Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Chapter 172: Battle of Poland (35)

"Five minutes to prepare!"

In the cabin of a JU-52 transport plane that was constantly shaking, the pilot's roar came from the speakers hanging on the bulkhead, drowning out the roar of the engine.

The JU-52 is the most widely used and famous transport aircraft in Germany during World War II, but this fame is inevitable. If the German army had other options at that time, it would certainly not have used this transport aircraft on a large scale.

In 1928, Junkers Sindo designer designed a single-engine transport aircraft, which was the prototype of the JU-52. This aircraft was purely designed for cargo and had only one engine in the nose.

In 1931, Junkers added two engines to the JU-52, which greatly improved its flight performance. It proved its high-altitude flight capabilities by flying around the Alps. At that time, no aircraft in the civil aviation field could do this. It can be done. It even calmly flew over the Pamir Mountains, which was as dangerous as the later Hump Route.

The excellent performance of the passenger JU-52 successfully attracted the attention of the military. An order for 1,200 aircraft was immediately placed. In addition to transport types, many have been converted into bomber models. The original passenger cabin was converted into a bomb bay, and defensive machine guns were added. Unfortunately, in Spain the ju-52 proved unsuitable as a bomber. Because although it has good flight performance and good control, its flight speed is slow (286 km/h) and it has been shot down many times.

During World War II, although reconnaissance aircraft, ambulance aircraft, minesweepers and other models were derived, they were mainly used for transportation. It was an important model of the German airborne troops. German paratroopers used it to launch raids.

Unfortunately, unlike the glorious record, ju-52 suffered heavy losses in every actual battle. Especially small-caliber cannons such as 20 mm are very effective against the JU-52 flying at low altitude and slow speed.

During the German invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium, the JU-52's towed glider raid on the Eben Emaar Fortress and the Rotterdam airborne became classic airborne operations in history.

However, the JU-52 and the airborne troops it carried also suffered heavy casualties during the battle. Two-thirds of the 430 JU-52 invested in the Netherlands failed to return or were seriously injured and could no longer be used.

At various airports where fierce battles took place in the Netherlands, countless JU-52s were shot down and destroyed, and aircraft wreckage was everywhere. Most of these aircraft were provided by the Air Force Aviation School, and the pilots were instructors who trained flight students, so the losses were even greater. Very tragic.

In the Battle of Crete in May 1941, the German paratroopers and their JU-52s were severely damaged again and their vitality was severely damaged. They were no longer able to launch large-scale airdrops during the remainder of World War II.

While delivering supplies to Rommel's Afrika Korps in North Africa, the Ju-52 had to fly over the dangerous Mediterranean due to the occupation of Malta by the British. The slow Ju-52 became an excellent target for Spitfires and was massacred.

After 1942, the loss rate of Ju-52 exceeded the production rate. In the winter of 1942-43, 450 Ju-52s were lost to the airdrop of supplies to the German army trapped in Stalingrad. The German Ju-52 fleet The scale gradually decreased.

In Yannick's opinion, this thing is simply a flying coffin, a paratrooper's nightmare!

Therefore, the current Ju-52 is just a transitional model, and it can be used in Poland, which has very little air defense power left.

"Everyone stand up!" Upon hearing the order, the squad leader Scheffler, who was sitting next to the cabin door, stood up and shouted loudly. The noise of the engine was so loud that he had to shout at the top of his lungs.

The paratroopers in the cabin stood up one after another.

"Prepare the hooks! Check the equipment!" The paratroopers hung the hooks of the parachute bags on the top rope and checked each other's equipment.

Soon, the flashing red indicator light on the top of the cabin switched to green. The squad leader opened the cabin door forcefully, and the cold wind suddenly poured into the cabin, causing the paratroopers to stagger around. Schaeffer braved the strong wind and pushed the weapons box piled next to the hatch out of the cabin.

"Hurry up!!"

At Schaeffer's loud urging, the first paratrooper stepped out of the hatch.

The last paratrooper in the cabin jumped out of the cabin. Schaeffer looked back at the cabin to make sure that nothing was left behind, and then quickly jumped out of the cabin. The closer he was to everyone, the shorter the time needed to gather together.

Just when his body was blown a little unstable by the airflow, the hook of the parachute suddenly opened the parachute. The guide parachute first flew out of the parachute bag, and then the white main parachute was pulled out and unfolded, with a violent blocking force. His body suddenly stagnated, and the safety belt restrained him tightly. The impact from two directions made him know that the main parachute had successfully opened.

There were dense parachutes all around, and this time they were dispatched as a whole regiment.

Of course, the German army could not waste too much force in Warsaw. This time, it used paratroopers as the lead and continued to advance westward.

Fortunately, the Polish air defense force never seemed to exist. The German paratroopers were densely packed in the sky, but the air defense artillery fire on the ground was pitiful. The German soldiers landed on the ground in broad daylight and began to form Collect their own troops, and then rush towards the target they have planned to fight for.

Schaeffer landed smoothly. He opened the safety buckle on his parachute and quickly removed all his parachute protection items.

Because the German airborne troops pursue low-altitude delivery, rapid landing, and minimizing time in the air, the area of ​​the German-made parachute is very small, and the weight of the parachute is strictly restricted. The average soldier only has one pistol and two grenades, and the non-commissioned officer has an MP40. Submachine guns, rifles and machine guns, as well as ammunition, are all packed in airborne canisters and dropped individually.

But just now in the sky, his MP40 submachine gun belt was ripped open by the airflow, and he didn't know where it fell. Now he only has a 9mm caliber Walter P38 pistol and a small hunting dagger.

He needed to find the weapons box as soon as possible.

Fortunately, each weapon box has an eye-catching search device hung on it. There will be fluorescent rods for airdrops at night, and smoke canisters for airdrops during the day. After walking for a while, he saw the rising yellow smoke not far away.

"Great!" Schaeffer grabbed the loaded pistol and ran over quickly with his waist bent. I saw three people gathered around the weapon box. The paratrooper on guard saw Schaeffer and waved hello excitedly. "Monitor!"

Schaeffer did not know the other two paratroopers, needless to say they were from other classes. However, they are all superior soldiers. In this case, Scheffler, as a sergeant, has to lead them to act together. Because the German army's operational regulations stipulate that when your unit is disrupted and you can't find your commander, you can just listen to whoever has the highest rank around you. After all, people with high military ranks have either made meritorious deeds or have more combat experience, so it is safer to listen to him.

After a simple greeting, Schaeffer took out an MP44 from the weapon box. Each of them carried an extra gun in case they encountered friendly forces who couldn't find their weapons boxes.

Schaeffer took out the map and compass he carried with him, compared the terrain, and determined their current location. "We are about one kilometer away from the bridge. Let's capture the bridge first to avoid being blown up by the Poles. Otherwise, the follow-up troops will either have to take a long way around or build a bridge to cross the river."

"Okay." Others had no objections to Scheffer's proposal, and the four of them began to move forward.

On the way, they collected two more stray paratroopers and arrived near the bridge without any danger. I saw people in the small village behind the bridge, and there were fierce gunshots everywhere. The bridgehead on the bridge was empty. It seemed that the defenders here had gone to the village to help.

"What should we do now? Guard the bridge, or go in and help?" Seeing this, Schaeffer was also a little undecided, so he asked others.

After discussing for a while, everyone decided to go into the village to help.

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