The enemy plane, which had succeeded in one blow, made a beautiful bend in the air, turned around and dived down. At the same time as strafing the convoy, a bomb was dropped. The bomb landed in the middle of the sled trailer dragging the tank turret, and after the explosion on the ground, the towing cable was blown off, the sled made of logs was blown apart, the horse pulling the cart fell with a scream, and the soldiers on the car were lifted into the air by the air wave of the explosion, and then fell heavily on the ice, and the turret also swirled, slid on the smooth ice to the opposite side of the road, and only stopped after collapsing several Xiaoice piles.

The tank, which had removed its turret, lost all its combat effectiveness, and on this unobstructed ice, it was the target of enemy aircraft. I opened the door and jumped out of the bridge, no wonder I was hidden, shouting as I ran forward, "Hide, hide." Don't stay in the car, get out of the car and hide! ”

When the enemy aircraft pulled up again, the anti-aircraft fire of our troops opened fire.

First, I heard an anti-aircraft machine gun nearby, firing heavily at enemy planes in the air. Then the rumbling of artillery was heard, and the shells of the anti-aircraft guns exploded in the air, forming a barrage around the enemy plane, which must have been the firing of the women's anti-aircraft artillery company.

In order to avoid artillery fire, the enemy plane pulled up to a higher altitude and completed the maneuver of turning and diving. The time that the anti-aircraft artillery fire bought us was short, but it was invaluable, enough for most of the convoy to escape from the vehicles and disperse behind the ice on the side of the road to avoid enemy aircraft.

Lying behind a pile of ice on the side of the road, I watched as the enemy plane dived down for the third time, smashing the bridge of a truck with an airborne machine gun, and then caught fire.

After attacking the convoy, the enemy planes turned around and flew over to the anti-aircraft positions of the women's anti-aircraft artillery company. After repeated dive-strafing bombing, the enemy planes were concentrated by shrapnel and flew off into the distance with black smoke in tow.

This air raid caused a lot of losses to the tank detachment. I had just seen in the distance with my own eyes that two trucks had been destroyed by the on-board machine guns of enemy aircraft, and a sled trailer had been blown up. When the losses were counted in the past, it was discovered that many tank drivers had also died in the air raids. They drove more than ten kilometers in the cockpit of the tank without any shelter, and the people were already frozen, so that in the event of a sudden air attack, it was impossible to complete the very simple action of escaping from the tank, and it was not worth the sacrifice. Several of the sacrificial tank drivers were lying on the ground, their faces as if they were wearing ice masks, their hands stretched forward, and they were still in their original driving positions.

Due to the reimbursement of two trucks, the surplus tank crews could not sit, so Azarov's truck was also temporarily requisitioned. Captain Witolganov asked me if I could let the soldiers who didn't have a car get into my car. I asked in a whisper: "Comrade Captain, what are the casualties of the troops?" ”

The captain lowered his head and replied with some frustration: "Not small. The tank detachment originally had 20 tanks and 80 combatants, plus maintenance personnel and logistics personnel, for a total of 185 people. In the air raid just now, 15 people were killed and 26 were wounded. ”

"Will it affect the combat effectiveness of the troops?"

"No, Comrade Major." The captain looked up at me and replied in a resolute tone: "If necessary, our maintenance and logistics personnel are ready to fight, and they will all drive and operate the tank. ”

The wrecked cars, sleds, and turrets were thrown on the side of the road, and the tank detachment, which had survived the disaster, continued to move towards its destination.

Passing by the station of the women's anti-aircraft artillery company, Azarov pulled up the car to the side of the road and said: "Comrade commander, you have arrived at the place. ”

I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Azarov, you behaved very bravely today, good job!" Then he held out his hand, "I hope to see you again soon, good luck!" ”

After shaking hands, I pushed open the door, jumped onto the ice, waved at him, and turned to walk towards camp.

