The plane made a stop at an unknown airport in Siberia to refuel and rest for the people on board.

It's an airport near the Arctic Circle, and it's still around 3 p.m., but it's almost dark. The airport, except for the runway, is covered with snow. It's only October, and snow has already begun to fall here.

Now, all passengers and crew members have left the plane and headed to the lounge at the airport.

"It's cold!" Nadya - the girl sitting next to Ron tightened the fur collar of her coat with her leather gloved hand. Siberia is the cold center of the Northern Hemisphere, and it is even colder than the authentic Arctic. In a small town in Siberia, the lowest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere was even measured, minus 60 degrees! It's still October, and it's late autumn in Moscow, and the lowest temperature of the day has dropped below freezing, but the maximum is still well above freezing. And at this airport on the territory of Siberia, the maximum temperature is now below freezing.

There is still some distance from the end of the runway to the low bungalows by the airport. And this airport is not a large international airport, there are no buses to pick up and drop-off, and even large trucks are not served. But there's something unique about them. That's -- dog sledding.

A few packs of wolf-like Sibelis. The novel Ya sled dog pulled a few sleds and approached the plane, and with a whistle, several sleds made a beautiful sharp turn and stopped in front of everyone.

Nadya was a little scared when she saw the big dogs bouncing around in front of the sled, and she couldn't help but take a step back and crash into Ron. And Ron's leg was not very strong, and he had to support a cane to walk and stand, and he was hit by Nadya, and his feet slipped, and he fell on the snow......

The lounge at this airport is a typical boreal house with very thick walls and very small windows. The windows are fitted with double glazing to reduce the spread of heat. In addition, the fire in the large fireplace was very hot, so the inside of the house was very warm.

Everyone sat around the fireplace, and the airport staff brought you mulled tea and vodka. That tea is coarse and doesn't taste very good. As for the wine, it seems more likely to be called alcohol. But in Siberia, what more could you ask for?

"I'm so sorry just now." Nadya apologized again to Ron, who was sitting next to her.

"It's nothing, you've apologized a few times, and I'm going to be embarrassed if I keep talking." Ron held up the cup full of black tea in his hand and smiled at her. He saw Nadya's face glowing red from the fire leaking from the fireplace.

At this time, someone by the window suddenly shouted: "Come and see, Northern Lights, it's the Northern Lights!" It's beautiful! ”

Everyone immediately crowded to the window, but unfortunately the window was too small to meet the needs. So everyone hurriedly put on their coats again.

With Nadya's help, Ron also leaves the house and joins her in standing under the eaves to look up at the Northern Lights. Countless mysterious ribbons of fiery red light floated in the northern sky, like ribbons. The bands of light are so bright that the whole earth is illuminated, and when you look down, you can even see the pitch-black shadow left by the small bush in front of you.

"It's beautiful, General Ron, have you ever seen the aurora before?" Nadya's big eyes sparkled against the aurora.

"I haven't seen it, you're from the Soviet Union, you should have seen it many times, right?" Ron replied.

"The Soviets haven't necessarily seen it, like Vanya, the same guy who helped you up the sleigh with me just now. He's a Crimean, and he'd never seen the aurora before he joined our regiment. Nadya smiled, "I'm from Murmansk, so in the whole regiment, I've definitely seen the most Northern Lights." However, it is very rare to see something as bright and red as it is today. ”

"No," interjected a young man, "it's not so bright, and I've only seen it once in '41." Some say that the red aurora is a sign of fierce war, and it seems that there will be a larger battle next year. ”

"The aurora in 41 came from west to east, and if you look at today's aurora, it is shining from east to west, which indicates that we will definitely win next year!" Another interjected.

"What nonsense? It's a shame that you are all party members, and you actually believe in these superstitions! An older cadre-looking man snapped.

Nadya lowered her head and stuck out her tongue mischievously. She tugged at Ron's sleeve and said, "Let's go inside, it's too cold outside." ”

……

Early the next morning, before the sun had risen, (and if it did, it would be noon) Ron and the ballet company set out on their journey again.

