Erich Erich hartmann was born in April 1922 in Weissach, Wü rttemberg. He went to China with his father who opened a clinic on 1925, and returned to China on 1929. His interest in flying and the good influence he received from childhood are inseparable from his mother. 1936, as an adventurous air sports lover, his mother founded a gliding club, and Hartman, who is in middle school, joined the club. At the end of 1937, he successively obtained "A", "B" and "C" glider pilot certificates and became a teacher of Hitler Youth Flying Corps.
September 1939, 1, the European war broke out. Half a year later, Hartman, who graduated from high school, signed up for the army and entered the tenth training regiment of the German Air Force. Soon, his talent in flying and shooting appeared. He especially likes shooting at close range, rather than shooting at a long distance, which was popular at that time. His superb shooting skills left his peers behind.
However, unlike other super ace pilots, most of them succeeded on their first takeoff. When Hartman took part in the air battle for the first time, he was like a novice pilot. Not only did he get nothing, but he also made many low-level mistakes.
1942 10 year 10 4, Hartman was ordered to intercept a group of enemy planes when he was on alert flight in Gronitz and Digora. A distant voice came from the earphone: "There is an enemy plane on the lower left, approaching, standing still, attacking". But Hartman couldn't find the shadow of the enemy plane, and he also distanced himself from the captain. Finally, two green planes appeared in front, 200 meters away. This guy's heart suddenly quickened and his blood surged. He immediately threw the pilot aside and rushed up. At the distance of 300 meters, he shot wildly and used up all the bullets at once. Unfortunately, all failed and almost hit a Soviet plane. After Hartman avoided, he found himself surrounded by Soviet planes, and the long plane was nowhere to be found. Scared to death, Hartman hurried into a cloud. When he passed through the cloud, he found that there were no enemy planes, and he was relieved.
"Don't be afraid, I protect you. Meet me through the clouds. " I heard the captain's voice in my ear. Hartman was ordered to descend, only to find a plane flying straight. He was afraid again and kept moving, but he just couldn't get rid of each other. As the two planes got closer and closer, Hartman shrank his neck and hid behind bulletproof steel plates, wondering why the other side didn't fire. Finally, he got rid of the "enemy plane", but forced to land on the road because of lack of oil and was sent back to the base by German soldiers.
A scolding from the battalion chief has been waiting for him. Leave the captain without authorization, seize the attack position of the captain, hide in the clouds without authorization, and mistake the captain for an enemy plane. Hartman was sentenced to three days in prison for these crimes. But he learned a lot in this campaign. From then on, he stopped attacking blindly in the air battle and gradually began to observe and judge calmly, and a terrible killer gradually grew up.
1942165438+1On the afternoon of 5 October, Hartman took off near Diego and intercepted eight Il -2 attack planes and 10 MIG -3 fighters. In the scuffle, he grabbed an Il -2, aimed at its weakest lubricating oil radiator and fired. The enemy plane exploded in the air on the spot, and Hartman finally broke the "light", but who thought that because he followed too close and left too late, the fragments of the explosion hit his plane. When Hartman landed on the ground, the smoke in the engine room almost suffocated him-I didn't expect the first victory to be "mutually assured destruction".
Hartman is making progress. In actual combat, he summed up a set of tactics of "observation-judgment-attack-detachment or suspension of attack", which was completely different from the popular hovering and long-range shooting tactics at that time. With this tactic and his superb skills, Hartman's record began to rise wildly. 1shot down 80 planes on August 7th, 943, which tied the record of Richthofen, the first trump card in World War I. 1501October 29th shot down 18.5 planes every month, three in five days, and was awarded the Iron Cross.
Hartman has an arrow like black tulip's Playboy on the plane head, and the Soviet pilot named him "Southern Black Devil". As soon as he saw the sign, he avoided it. So for a while, he had nothing to do, so he had to exchange mounts with his colleagues in order to have a chance to fight. In July 1944, 1, Hartman shot down 250 planes, and Hitler personally awarded him the Knights Cross. On August 24th, his record exceeded 300, and he won the Diamond Knight Cross, the highest award of the German Air Force, and was once again received by Hitler.
However, before the interview, some officers rebelled and the security measures were extremely strict. Hartman was asked to hand over his pistol before entering. He refused. "Please tell the Fuehrer that if he can't trust his frontline officers, then I don't want medals." Finally, he met the Fuehrer. Compared with a month ago, Hartman clearly felt that the Fuehrer's health was seriously deteriorating. In the process of paying tribute to him with trembling hands, Hitler only said one sentence: "I hope we can have more people like you."
At the dinner party, Hitler and Hartman exchanged some views on the current situation. Hitler admitted that Germany had failed militarily, and Hartman also told some truth. During the holiday, Hartman held a simple wedding with his girlfriend of four years. The wedding date was originally scheduled for Christmas, but Hartman had a hunch that he might not come back.
On the eighth day after marriage, Hartman returned to the front line and refused to join the expert squadron flying the Me-262 jet fighter. He returned to the 52nd United, which moved to Czechoslovakia, where the American P-5 1 Mustang was waiting for him. This kind of aircraft appeared in the late World War II. It is the best piston fighter with high speed, long range and flexibility. The appearance of P-5 1 Mustang made the German Air Force very hard, and the backward Me- 109 was no match for Mustang at all. Looking at fewer and fewer teammates, Hartman was in great pain. His boss decided to stop attacking the American army to save his strength, but he added seven "wild horses" to his exploits.
1945 On May 8, the day when Germany announced its unconditional surrender, Hartman shot down the 352nd plane in the last mission. In order not to lose the trump card to the Soviet Union, his boss ordered him to fly to Dortmund and surrender to the British. But in the end, Hartman did not leave his own army and led a team of 200 people to surrender to the US military. He was quickly handed over to the Soviet Union and sentenced to 25 years in prison. 1955 was released.
1955, 1 1 year1October, Hartman and his girlfriend made up a religious ceremony, which was postponed for 10 years.
Hartman joined the reconstructed West German Air Force as the commander of the 7 1 Combat Wing named after Richthofen, equipped with F-86 MKV 1 jet fighters. 1970 On September 30th, Hartman retired from active service.