Steel Soviet Union

When the German bomber fleet, flying horizontally in the air at an altitude of two thousand meters, reached its final position close enough to the pier, the anti-aircraft gun position on the pier finally began to pour out firepower after bringing the German bomber group within effective firing range.

As the most important logistical supply line to ensure that the Leningrad military and civilians can continue to resist and persevere, the Ladoga Lake Pier, which connects the only remaining road to life in the rear area, had a dense and complete high school as early as when Marshal Voroshilov was in charge of the city defense work. The low-level third-level air defense positions have been deployed and constructed as a top priority.

Deployed at the outermost edge of the air defense position is a twin-mounted 25mm 72K fully automatic anti-aircraft gun, which is mainly responsible for air defense combat and interception missions in lower airspace.

As the main small-caliber anti-aircraft gun in the Red Army Army, this type of anti-aircraft gun is equipped in large quantities in front-line troops. The gun crew is composed of 6 people. It uses a human hand-operated steering machine and a height machine as the power for the artillery pitch and rotation.

Its single artillery has a theoretical maximum rate of fire of 240 rounds per minute. The dual-mounted parallel firepower can further enhance the anti-aircraft barrage and increase the firepower. It has relatively good performance in terms of artillery trajectory and shell muzzle velocity. It has excellent and reliable performance and is convenient for large-scale wartime production. It can be regarded as one of the more outstanding small-caliber anti-aircraft guns in the early days of World War II.

After that, a mid-section air defense position composed of 76mm 3K anti-aircraft guns was deployed.

The 76mm anti-aircraft high-explosive bomb with a time-delay fuse with a muzzle velocity of 810 meters per second. The warhead warhead contains 180 grams of TNT charge. After exploding in the air, it can cause damage to aircraft targets within a spherical area of ​​30 meters in diameter. A devastating blow, the shattered shrapnel still poses a considerable threat to fragile fighters even at a distance of fifty meters.

In the core part of the air defense position, 12 M1939 85mm anti-aircraft guns pointed straight into the sky like heavy swords.

Similar to the 88mm anti-aircraft gun in the German army's equipment series, the M1939 85mm anti-aircraft gun, which is the largest caliber anti-aircraft gun in the Soviet field force series, also has outstanding performance.

The muzzle velocity of the 85mm fixed-delay fuze high-explosive fragmentation projectile used by the gun in performing air defense missions is 792 meters per second, the theoretical maximum range can reach 15,000 meters, and the warhead warhead charge is as high as 660 grams of TNT. , it can be said to be very powerful. When multiple guns of this gun are fired in an organic salvo for anti-aircraft fire, they are enough to pose an extremely serious threat to a group of high-altitude bombers.

It is worth mentioning that this type of 85mm anti-aircraft gun has excellent ballistic performance and an excellent design that facilitates large-scale wartime production.

In future wars, it also became the main firepower of the famous T3485 medium tank. It was also equipped as the main gun weapon on the Soviet SU-85 anti-tank destroyer. The infantry was also equipped with an improved version of this type of anti-aircraft gun. The 85mm D44 anti-tank gun and the M1939 85mm anti-aircraft gun, like the German 88 gun, are worthy of the reputation of "anti-all guns" in the hands of the Soviet army.

With three levels of "high, medium and low" air defense firepower from far to near, and deployed from the inside to the outside of the core area of ​​the position, the Soviet air defense position can be said to have complete firepower and airtightness. It is fully capable of threatening and intercepting anyone who dares to invade Ladoga. German fighter planes in service at the lake pier.

The 85mm and 76mm anti-aircraft shells that exploded like black flowers first exploded one after another near the height of the airspace where the German aircraft group was located.

Ordinary anti-aircraft artillery shells that use custom-installed delayed anti-aircraft fuzes need to first set the delayed fuze corresponding to the height of the explosion according to the height of the enemy aircraft group visually measured on the ground before firing out the chamber. The error is large. The first wave of anti-aircraft firepower For the Soviet air defense positions, the pouring was, at best, just a test launch in which the fuze setting was revised based on the actual effect.

Although the anti-aircraft shells that exploded one after another around the own fleet did not damage any German fighter planes for the time being, flying straight and level while passively being beaten was obviously not the style of the domineering German Air Force in 1941.

The German bombers, like frightened rabbits, immediately spread out in groups of three in a Z-shaped bomber squad for tactical evasion, trying to prevent the Soviet air defense positions from concentrating firepower in a single direction and reducing the probability of being shot down.

At the same time, the 18 Messerschmitt BF-109E fighters accompanying the German bombers also began to dive straight from the sky toward the ground.

The Soviet fighter force that may have come to intercept our own bomber group has not yet appeared. In this situation, the German escort fighter force no longer needs to maintain a high degree of reserve energy and launch an attack on the Soviet air defense positions to open up an attack channel for the bomber force. has become the top priority right now.

Anti-aircraft high-explosive bombs that use pre-set delay fuses to detonate are still acceptable when dealing with bulky bombers that are large and relatively clumsy and slow, making it difficult to make high-G maneuvers in time.

Although the time required for the flight of the artillery shell from the moment it is ejected from the barrel to the predetermined altitude in the airspace and then automatically detonated is not long, it is enough for a compact fighter jet with high maneuverability and dexterous speed to easily avoid it. This is especially true for BF109, which is famous for its flexibility and extremely small turning radius.

The BF109, which was flying through the smoke and dust from the explosion of anti-aircraft shells, did not take long to descend from the escort altitude to the low-altitude area. The scattered BF109 fighters, who regarded the Soviet large-caliber anti-aircraft guns as nothing in the dance of the blade, were not attacked in the process. If any losses were incurred, it would soon fly over the air defense position and launch a dive attack.

At this moment, the twin 25mm 72K fully-automatic anti-aircraft guns deployed at the outermost edge of the entire air defense position turned their muzzles one after another, shifting the attack target from the German bomber fleet in the high altitude to these BF109s, firing at a high rate of fire. The anti-aircraft barrage woven by caliber anti-aircraft shells is the absolute nemesis for intercepting these high-speed and agile fighter jets.

The BF109 fighter jets that were intercepted by dozens of blazing tracer fire rivers were unable to dodge for a while. A full three BF109s that were half a beat too slow to react were instantly volleyed and exploded into balls of blazing fireballs and debris.

Since the beginning of the war, the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery units, which have fought against the Luftwaffe many times, have become increasingly mature in their air defense skills and practical experience. They have gradually figured out the specific flight performance of German fighter jets and found the feel and skills to deal with old German pilots. Skill.

With the support of the dense air defense firepower network, the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery force, which was no longer a rookie, now had the ability to fight against the veteran German pilots.

The blood of their comrades spilled in the sky did not make these veteran German pilots who were accustomed to life and death waver or hesitate. Compared with the heavy losses suffered by the German Air Force in the Battle of Britain, this inconspicuous loss was nothing more than a shadow of a shadow. Yingzhihuo, the BF109s flying through the anti-aircraft tracer barrage immediately launched an impact towards the ground after cutting into the attack channel.