In the history of aviation, the potential of many fighter jets was not discovered by designers but by frontline pilots, and some designers even lamented, "I don't know that the aircraft I designed can still fly like this."

(continued with the previous issue) Pulbin is also focusing on tapping the potential of Pep-2. In the history of aviation, the potential of many fighter jets was not discovered by designers but by frontline pilots, and some designers even lamented, "I don't know that the aircraft I designed can still fly like this." At the beginning, based on the designer's advice and the experience of prototype testing, the Soviet army strictly ordered frontline troops not to fly the P-2 for rolling flights. Because such a flight may cause the plane to fall into tail spin or lose control - after all, it is a bomber rather than an fighter .

Ground crew mounted bombs for Pet-2

, but in a combat flight, a crew violated the ban and used rolls to avoid interception by German fighter jets. After Pulbin learned about this, he called the pilot who was rolling in the plane to the command post. But he did not denounce his subordinates' violations, but instead asked the pilots for advice, asking the teacher about the operation of the plane when rolling and the reaction of "Peshka". He believes that the body design of the Pet-2 can withstand the pressure of rolling. In order to verify this idea, he personally flew into the air with a PES-2 and made a dangerous rolling action to feel the aircraft's condition and operational principles during the period. A few days later, Purbin began to promote roll evasion actions throughout the group, and reported this situation to his superiors, requesting the lifting of the roll ban. Purbin’s idea is realistic: as long as it is useful for combat, then this action is correct, and there is no need to act according to dogma.

Such a style was rare in the Soviet army at that time. The Soviet army was a team that emphasized obedience, neglect and even suppressed the initiative of grassroots troops. In the early days of the war, many commanders only knew how to wait for superiors to order the war, which resulted in delaying the opportunity to fight and causing huge losses. Such defects did not improve until the middle of the war.

Pulbin was with the Per-2 bomber in winter

In October 1941, the German army launched the Viazima Battle - the first phase of the "typhoon" operation rushing to Moscow, and once again carried out a large-scale encirclement of the Soviet army. The installation of the A cluster from Guderi, who attacked from the south, was beyond the expectations of the senior Soviet leaders. When the ground forces were rushing to mobilize defenses, the air force became the only hope. Purbin's 150th Regiment and some new front-line Pé-2 units served as the main task of air strikes on the German tank column. The battle was quite cruel. The German army not only increased the density of anti-aircraft artillery on the ground, but also mobilized a large number of fighter jet units. Many Soviet crews could never return...

In the mud in winter, the Soviet army sometimes used reindeer to pull the bombs instead of horses

In December 1941, the German army's sprint towards Moscow stopped before the mud, the severe cold and the tenacious resistance of the Soviet army to fight back. Starting from December 5, the three Soviet fronts launched a large winter counterattack on the German Central Army Group. Purbin's 150th Regiment belonged to the Kaliningrad Front and used dive bombing to support the operations of friendly forces on the ground. Many Pep-2 have been painted with white winter camouflage. Facts have proved that even in the severe cold of tens of degrees below zero, the Pet-2 is still a very reliable fighter. However, the maintenance of the Krimov liquid-cooled engine in winter is more troublesome, and the ground crew will spend more time warming up the "Peshka" before attacking.

. "Carousel"

In early 1942, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army began to form the so-called "special attack group" to allow Air Force to better perform ground support tasks. Such an attack group includes a bomber regiment equipped with Pel-2, two strike regiments equipped with Il-2, and two fighter regiments used to escort, and also has some heavy bomber units. In terms of quantity alone, such troops are quite powerful, far exceeding the ordinary air force wing of the German army. But for the Soviet army at that time, such a huge and mixed force of multiple aircraft could not be commanded at all, and it was difficult to coordinate operations, and it could only exist on paper. The final first attack group was a "simplified version" composed of Purbin's 150th Regiment and two fighter regiments.

