontal bombing alone caused at least more than 3,000 casualties to the Huzhou Army. The Huzhou Army stationed at the peak position was extremely dense, stretching for several miles. At this moment, the Stuka had completely become their nightmare and was a veritable aerial death god.
"Captain! After this round of bombing, at least one regiment of the Huzhou Army was engulfed in the artillery fire. As long as we have two more rounds, we can probably directly destroy the entire Huzhou Army at the top of the Tiger Roaring Cliff."
"Jerry, don't be too proud. Using the air force to attack them is like the angel guards around God fighting against the most backward primitive tribe! It would be strange if we can't crush them!"
"Second Bomber Squadron! You can officially enter the battlefield. I suggest you conduct a dive bombing and use SC cluster bombs to give them a feast of blood and fire!"