Red Moscow

Rokossovsky considered that Sokov and his team would soon launch an attack on the Germans, and the work of replenishing their air power went very smoothly.

That night, Colonel Nemtsevich, the commander of the Fighter Aviation Division, reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I have good news for you. The two fighter squadrons added to us by the superior have all arrived at the field airport. "

"What, the supplementary fighter squadron has arrived." After listening to Nemtsevich's report, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed: "In this way, you don't have to worry about the lack of aircraft when you are engaged with enemy aircraft."

"Comrade Commander, I think you are too optimistic." Colonel Nemtsevich said sullenly, "I don't think the two new squadrons have much combat effectiveness?"

"No fighting power?" Henry asked with some surprise: "Comrade Colonel, why do you say that?"

"When I learned that the superior sent us two fighter squadrons, I was very happy, but what I didn't expect was a group of women."

"A group of women?" Sokov asked curiously when he heard Nemtsevich say this: "What's the name of their commander?"

"The leader of the first squadron is Captain Raisa, and the leader of the second squadron is Lieutenant Lilia."

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov almost jumped up excitedly when he heard Nemtsevich's order, and he warned the other party: "I tell you, these female pilots have rich combat experience. In the battle to defend Stalingrad, immortal feats have been established. The superiors transferred them to you because they believed in their abilities. I remind you, you must not discriminate against them, otherwise I will suggest that the superiors revoke your post as division commander. Understand ?"

Although Sokov's tone was very harsh, Nemtsevich said unconvinced: "Comrade commander, I have never heard of any female pilots, so I still have doubts about their level." .”

"Colonel Nemtsevich, Captain Raisa and Lieutenant Lilia have fought alongside me. I know their abilities very well." Sokov said to Nemtsevich: " Lieutenant Lilia, in particular, shot down a Messerschmitt-109 fighter jet and a Junker-88 bomber in her first battle, becoming the first woman in the world to shoot down an enemy plane.

She also shot down a Messerschmitt-109 fighter jet piloted by a German ace pilot. The pilot of the fighter is a lieutenant of the 3rd German Fighter Wing, with 35 victories in air battles. After being captured, he offered to meet the opponent who shot him down. When he saw a petite, young and beautiful girl standing in front of him, he couldn't believe that this was the one who shot him down.

Because her name is similar to the pronunciation of Russian lily, all comrades affectionately call her Lily. She painted a lily on each side of the fuselage of the plane she was flying. The Germans mistook the lily for a rose, so they called her the 'White Rose of Stalingrad'. "

"What? Comrade Commander, what did you just say?" Hearing what Sokov said, Nechepolenko couldn't help being stunned: "She is actually the legendary 'White Rose over Stalingrad'. It's unbelievable."

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov recalled that Lilia seemed to have been injured once during this period, and reminded him: "Lieutenant Lilia is a precious asset of your Air Force, and I order you to love her as you love your own eyes. She must not be put in any danger. Understand?"

"Comrade Commander, it's hard to say." Hearing Sukov's order, Necheporenko said with some embarrassment: "You also know that in an air battle, whether you can survive depends entirely on your own skills." Tactical level and aerial combat ability. If she is unlucky, no matter how many planes I send to protect her, it may not help her."

Neche Polenko's words made Sokov realize that he was a bit too whimsical. Air combat is no better than land warfare, and there are too many uncertainties. If Lilia's plane was destined to be shot down, then no matter how many planes were sent to protect her, it might not be effective. Everything would depend on her luck.

After Sokov put down the phone, he heard Vitkov excitedly ask: "Comrade Commander, is our Lily here?"

"That's right." Sokov knew that it was the Germans who called Lilia the White Rose, but the Soviet commanders still liked to call her Lily. And Witkov had dealt with Lilia before, and now knowing that his old friend came to fight side by side with him again, he couldn't help but feel a little overjoyed: "Lieutenant Lilia has also become the squadron leader now."

Lunev was not familiar with Lilia. Seeing that Sokov and Witkov were happily talking about a female pilot, he asked curiously, "Who are you talking about?"

"A young female pilot." Seeing that Lunev didn't know Lilia, Sokov told Lunev the results of Lilia's victory in the Stalingrad defense battle in detail, and finally said: "Although she is young, she has achieved a lot in battle. If she can live to the day of victory, I think she might be able to become a general."

Hearing what Sokov said, Witkov said weakly: "But our army has never had a female general."

"Not before, doesn't mean there won't be in the future." Sokov said with a smile, "Maybe Lilia will become our army's first female general."

"Comrade commander, how do you plan to arrange them?" Lunev asked, "Do you want them to fight German pilots like male pilots?"

"It goes without saying, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov asked back with some surprise: "In war, there is only the difference between soldiers and civilians. From the day they put on the uniform, they are no longer pure A woman, but a soldier, a soldier who can sacrifice his life at any time to defend the motherland."

After hearing this, Lunev nodded and said, "Comrade Commander, you are right. Hearing what you said, I can't wait to meet this amazing female pilot."

"Comrade Military Commissar, the field airport is not far from our place anyway." Sokov said to Lunev, "If you have time, you can always go over and take a look at this amazing female pilot."

Besides, after Lilia led the fighter squadron to the field airport, she only rested for two or three hours, then took off and rushed to the traffic line to fight with the enemy fighter group.

There were three German fighter jets, and after they shot down one Soviet bomber, they were attacking the remaining three. Seeing the appearance of four Soviet fighter planes, two fighter jets left the Soviet bombers and rushed towards the new fighter squadron.

Although Lilia is a woman, she has become an ace pilot of the Soviet Army because of her repeated military exploits. Seeing the two enemy planes rushing head-on, she didn't respond at all, but let the other three deal with it, while she rushed directly to the enemy plane that was chasing the bomber.

