The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Compared with parachute airdrops, gliders have several advantages:

First, parachute airdrops will be blown away by strong winds during the landing process, causing them to fall outside the target area and making it impossible for the German army to obtain supplies.

This is particularly serious for Holm, because the German control area in Holm is only a few square kilometers, especially this control area is lentil-shaped, even low-altitude airdrops will cause about half of the airdropped supplies to fall into the enemy-controlled area or between the two lines of defense. Moreover, after the Soviet army strengthened its air defense capabilities, the German transport planes could hardly drop at low altitudes, so the supplies they received were reduced exponentially.

If it weren't for the fact that a batch of peacekeeping guns were seized from the Soviet army in the siege, I'm afraid the German army would not be able to hold on just because of the lack of ammunition.

Gliders don't have this problem. They land directly instead of airdropping, and their accuracy is much greater than airdrops.

Second, glider airdrops are safer than parachute airdrops.

Parachute airdrops can only be carried out when transport planes fly over Holm, and transport planes make a lot of noise when flying, which will immediately alert the Soviet air defense forces and then the anti-aircraft firepower will come into play.

But there is a glider airdrop... Although it needs to be towed by a transport plane, it can be unhooked more than ten kilometers away, and then transported back to the base, and the glider continues to "fly" to the target.

Because it has no power, there is no noise when flying in the air.

Therefore, the German army often chooses to airdrop before dawn, so that the Soviet army can't find the existence of the glider at all, and of course there is no interception.

That morning, Qin Chuan and several of his subordinates were ready to welcome the glider.

"Here it comes!" Kuhn, holding a telescope, said: "Indicator light!"

Several people sent an indication signal to the air... This is a special indicator light, and its light can only be seen in one direction, which can reduce the probability of being discovered by the enemy.

Qin Chuan raised the telescope and vaguely saw a shadow appear in the night sky, like an eagle with giant wings spread, silently approaching its prey.

Then it got closer and closer, bigger and bigger, and then dived down at a large angle. Before landing, it skillfully raised its nose and stopped with a "swish" sound of skiing, only 20 meters away from the soldiers.

Qin Chuan was not surprised by this. Almost all the German youths of this era were glider masters... This was also forced by the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany could not own or develop any military aircraft, but gliders were not among them.

So, Germany seized this opportunity and established countless glider clubs in the country to train glider talents.

What's more exaggerated is that after Hitler came to power in 1933, glider training became one of the compulsory courses in every German high school, so it is no exaggeration to say... Almost every young German man has certain glider flying skills.

Of course, Qin Chuan is an exception.

But with Qin Chuan's current status, it seems that he no longer needs to master the skills of gliders.

As soon as the glider landed, Qin Chuan took the soldiers up to receive supplies.

While the soldiers were busy unloading things from the glider, Qin Chuan went up to shake hands with the pilot who had jumped off the glider and said, "Sergeant, is everything going well?"

"Everything went well, sir!" The pilot replied, "I brought you medicine and food, as well as the Marshal's condolences!"

"Very good!" Qin Chuan replied, "But you can also accept this condolences, on the one hand for the food you brought, on the other hand... you will soon become one of us!"

Holm has no airport, and the space allowed for landing is very small, so only gliders are allowed to land but not to take off again, which means that all pilots who come with supplies have to stay in Holm until they are relieved.

This may sound like nothing big, but it is actually great, because no one knows when Holm will be relieved or even if it will be relieved, which can basically be regarded as a death mission.

But the pilot looked relaxed, not afraid or complaining at all because of this.

"I am honored, sir!" The pilot replied, "In fact, I only have one requirement for this mission!"

"What requirement?" Qin Chuan asked.

"I hope to fight with the 'legendary sergeant'!" The pilot said, "Do you know where he is, Captain?" Qin Chuan rolled his eyes, and the soldiers who were carrying supplies couldn't help but laugh. Kuhn carried a box of ammunition and said, "He's right in front of you, Sergeant!" The pilot couldn't help but stare at Qin Chuan with wide eyes. After a long while, he stood up and saluted Qin Chuan a little bit at a loss, saying, "My name is Thomas, Captain, it's an honor to meet you!" "Put down your hand, Sergeant!" Qin Chuan said, "You might kill me!" "Yes, Captain!" "So, you haven't participated in the battle?" Qin Chuan asked. "Of course I have!" Thomas replied, "But I'm just a communicator!" "Why would they let a communicator fly a glider?" Qin Chuan asked. "You know!" Thomas replied, "They think it's a huge waste to send excellent pilots here, so they recruit volunteers who can fly gliders skillfully from the logistics troops!" "So... you are here as a volunteer?" Qin Chuan looked at Thomas in disbelief. "Yes!"

"Why?" Qin Chuan asked as he carried a bag of flour and walked towards the cellar.

"I just said it!" Thomas hurriedly carried a bag of flour and caught up from behind: "I hope to fight under your command!"

"It seems our captain has gained another loyal fan!" The baker couldn't help laughing.

Werner continued: "My fans are called fans. What are the captain's fans called?"

"Maybe call him a war buff!" Dominic said, and laughed with the others.

"You should report to someone else, sergeant!" Qin Chuan said to Thomas, "They will arrange a more comfortable job for you!"

This is certain, because these pilots brought supplies to Holm, and even put themselves in the surrounded Holm. As a way of thanking them, they generally would not be sent to the battlefield.

"But this is my only request!" Thomas replied: "Colonel Ball promised me that you will definitely agree!"

"Let's take him in!" Kuhn said: "It just so happens that our company also lost a few people, maybe he will be a good helper!"

"Okay!" Qin Chuan said to Thomas, "Do whatever you want, I hope you won't regret it!"

"I won't regret it, Captain!" Thomas almost jumped with excitement: "I promise!"