The year entered June 1942.

On June 1, four TB3 bombers flew over Novgomel under the light of the rising sun.

After flying over the German defense zone, the crew received a temporary respite, and now they began to reduce altitude in preparation for the forced landing of the aircraft. All the crew members will be parachuting, and they quickly put on their bags and a bright yellow vest on their chests. They had nothing to worry about, carrying only a loaf of bread and a jug of water in a small bag at their waists, and a pistol to deal with the bears and wild boars that might appear.

Seeing the land, Ivanov was finally sure that they had arrived in Novgomel and tried to communicate with the people on the ground.

At the same time, Yang Mingzhi and the others stayed in the headquarters together, and they at most lay on the table to take a nap, waiting for the good news from the communication room. By four o'clock in the morning, no one was asleep anymore, rubbing his confused eyes, smoking a cigarette, and Yang Mingzhi was back awake.

"It's almost time, if they come to the airdrop, it must be half past four!" He banged on the table, drawing everyone's attention.

"If nothing else, this is it!" Yevlov responded.

"Of course! And then there's our mission, to send out the people who receive supplies, have they already set off? ”

"It's already action!" Supervising the soldiers into the forest, Fuming took over the job. "The fighters also stayed up all night, and they were supposed to walk in the swampy area near the Dnieper, where they waited for the forced landing of our planes."

Now that the topic has been raised, Yang Mingzhi has to talk about this extremely peculiar "air support" again. He put on a helpless look and sighed: "It's all to blame for the Germans for blowing up our airport." If there were an airfield, our army would not have to support it in this way. ”

"This time it's not like ever!" "According to the information that our army now has, the offensive campaign against Kharkov has failed, and the offensive situation of the German army is beyond imagination. Our army lost almost all of its front-line fighters, and the aircraft that carried out this mission were the only remaining fruits of the Severodonetsk airfield. Pessimistically speaking, they can only make a forced landing directly, first, the city may not be able to hold it, and second, these old TB3 bombers should indeed withdraw from this era! ”

In the office, the atmosphere is cold. The Southwestern Front was defeated and retreated, and history repeated itself again! Their continued retreat and the loss of a large number of aircraft meant that future air support for the guerrilla republics had become very slim. No! Air support of the future is gone!

Yang Mingzhi knocked on the table to end the embarrassment.

"Now let's go for a walk at the door, and soon we can hear the roar in the air."

The four planes were on their way, and before Ivanov could make contact, the defenders of the mine were the first to notice the anomaly in the sky.

After the bombardment, the mine was put to a standstill, and the raw materials needed for the arsenal were all in reserve, and the mine did not produce a single ore for a few days. The number of defenders and civilians here was quite large, and the anti-aircraft fire was increased to four eight-pack anti-aircraft machine guns. In a very short period of time, the arsenal also used thin iron sheets to make a huge pair of "ears" for air detection, and transported them to the mine by horse-drawn wagons in sections.

It was these "ears" that heard the anomaly in the southern sky at the beginning of the sun's rise.

The telegram suddenly hit the communications room of the headquarters, and Sonya, the signal soldier, hurried to the empty field outside the headquarters.

"Report to the commander, deputy commander, the plane has been found in the mine!"

"They're finally here!" Yang Mingzhi was shocked and hurried back to the office.

At 4:40 a.m., Ivanov had already achieved voice communication with the partisan republic. The noise of the cabin forced him to yell, and the communications officer on the other side quickly took note of his words.

At this point, Ivanov reported the approximate coordinates of the landing point he had set to the partisan republics.

"They chose the mud by the river! That's good! We don't have to worry about a fuel explosion caused by a strong touchdown! Yevlov was in such a good mood that he even threatened that he had heard the roar of aircraft engines.

All the staff officers in the command were mobilized, and they gathered around the map table to determine the location of the landing plane at any time according to the latest information.

Yang Mingzhi had misgivings about the plane's forced landing, and the so-called mud pond did negate the possibility of the plane catching fire, but if the ammunition was like water getting wet, it would be terrible.

He instructed the telegraph operator to give orders to the troops scattered in the forest to act. Next, he was left to stay in the headquarters and wait for the plane to fly over the blacksmith village with a loud roar!

The roar came very quickly, and the four bombers in a diamond-shaped formation had been lowered to an altitude of only 800 meters. This is already a very low altitude for a bomber!

The airplane carries a huge load, and the pulling rate is very low, and the reduction speed is extremely fast. Seeing that the altitude was getting lower and lower, Ivanov gave the order: "All crews, let the plane taxi, open the hatch, everyone, parachute!" ”

The roar woke up tens of thousands of people living in the blacksmith village, and the vast majority of unsuspecting civilians remembered the horror of being bombed by the Germans a few days ago, and they were terrified when they heard the roar of the planes! There were also some brave people who ran out of the house to see what these "German planes" were going to do.

Yang Mingzhi and the others were also standing outdoors, and they could clearly see the phantoms of these bombers with their naked eyes.

Yang Mingzhi squinted his eyes, sighed for these planes that crossed the line of fire to deliver supplies, and had questions: "Strange, didn't the superiors say that there were five planes coming?" How come there are only four? ”

"Perhaps, one of them was shot down by the Germans!" Fumin guessed, "After all, they have to pass through the German blockade." ”

"Maybe!"

"Look!" Yevlov interrupted the conversation between the two, and he raised his right hand and shouted, "Someone has parachuted!" ”

"I saw it! Yevlov, we need to act! They're crew members, and they're going to land in our blacksmith village, and we'll have to keep them from hanging in the treetops. Yang Mingzhi paused for a moment, and then added: "Most of the villagers don't know about this morning's incident, and the appearance of the plane has frightened many people!" Comrade Fuming! ”

"In!"

"You immediately mobilize the army's radio horns and broadcast it in full! Order the villagers to get up immediately and help find these landed pilots! ”

"Well, I'm also worried that they'll hang from the treetops. Just ......"

"Just what?"

"What happens when they are rescued? Where to place? ”

"Sent to Command, of course, and we'll have to question the new brothers. Perhaps, they can also bring us a letter from their superiors, as well as a list of supplies for this airdrop. I really hope that the commander of the front will continue to give me some in-kind reinforcements. ”