Fly top-cover over the Il-10’s as they deal with the puny western tank forces. We must maintain complete air superiority for the attack to remain on schedule.
Your Yak is like a spear. Jam it into the heart of the enemy, so they can no longer threaten Mother Russia.
Lavrenti, do this! Lavrenti, do that! What do they think I am; a machine or something? Go get in your Yak for the third time today and clear the skies of capitalist ‘flyboys’. What is a ‘flyboy’ anyway? We are all men up here; even the enemy. Check the fuel mixture, you fool. Keep your head moving, and keep looking. 2,850 meters is good, not many clouds… Keep looking; there are supposed to be some Yankee bombers up here so keep your eyes open wide, keep moving your head, and keep looking over your shoulder. How many missions is this since this war started? Twenty, I think. Almost two a day, but now this is the third one today, alone. Why me? Who did Tonton pay off? Why isn’t he flying his third mission of the day? Who cares whether a few more bombs drop on the frontline? What harm would a few more do? Shit, watch the temp gauge! If I have to trim the flaps one more time… Damned Dmitri! Can’t he keep this plane in even some kind of fighting condition? Ah… look at the cigarette burns on the tac. What kind of pig would smoke in a plane full of aviation gas that has machine-gun bullet holes in it? What an idiot. How has he stayed alive so long? Well, fuck his mother!
Wait… what’s that glint of metal near those clouds? There you are, you Yankee pigs! Old Lavrenti will teach you not to drop bombs on my little dirt-eating friends! Look over here, Comrade Stetsky… can’t you see me wiggling my wings? That’s right, look where I’m pointing you idiot not at me. There, see them? Good, now let’s get the sun at our backs. Keep your eyes moving; don’t just stare at the bombers. Move your head, use those eyes. Where are the escorts? This is too easy. Where are the escorts? They have to be here, somewhere. Keep looking, keep scanning; keep your head moving; watch the distance; check the guns. I love this Yak-9UT, and its 37-mm cannon. Just stay back and shoot them, while they can’t shoot back at you. Move in for the kill, with the 20-mm’s. Ah, American A-20 attack bombers… fast and maneuverable, for a bomber! This is going to be harder than it should be. Remember, squeeze the trigger. Don’t jerk it. Ready. Ready. Shit, the engine is overheating! Damn it! I’m closing too fast.
What was that flash? ESCORTS! P-38’s; making a pass. I’m hit! Oh God, I’m hit! Is there a God? Controls won’t respond… pull, you son-of-a-bitch! Pull! Why won’t my arm work? Good God, I’m bleeding like a stuck pig! I’m so very tired… Pull… Pull… It’s always the one you don’t see that gets you. Why didn’t I check, one more time? Oh my, now comes the pain! Can’t move my arm; getting weaker; can’t keep my eyes open………………………..
May 13, 1946
Field Command Post
Major General Ray W. Barker,
78th Infantry Division Commander
“Captain, give me that status list.” General Barker’s aide, Captain Cyrus Thomas Jones, hands him a stack of reports.“Let’s see what have we got, so far… Damn! Look at those losses… at least we’re not alone.”
British
9th Armored Division — NO CONTACT
No. 16 Group, R.A.F. — OVERRUN/NO CONTACT
No. 68/No. 162 Squadrons, R.A.F. — OVERRUN/NO CONTACT
U.S.
11th Armored Division — NO CONTACT
12th Armored Division — CONFIRMED SURRENDERED
14th Armored Division — CONFIRMED SURRENDERED
63d Infantry Division — NO CONTACT
87th Infantry Division — NO CONTACT
Units that are 20%, or less, effective, and pulled off the line:
British
11th Armored Division
38th (Welsh) Infantry Division
43d (Wessex) Infantry Division
55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division
U.S.
2d Armored Division
8th Armored Division
14th Armored Division
26th Infantry Division
42d Infantry Division
44th Infantry Division
65th Infantry Division
66th Infantry Division
A total of 1,321 Allied combat aircraft have been destroyed on the ground, with an additional 238 combat aircraft having been confirmed destroyed, or reported missing, in aerial combat.
“What this is telling me is that 13 out of our 22 divisions are either toast, or getting resupplied. Luckily, we have plenty of supplies” the captain nods his agreement.
“Jonsey, make sure that after we’re resupplied, that we destroy the rest. We don’t want to leave anything for the Ivans to use. Remember, they have a shit-load of our Lend-Lease equipment that can use our parts and ammo. There have also been rumors of crop failures in the Ukraine, so burn the food too. Orders from Headquarters are that we’re to enact a ‘scorched-earth’ policy, to some extent. I can’t see driving the civilians out of their homes, and taking what meager supplies they have. Besides, we don’t have the time or manpower to do either. I guess the Reds are going to be sitting pretty, living high on the hog and eating our chocolate bars and C-Rations for a few months anyway.”
“Sir I don’t know if you recall, but the Reds have taken over seven of the supply depots we had in Germany and France. They dropped airborne troops into a number of them, and now the damn paratroopers ended up having more and heavier weapons than we do, with more ammunition. They also had our own VT fuses and used them to stop most of the attempts by the Army Air Force to bomb them.”
“Jesus you’re right Jonesy… Okay, we can’t afford to get into a fight over those depots that we can’t win. I remember hearing about those VT fuses. They’re real killers. Our orders are to cross to the other side of the Rhine and make a stand there. Let’s move out as soon as we top everything off, and make contact with the enemy. We need to keep slowing him down as much as possible yet not get overrun. Okay, let’s go, people… MOVE IT! Watch the flanks. Remember we have limited air cover… just enough to keep them Red bastards off our backs, while we bug out.
“Things are going well, Maior. They die like flies, without their air cover. Our numbers outweigh their numbers. Maybe Rubin is right and the key to victory really is air power. Keep pushing them, and capture as many of their supplies as we can. Leave a guard detachment behind at the depots along with an anti-aircraft unit. Be sure to make good use of their own anti-aircraft guns and ammunition. It has some kind of magic radar fuse in it that is uncommonly good at shooting down aircraft. We need those supplies, both for us, and for the others back home. We need strong factory workers, to make the bullets that we are putting into American, English and French bodies.”
“Our losses have been minimal, and very acceptable to date comrade. It will take them months to amass and transport any kind of forces from the U.S. to try and stop us. We must keep pressing the attack. We have to take the ports on the channel, in order to prevent another ‘Dunkirk-style’ evacuation. We will not hesitate, like the incompetent Hitlerite fiends had. We will drive them into the sea. The plan is to bypass Paris, and make a turn for the coast in order to trap them.”
“We have to maintain contact with them, and cannot let them separate from our forces. Otherwise they will not hesitate to use their strategic bombers on us like they did on the Nazi pigs. They don’t have the stomach to sacrifice their own people, even if it means defeat.”