Pelbin developed a set of effective escort tactics and attack tactics for the troops to minimize losses and increase the power of strikes. First, the escort fighter will be divided into two groups.The first group will fly at high altitude for alert missions and set a distance from the bomber formation to detect enemy interceptor fighters as soon as possible and to guard against enemy aircraft raids from high altitudes. The second group flew with the bomber formation as personal bodyguards.

Pe-2 used single row columns or three-machine fixed formations to conduct assaults, and the combat efficiency was not high enough. Purbin asked the troops to adopt a "dive wheel" tactic. This tactic was later called a "carousel". The specific operation is as follows: when approaching the target, the Pep-2 changes from an ordinary three-machine wedge formation to a single row and vertical column. After discovering the target, the formation, led by the chief aircraft, hovered around the enemy's ground target. After finding the appropriate attack angle, the chief aircraft took the lead in diving, and the remaining fighter aircraft kept a certain distance and followed the dive in sequence. When the long aircraft dropped the bomb, the subsequent aircraft was still diving, and when the current aircraft completed the attack and pulled it away, the bomb of the subsequent fighter hit the enemy's head again. After all the aircraft dropped bombs, the formation continued to circle around the enemy, and then attacked again in turn... until the ammunition was exhausted or the target was destroyed.

Pulbin is with his comrades

This kind of circle-turning tactic will first seriously interfere with the aim of the ground anti-aircraft guns, because there are aircraft in all directions. If they are intercepted by enemy fighters, the Pel-2's self-defense machine gun can cover each other with almost no dead corners. During dive attacks, the fighter jets that are falling off are very deterrent, and bombs thrown at intervals can constantly suppress ground fire. In short, this kind of "carousel" is not good news for the German army.

In fact, these ideas of Pulbin are not a flash of inspiration, but also learning about war in war. For example, when he was concealed by the attack steps of German dive bombers on the ground, he found that his opponent used a similar wheel formation, which was very powerful. I often lead the team to attack, and I also have an intuitive feeling of the advantages and disadvantages of the troops. Learning from the opponent and summarizing your own experience finally gave birth to these dive tactics. This tactic is first used in the 150th regiment, and the effect is very good. After learning about this, the senior leaders of the Soviet Air Force immediately organized a rear test site to conduct quantitative test and evaluation of this tactic. The results were also satisfactory and were promoted throughout the army. Not only the Pet-2 unit, but the Il-2 attacker also adopted similar tactics, but used a small-angle dive cut-off instead of a large-angle dive. The Germans called the Il-2 attacking group that was hovering over their heads "the spiral of death."

Il-2 attack aircraft air strikes the German convoy

At the end of June 1942, after crushing the Soviet Kharkov counterattack, the German army launched a "blue" operation to sweep the Don River area with the 6th Army as the main force. The purpose was to occupy Voronezh, and to encircle the Soviet heavy army in the bend of the Don River, occupy Stalingrad, and eventually rush to the oil production area of ​​the Caucasus. The great defeat a year ago was staged again, and the Soviet army retreated again and suffered heavy losses. A large number of Soviet fighter jets could only attack frequently without hesitation of casualties, delaying the German offensive pace. Among them, the 150th Regiment effectively supported the 62nd Army's combat operations in adversity, helping it break through the enemy's siege and retreat. The 150th Regiment claimed to destroy 40 German tanks and 50 ordinary wheeled vehicles. The most eye-catching battle in the Don River area of ​​the

150th Regiment was the destruction of the German oil storage station near the Molozovsk farm. This place is covered by a large number of anti-aircraft artillery, and German fighter jets often patrol over the air, making it very difficult to bomb. Purbin believes that storage points that store a large number of flammable and explosive items can be completely detonated with just one precise and small-scale assault. If you are invested in a large formation, it will not be necessary to have power, but it will easily expose the target and be more intercepted. In the end, the raid was carried out by Pulbin himself and led a reliable wingman to carry out the raid. The two planes rushed towards the target with the help of clouds, dived and dropped bombs at the fuel warehouse before the Germans could react, and then pulled up and fled. The German fuel storage point eventually exploded in a series of explosions, turning into a sea of ​​fire, and a large amount of fuel was burned.An armored division on the front line completely stopped due to lack of oil...

