On the night of September 30, 50 kilometers east of Minsk, field airfield No. 2. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the afternoon, the airfield received an order to urgently take off all the fighters, and a major battle with the Luftwaffe lasted more than an hour over the city of Minsk, and less than two-thirds of the fighters returned with wounds, and even the plane of Captain Ivan Nikitovich Kozhdub, who had just been awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union", had more than a dozen bullet holes.

As usual, after a large-scale German air attack, the ground forces should soon and more likely launch a large-scale attack at the same time, but the Germans did not make any other moves. And this afternoon's air raid is somewhat incomprehensible: it seems that the goal of the Luftwaffe is not to bomb the positions of the Red Army, nor to annihilate the Soviet Air Force at a dozen airfields in the rear of Minsk, the target is the city!

As soon as dinner was over, Kozhdub left the humble tent canteen and went to the tarmac, where the mechanics were urgently repairing the battle-damaged plane.

The captain's plane had the 27th red star painted on it - it was two Stukas. Pulled the crumpled flight suit and asked the mechanic who was repairing the hole in the wing: "Liu Jia, when will it be repaired?" ”

"Soon Squadron Leader, there is one last one left."

Motioning for the mechanic to keep busy, Koridub, feeling a little tired, walked to his tent, where he needed a good rest.

As soon as he lay down on his rattling camp bed, the cook in the cafeteria brought a cup of fragrant coffee and told the squadron leader that the cafeteria had delivered food to the mechanic.

"You drink, I want to sleep, I can't sleep after drinking this thing."

"Americans' stuff is really convenient, you can drink it with hot water." The cook, Sekirev, was also not polite, he knew that the young squadron leader was telling the truth.

Yesterday, the logistics department pulled half a cart of supplies, and as a result, the comrades made a lot of jokes, because the comrades at the airport did not know what was in the cans and boxes, only that it was American food. The first time I opened a can, it was like a guessing puzzle, and some comrades even used cigarettes as bargaining chips to bet. The result, of course, was a great joy for all, and the abundance of American military food exceeded the imagination of all comrades.

The old smokers are no longer "short of food", and there are plenty of coffee and drinks that pilots usually need, and everyone still carries brick-like American chocolate in their pockets.

Lying comfortably, there was a glimmer of light in the darkness that penetrated through the cracks in the tent, and the sound of machinery turning could be heard in the distance--it was estimated that the comrades on the ground would have to be busy until midnight.

Yesterday he received a notification that Kozhdub had become a "Hero of the Soviet Union", which made him excited for a while, although the official award will not be until Moscow, and it is not known when it will be, but this is enough. The comrades congratulated themselves - by that time he had already won 25 battles, which was a record of pride for a pilot.

Other comrades were also awarded various medals and medals, but unfortunately the fallen comrades could not see them - the pilots were always ready to die for the Soviet Motherland for the final arrival of the day of victory.

The lads were brave, and again in the afternoon air battles someone used ramming tactics after running out of ammunition - some comrades did not agree with ramming tactics, but at that moment everyone would do that, let the Germans drop bombs on the heads of the comrades in the city ?!

"The goal of the Germans is Minsk and its people!" In a daze, Kozhdub suddenly seemed to understand why the German air raids in the afternoon were different from the usual "close support" -- they were not for a coordinated tactical mission at all, but simply to destroy the city and the Soviet people in the city!

He was not the only one who had the same idea as Kozhdub, Lin Jun and Zhukov also thought of it -- the bombing by the Germans in the afternoon was completely indiscriminate bombardment of the entire city, and bombs were dropped in clusters wherever there were dense buildings!

"The Germans wanted to shake our morale with bombing and create an atmosphere of fear among the army and the civilian population."

Lin Jun thought so, and Zhukov thought the same, but both of them understood that Minsk would not be frightened by the bombing, it would stand firmly on the Belarusian plain!

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At 8 p.m., almost simultaneously a combat alert was raised from all airfields on the east side of Minsk!

"Squadron leader, there is a large fleet of aircraft approaching Minsk, very large!"

Kozhdub jumped up from the bed at once: "Immediately let all pilots with night flight experience take off urgently!" Let the other comrades get the plane out! ”

The rag who can fly is only about average, and it is necessary to let the old comrades go up, and there are still many new pilots who have not experienced this night battle.

Running quickly to his landline, Liuka was already waiting for him with a parachute.

Get into the cockpit, take off your military hat and stuff it into the lattice behind the bulletproof seat, and parachute on your back with the help of a mechanic.

