Early in the morning of August 1, 1942, Lin Jun kissed goodbye to his wife and children who were still sleeping, and left the villa in a pilot suit. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Captain of the Guard, Landscoch and the others were already waiting at the door, and they shook their heads when they saw the marshal's outfit!

"Okay comrades, today I will escort you and ensure the safety of your comrades!"

From Moscow to Kyiv, the distance in a straight line in the air is about 7560 kilometers, and during this time it is said that the old German combat reconnaissance planes have infiltrated the airspace near Kyiv: for the safety of the marshal, the Kremlin originally wanted to use an armored train to send the deputy commander to Kyiv.

However, now that the railway capacity is tight, Lin Jun directly vetoed: he was born as an air force marshal, of course, it is convenient to walk from the sky, and the speed is fast.

But this time without a transport plane or a fast bomber, what could be safer than Comrade Marshal himself flying a fighter?

As soon as he arrived at the No. 1 airfield, Lin Jun saw a group of acquaintances -- more than 20 pilots of the 1st Guards Fighter Division, led by Kozhdub, lined up in front of a team of basically brand-new fighters.

Zhukov, who they had arrived the day before yesterday, had come to pick up the new plane.

The first division suffered heavy losses in the early stage of operations, and the combat planes were not yet in the number, so the Air Force Committee replenished them with the best planes first.

And the first production batch of the best fighters in this batch is undergoing final type tests in Zhukov at this time - since Comrade Marshal insists on returning to Kyiv from the air, then simply give this first batch of 24 aircraft to the 1st Division.

Anyway, the test has been completed, and those fighters still have at least nine layers and five new ones, and the mechanical run-in in all aspects is just right, and Sergey's gang is cheap.

There are good planes, and it is necessary to escort the deputy commander-in-chief back to the front line, then it is not active ?!

The 1st Division immediately drew 24 experienced pilots and went to Zhukov on transport planes.

As for the front line, this will allow the Soviets and Germans to be stable for a few days, except for reconnaissance and "free hunting", and the first division is not under much pressure, and it will not be a problem to draw out more than 20 pilots.

However, one pilot was depressed - he had only been familiar with the new plane for a day and a half, and today the new plane was temporarily requisitioned by the marshal, and he could only honestly board the three Rich-2 transport planes with the marshal's entourage.

On behalf of the pilot, Kozhdub reported to the deputy commander-in-chief: "Comrade Marshal, the special escort group of the 1st Guards Fighter Division has been assembled, please instruct!" ”

Lin Jun replied casually, "Ready to take off." Who is the captain today? ”

At this time, Kozhdub looked embarrassed, and this question was really difficult to answer: the division commander only serves as the marshal's wingman, who is the leader of the captain's plane?

Anyway, Kozhdub doesn't do it!

Lin Jun saw this situation, glanced around, and saw Lilia Litwiak and Alexei Solomartin standing in the team.

"Lilia, do you remember the route back to Kyiv?"

The little girl immediately stepped forward and replied with a salute: "Yes, Comrade Marshal." ”

"Today you are the pilot pilot, Alexei is no problem as your wingman, right?"

"No problem, Comrade Marshal!"

can make her boyfriend her wingman, Lilia can't ask for it!

Solomartin on the side smiled wryly.

The day before yesterday, a new fighter was specially modified according to Lilia's height, otherwise Lilia, who is only 1.52 meters tall, would be sitting in the cockpit of the plane, and her eyes would not be able to see the front and her feet would not be able to reach the pedals!

Lilia has trained in Zhukov, and has flown two routes back and forth from Zhukov to Kiev, although it is not as familiar as Kozhdub and others, but it is no problem to pilot without going astray.

The little girl is very confident.

"Ivan, you are my wingman today, and you and Lilia double-click the formation, and we have a whole 6 four-plane detachments."

Lin Jun said to Kuori Dup.

"Yes, Comrade Marshal."

After speaking, Ivan Nikitovich Kozhdub shouted to his subordinates, this is a formation - Kozhdub is familiar with these pilots, and there will be no confusion between the formations due to mutual unfamiliarity.

"Prepare for takeoff."

After Lin Jun finished speaking, with the help of the mechanic, he stepped into a brand-new Lag7 fighter.

Yes, the latest model in the Lag 7 series of fighters was offered to the 1st Division!

The more powerful and reliable M-82FNU engine allows the Rag 7 to reach a maximum speed of 680 kilometers per hour, and the three Shvak 23 mm caliber guns have 50% more firepower than the Rag 5FN! And under the wings can also carry two aviation rocket launchers or bombs of 100 kg each.

And the lag-7 has a longer range, reaching almost 1000 km, especially with more maneuverability.

A few days ago, Lin Jun had already flown this new fighter several times, and he was more familiar with the Lag 7 than the pilots of the first division.

Of course, the original Lager-5FN of the first division is actually not much different from the new aircraft, the La-7 is developed from the La-5, and it can even be regarded as a small upgrade under a large model, Lilia and others are familiar with it after flying twice, and they also like this powerful new fighter.

This will make the three Shvak-type 23mm guns in the nose of the Lager-7 fighter piloted by Lin Jun full of ammunition, and of course there are no underwing bombs. However, Zhukov was very thoughtful to hang two auxiliary fuel tanks, or reusable and extravagant aluminum auxiliary fuel tanks, even if it was a gift to the first division.

As long as you don't throw away any special situations in the middle of the road, these aluminum auxiliary fuel tanks are still quite popular on the front line.

The Kremlin didn't know that the deputy commander was going to personally fly the fighter back to the front line, Lin Jun did it on purpose!

In Zhukov, he said yes, this is his territory, and no one dares to secretly report to the Kremlin.

By the time the Kremlin knew about the situation, it was too late, and it was estimated that Lin Jundu had already arrived in Kyiv -- this is still a situation that will only occur if the Kremlin takes the initiative to ask.

If that side does not ask, Zhukov, of course, will be silent.

However, Lin Jun wanted to know over there, because he did it on purpose!

The deputy commander is crazy again! As long as there are no accidents, Stalin and the others will only laugh and scold a few words again, and at most make a few more phone calls to rebuke.

In this way, your purpose has been achieved!

Divide your attention!

It would be even more exciting if they encountered a German reconnaissance plane or fighter plane near Kyiv -- in the Soviet-German battlefield, even the Messersmitt 109G and the existing model of the Volker-Wolf 190 fighter were basically no match for the Lager 7, not to mention that he was surrounded by a 24-plane formation composed of strong pilots of the 1st Guards Division.

Departing on time, Lilia and Alexei double-clicked to lead the team and take off, followed by Lin Jun and Koridub's twin planes.

After all the fighters took off, the three Li-2s took off in turn, heading directly at Kyiv - the three transport planes formed a triangular formation, and the Lagers had already circled around at a higher position, just in time to join the transport plane formation, and climbed together at a slightly higher position to escort the transport planes.

The altitude is 3500 meters, there is no need for oxygen supply, that is, the speed is about to be transported by the transport plane, which is a bit slow, and the formation cruising speed is maintained at 240 km / h.

It takes more than three hours to reach Kyiv. (To be continued.) )