Pe-2 crew received an order and was about to attack

After crossing the Don River in August, the German army advanced rapidly towards Stalingrad. Soviet bombers were ordered to launch a series of assaults at the Don River Ferry in order to destroy the German bridges crossing the river. The Soviet troops equipped with SB-2 bombers have completely become living targets for German BF-109 fighters and anti-aircraft guns - this so-called "fast" fighter was already old in 1942 and could easily catch up with fighters. The SB-2 of one formation after another were beaten into a burning fireball in the air, and they led the crew to destroy it together... and the huge sacrifice was not even touched by the Don River Ferry.

The troops equipped with "Peshka" were also dispatched with all their might. However, this time the "magic" of Pet-2 seemed to have failed. Although the speed of Pé-2 is fast, the target of the bridge on the Don River is too small, and the bombing bridge can only dive longitudinally along a fixed route and cannot use the "carousel" tactic. The large number of anti-aircraft artillery deployed by the German army was waiting to be worked hard to build a very dense anti-aircraft firepower. The troops, including the 150th Regiment, suffered great losses. Some pontoon bridges were indeed blown up, but the German engineers quickly repaired them.

Due to the excessive losses, the 150th Regiment was forced to retreat to the rear to repair shortly after the start of the Stalingrad defensive battle. As the battle progressed, the German 6th Army was tightly restrained in Stalingrad. The soldiers of the 150th Regiment found that many troops that were pulled back to the rear reorganization did not return to the front line immediately after the replenishment was completed, but instead organized high-density training to further familiarize themselves with equipment and tactics. The organization of the troops has also been expanded, and the number of fighter jets on hand is larger. This is actually preparing for the winter counterattack of the 6th Army, the annihilation campaign code-named "Uranus".

Soviet ground forces and Germans fought bloody battles

1942 On November 19, 1942, the roar of thousands of cannons of the Southwest Front brought the prelude to the turning point on the Eastern Front battlefield. In the snow and snow, Soviet tank clusters launched an assault with the support of infantry... After a week of fierce fighting, the Southwest Front and the Stalingrad Front met in the Karachi area, encircling most of the 6th Army of the German Army and part of the 4th Armored Army!

In the early stages of the Stalingrad offensive campaign, due to the restrictions of heavy fog, the air force dispatched very low frequency. But after the sky cleared, Peshka and Il-2 made every effort to support friendly forces on the ground. After returning to the front line, the 150th Regiment also actively participated in the support operation. On November 23, Purbin was awarded the Soviet Union's Hero Medal for his contributions to combat - this was the highest honor for a soldier at that time. Pulbin failed to see the complete destruction of the Stalingrad Army Group: he received a transfer order at the end of 1942 and returned to the rear to serve as deputy director of the Air Force bomber and reconnaissance aircraft inspection bureau. This position is mainly responsible for strengthening the training of the bomber units. Purbin can teach his own experience and tactics to the commanders of each unit as an inspector and instructor. This is conducive to overall improving the overall combat level of the Soviet bomber troops. Previously, the Air Force found through investigations that many bomber units have low quality due to lack of experience in personnel and low commanders. Even if they are equipped with extremely fast speed and dive bombing capabilities, they still use the same set of tactics to fight in dense formations and slow high-altitude horizontal bombing. This not only makes the performance of the new equipment impossible to perform, but also causes many meaningless casualties. The promotion of experience of Pulbin and the 150th Regiment, as well as the concentrated training of bomber force crew and commanders, were of great benefit to improving the Soviet Air Force's ground support capabilities. Under the guidance of Pulbin, the aviation factory also improved the Pé-2, giving it the ability to dive nearly vertically over an angle of 80 degrees.

