Chapter 337 The Winter War (6)

When Commander Anatoly of the SB-2 bomber group saw the ten fighter planes ahead, he couldn't help but be stunned.

Vision is the most crucial and important foundational condition for a pilot. Although in the future, with the proliferation of radar technology and electro-optical sensors, the visual acuity requirements for pilots have slightly decreased, with some countries even accepting a visual acuity of around 1.0. However, in the era of piston-engine aircraft, apart from ground guidance, aerial search for enemy planes mainly relied on vision. The better the vision, the earlier the target could be spotted, putting the enemy in a combat-ready state first and gaining a significant advantage.

Therefore, during this era, those who could fly into the sky for combat possessed sharp eyes. Though the distance was still quite far, Anatoly had already identified that the oncoming fighter planes were definitely not Finland's Fokker D.XXI fighters.

Because secrecy measures were extremely effective, coupled with Soviet arrogance, they had not detected that external forces had secretly intervened in their war.

To what extent were the Soviets arrogant?

Stalin believed that with the crushing superiority of the Soviet army, Finland's resistance wouldn't last more than a week. He even issued orders to the Soviet army before the war, advising them not to run too far so as not to enter Swedish territory.

This optimistic sentiment pervaded the Soviet high command, with some even saying, "As long as we raise our voice a bit, the Finns will obey. If not, we can fire a shot, and the Finns will surrender with their hands up. That's what we think."

Lacking effective reconnaissance, the Soviets had no knowledge of the current strength of Finland's air force, which had already been doubled.

After a few seconds, Anatoly's expression became even stranger. Why did those fighter planes look so much like their not yet mass-produced LaGG-3 fighters?!

Just as his mind was somewhat muddled, and he hadn't fully recovered, the distance between the two sides was getting closer. He could even see the bright red stars on the fuselages of those fighter planes; they looked unmistakably like Soviet aircraft.

"Could they really be our fighters?" But Anatoly had not heard of LaGG-3 fighters participating in this operation. Could it be that the higher-ups secretly dispatched friendly forces for some special mission?

While Anatoly was pondering whether to contact the rear for confirmation, suddenly those ten fighter planes sharply descended, roaring as they charged toward the bomber group.

The weapons equipped on LaGG-3 fighters were two 12.7mm machine guns and one 20mm cannon. With such formidable firepower, even heavily armored heavy bombers would find it difficult to withstand, let alone the lightweight SB-2 bombers.

Caught off guard, the SB-2 bomber group was attacked, and in the blink of an eye, ten bombers were shot down.

"Damn, what the hell is going on?!" Anatoly shouted in astonishment and anger. But no matter what was happening, it was clear that they were enemies! "Gunners, open fire! Fire! Shoot down these bastards!!"

Bombers, being heavy and slow to maneuver in flight, could be considered the best targets in the sky. Throughout World War II, bomber units suffered significant losses.

However, as crew members of the bombers, they had no other choice; they had to carry out their missions. If they abandoned the mission due to danger, their comrades would have to continue bombing under perilous conditions.

This was their duty.

In the dorsal turret, Yevgeny operated his 7.62mm twin defensive machine guns, shouting, "I can't believe it! Leonid, did you see that?! Those fighters have pentagonal stars on their fuselages! Are they mistaken?!"

Leonid, who had just witnessed a bomber being shot down, was sweating nervously and shouted, "Forget about that, open fire! Fire! Fire!"

The SB-2 bomber had only four self-defense machine guns, with two assigned to the gunner and two to the navigator. This was far from sufficient. It's worth noting that the later B-29 Superfortress, equipped with twelve 12.7mm machine guns, boasted a hedgehog-like self-defense firepower yet was often shot down by enemy fighters.

The best way to protect bombers was always with escort fighters!

Frank, climbing and leveling off, looked down at the countless tracer rounds in the sky, disdainfully whistling. The seemingly concentrated firepower was full of loopholes in his eyes.

"Dive!"

The ten fighter planes dived once again, aggressively charging towards the bomber group.

Yevgeny, seeing a fighter plane diving towards them from high above, firmly held the trigger of the 7.62mm twin machine guns!

Shooting in the air required a lot of precision, even with simple mechanical sights. It had to take into account various factors such as wind speed, gravity, and more. Even in the future, before the advent of the gun camera, aerial gunfire remained a technical skill.

It might look impressive, but in reality, the bullets were still far from reaching the opponent.

The enemy was firing!

"Boom, boom, boom!" The 20mm autocannon instantly shredded the wings of an SB-2 bomber.

Yevgeny watched in horror as a friendly aircraft tumbled and crashed to the ground behind them.

Anatoly was on the verge of madness. In this short moment, they had already lost nearly twenty bombers. However, he couldn't just retreat; returning would mean facing an investigation by the internal affairs department. At the very least, he had to persist in flying over the target and dropping the bombs.

The only thing they could do now was desperately call for reinforcements on the radio.

It wasn't until they lost another twenty-something bombers that 20 I-153s and 30 I-16s arrived, albeit belatedly.

After the Spanish Civil War, the Soviet high command received reports on battle damage inflated with misinformation. Erroneously believing that biplane fighters with better performance would still play a crucial role in future wars, they further developed the I-153 fighter based on the I-15. The I-153 was equipped with the Shvetsov M-62R engine (1000 horsepower), retractable landing gear, and a wing configuration changed back to the gull style based on the test results from the Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute. The aircraft's performance saw a significant improvement, with a top speed of 442 kilometers per hour and a ceiling of 9800 meters. Although there wasn't much change in maximum speed, there was a noticeable improvement in high-altitude efficiency.

Originally, the design bureau estimated that the top speed could be increased to 462 kilometers per hour. However, during testing, serious structural problems were discovered. If the speed exceeded 500 kilometers per hour during a dive, the aircraft would disintegrate. Therefore, the speed increase was forcibly halted. While the gull-wing theoretically improved the aircraft's performance, it obstructed the pilot's visibility.

Despite proposals for improvement from the design bureau, the I-153 was already in mass production. The Soviet government rejected all future improvement plans, citing the delay in production as a reason. For the Soviet government, the I-153 was merely an interim model before the introduction of new fighter aircraft, and production took precedence over improvements.

The I-16 underwent similar upgrades and improvements, reaching the 24th model equipped with the 1100HP M-63 engine, achieving a speed of 470 km/h. However, no matter how improved, the I-16 still had the drawback of difficult handling. It tended to enter a spin during rapid climbs and was notably inferior to the Bf 109F.