Chapter 172 The Battle of Poland (35)

"Five minutes, get ready!"

Inside the swaying cabin of a Ju 52 transport plane, the pilot's shouts echoed from the speakers mounted on the cabin walls, overpowering the roar of the engines.

Ju 52, the most widely used and famous transport plane in World War II Germany, gained its notoriety out of necessity. If the German military had other options at the time, they wouldn't have extensively used this transport plane.

In 1928, Junkers designed a single-engine transport plane, the precursor to Ju 52, initially designed purely for cargo with only one engine in the nose.

In 1931, Junkers added two engines to Ju 52, significantly improving its flight performance. It demonstrated its high-altitude flying capabilities by flying around the Alps, a feat unmatched by any other aircraft in civil aviation at the time. It even gracefully crossed the Pamir Mountains, as perilous as the later-known Camel Route.

The outstanding performance of the passenger Ju 52 drew the attention of the military. An order for 1200 planes was promptly placed. Apart from transport models, many were converted into bomber variants. The original passenger compartments were transformed into bomb bays, equipped with defensive machine guns. However, in the Spanish Civil War, Ju 52 proved unsuitable as a bomber. Despite its good flight performance and maneuverability, its slow speed (286 km/h) made it an easy target, resulting in substantial losses.

During World War II, it diversified into reconnaissance planes, ambulance planes, minesweepers, etc., but its primary use remained transport. It played a crucial role in the German airborne forces, with German paratroopers using it for various assaults.

Unfortunately, despite its glamorous reputation, Ju 52 faced significant losses in every actual combat. Especially effective against it were small-caliber machine guns like the 20mm ones, proving lethal against the slow-flying Ju 52.

In the German invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium, Ju 52 executed glider assault missions on the Eben Emael fortress and Rotterdam, becoming classic examples of airborne operations in history.

However, Ju 52 and the paratroopers it carried suffered heavy casualties in each operation. In the Netherlands, out of the 430 Ju 52s deployed, two-thirds didn't return, either shot down or rendered unusable.

The airfields in the Netherlands, scenes of fierce battles, were littered with Ju 52 wreckage. Most of these planes were provided by the air force flight school, with instructors serving as pilots. Consequently, the losses were even more devastating.

In the Battle of Crete in May 1941, German paratroopers and their Ju 52s suffered heavy losses, severely crippling their effectiveness in large-scale airborne operations for the remainder of World War II.

During the resupply missions for Rommel's Afrika Korps in North Africa, with Malta under British control, Ju 52s had to fly over the dangerous Mediterranean. The slow Ju 52 became an excellent target for British fighter planes, resulting in brutal attacks.

After 1942, the rate of Ju 52 losses exceeded the production rate. Between 1942 and the winter of 1943, during the trapped German forces' airdrop supplies in Stalingrad, 450 Ju 52s were lost, gradually reducing the size of the German Ju 52 fleet.

In Wilhelm's view, this thing was practically a flying coffin, a nightmare for paratroopers!

So, the current Ju 52 was just a transitional model, suitable for a little show against Poland's depleted anti-air capabilities.

"Everyone, stand up!" Upon hearing the command, Sergeant Shevrel, sitting near the cabin door, stood up and shouted loudly. The engine noise was too loud, requiring him to shout at the top of his lungs.

Paratroopers in the cabin stood up one after another.

"Prepare the hooks! Check your equipment!" The paratroopers hooked their parachute packs onto the overhead cables, checking each other's gear.

Soon, the constantly flashing red indicator lights on the cabin ceiling switched to green. The sergeant forcefully opened the cabin door, and a cold wind rushed in, causing the paratroopers to stagger. Shevrel, facing the strong wind, pushed the weapons crate out of the cabin.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Urged by Shevrel's loud voice, the first paratrooper stepped out of the cabin.

The last paratrooper in the cabin jumped out, and Shevrel, after glancing back at the cabin to ensure nothing was left behind, quickly jumped out as well. The closer they were, the shorter the time needed to gather after landing.

Just as his body was being buffeted by the airflow and his parachute was suddenly opened, leading to the parachute canopy flying out of the parachute pack, followed by the deployment of the white main parachute. The intense drag made his body abruptly pause, the safety belt tightly restraining him, and the impact forces from both directions indicated that the main parachute had opened smoothly.

Surrounded by numerous parachutes, this time the entire regiment was in action.

Fortunately, the Polish anti-aircraft forces seemed nonexistent. German paratroopers filled the sky, while the ground anti-aircraft fire was scarce. German soldiers descended to the ground under broad daylight, organizing themselves systematically, then rushing towards their predetermined targets.

Shevrel's landing went smoothly. He quickly unclasped the safety buckle on the parachute, efficiently removing all the protective gear from his body.

Because German paratroopers aimed for low-altitude, rapid descent to minimize time in the air, the German parachute area was small, and the parachute weight was strictly regulated. Generally, each soldier only carried a pistol and two hand grenades. Non-commissioned officers would have an MP40 submachine gun, while rifles and machine guns, along with ammunition, were separately airdropped in containers.

However, just in the sky, his MP40 submachine gun's strap was torn open by the airflow, and Shevrel didn't know where it had fallen. Now he only had a 9mm Walther P38 pistol and a compact hunting knife.

He had to find the weapons crate as soon as possible.

Fortunately, each weapons crate had conspicuous search devices. Night airdrops had glow sticks, and daytime drops had smoke canisters. Not long after walking, he saw rising yellow smoke not far away.

"Excellent!" Shevrel grabbed his pistol, cat-walked towards the smoke, and saw three people already gathered around the weapons crate. Among them, one paratrooper responsible for vigilance excitedly waved and greeted Shevrel. "Sergeant!"

The other two paratroopers were unfamiliar to Shevrel, obviously from a different squad. However, they were all corporals. In this situation, being a sergeant, Shevrel had to lead them in action. According to German military regulations, when your unit is disrupted, and you can't find your superior, whoever has the highest rank around is the one to follow. After all, a person with a higher rank has either shown merit or has more combat experience. Listening to them is generally more prudent.

After a brief greeting, Shevrel took out an MP44 from the weapons crate. Each of them carried an extra rifle, just in case they encountered friendly forces who couldn't find their weapons crates.

Shevrel took out the map and compass he carried with him, compared the terrain, and determined their current location. "We're about a kilometer or so from this bridge. Let's go occupy it to prevent the Poles from blowing it up. Otherwise, the follow-up forces will have to detour or build a bridge to cross the river."

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

On the way, they found two more scattered paratroopers, and without much excitement, they reached the vicinity of the bridge. Seeing the shadows of people in the small village behind the bridge, there were intense gunshots everywhere. The bridgehead on the bridge itself was deserted, indicating that the defenders had gone into the village to help.

"Now what? Guard the bridge, or go in and help?" Seeing the situation, Shevrel was also somewhat undecided, so he asked the others.

After some discussion, they decided to go into the village and help.