Admiral Tributz, having received Rokossovsky's order to bombard Danzig Bay, immediately ordered the blockade detachment to rush to its destination as fast as possible, ready to inflict heavy damage on the German ships or drive them out of the harbor before they inflicted further casualties on the ground forces.

The navy ships sailed at full speed to Danzig Bay, and Verchinin, after receiving the order, also dispatched the air force to bomb the German ships anchored in Danzig Bay. The first to take to the skies was the Women's Night Bombing Air Regiment, and now the planes they fly are no longer backward Po-2 trainers, but all Il-2s, although this kind of aircraft is relatively weak in maneuverability and does not perform well in air combat, but it performs very well in ground attack.

In order to rush to the battlefield as soon as possible and launch an attack on German targets on the ground, the women's night bombing aviation regiment set off without a special fighter escort. As the war drew to a close, the German air force was almost completely incapacitated, so the Il-2 aircraft did not have to worry about encountering German fighters when carrying out missions.

As the female pilots approached Danzig Bay, they were immediately intercepted by anti-aircraft fire from the high ground near the port. Although it was the first time that the female pilots had carried out a bombing mission during the day, in the face of such a dense anti-aircraft fire interception, they did not panic at all and continued to follow the original flight path towards the port.

The commander of the aviation regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Bershanskaya, saw the heavy anti-aircraft fire on the ground, and in order to reduce the losses of the fighters, she gave an order through the airborne radio: "The 1st and 2nd squadrons continue to advance and attack the ships in the harbor. Three squadrons extinguished anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground. ”

As soon as the order was issued, the group, which was originally flying in a four-plane formation, was immediately divided into two parts. Some continued to fly towards the harbor, while others dived down towards anti-aircraft positions on the ground, and the female pilots used their cannons to eliminate exposed ground fire points.

The Il-2, which arrived over the harbor, invariably took the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen as the primary target. Launched on August 22, 1938 in Kiel, Germany, this quasi-displacement warship with a displacement of 14,240 tons is equipped with 4 twin 203 mm main guns, 6 twin 105 mm high-level dual-purpose guns, 6 twin 37 mm anti-aircraft guns, 6 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and 4 triple 533 mm torpedo tubes, the hull armor is 80 mm thick at the thickest point, the maximum speed can reach 32.5 knots, and the ship's sailors are as many as 1,500 sailors.

The warship was shelling the Soviet troops attacking the city of Danzig, and when it saw the Soviet attack planes diving down from the air, all the anti-aircraft weapons on the ship immediately opened fire in an attempt to stop the Soviet air force from bombing the ship.

The Il-2, which rushed to the front, was directly hit by a 37-mm anti-aircraft gun, and immediately exploded into a fireball, and the fragments of the plane fell into the sea with the flames, and the female pilot who piloted the plane did not even have a chance to parachute.

Seeing that her companion's plane was destroyed by German artillery fire, the female pilots of the same squadron as her were so anxious that they desperately swooped down from a high altitude and threw bombs and strafing at the Prinz Eugen, turning the deck into a sea of fire in an instant.

Although the bombs dropped by the female pilots caused the deck of the warship to burst into flames, the sailors suffered heavy casualties. But alas, instead of torpedoes, they used ordinary high-explosive shells, which could not sink such a heavy cruiser with thick armor.

Seeing that the female pilots were attacking the Prinz Eugen one after another, but it was difficult to sink it, Bershanskaya hurriedly gave another order: "Stop the attack on the cruiser and aim at the enemy's small ships." ”

"Comrade Regiment Commander," a female pilot said with tears in her eyes, "Don't you avenge the revenge of those sacrificed comrades?" ”

"Girls, I know how you feel." Bershanskaya said to all the female pilots over the radio: "My heart is sad that my comrades have died. But what we were carrying was a high-explosive bomb that could not inflict substantial damage on a heavy cruiser like Prince Eugen, and we left it to our comrades in the navy to concentrate on attacking the enemy's small ships. As long as we sink these ships, it will be a very good result for us. ”

When the female pilots heard Bershanskaya say this, they changed the direction of their attacks and launched a wave of bombardment on the small ships with poor air defense.

The news of the bombing of the German ships in the harbor by the Air Force was quickly reported to Rokossovsky by Bogolyubov. After listening, he nodded, and then asked: "The German ships have been bombed by the air force, and they will definitely not be able to continue shelling our siege troops." Chief of Staff, you immediately contact Batov and Fedyuninsky and ask them to speed up the siege and be sure to take Danzig in the shortest possible time. ”

"Comrade Marshal," Bogolyubov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and then cautiously asked, "The progress of the Polish tank brigade is not going well, and I am afraid that if we continue to fight, they may be wiped out." ”

"Let the Polish tank brigades stop fighting." Rokossovsky originally planned to let Mezhcan's troops show their faces well in the battle to liberate Danzig, but he did not expect them to fight unsatisfactorily, so he changed his mind: "The battle in the city is still completed by the troops of Batov and Fedyuninsky. ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky had changed his mind, Bogolyubov hurriedly reminded him: "But didn't you say that the political significance of letting the Polish army participate in the war is far greater than the military significance?" You ask them to stop the offensive, will someone gossip? ”

"Whoever wants to gossip, let him gossip." Rokossovsky said with some impatience: "I can't let my soldiers sacrifice their precious lives in vain in order to make the Polish army stand out." It was so decided, and the fighting for the city was still under the responsibility of the troops of Batov and Fedyuninsky. As for the Polish tank brigades, when we have taken the city of Danzig, we can arrange for them to have a solemn ceremony to enter the city, so as to announce to the Polish people that their own army has participated in the battle to liberate them. ”

"You are right, Comrade Marshal." Seeing that Rokossovsky had already made up his mind, Bogolyubov knew that it was useless for him to say anything more, so he said casually: "I will immediately call Batov and Fedyuninsky and ask them to readjust the offensive deployment." ”

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