. The Great Counterattack

After finishing his post in the rear, Purbin was promoted to the commander of the 301st Division of the Bombing Air Force - but the 150th Regiment of the old army was still fighting under his command. In July 1943, the Soviet and German sides broke out in fierce battles in Kursk . The tank war on the grassland is becoming increasingly fierce. With the advantage of the pre-built multi-layer anti-tank defensive positions and the number of troops, by mid-July, the Soviet army had blocked the attack of the German sharp armored spearhead and then launched a counterattack.The bombers of the 301st Division fought under the command of the Grassland Front and cooperated with the operation of the 5th Tank Army. At this time, the Soviet pilots had mastered the ability to use the Pep-2 for rapid dive bombing. Purbin's troops carried out fierce and precise air strikes on the tank assembly ground, artillery positions and bridges in the rear of the German army, effectively ensuring the advancement of friendly forces on the ground. With the popularity of radio equipment, the Soviet army began to initially have the ability to directly summon air support from ground forward guides, which greatly improved the timeliness and accuracy of bombing. Soviet soldiers had suffered from the German " Stuka ", and now it is the turn for the opponent to taste the bombs of dive bombing!

Pe-2 Recharge before the war at the airport

0 In the autumn of 1943, the four Soviet fronts sounded the clarion call to march towards the Dnieper River and liberate Kiev! Round after round of counterattacks like raging waves hit the Germans hard. Purbin was promoted again at that time to serve as commander of the 1st Army of the Bombing Air Force! Purbin, who has become a general, must undertake more command and administrative tasks, and sometimes he has to be "trapped" in the ground command post. And he must also be responsible for the training of the entire aviation army. However, as long as he has the chance, he will still lead the team to attack - he believes that the Blue Sky is his real battlefield!

Purbin used a legendary battle to let his subordinates see the power of the army commander during the Battle of the Dnieper River. On October 12, Purbin led 17 Pet-2 formations to attack. During the bombing of the ground target, they unexpectedly encountered a group of peers: 18 German JU-87D "Stuka" dive bombers. As the saying goes, when the peers met unexpectedly, Purbin ordered an attack on the Germans! The Soviet escort fighter jets and the German escort fighter jets quickly formed a regiment, and it was difficult to decide the outcome in a short period of time. The "Peshka" took this opportunity to attack "Stuka" - a showdown between dive bombers began! Although "Stuka" is an "old senior" of dive bombers, it is completely behind the Pet-2 in terms of speed and equipment, not to mention that the Pet-2 was originally designed as a heavy fighter. The two "Stukas" were quickly beaten into fireballs in a round of raids. Seeing that the situation was not good, the rest immediately abandoned the bomb and fled down the height, trying to return to the friendly front and get help. The "Peshkas" bit the Germans tightly and launched round after round of attacks with high speed aimed at the enemy...Purbin easily put a "Stuka" into the aiming ring, and volleyed the opponent with a short but fierce nose machine gun dozens of meters away from the enemy plane. The wreckage almost hit Purbin's landline - this way, close-range shooting can achieve extremely high hit rate, and the enemy can hardly escape.

Later, the Soviet army occupied the airport and found the wreckage of "Stuka" that was shot down

Pulbinhe's formation was unwilling to let the enemy escape and chased after it all the way over the German airport. Pe-2 ignores the threat of anti-aircraft guns on the ground and continues to ravage "Stuka". It is embarrassing that the German formation originally wanted to return to the airport to get cover from friendly forces, but it was really a coincidence that another "Stuka" formation was taking off at this time. The "Peshka" swiftly dived, reducing the disaster to these targets without any fighting back. Several "Stukas" were beaten back to the ground just after leaving the runway, and exploded into a ball of burning debris... Two "Stukas" were panicked to avoid the Soviet army and actually bumped head-on. Purbin's troops continued to fire until the machine guns were exhausted before leaving... Later statistics showed that 13 "Stukas" were shot down, and many were injured, while the Soviet army lost only one Pe-2. Purbin killed two "Stukas" alone. Many soldiers of the 1st Army of the Bombing Air Force lamented that the commander was not only a dive bombing expert, but also a good player in air combat. Purbin has become an idol in the Soviet dive bomber unit.