As I walked, I felt that something was wrong, in the smoke of gunpowder, I smelled a strong smell of blood, could it be that someone in the women's anti-aircraft artillery company was injured or killed in the air raid just now? Thinking of this, I did not go back to the tent, but ran directly to the air defense position.

Skirting the chest-high wall of snow, I was stunned again by the sight before me. Three anti-aircraft guns were blown to pieces, holes were everywhere in the ice, and fragments of wood from some ammunition boxes were still burning. In an open space, there were rows of neatly arranged corpses, presumably all of whom were fighters of these anti-aircraft guns. The female soldiers, who did not die, were searching for the stumps and severed arms of their sisters, and some were carrying ammunition boxes.

I don't know which sharp-eyed female soldier found me standing on the side, and shouted in a crying voice: "The major is back." After shouting, he ran towards me. Her shouts did not elicit a reaction from the female soldiers, who were still busy with their work. But when she threw herself into my arms and cried loudly, the other female soldiers were aroused, and they all gathered around me.

It was Naya who threw herself into my arms, and I put my arms around her and asked softly, "What the hell is going on?" ”

But Naya didn't respond to my words, just cried vigorously, and I asked again, but she still didn't answer me.

I looked around, and the female soldiers all had black faces and were stained with gunsmoke, and it seemed that the battle just now must have been very cruel. I shouted at them, "Who can tell me what just happened?" ”

"Comrade Major," said an ensign officer, who squeezed from among the female soldiers, saluted me and reported "speak louder, for many of the girls have been deaf by the bombs." ”

I saw that it was Naya's platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Yelena, who was standing in front of me, so I raised my voice and asked again. Now Yelena heard my question clearly, and replied loudly: "Report to Comrade Major, just now there was an air raid by enemy planes on the convoy of the transport line. When our company found out, in order to cover the convoy, it decisively opened fire on the enemy planes and damaged them in battle. But when the enemy planes were attacking the anti-aircraft positions, they destroyed three of our anti-aircraft guns with bombs," she said, bowing her head, pointing to the place where the bodies were placed, and her voice was low, "Many sisters died honorably. ”

"What about the company commander and instructor?" I didn't see Kirianova and Orlova, and I couldn't help but panic and asked, "Are you still alive?" ”

"Alive, but wounded."

Hearing that the two of them were still alive, I suddenly breathed a sigh of relief in my heart, let go of Naya in my arms, and instructed Yelena: "Comrade Ensign, take me over to see them." ”

Yelena led me to a snow wall and found the company commander and instructor of the women's soldier company. With a bandage on her head, her back against the wall of snow, her hands over her face, her shoulders trembling desperately. Instructor Orlova stood next to her, one hand caressing her head, while the other bandaged arm was hung from her chest with a triangular scarf.

My arrival immediately attracted the attention of Orlova, who removed her hand from Kirianova's head, gave me a military salute and loudly reported: "Report Comrade Major, women's anti-aircraft artillery company ......"

I interrupted her report, gently touched her arm hanging from her chest with my hand, and asked with concern, "How is the injury?" ”

"It doesn't matter, if you are hit by shrenel, you only hurt a few bones, and you will be well soon."

I patted her on the shoulder, then looked down and asked Kirianova, "How are you?" ”

Kirianova looked up at me, there was no sparkle in her eyes, and she muttered a little: "The planes of the Germans dropped bombs, and many female soldiers died." I had just discovered that enemy planes were attacking the convoy, and I immediately ordered the female soldiers to go into battle. When the enemy planes dived and strafed and dropped bombs, not a single person retreated, and they all stuck to their gun positions and fought tenaciously......" said this, and his head tilted and fainted to the ground.

The female soldiers surrounded at some point, fainted the company commander, and went up to help. I handed Orlova the rifle in my hand and lifted Kirianova up with a couple of female soldiers.

I looked at the female soldiers in front of me approvingly and said loudly, "Well done! Girls, you're all good! I'll take credit for you. Then he said to the female soldiers who were carrying Kirianova with me: "Now, let's first carry your heroic company commander back to the tent." ”