The "Gaolao" was passing through the thick smoke, and from time to time you could hear the rumbling explosions under the belly of the aircraft, and even the jingle of shrapnel hitting the chassis of the Tu-3 aircraft. ←, for a moment, this scary jingle was extremely frequent, and Dmitry was very worried that his plane would crash the next second.

However, "Gao Lao" perfectly reflects the value of the fortress in the air. The solid fuselage is quite resistant to beating. Even though there is a mess under the belly of the machine, the "Gao Lao" still rushes out of thick smoke. However, as soon as it came out, Dmitry was startled again. Suddenly, a silver-light cable appeared directly in front of the "Gao Lao", which was the traction cable blocking the balloon. If the "Gao Lao" hits in this way, then the cabin of the "Gao Lao" will be cut in half by the cable!

Dmitry suddenly shuddered and quickly pushed the joystick to turn sideways. At that time, the cable ran towards the engine of the right wing. Just when Dmitry thought his wing would probably not be able to be saved, the rapidly rotating propeller cut the cable and burst out a dazzling spark. The propeller on the inside of the right wing announced the reimbursement, and the deadly cable was also cut off.

The "Gao Man" who survived the disaster finally rushed out of this "land of death". When he was slowly pulled up, Dmitry could see that many of his comrades around him were not as lucky as him. Immediately afterwards, the "fat man" behind him hit the blocking balloon and then fell to the ground fiercely. The left wing broke off on the spot, and the nose of the machine was deeply inserted into the soil. After a few seconds, the "fat man" began to burn, and no one could escape from this coffin.

Not only is it a problem of blocking the balloon, but some pilots also lost control of the plane under the attack of anti-aircraft guns. They either hit trees or fell head-on to the ground, and even had the plane exploded in the air.

However, compared with the losses of the Tu-3 aircraft group, the Germans were even more miserable. The Knerben molybdenum mine was basically destroyed, and it was very difficult to re-explore it. The local anti-aircraft artillery troops did not take much advantage of the shooting between Tu-3. They rushed onto the field. A considerable part of them fell under the firepower of the Tu-3 machine gun.

The bombing lasted about half an hour. When all the Tu-3 and Pe-8 were loaded and pulled back and left, Knerben had already declared his death. Under two rounds of air strikes, all the mines collapsed, and basically no one could stop production.

Of course, the Red Army's bomber fleet also paid a heavy price. Among the 127 bombers that were bombed, 21 were shot down on the spot, and another 26 were severely damaged. For example, the pe-8, nicknamed "Victory", hit the tail, tearing off part of the tail wing, and causing the tail machine gunner to die on the spot. Pilot Petria used his superb flight skills to drive the plane back with difficulty. When later generations asked him how he felt at that time, he replied: "I told the other comrades of the crew to be prepared for parachuting at any time. God knows when this thing will fall..."

Of course, some interesting stories also emerged during this bombing operation. The Tu-3 bomber nicknamed "Matador" was controlled by Spanish pilot Calderon, pressed the nose down and rushed towards the mine. The fierce castration caused the mechanic behind him to throw out the seat, so that the co-pilot Lieutenant **fu thought he was dead this time.

Behind Calderon, his younger brother Fernandez was not that fierce. The Spanish guy was quite nervous and scared at this time. The reason was very simple. The smoke in front covered the sky, and the black smoke clearly set off the dense and frenzied trajectory of anti-aircraft shells. He felt that he was just out of the cocoon from the surface. Especially when he saw a friend's plane hit by an 88mm shell from the front and his unusual plane crashed on the ground, the young Spanish guy could no longer bear it and began to cry loudly.

Interestingly, Fernandez cried but did not affect his driving at all. While crying, he flew to the target accurately, and then began to speed up his escape without wiping his nose and tears, so he got the nickname of a crying man.

After completing the bombing, the remaining bombers re-established the formation over Knerburn, and then lowered the altitude again to start returning. At this time, they had been flying for nearly 5 hours, with bullet marks on the fuselage and exhausted the members.

Although the fire net composed of anti-aircraft guns of various caliber has been thrown out, the German fighter jets are like a group of hornets stabbed in hornets, rushing up angrily. However, these fighter jets also face huge risks when diving at extremely low altitudes, and more than one aircraft crashed due to unhooked timely.

However, the situation of Soviet bombers was not much better. A considerable number of the Tu-3s were already riddled with holes by anti-aircraft guns. They did not fly so fast and their maneuver was no longer so flexible. The only thing that made the Red Army pilots happy was that they completed the mission.

Of course, not only the Red Army pilots were happy, but the Norwegian people were in a bad mood. Compared with the carpet bombings carried out by Britain and the United States in Germany, the Red Army's bombing in Knerben was quite accurate, which also reduced the casualties of Norwegian civilians to a minimum.

Let me put it this way, in the bombing of Knerben, the casualties of crew members of the crew members were several times higher than those of civilians on the ground. Later, when most of the attacked cities in Europe, uncontrollable high-altitude bombing caused a large number of innocent casualties. In return, the Red Army pilots captured after parachuting were welcomed by the Norwegian people, and even a considerable number of patriotic Norwegian people risked great danger to contain and help the Red Army pilots escape the Nazi search.