Sui soldiers and US military observers who came to communicate took a photo before Pet-2

Pulbin pays special attention to the training of new pilots. Not only did they teach technology on the ground, but they even specifically allowed novices to serve as their own wingman to participate in the war.In the 1st Army of the Bombing Air Force, a benign "old leads new" training and combat mode was formed, allowing the new pilot's initial combat missions to be led and covered by veterans. According to statistics, the highest stage of pilot death rate is when a novice just entered the battlefield, because of lack of experience, it is easy to become the prey of opponents. As long as you accumulate one month or several months of experience, the battlefield survival rate will be greatly improved. Many new pilots can survive if they receive help and cover from veterans during a vulnerable beginner period. This not only helps to increase the morale of the troops and reduce losses, but also accumulates and strengthens experienced pilots and avoids falling into a vicious cycle of "loss-supplement-re-loss-replenishment".

With the reversal of the battle situation and the outbreak of military production capacity, the organization of the Soviet front-line aviation troops was also expanded. For example, a bombing aviation division can have 3-4 bomber regiments, and the number of aircraft in a regiment is 50-80. This is a huge improvement compared to the stretched 1942.

Work photos taken after Pribin won the rank of major general

In February 1944, the 1st Army of the Bombing Aviation was awarded the honorable title of "Guardian" and was renamed the 2nd Army of the Guardian Bombing Aviation. In the winter and spring of 1943-1944, Purbin's troops participated in the Battle of Kirovgrad, the Battle of Korsun-Shevchenkovsky, and the Battle of Uman-Bottonsani. In the mud of heavy snow and snow melting seasons, the mobilization of Soviet artillery was greatly disturbed, and the demand for air force support was further increased. On the other hand, the Soviet ground troops were advancing very quickly, and the air force airports had to keep moving forward to ensure ground support. When the German army retreated, they often destroyed existing airports. Many Soviet aircraft could only take off using temporary field airports, and it was common to fight against muddy runways. Fortunately, the Pet-2 is solid enough to withstand the bumps and harsh environment of field airports.

. Triumphal songs

On June 22, 1944, the Soviet army launched the "Baglation" operation aimed at annihilating the German Central Army Group. The iron fists of the four Soviet fronts hit the German army entrenched in Belarus. On July 4, the 1st and 3rd Belarusian fronts met in Minsk. By mid-July, the main force of the German Central Army Group had been brutally annihilated. The Soviet army began to develop victories along the Baltic coast and Polish .

Soviet tank troops in the summer counterattack in 1944

Belarus' victory laid the foundation for follow-up operations in the southern front. On July 13, 1944, the 1st Front of Ukraine under the command of Marshal Konev launched the Lviv-Sandomez Battle aimed at liberating Western Ukraine. At the beginning of the battle, the Soviet army was subjected to fierce resistance from the German army in person, and the speed of advance was severely slowed down. The 60th Army, located on the right wing of the Front, finally opened a breakthrough. General Rebarco's 3rd Army of Guards Tanks was put into deep combat from here, but was violently counterattacked by the German armored troops, and the situation was critical!

Konev ordered the air force to do his best to carry out air strikes on the German army to relieve pressure on the ground forces. Purbin's Guards Bombing Air Force 2nd Army, friendly bombing Air Force 4th Army and other troops entered the battle with intensive attacks! Among them, the "Peshka" under Purbin carried out violent bombings on the 8th Armored Division of the German Army that was reinforced on the front line. The "carousel" flew over the heads of the German armored column, and German tanks, trucks and personnel carriers were blown into a sea of ​​fire. According to German statistics, the 8th Armored Division had no strength to fight back after being subjected to repeated air strikes, and its combat effectiveness was reduced by more than half.

