Chapter 140 Andre's Advice

Manitsky-Dzagoyev, the major general commander of the 24th Air Defense Division under the 11th Far Eastern Air Defense Army, has the 308th, 592nd and 777th Air Defense Air Force Regiments, as well as the 140th, 752nd and 891st Air Defense Missile Regiments. It is mainly stationed on Sakhalin Island and Zezhu Island, with its headquarters in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

Among them, the 592nd Regiment was just transferred, the 308th Regiment was about to be replaced by the 41st Regiment, and the 777th Regiment was a bomber regiment.

The main task of the 24th Air Defense Division is to defend Sakhalin Island, where the Soviet Union's most important long-range ballistic missile launch site is located. Once a world war breaks out, countless smoke columns will rise here and vengeful missiles will fly to the other side of the ocean.

Normally, the combat preparedness here is not strong, so the 24th Air Defense Division was completely humiliated by this sudden air battle. If it were not for the help of the friendly 513th Regiment, their losses would have been even greater!

After reporting the battle situation, Manitsky has been frightened. Defense Minister Ustinov is not an easy person to talk to. He will definitely be furious and may even fire him.

Fortunately, after being scolded by General Ivan Trechiyanko, he was told that he would continue to command the 24th Air Defense Division, and the ten MiG-25s flying from Sokolovka would also be temporarily under his command. However, Andrei, the commander of the 513th Regiment, would serve as chief of staff to coordinate the continued battle.

That Andrei, at the age of just 24, had already achieved the rank of colonel, deputy commander of the 513th Regiment, and commander of the Sokolovka base. In the Soviet Union, there had never been such a young colonel except during World War II.

However, Andrei's combat performance in the past year can be said to be fully worthy of the rank of colonel. He shot down the American EP-3, dealt with the traitor Belenko personally, and shot down several enemy planes, including a Blackbird reconnaissance plane.

These achievements are the glory of the Far East Military Region! And Andrei is a dazzling new star in the Far East Military Region!

There are also rumors that Defense Minister Ustinov thinks highly of Andrei. It was just a rumor before, but now it is almost completely true. Andrei was only the deputy commander of a flying regiment, but now he has been promoted again and comes here as a staff officer to coordinate the retaliation against the Americans.

In name only, it was coordination, but Manitsky knew that he had better discuss it with Andrei to see if Andrei had any good ideas that could help the Sakhalin Air Defense Force restore its dignity.

"Report." Just as Manitsky was thinking about this, a voice came from outside.

"Come in," said Mannitsky.

"Andre, deputy commander of the 513th Regiment of the Far Eastern Air Defense Force, is here to report." Andre walked in and said to the man at the table.

The imposing young man in front of him was Andrei! He had seen him in Pravda before. Manitsky smiled and said, "Andrei, you are already a colonel and have been assigned to help us. You don't have to be so reserved. Come, take a seat."

Andre's promotion speed can be described as rising like a rocket. This time he was promoted again to divisional staff officer, which is only one level lower than the commander of the 24th Division in front of him. In the past, Andre would not even dare to think about it.

Andrei knew that this was all due to Ustinov's promotion. This tough defense minister also liked iron-blooded soldiers under his command, and he just happened to be Ustinov's type.

What Andrei didn't know was the deeper inside story. Ustinov was ostracized by Kirilenko, and with the help of Andropov, Kirilenko was successfully deposed. Although Kirilenko has not left the Kremlin yet, his power has plummeted and Brezhnev no longer calls him to meetings.

The fact that Andrei married Catherine was naturally known to the Soviet high-ranking officials. Now Ustinov promoted Andrei, which was equivalent to repaying Andropov for his help.

Of course, what Ustinov values ​​more is Andrei's ability. Over the past year, Andrei's ability has been recognized by everyone and can turn anything impossible into possible.

Now, Andre needs to reverse this unfavorable situation.

Andre was as humble as ever. Although he was only one level lower than him, the other party was still his superior. It could be said that the ten MiG-25s he brought were temporarily under the command of the person in front of him. Although Andre was nominally a coordinator, he also had to listen to what the other party said.

This battle is not easy to fight, the disadvantage of generation gap is very obvious.

"Andre, sit down." Manitsky took Andre's hand and sat on the sofa beside him. He said to Andre, "Andre, your support this time is really timely. The performance of the new American fighter planes is much higher than ours! Now, the superiors are urging us, and we must do everything we can to deal with the Americans. Andre, do you have any good ideas?"

Good idea? Andre looked at the person in front of him. Since the other party wanted him to speak first, he had no reason to be polite.

"The American fighter planes do have a great advantage," Andre said. "Our current MiG-25s can only fight with the enemy at high altitudes, which puts us at a disadvantage. However, we still have hope of winning."

There is hope for victory! Hearing this, Manitsky was immediately delighted. It's good to have hope, it's good to have hope! As a division commander who grew up from a pilot, Manitsky certainly knew the huge role of aircraft performance. For aircraft with poor performance, pilots would have to pay a greater price.

"However, the equipment we have now is not enough." Andre said: "We must apply to our superiors to allocate more equipment to us. First, we need to allocate the Tu-126 early warning aircraft and the Yak-28PP electronic jammer to us."

In modern air combat, it would be quite dangerous without early warning aircraft and electronic jammers. This time, Andre's fighter plane was attacked by the American Tomcat fighter planes because there were no early warning aircraft. The land-based long-range radar could not accurately and effectively detect the attacking Tomcat fighter planes.

If Andre's men had not reacted quickly, they would have been ambushed by the Phoenix missiles and would have suffered heavy losses.

Therefore, we must be equipped with airborne early warning aircraft and electronic jammers in order to fight this battle well.

"What's the second one?" Mannitsky continued to ask.

"Second, we need a new type of missile!" Andre said solemnly: "This is our ultimate weapon!"