When the Red Army bombers returned to the Baltic Sea again, the fuel warning light on the German fighter jets was on, and the short-legged B-109 could only give up the pursuit and return in a dull manner. However, this does not mean that the bomber fleet is safe. The German fighter jets coming from Denmark were already on the road. They had tried to intercept once that morning, but unfortunately that time was very unsuccessful. And this time, they had some gains, at least three Tu-3s and two Pe-8s were shot down.

Next, when East Prussia was in sight, the b-109g and -190 that took off from Szczechin arrived again. Fortunately, Jewish pilots from East Prussia and Red Army fighter pilots arrived in time to cover to help the bomber fleet escape.

During this period, many touching stories also appeared. For example, on the "International Worker", Borisov was uneasy to find that there was very little fuel on the plane. He had never seen the fuel pointer of the Tu-3 stay so low. While crossing the Baltic Sea, Borisov asked the crew members to vote whether to jump immediately or venture across the Baltic Sea. At this time, the machine gunner Viktorov answered him in one sentence: "The Volga River is much wider than here, fly! Let's go home!"

Not only Borisov was troubled by the fuel, but also Major Congrif, who made bad things turn good things by previous navigation errors. At that time, the major's car's fuel tank was penetrated and a considerable portion of the fuel was leaked. According to the route when he arrived, he would definitely not be able to fly back.

At that time, Major Congrif drew out the map and tried to find the shortest route. When Major General Ravensky, who was beside the major, found that he was trying to avoid invading Swedish airspace, the major general asked: "What are you doing?"

“I’m looking for a route to avoid Swedish airspace in a neutral country.”

Major General Ravensky became popular at that time: "Go to fuck neutral country, go to fuck Sweden!" he roared: "I only have a straight route!"

Finally, Congreve's bomber swung over Sweden and landed in Konnisburg nearly an hour ahead of schedule. When landing, all three-seater engines of the aircraft had stopped working and landed on the runway almost without power.

There were only 87 bombers when they set off, and the last one landed was the Seal. The poor Pe-8 lost its route and flew for two laps on the Baltic Sea. They flew for 12 hours. After landing, the pilot collapsed in a chair and was finally lifted from the seat by the crew members. The pilot was still alive, but was too tired to stand up. The co-pilot next to him had been dead for almost 4 hours.

The operation was over and the suffering of the pilots ended. The Red Army's long-range aviation force proved its value for the first time, and paid the price of nearly 273 deaths. Shortly after the results of this operation were confirmed, the Military Commission immediately awarded 20 Soviet heroes and the Lenin Medal, including Major Hargriff, who bravely hit the target. The major not only won the highest honor in the Soviet Union, but was also honored to be a Communist Party member, and these were what he deserved!

However, not everyone was happy and satisfied with this bombing operation. For example, Tukhachevsky had a lot of complaints. He believed that even if the supply of iron ore in Nalvik and the destruction of the Knaben molybdenum mine was cut off, it would not help change the passiveness of the Red Army on the ground battlefield.

He believes: "The Air Force should pay more attention to the situation in East Poland, rather than taking advantage of the tricks to bomb some targets that can only show their role after half a year to a year. What is the role of this in the battle situation? What is its significance? In my opinion, the Air Force should concentrate on bombing the German ground forces with all its might, rather than hitting some invisible and inaudible places!"

Regarding his statement, Alqueznis angrily refuted: "The Air Force is attacking the enemy within its ability. The bad situation on the ground is caused by the General Staff's mistaken estimate of the enemy-to-we-stage situation and the wrong counterattack. What does this have to do with the Air Force? Besides, Narvik, Knerburn and Berlin are not invisible places. The bombing of Berlin greatly boosted the morale of the people across the country. The bombing of Narvik made the supply of iron ore in Germany tight, and the bombing of Knerburn will reduce the quality of the enemy's weapons. How can these be said to be useless? In my opinion, the only useless thing is the General Staff. After the outbreak of the Patriotic War, this department made a series of wrong decisions, and was fully responsible for the unfavorable situation on the battlefield!"

Alqueznis pointed at Tukhachevsky, he had enough of the latter and had no patience to spend time with him, so he simply said it out.

Also impatient is Li Xiaofeng. At this time, the front-line troops were about to collapse. Tukhachevsky did not think about how to rescue these young men, but instead continued to engage in military disputes. Isn’t this nonsense?

So he immediately fired: "The General Staff should indeed be fully responsible. The two consecutive counterattacks were too hasty and reckless. Not only did they not achieve the established goal, but they also threw all our precious living forces in. I suggest another more stable and reliable comrade to preside over the work of the General Staff!"

Tukhachevsky's face turned pale. He knew that Li Xiaofeng was going to settle the score with him. If the other party succeeded, he would not say that he would have no place to die. He could only withdraw from the historical stage in shame.