"It's all repaired, the fuel and ammunition are full."

Kozhdub, who had put on his flight cap, nodded, and Lyuka jumped off the plane - the mechanic had already started the plane. Looking left and right, the pilots were mostly ready, and the engines roared.

Press the throat intercom: "I am Eagle Thirteen, take off immediately and climb to an altitude of 4,000 meters." ”

Release the brakes and take off.

Night operations are different from daytime, and whether or not you can spot a group of enemy planes is a matter of luck, and it is difficult to return home, not to mention that you have to look for fighters in the dark night sky, and you can't enter the defense zone of your own anti-aircraft artillery -- the anti-aircraft artillery below will not care whether the planes on their heads are their own people!

Fortunately, with the surviving "Big Eye" instructions, Kozhdub got the direction of the German formation

When the Germans launched a night raid, most or even all of the planes would have been bombers, and Kozhdub did not worry too much about his comfort: but he was shocked when he saw the dark clouds of German planes in the distance!

A large piece of black pressing, it is estimated that there are no less than two hundred! And according to the "Big Eyes" report, this is just one of the German aircraft groups that flew to Minsk this time!

With only 8 rags on his side, the situation will be similar for the troops at other airfields! Kozhdub couldn't control much anymore and gave the order to attack - to shoot down one plane before the Germans entered the bombing route!

A night attack was largely like a blind man's fight for both sides, except that the German bombers suffered some hidden losses - the shooters on the planes had to rely on luck to hit the Soviet fighters flying around!

Eight small ragers climbed again and swooped down on the huge group of bombers from a high altitude, and Kozhdub even had to take a rough aim when he pressed the launch button - the German bombers were staggered from top to bottom!

Roughly enough, Kozhdub would not want to waste ammunition - a twin-engine bomber was broken in two in his short four-barreled salvo!

Crossing the German cluster from top to bottom, the landline was accompanied by German tracer machine gun shells flying around the plane. A swing of the joystick detached from the lower left at high speed, turned the nose of the plane at a kilometer away and pounced on the German group again!

The Rags didn't have any wingmen before they attacked, and they were looking for their own targets, but the German fleet was too large for such an attack to disrupt their formation!

Successive small fighter formations joined the interception of the German formations, but the attack effect was not good, and the hit rate could not be compared with that of the day. Dark red tracer bullets shot in the air, and the formation gradually approached the sky over the city of Minsk, and huge fires and smoke began to appear!

The anti-aircraft artillery of the Red Army, armed with 85-mm anti-aircraft guns, began to wield its might, and Kozhdub felt like a bumper car in a playground, his plane constantly being pushed up and down by the waves of shells exploding nearby!

Biting the bomber in front of him to the point that the engine caught fire, and had to turn and break away at high speed - if he stayed any longer, he might be bombed down by his own people, and that would be really wronged! The little rager isn't as sturdy as the all-metal Germans!

The fact that Rag and Jacques were in the elite of the Soviet Air Force would have eliminated the need for them to use extremely dangerous, near-suicidal ramming tactics - by the time the Germans had finished dropping their bombs and turned, they would be able to shoot down more German planes, especially when the Germans had finished dropping their bombs.

A total of three German bomber groups, flying over Minsk from three directions, dropped thousands of tons of bombs! Strings of black high-explosive and incendiary bombs fell like hens laying eggs, and from the air you could see that Minsk below was already a sea of fire, and there were dense explosions everywhere!

It was already on fire from the air, and it was even more miserable on the ground -- explosions were everywhere in the central area and Dongcheng District, which were originally relatively well preserved, and entire buildings were blown down in an instant, and the ruins were blazing with fire, and several streets were completely reduced to rubble in dozens of seconds!

The Red Army pilots in the air could fire in their eyes - today the Germans sent at least 500 bombers to bomb in groups, and it was impossible to stop the Germans by their strength: Goering's original plan was to concentrate 1,500 bombers on Minsk at once and wipe the city off the map! But the fat man can't get together that many bombers, unless the German bombers from other directions are silenced.

The pilots' eyes were on fire, and Lin Jun under the dim emergency light in the basement was like an old monk in his meditation, although dust kept falling on him, and the ground was shaking, he didn't seem to feel it at all, and sat on the chair with his eyes closed and didn't say a word.

Landscoch knew that Lin Jun's heart was by no means as calm as he appeared: how much the deputy commander wished that he would not be in the basement, but in the sky! (To be continued.) )