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Re: Unresponsive VVS.
The Western forces used fighterbombers on patrol ready for almost immediate response to the call - the Rover David or Cabrank tactics. Although diversion from planned attacks was possible, generally it was not needed. By using fighter bombers rather than more lumbering types they were much less vulnerable if attacked by the Luftwaffe - where it still existed, as it did on Western Europe if not in Italy. The main losses came from flak, despite armouring of vital parts of the aircraft.
The early North African campaign gave much the same result of the army outrunning their air support, but after this RAF fighter and fighter-bomber units were trained to rapidly move to advanced strips to maintain the pressure on the enemy and support the army. I believe (but don't know for sure) that the US 9th, 12th and 19th AF were the same. It may be that the deciding factor in the Soviet inability to achieve this was the logistic factor in supplying such bases, rather than the immediate transfer of the fighting unit.
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