"I think..." Tukhachevsky was about to debate for himself. Trotsky stopped him: "Comrade Andre, now is not the time to attack and shirk responsibility. The most important thing now is how to safely withdraw the troops on the East Polish front line. This is our top priority. Let's talk about other things later!"

Li Xiaofeng didn't want anything to say later, but Sverdlov immediately emphasized: "The main agenda of today's meeting is to solve the most difficult war problems at present. As for personnel issues, delay!"

At the same time, Luzutak also suddenly winked at Li Xiaofeng and asked him to give Sverdlov a face and not chase after him again at this time.

Fu Longzhi also spoke: "Discuss military issues first, and other issues will be put on hold!"

If it were just Trotsky, even if Sverdlov and Luzutak were added, Li Xiaofeng would not give him any more than he would say, but Fu Longzhi would speak out differently. He represented Lenin's attitude. Even if Li Xiaofeng was arrogant, he would not dare to fight against the three big bosses at the same time.

Of course, he did not give in. Instead, he said: "Today we only discuss military issues, yes! But the issue of ** cannot be discussed forever. Some comrades must be responsible for their previous wrong command, and I will definitely follow this responsibility to the end!"

Trotsky's eyelids twitched. If someone else had spoken like this, he would probably think that it was to find a way for himself, but Li Xiaofeng was different. After fighting back and forth so many times, he had mastered someone's character. The statement just now was his declaration, which was to say to the Military Commission and the Politburo: "I will definitely not let Tukhachevsky down the responsibility!"

Someone's tough and sharp statement made Trotsky a headache. If he was interrupted in the Military Commission, a crutch like Tukhachevsky, he would be really lame. But Tukhachevsky's performance was too weak and he was extremely clumsy, which made it difficult for him to speak for Tukhachevsky. This time Xiao Si helped him, otherwise Tukhachevsky would be torn apart in minutes.

The problem is that although Tukhachevsky barely saved it, the problem has not been solved, especially since he cannot come up with an effective way to solve the current dilemma.

"We lack a stable line of defense. If the front line troops steeply retreat, the consequences will be unimaginable. My opinion is that the front line troops will continue to confront the enemy, and at the same time draw forces from other military regions to build a line of defense on the front line of Brest. When a stable line of defense is available, the front line troops can retreat with the flow, so as to minimize the losses!"

Tukhachevsky's plan sounds nonsense at first glance. It is inevitable to draw troops from other military regions, but the problem is that it takes time, and rebuilding the defense line still takes time. The most important problem is that the Red Army does not have so much time, and the collapse of the front line is imminent!

In Li Xiaofeng's opinion, Tukhachevsky went to find the toilet when he had diarrhea. What did you do long ago? It was too late to think about transferring troops to rebuild the defense line!

"Then what do you think of?" Tukhachevsky became popular instead.

"My opinion is the same as last time," Li Xiaofeng replied coldly: "Only a hero can cut off his arm. Only a few troops were left to block and delay the enemy on the spot, and the main force retreated as quickly as possible, retreated to Minsk as soon as possible, and build a line of defense in the Kiev line..."

Tukhachevsky accused angrily: "How many troops will you lose when you do this? The blocking troops left behind will inevitably be completely wiped out!"

Li Xiaofeng countered coldly: "According to your approach, it is not just the blocking troops that were completely wiped out, but the entire main force of the Ukrainian Front, the Belarusian Front and the Baltic Front! It is rare to escape a few three-legged cats in the end!"

"You are increasing the enemy's prestige and destroying your morale," Tukhachevsky argued with a certain immortal. "Our soldiers can still persist, and we must not give up any Red Army soldier. Your extremely cold-blooded tactic will greatly dampen the morale of the Red Army!"

Before Li Xiaofeng could speak, Alqueznis sarcastically said: "A good one can persist, and a good other will not give up any Red Army soldier. Comrade Tukhachevsky, the remnants of the Third and Tenth Army troops in the encirclement are also persisting. They are also Red Army soldiers, why don't you save them!"

Tukhachevsky couldn't speak at once, and after a while, I squeezed out a sentence: "One time and another time, and I firmly oppose the hasty retreat before building a good defense line. If the blocking troops cannot stop the enemy, wouldn't the enemy be easily driven straight in? At that time, not only Minsk, Kiev cannot defend, but even Leningrad and Moscow would be very dangerous!"

Li Xiaofeng sneered: "Do you think there is still time to build a defense line? Before the troops you have drawn from other military regions arrive in Minsk and Kiev, the front line will collapse. Only then will Minsk and Kiev really fall, and Moscow and Leningrad will be even more dangerous. What's more terrifying is that all the elite troops we formed before the war will be annihilated by the enemy. What will you use to defend your country at that time?"

As he said that, Li Xiaofeng took a deep breath and said, "Although my plan is cruel, it will inevitably cost a heavy price, but it can protect the elite of the Red Army and preserve our strength for our future counterattack. On the contrary, we will suffer a catastrophe! We will be in a state of doom and will never turn over!!" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!