Chapter 17 Death Scream (Part 2)
If the German ground armored forces are compared to the land representatives in the blitzkrieg, then there is no doubt that the most outstanding representative of the blitzkrieg from the sky is the German Air Force's JU87 Stuka dive bomber, without a doubt.
This type of low-wing single-engine dive bomber designed and manufactured by the German Junkers company was secretly transported by the German army and put into the battlefield for actual combat testing as early as during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, and finally completed successfully.
After the actual combat test in the Spanish Civil War was a great success, the Germans immediately began a series of subsequent improvement and upgrade plans for the Stuka dive bomber, and developed a series of subsequent numerous sub-models, which were called the two most outstanding representatives of the German Air Force together with the BF109 series fighters.
Before the German army launched the Barbarossa invasion, the B series modification of the JU87 Stuka dive bomber had been mass-produced and equipped in large quantities by the German Air Force's front-line troops. The latest model of the JU87D Stuka has also been finalized and put into production. It will soon be mass-produced to enhance the combat strength of the front-line troops of the German Air Force.
Strictly speaking, the six Stuka dive bombers that are rushing towards the vanguard of the 20th Tank Division of the Soviet Army led by Malashenko at this moment are not specially sent to intercept the vanguard led by Malashenko.
About ten minutes ago, the six Stuka dive bombers that had just finished refueling and loading at the rear airport at the Soviet-German border were only tasked with transferring to the front-line field airport and waiting for orders to remain on standby.
But just as these six Stuka dive bombers were approaching the German front-line field airport and preparing to land, a transfer order from the superior air command changed their direction and immediately transferred them to the front line.
"The reconnaissance aircraft reported that a Soviet mechanized mixed force was found in the following area moving towards our Southern Army Group, carrying an unknown number of tanks and a small amount of heavy equipment. Now I order your troops to intercept and bomb immediately."
Just like that, six new JU87B-2 Stuka dive bombers that had just departed from Germany and completed their transfer had not had time to land. Under the order of their superiors, they shook their wings and began to rush towards Malashenko's troops, which were only tens of kilometers away.
As the latest improvement of the existing old model, the performance design of the B-2 JU87 Stuka dive bomber can be said to be the culmination of the highest technology of the current German Air Force, and it is completely worthy of its terrifying title of "Screaming Death".
The biggest difference between the JU87B-2 Stuka dive bomber and the previous early A-type Stuka is that it is equipped with a Junkers JUMO 211D 12-cylinder inline water-cooled engine, which can output up to 1,200 horsepower for the entire Stuka dive bomber.
With this powerful new heart, the maximum level flight speed of the JU87B-2 Stuka dive bomber has been improved from the original A-type 310 kilometers per hour to 383 kilometers per hour.
Although this flight speed is not excellent in the face of mainstream fighters on the battlefield of World War II in 1941, the powerful mounting capacity it brings to the B-2 Stuka dive bomber under such a premise is obvious.
In addition to retaining the two 92mm MG17 wing-mounted aircraft machine guns on the original A model, the B-2 Stuka's bomb-carrying capacity has been further increased from the original 250kg of the A model to 500kg. It can carry up to one 250kg aerial bomb and four slightly smaller 50kg aerial bombs for ground strikes.
If necessary, the B-2 Stuka dive bomber can also carry a 1,000kg super-heavy aerial bomb to carry out targeted air strikes on enemy strong defensive positions or large ship targets without the rear-seat machine gunner and with the minimum amount of fuel. It can be said to be a bombing all-rounder who is proficient in everything.
In terms of body design, the B-2 Stuka dive bomber retains the automatic deceleration plate technology and the classic "Jericho trumpet" sounding device on the original A model.
The automatic speed brake technology, which was still advanced technology in 1941, brought the Stuka unusually powerful performance. This automatic speed brake can automatically change the huge and heavy Stuka from the dive state without manual operation when the pilot has black vision or even completely loses vision during a high-g dive to the ground, thus fundamentally avoiding the destruction of the aircraft and the death of people due to overload and black vision of the pilot.
The latter is the Jericho trumpet device, which uses the high-speed airflow flowing through the body of the Stuka to produce a terrifying screaming sound when the Stuka dives, thereby deterring the enemy and bringing a strong sense of psychological oppression and fear. This is the fundamental origin of the rumored nickname of the Stuka "Screaming Death".
At this moment, the six B-2 JU87 Stuka dive bombers that rushed down from the sky towards Malashenko's vanguard all used conventional ground attack mounting solutions without exception.
The ground attack mounting scheme of a 250 kg heavy aerial bomb and four 50 kg small aerial bombs not only makes these strange birds painted in the German Air Force's unique dark black paint easy to deal with ground heavy armored targets, but also uses 50 kg aerial bombs with smaller equivalent to carry out large-scale mass destruction of unprotected soft targets.
As a later time traveler, Malashenko is naturally well aware of the horror of the German Stuka dive bomber. It is no exaggeration to say that without a complete air defense position or fighter cover, the Stuka is the most real death god in reality for any ground force.
Because of this, Malashenko, who never thought of resisting stubbornly, immediately leaned his upper body out of the turret and shouted loudly to all the accompanying personnel and tank crews around him to warn the police.
Not all vehicles were equipped with inter-vehicle radio stations, and they still used the rather primitive "flag language" method for inter-vehicle communication. The hidden dangers of the Soviet armored forces' lack of attention to the timeliness of communication and coordination between the crews finally caused a disaster at this moment.
Except for the tank crews closer to Malashenko who stopped in time after hearing the shouts, the several vanguard tank crews at a slightly farther distance in front did not hear Malashenko's loud shouts at all because of the noisy engine noise in the car and continued to move forward.
Seeing this scene, Malashenko, who was anxious and helpless, was about to jump off the tank and run forward to stop these crews who were still unaware of the danger, but the harsh sound like the scream of hell above his head followed Malashenko one step ahead.