German self-propelled artillery destroyed by air strikes

On July 15, a greater disaster came to the head of the German armored troops gathered in the Prugao area. 120 Pet-2 bombers drawn from the 2nd Army of the Guards Bombing Air Force and the 4th and 8th Army of the Bombing Air Force formed multiple formations and rushed towards the Germans roaring. The Soviet army's combat plan was formulated very carefully, with multiple guidance points on the ground, and each formation was put into operation at an interval of 8 minutes, which not only ensured that there was enough pressure on the German army on the ground, but also prevented the chaos caused by a large number of fighter jets being crowded in narrow airspace for a short time. Purbin also drove a Pet-2 and led the team to attack.

Pe-2 air strikes the railway station where the German armored troops unloaded the truck

After arriving in the target airspace, the escort fighter jets separated from the bomber group and took on alert missions at high altitudes. A large number of Pet-2 formed one "carousel" formation after another, and then began to launch fierce attacks on the German army! The entire battlefield was filled with diving whistling, explosions and thick smoke. The Germans had no chance to breathe, and the bombs hit them accurately like raindrops. On average, each Pet-2 had to conduct 4 dive attacks, and many German tanks and vehicles were blown into fireballs. After the ammunition of a dive bomber formation was exhausted, the next formation followed one after another, and the air strikes continued under the command of air controllers. After all Pet-2 exited the field, the horizontal bomber dropped bombs from mid and high altitudes, and finally the Il-2 attacking group launched additional strikes from low altitudes. According to statistics, on one day on July 15, the Soviet army dispatched 3,500 fighter jets to attack German tank troops. The fierce air strikes ensured the security of the fragile "Kortov Corridor". The 3rd Guard Tank Army and the 4th Tank Army, which were subsequently put into combat, were able to overcome the crisis, break through the defense of the German army in front of them, and develop in depth to victory...

.Crane Qun

By 1945, the war had already burned to the German mainland. There is no doubt that the "millennium empire" of the Germans will be destroyed in the flames of revenge. The war will end in Berlin. Purbin was nominated for the second title of Hero of the Soviet Union for his great achievements in leading the 2nd Army of the Guards to bomb the Air Force.

General Purbin's last plane to restore the side view of the color picture

After the Viswa-Od River battle was launched in January 1945, Purbin's troops continued to fight under Konev's command and made another contribution in the fight to liberate Krakow and other places. But no one expected that after four years of war, Pulbin, who had fought all the way from the border war in 1941, would eventually break the wings in Breslau... The scene at the beginning of this article appeared like this... Pulbin and the navigator died on the spot in the violent explosion of the landline, but the radio operator (and backseat airport player) M. Zarukin was lucky to parachute before the plane crashed. He was then captured by the German army, but was soon released because of the victory of the Soviet ground forces.

The statue of General Purbin standing today

In April 1945, Purbin was posthumously awarded the second Soviet Hero Medal. He died in battle on the eve of victory and at dawn. His comrades finally rushed into Berlin, "Peshka" roared and rushed towards the demon's nest, and walked towards the palace of victory...

The soldiers who died in battle flew away like cranes. This is the concept of the Patriotic War memorial sculpture that Russia prepared to build.

25 years after the victory of the Patriotic War, a requiem called "Crane Group" was played at the gathering of veterans: "Those soldiers People did not return from the bloody battlefield. They were buried in a foreign land and turned into white cranes and flew from the distant years of war... The tired cranes flew, flying in the dusk and mist. There was a gap in the queue, perhaps a place for me..." After the performance was completed, Marshal Konev and many veterans in the audience were shining with tears in their eyes... General Purbin, perhaps also turned into the white crane, flew to a place far away from the war. He was always with his "Peshka"...