This night was very noisy!

The Germans, advancing towards Severodonetsk, also suspended their offensive after nightfall. The Germans, of course, knew the importance of the fighters, and they knew even more that their current position was so delicate.

This unit was like a spear, poking into the soft underbelly of the Soviet troops. Of course, if they knew that the city not far away was the command center of the Soviet Front, they would have to storm it even if they had tried all their energy. The German soldiers were so tired that their onslaught for several days had been a great success, and the joy of victory could not dispel their exhaustion. In the face of the increasingly stubborn resistance of the Soviet army, they must take advantage of the night to digest the gains they have made, as well as the dazzling night sky created by rumbling artillery fire and countless tracer shells, and sleep numbly.

It was in this situation that tens of thousands of Soviet mobilized troops began to be continuously replenished into the troops with great losses in the front.

At the airport, eight planes were also lined up, taking off one after another to fly to their respective targets.

At present, Timoshenko can only confirm the fact that the Soviet troops, trapped in the encirclement, are still resolutely resisting. Communication is temporarily interrupted, and they should not sit still, they will definitely actively seek to break through. Therefore, the three Li-2 transport planes supporting them were not only airdropped, but also used as reconnaissance planes to determine the detailed location of the encircled troops.

This is very dangerous work, and it is only fitting that it can be performed by the relatively thick-skinned Mile2 transport aircraft.

For Ivanov, what awaits him is not as simple as crossing the enemy-occupied zone, what awaits him will be a completely new war career!

Five TB3 bombers, the cabin was stuffed with cargo, and on the sides of the landing gear, also hung huge burlap pockets. Each plane reached its take-off limit, and the weight of up to five tons once worried him that the plane might not be able to pull up.

Fortunately, after gliding for a kilometer, they finally slowly left the ground.

"Attention to the crews, fly according to the planned course, and climb to an altitude of five thousand meters as fast as possible." Ivanov so ordered.

He knew perfectly well that in the current state, the plane was slow to climb, and the cabin was almost full of ammunition. If a German anti-aircraft shell, even a few machine gun shells, hits the engine room, it is almost certain that there will be a martyrdom.

Ivanov prayed silently, because they were flying over the positions that the Germans had just built.

The roar of Soviet planes alerted the Germans, who were the elite soldiers of the German Sixth Army, and the officers on the ground knew that the air force was inactive that night.

Well, the sudden roar, this can only be a Soviet plane!

The Germans, in preparation for Operation Friedkus, prepared a number of anti-aircraft guns. The Luftwaffe had the strength and confidence to defeat the Soviet Air Force, but the air supremacy of the war was basically occupied by the Germans, as the Air Force expected. This did not mean that the German anti-aircraft weapons were useless, such as anti-aircraft machine guns of various calibers, anti-aircraft guns, and even the multi-functional 88 guns mounted on half-track armored vehicles, which were used to bombard Soviet positions.

So when the suspected Soviet Air Force suddenly appeared, tentative anti-aircraft artillery fire poured in the direction from which the sound came.

One after another "lasers" whizzed past Ivanov's landline, and he tried his best to remain calm, picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted: "Don't panic, all crews, climb steadily." ”

That being said, who doesn't panic?

Soon, a complaint from his comrades came from his headphones: "We are overweight!" The climb is slow, and sooner or later we will be hit. ”

Ivanov simply shouted: "Keep climbing, we don't want to be shot down, we have to climb!" In his imagination, the German anti-aircraft fire should not exist, and he was anxious and prayed that nothing would happen.

Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light in the night sky, followed by a loud roar.

Ivanov's long plane was even more heavily shaken, but fortunately he was wearing a seat belt.

"Hey! What's going on?! Did we get hit?! ”

"Nope! Comrade Major! It's our wingman! By...... Shot down! A flight attendant yelled.

"Damn it!" Ivanov slapped his thigh, and he was heartbroken, but he was relieved that he had survived. "What was the accident?"

"It's number three! What a misfortune those brethren were! ”

"What's on the third machine?"

"It's a rifle bullet!"

A German vehicle-mounted twin 37-mm anti-aircraft gun, which was once used to strafe Soviet infantry positions, is now it, and a string of shells hit the TB3's wide wings. The shrapnel swooped into the fuel tank, quickly triggering a deflagration, and in an instant, the plane turned into a ball of fire and fell towards the German position......

Ivanov finally saw clearly that the plane had turned into a flame on the ground.

He continued to order: "Don't be nervous, everyone, let's continue to pull up at a constant speed." Don't be impulsive, the stall will fall! Soon we will be out of the range of enemy anti-aircraft fire! ”

Four TB3 bombers escaped, and they finally flew to an altitude of 5,000 meters, which was already immune to the vast majority of anti-aircraft guns. Moreover, the route was relatively safe after all, and the four planes flew high in a diamond-shaped formation, and they flew over Kharkov, over Sumy, and towards the approximate direction of Kyiv.

The 2 transport planes were not so lucky, and after the few ammunition were dropped, they began to carry out battlefield reconnaissance missions.

The besieged Soviet units were in a very difficult situation, and their commander, Major General of the Soviet Army, had died on May 30. They had to break out, and where to break through, the 6th and 57th armies were at odds.

The commanders of these two army groups died in the battle, and it can be said that the besieged Soviet army fell into the dilemma of being leaderless. The divisions fought almost separately, and as the Germans compressed the encirclement, the divisions began to work together.

The airdrop of the transport plane from their own side was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the besieged troops, when the morale of the almost collapsed was lifted up a little.

These 2 transport planes also managed to observe part of the entire battlefield situation, and at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, the crews braved anti-aircraft fire to report the movements of the German troops to the command headquarters by radio.

At this moment, Timoshenko and the entire command of the Front Army have already begun to transfer. He was even more in the jeep and got the news.

And the last news he got was "communication interruption", which meant that the three transport planes had all fallen.

"It's terrible! They are all heroes! Timoshenko, who was sitting in the jeep, let out a long sigh and said to Tupikov beside him: "Now we can finally determine that the remnants of the 6th and 57th armies are beginning to break through to the south, and they are likely to tear through the German blockade and make peace with the Southern Front." ”

"I hope so! I hope so! We are already unable to defend ourselves at the moment, and if they can break through to the east, it will reduce the pressure on our defenses. ”

"We're under too much pressure! Now the sun is up, and the German onslaught will begin again! ”

"yes!" Tupikov sighed: "This is already my second retreat, what a shame. The command of the Front was withdrawn to Lugansk, and Severodonetsk was handed over to the deputy commander Kostenko, who, hopefully, would be fine. ”

"Of course!" Temoshenko puffed out his chest: "We are all soldiers with the determination to die!" The same is true of Kostenko, who voluntarily stayed in Severodonetsk and swore to live and die with the city! ”