This time, perhaps because she was a little familiar with Ron, Nadya began to talk more. First, he talked about the different customs of the United States and the Soviet Union, and then the topic turned to war. With Nadya taking the lead, everyone asked Ron to tell everyone about some of the things he had experienced during the war.

However, Ron felt that it would be better to mention less about military things when dealing with the Soviets now. Therefore, Ron did not tell the story of how the Americans fought, but focused on the natural aspects of Kuah Island. What from the forest monitor lizards and pythons, what will get into the boots of people to go centipedes and spiders. There are also elegant dolphins in the sea, mysterious orcas, and terrifying great white sharks. Anyway, some of them are personal experiences, and some of them, well, some of them are from Ron's previous computer, which has a complete set of Pei Ye's works.

"You're saying that those Japanese people don't have anything to eat, so they look for meat worms in the forest to eat?" Nadya's face was full of disbelief, "How can you eat such a disgusting thing?" ”

"Actually, a lot of bugs are a rare source of high-quality protein," Ron said, "and I've eaten fried silkworm pupae in China." Some Arabs eat roasted locusts, but aren't the snails that the French like to eat also bugs? ”

"But those things, at least they're cooked."

"It's not so scary to eat raw, and most of the bugs, after pinching off the head, taste pretty good. Again I was shot down over the jungle and walked for days to get back to my own side. Along the way, they rely on eating bugs. Most of the bugs taste crunchy and chicken-flavored. ”

"Oh my God, General Ron, did you eat that? Did you get roundworms or any other mess later? Nadya looked at Ron as if she was going to make a CD slice of Ron.

"What, scared?"

"It's a little."

……

The plane then stopped in Komsomolsk for another night before crossing the Arctic ice sheet and reaching Alaska. Here, Ron said goodbye to the Soviet ballet and flew back to Washington on another military transport plane. At the time of the separation, the Soviet artists invited him to come to their performances when he had free time.

After arriving in Washington, Ron rested for the night, and the next morning, rushed to the Pentagon to meet General Arnold.

"Ron, are you okay with your legs?" After seeing Ron, General Arnold asked with a smile.

"Nothing serious. The doctor said in two weeks, you can go to rugby. ”

"Both Doolittle and LeMay talk about your creative use of fighter forces in Europe. Now they are basically certain that the Luftwaffe will not be able to turn the tables around. The air war against Germany can be said to have won a decisive victory. What are your thoughts on this? ”

"General, I think this judgment is completely correct. Now in air battles, the average level of German pilots has noticeably decreased. And this decline will continue. The Germans had now lost air supremacy, and their pilot training, especially for new pilots, could not be carried out safely. This inevitably leads to a vicious circle of declining pilot levels. The Luftwaffe has been crushed. Ron replied.

"That's good so I can use you somewhere else...... Do you remember that I discussed with you plans to bomb Japan with the B-29 taking off from China? General Arnold suddenly turned the topic to the war against Japan, "We have now begun to select a site for the airport in China." However, this plan does have a number of military problems. ”

"Did something happen?" Ron asked.

"Let's not talk about the efficiency of the Chinese side, the military side alone is the same as you expect, the flight distance is too long, the bomb load is greatly affected, and the enemy has sufficient warning time and is vulnerable to interception. It was hoped that the bombers taking off from China could achieve two goals, one was political, showing the unity and cooperation of the United Nations, and this goal was certainly achieved. There is also a military objective, which is to deal a heavy blow to the Japanese mainland. This goal is difficult to achieve. ”

Arnold paused for a moment, then said, "One of us has come up with such a plan in order to compete for the striking force. They developed a 'smart' bomb that was ready to be used in an air attack on Japan. Next week, in Nevada, they will have their first near-combat drill. I'm going to let you see the plan first, and if you think it's feasible, we'll go to China and try it. Anyway, we've invested so much money there, we have to hear something. ”

Ron took the plan, took a cursory look at it, and then had to admire that some Americans are really super imaginative. Their plan was such a small, high-IQ super incendiary bomb that could automatically find and attack targets.