The plane took off five minutes later. Since I didn't have a special seat, I had to sit in a cabin full of cargo with a few soldiers who were on the same plane.

When I first started flying, I was feeling good, but when the plane rose to a certain altitude, the temperature in the cabin began to drop suddenly, and although I was wearing a thick military coat, I was still shivering from the cold.

The soldiers on the same plane seemed to be frequent on this route, they were experienced in the cold, and soon after the temperature dropped, they skillfully took out the blankets from the large backpacks they carried with them and put them on. Seeing that I was so cold that I sneezed repeatedly, a kind soldier handed over a blanket and said kindly: "Comrade commander, I still have an extra blanket here, you can use it first, be careful not to freeze it." ”

I gave him a grateful look, took the blanket from his hand, and draped it over my body. Fortunately, thanks to this blanket to protect me from the cold, I was able to arrive in Leningrad without getting cold.

After the plane landed at the airfield, the rear compartment opened, and I followed a couple of fighters out of the plane. As soon as I got off the plane, I was greeted by a second lieutenant officer. When he came to me, he raised his hand and saluted and asked politely: "Hello, comrade commander!" Excuse me, are you Major Oshanina from Moscow? ”

I looked down at my military overcoat, which I didn't wear the insignia of any rank, then nodded and said, "Yes, I'm Major Oshanina." Are you here to pick me up? ”

The second lieutenant shook his head unexpectedly and said, "Comrade Major, I am Bergkin, the commander of the guard platoon at the airport. Since the city is being shelled by the Germans and the car that came to pick you up is stuck on the road, I was ordered to take you to the duty room at the airport to rest. ”

As I walked behind Ensign Burgkin to the duty room, I couldn't help but ask curiously: "Did the Germans often shell the city?" ”

"Yes," the second lieutenant replied in the affirmative: "It turned out that the Germans were still bombing cities, and when they felt that it was a waste to use their precious planes to bomb besieged cities, they switched to bombarding us with artillery." ”

When I heard the second lieutenant say this, I couldn't help but shudder, and said that this place is much more dangerous than Moscow, and if I were killed by a German shell on the way to Smolny Palace today, I would have died in such a way that I was really unjust.

Sitting in the duty room, I could just see the plane just now. Around the plane, more than a dozen trucks were parked, and soldiers were unloading things down. Although it was a little far away, I could clearly see that small anti-tank guns and heavy machine guns were unloaded. The soldiers loaded all the flour and sugar from the plane onto the vacated truck, and then loaded the weapons unloaded from the truck into the plane.

Seeing this scene, my curiosity rose again, and I couldn't help but ask, "Comrade Ensign, what are they doing?" ”

The second lieutenant standing at the window did not look back and said: "This plane is here to produce weapons in Leningrad, and because of the shortage of food in the city, the transport plane will also bring us a full plane of food every time." ”

I was trying to know more about the situation in Leningrad when the second lieutenant suddenly said: "Comrade Major, here is the car that picks you up." With that, he opened the door and walked out.

I was picked up by a lieutenant and a driver, and when Jim's sedan had stopped outside the duty room, the lieutenant got out of the car, ran up to me, saluted and reported loudly: "Hello, Comrade Major! I am Lieutenant Ivanov from the command and have been ordered to pick you up. ”

I raised my hand to return the salute, then stretched out my hand to him and said in a friendly manner: "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant, thank you for coming to pick me up." ”

After shaking hands with me, Ivanov leaned sideways and made a gesture of invitation, saying, "Comrade Major, please get in the car." Because of the German shelling, we have been delayed for a long time, and if we don't leave, it will be dark when we get to Smolny Palace. ”

The driver's skills were very good, driving the Jim sedan at high speed on the potholed road, and it only took half an hour to reach the gate of the Smolny officer.

The entrance to the Smolny Palace is covered with a huge net of camouflage, and although it is not yet dark, the light here is dim. We got out of the car at the door, and after the driver drove away, I followed Ivanov into the building.

The guards on duty at the gate, whether officers or soldiers, were unusually strict in checking those entering and leaving. By all indications, Ivanov was familiar with the guards, but from the gate he had to show his credentials to the sentry three times in a row. The young officers who served as guards double-checked my documents after checking them, and even the officers who were on guard called the authorities to ask if I was eligible to enter the Smolny Palace.

Ivanov sent me to the gate of the building, stopped and said: "Comrade Major, according to the authority, I can only send you here, and you can only go the rest of the way. ”

I stretched out my hand to him, shook it, and said, "Thank you, Comrade Lieutenant." We'll see you later. ”

Ivanov nodded at me, gave me a military salute, and turned to leave.

I walked up to the second floor, and then I remembered that I had no idea which floor Lieutenant General Huo Jin's office was. It had not occurred to me to ask Lieutenant Ivanov about this, and I had to wander the corridors of the Smolny Palace, hoping to find the commander's office by the name tags hanging on every door. However, I was soon disappointed that there was no name sign on the door, which had long since been removed for reasons of secrecy, and now only a narrow light mark remains. I hesitated a little, not daring to ask where Huo Jin's office was as soon as I met someone. After wandering for a long time, I was about to go back to the hall downstairs to ask the guards for the number of the room I was looking for, when I turned around and came face to face with a conductor who was coming out of the nearest door.

The commander didn't see me wandering down the hallway, and walked straight in the opposite direction, getting farther and farther away from me. I mustered up the courage to hurry up and chase after me, and at the same time raised my voice and shouted: "Comrade commander, please wait a minute! ”