Chapter 584: Iran Issue
Moscow, Kremlin.
"The Germans bombed Washington, U.S.A., and their bombers flew at an altitude of 12,000 meters." Stalin, holding a big pipe in his hand, said slowly.
I thought that after the United States and the United States declared war, the two sides would fight bloody battles, and the Germans would desperately expand their navy. By then, the army would not be able to expand on a large scale.
The Soviet Union could take this opportunity to quickly reorganize its army and take advantage of the Germans' fierce battle with the United States at sea to swoop in.
But I never expected that the Germans were superior in skills, and everything seemed to be under their plan. The United States launched a sneak attack on Greenland, but was ambushed by the Germans and the entire fleet was wiped out. The Germans went to bomb the American capital, and Americans could only watch as the bombs fell.
This is not good news.
"The German bombers can fly at an altitude of 12,000 meters, and the Americans are helpless against them; if these bombers fly over Moscow, will our air force be able to protect our skies?" Although the Soviet Union and Germany have not completely declared war on each other. , but Stalin knew that the Germans had no good intentions, and a war would definitely break out between the Soviet Union and Germany.
Lieutenant General Pavel Vasilyevich Rychagov, Director of the Air Force, reported immediately. "Please rest assured, Comrade Stalin, the latest fighter jets designed by the Mikoyan Design Bureau can definitely intercept them. If the Germans dare to come, they will definitely be able to come back."
The Mikoyan Design Bureau was established on December 8, 1939 by Artyom Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. It later became famous for the production of MiG fighter jets; the name "MiG" was taken from the two designers. The first letters of the surnames of the divisions Ayimikoyan and Miyogrevich.
The latest fighter jet mentioned by the Air Force Director is the I-200, which is the first member of the MiG family, the MiG-1 fighter jet.
This fighter is equipped with the AM-35A water-cooled engine of the Mikulin Design Bureau. The design indicators are a maximum flight speed of 670 kilometers per hour at an altitude of 7,000 meters and a ceiling of 13,000 meters.
"This fighter underwent a test flight at the beginning of the year and can fly to an altitude of 13,000 meters. We unanimously believe that this is a very excellent high-speed interceptor aircraft." Although the words are very beautiful, he also knows that the MiG-1 is not very mature. , there are still countless problems.
Only in the early stages of the flight test, the water radiator was modified as many as eighteen times. After engineers were busy for 117 days and nights, the problem was basically solved. The aircraft passed the national test and was officially put into production. Soon after, designers discovered some problems one after another. By this time, the factory had produced the first batch of MiG-1s. The MiG-1's wing unit load is high and its maneuverability is poor; its fuel tank capacity is small and its range is limited; its center of gravity is rearward and it is difficult to roll. Therefore, only 100 of the aircraft, officially designated MiG-1, were produced.
But he didn't dare to reveal all these shortcomings. If he made Stalin unhappy, his life would be at stake. "And at the end of this year we will test fly another more advanced fighter, code-named MiG-3."
Stalin still had great trust in the Mikoyan Design Bureau. Now that he heard that the Mikoyan Design Bureau had fighter jets capable of intercepting German high-altitude bombers, a happy smile appeared on his face. "How does the performance of this fighter compare to the German fighter?"
The director of the Air Force said confidently. "This MiG-3 far surpasses the German BF109 in terms of performance, and is on par with the FW190."
In fact, historically the MiG-3 did not have a good reputation among the Soviet army. Although its performance was unique, it was not friendly to novices. Because the new Soviet pilots at that time were too effective, there was even some resistance to the MiG-3. Pokryshkin once Compare the MiG-3 to a fierce horse: "In the hands of an experienced rider, it is a fast arrow, but once you lose control of it, you will die under its hooves."
"And the Yak-1 fighter jet designed by the Yak Design Bureau has also entered test flight, and its performance is also quite good."
In early 1942, the Yak-1's overall flight performance was considered the best among Soviet fighter jets, but it still lost to the Bf-109F in air combat.
What's worse is that the new variant of the Bf-109F, the Bf-109F4, has a more powerful engine, better high-altitude performance, and improved weapon systems and armor protection. These make the performance gap between the Yak-1 and the Bf-109F4 even greater. To stand out.
The climb performance of the Bf-109F4 has an absolute advantage over the Yak-1, and the horizontal maneuverability is equivalent; due to the speed advantage of the Bf-109F4, the German pilots completely took the initiative in attack and escape.
Suddenly there were so many more fighter jets that could compete with the Luftwaffe. Stalin nodded with satisfaction. "Yes, we need to put these aircraft into production as soon as possible."
Having "solved" the threat of German bombers, Stalin talked about another matter. "Now let's talk about the problem of the Baku Oil Field." As mentioned before, the oil production of the Baku Oil Field exceeds 70% of the total output of the Soviet Union, and Baku is too close to Iran!
At that time, Iran and Germany were flirting with each other. Even after the Soviet-German war broke out, the Soviet government repeatedly asked Iran to ban the activities of German spies, but the Iranian King Reza Khan did not take the necessary measures.
In order to ensure the security of the Middle East and the Suez Canal and control of the Iranian oil fields; the Soviet Union wanted to maintain the security of the southern hinterland and the passage of aid supplies to the Soviet Union (the United States passed the Lend-Lease Act to provide aid supplies to the Soviet Union, and Iran became a strategic passage connecting the Soviet Union and Britain). The two countries sent troops to Iran in August 1941.
The British sent 2 divisions and 3 brigades; the Soviet army had three armies; it achieved a decisive victory at the cost of 40 Soviet casualties and 22 British casualties. The Shah of Iran, Reza Khan, abdicated and all German influence in Iran was eliminated.
Now Britain has surrendered long ago, and the German army has not only swept across Africa, but also sent troops into the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, the most powerful country in the Middle East, has been beaten and retreated, unable to fight back, and Iran is getting closer to Germany.
This is quite detrimental to the Soviet Union. Once the German troops enter Iran, their bombers can visit the Baku oil fields at any time! The Baku Oilfield can be said to be the heart of the Soviet Union. If anything goes wrong in the Baku Oilfield and affects oil production, the Soviet Union may be at an absolute disadvantage in the confrontation with Germany!
If the Soviet Union wants to protect the Baku oil fields, it must gain greater strategic depth and deploy more interceptor fighters along the way to guard against German bombing!
"..." Upon hearing that Stalin was targeting Iran, everyone present couldn't help but look embarrassed.
The shadow of Finland's failure in the war not long ago has not dissipated, and now it wants to take action against Iran?
At this time, there were hundreds of thousands of German troops stationed in the Middle East. If the Soviet Union attacked Iran, they could immediately support Iran.