The enemy plane that was chasing the bomber did not expect that Lilia would ignore the enemy plane that was attacking them, and instead rushed towards him. The German pilot had just locked on a bomber in front of him. Before he could pull the trigger, he suddenly felt the fuselage shake. Based on his experience, he knew that his plane had been shot. He hurriedly turned his head to see where the plane that attacked him came from.

At this moment, Lilia aimed at the cockpit and pulled the trigger again. A series of bullets hit the cockpit accurately, sifting the pilot in the cabin. At the last moment of his life, the German pilot saw clearly the lily painted on the side of Lilia's plane, and he murmured: "White Rose..."

Before he finished shouting, he felt his eyes go dark, and then the plane lost control and dived towards the ground. Tens of seconds later, the plane plunged into the ground, the fuselage caught fire quickly, and it didn't take long for an earth-shattering explosion to occur.

The two enemy planes in the sky were quite puzzled when they saw their companions being shot down. They are very clear about the opponent's level. Even if they want to win two-on-one, it will take a lot of trouble. How could it be possible to crash in such a short period of time? Could it be that the Russians sent their ace pilots?

After Lilia shot down the enemy plane, she made a big circle in the air and rushed towards the two surviving enemy planes. A German pilot who was fighting with the Soviet fighter plane suddenly saw the lily on the fuselage, and immediately shouted as if he had seen a ghost: "Damn it, it's the White Rose of Stalingrad, it's the White Rose of Stalingrad!" ..."

After a series of howls, the German pilots dared not continue to fight, and quickly left their companions, turned the nose and flew westward.

The remaining pilot of the enemy plane did not hear clearly what his companion was shouting at all, but when he saw that he turned around and fled towards the airport as if he had seen a ghost, he immediately realized that something was wrong. Just when he was about to turn around and escape, Lilia's wingman, Second Lieutenant Katya, had already fired a series of bullets at him, hitting the right wing, causing the fuselage to shake violently a few times.

Fortunately, this pilot has a wealth of experience. Although the fuselage was shot, he quickly stabilized the plane, turned around and got rid of Katya who rushed forward, and prepared to retreat towards the airport like his companions.

But he soon discovered that the Soviet plane that shot down his companion was heading towards him. He saw the lily on the fuselage clearly at a glance, and immediately understood in his heart that he had met the legendary "White Rose of Stalingrad", no wonder his companion with such good skills was shot down after a face-to-face encounter.

He tried to pull the plane up, but the oncoming aircraft had already fired first. The bullet hit the mailbox of the plane, causing the German plane to explode in the air. The pilot didn't even have a chance to parachute, so he followed the flaming plane fragments and scattered them down like a goddess.

When Lilia's fighter squadron returned to the field airport, Colonel Nemtsevich was taken aback. He thought something had happened, otherwise, how could the fighter squadron that had just attacked return to the airport so quickly?

He got into the convertible jeep beside the runway, and after Lilia's plane landed and stopped, he immediately ordered the driver to drive over. He came to Lilia's plane, stood up straight and raised his head and asked Lilia who had just opened the hatch: "Comrade lieutenant, what happened, why did your plane come back so soon?"

Lilia and the others were put into battle not long after they arrived, so they naturally didn't have the contact code of the airport, so they couldn't report the battle report to Colonel Nemtsevich in time. Hearing the other party's question at this moment, he quickly straightened his body and replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, two of the three enemy fighter jets were shot down by my squadron, and the remaining one fled back to their airport in a panic."

"What, you shot down two enemy planes, and the remaining one escaped?" Hearing what Lilia said, Colonel Nemtsevich felt a little dizzy, but fortunately he supported the windshield in front of him in time He didn't fall down in the car because of the glass, he asked tentatively: "Since the enemy plane was shot down, why didn't you report it to me in time?"

"Comrade Colonel," Lilia said dumbfoundedly when she heard Nemtsevich's question, "Our squadron just arrived today. We didn't even know the contact code of the field airport, so we rushed into the air to fight. Are you reporting the battle report?"

After resolving the misunderstanding, Colonel Nemtsevich hurriedly ordered Lilia and her subordinates to be sent to a nearby bunker to rest. After doing all this, he ran back to the headquarters and called Sokov: "Comrade Commander, you are absolutely right."

"What did I say is too true?" Sokov asked with a blank face.

"You told me not long ago that Lieutenant Lilia made immortal achievements in the defense of Stalingrad." Colonel Nemtsevich apologized to Sokov: "I thought you were exaggerating, No matter how capable a group of women is, how effective can they be on a battlefield dominated by men? But now I realize that I was wrong, and it was ridiculously wrong, and you are absolutely right."

Sokov was confused by Nemtsevich's words. He asked puzzledly: "Comrade Colonel, please explain clearly. What happened? You talked so nonchalantly for a long time, but I said None of them understood."

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I was so excited that I was a little incoherent." After apologizing to Sokov, Nemtsevich returned to the subject: "You also know that in order to cover the bomber squadron bombing the transport line, we often We need to send a fighter squadron to deal with the German fighter jets. Not long ago, our bomber formation was attacked by enemy bombers, and I immediately ordered the second squadron of Lieutenant Lilia to attack and drive the enemy fighter jets away."

"Then what?"

"Then Lieutenant Lilia led her squadron to attack. But after a while, they suddenly returned." Nemtsevich said: "I thought they were not familiar with the terrain and returned because they got lost, so I personally I went to inquire and found out that they had already shot down two enemy planes and drove off the remaining one. My God, you know, it only took less than half an hour from their attack to their return. , it’s simply amazing.”