Chapter 278

The reason why this ice transportation line on Lake Ladoga is called "the road of life" by the army and people of Leningrad is that it can not only transport a large amount of food and daily necessities to Leningrad, but also evacuate the redundant population in the city, such as the elderly, women and children who are unable to work, so as to reduce the population pressure of the city. By evacuating the population, we can improve the food of the soldiers and civilians who actively resisted the invasion of the German invaders.

The opening of the ice transport line was completely unexpected to the German people. In order to cut off this "road of life" which is related to the life and death of Leningrad, they not only bombarded it with long-range artillery, but also sent many planes to bomb it every day.

The commanders of the front army took corresponding measures to deal with the tactics used by the German army. When the German artillery bombarded, the heavy artillery units of the front army and the naval guns of the Baltic Fleet suppressed their artillery positions. In terms of air defense, in addition to a large number of air defense forces on both sides of the ice transport line, aircraft were also sent to patrol over Lake Lado.

Every day at dawn, German planes would patronize the ice transport lines. They dive down from the clouds, bombing and strafing people and vehicles on ice transport lines. Especially those trucks full of food and necessities became the focus of German aircraft attack.

Air bombs are exploding and airborne machine guns are shooting. Trucks are constantly hit, burned or overturned by the explosion, and even some vehicles with people and food slowly sink into the ice cave. And the residents who evacuated outside the city were desperate to leave the transportation line and escape to the ice piles on both sides of the road to avoid air strikes.

In the two days after adjusting the deployment of anti-aircraft artillery positions, my three anti-aircraft artillery companies have achieved good results. Lieutenant Baku's antiaircraft artillery company had the best record, shooting down four enemy planes and capturing two parachuting pilots; Second, Captain Ali's antiaircraft artillery company shot down two and injured one; The female soldier company I was in also shot down and injured one of the enemy planes.

On the morning of the 27th, I received a phone call from major general hilov, who was in charge of the line. He said that in order to increase the transportation volume and reduce unnecessary losses, the superior leadership decided that from now on, the ice transportation line will no longer be closed at night, and will operate all day, so that I can strengthen the night air defense work in the area under the jurisdiction of our anti-aircraft artillery battalion on the transportation line.

The introduction of this new policy soon achieved immediate results, and the amount of grain transportation almost doubled on the same day. In this way, people feel that the future is bright, and it can be predicted that in the near future, the ration quota of urban residents will be raised again.

However, it didn't last long. Just one day later, the German army found that the ice transport line was still carrying on at night. So from the evening of the 28th, night fighters and bombers were dispatched to bombard the ice transportation line. Because the air defense forces were not equipped with enough searchlights, they could not find the enemy aircraft in the night in time. However, the lights of the transport team indicated the target for the German aircraft to attack.

The first night bombing of the German army achieved brilliant results, while the Soviet transport team suffered great losses in the air raid. Many of the vehicles were destroyed. In order to avoid the bombs dropped by the enemy planes, some of the vehicles fell into the holes of the ice and sank into the bottom of the cold lake with people and precious food.

After learning that the transport team had suffered serious losses, major general Shilov was furious. Early the next morning, he called me and scolded me. Finally, he said: "if you can't do this antiaircraft artillery battalion well, you can tell me in advance. There are more people here who can be the battalion commander. And you are ready to go to the military court! " With that, he hung up the phone impolitely.

Listening to the busy sound from the microphone, I couldn't help laughing bitterly. When I went to the military court during the war, there was only one result: I was shot. After the outbreak of the war, even the commander of the Western Front Army, general Pavlov, and his chief of staff, who were in a high position, were shot by Stalin because of their poor fighting. I'm just a small major now. If you want to shoot me, it's as easy as stepping on an ant. You don't have to ask for instructions from your superiors. Major general hilov probably has this right.

Just thinking wildly, I suddenly heard kirianova ask with concern: "Rita, have you been scolded by the general?"

Only then did I find that I was distracted, and the telephone microphone was still in my hand. I put down the receiver, nodded and said, "yes, the transport team suffered heavy losses in the air raid last night. It's inevitable for Comrade General to get angry. At present, what we have to consider is how to strengthen air defense at night. " Strengthening air defense at night is easier said than done. I can't do it alone. I still need to work together and mobilize everyone to think of ways. So I went on to say, "kirianova and Orlova, what do you think?"

"Comrade major," Orlova replied preemptively, "I think we should report to the higher authorities and add more air defense units and searchlights to us, so that we can accurately find and eliminate the enemy aircraft at night."

As soon as she said this, I immediately denied it. I pointed out to the point: "it's unrealistic for our superior to increase air defense forces. If there were enough air defense forces in Leningrad, they would have been sent to the ice transportation line long ago. Despite the fact that there are only three anti-aircraft artillery battalions and several independent anti-aircraft machine gun companies responsible for the air defense task of the ice transportation line, this should be all the forces that the headquarters of the front army can put in. " When they heard what I said, they didn't say anything. Instead, they nodded their heads thoughtfully and agreed. I added: "there is also a lack of electricity in Leningrad. Even important departments such as the headquarters of the front army, government agencies and hospitals can't guarantee sufficient electricity supply, let alone other departments. Even if general Shilov has equipped us with enough searchlights, if the city can't provide us with enough electricity, these searchlights are just a bunch of furnishings, which can't be of any use at all in the night war. "

After listening to my analysis, they were silent. I stood up, put on my military coat and said to them, "you two should think about it carefully and see if there is any good way. I'll go out for a walk." The transportation line in our area is east-west. The anti-aircraft artillery camp is located in the south of the road, while not far from the north, there is a road convoy. According to kirianova, their commander is a lieutenant colonel. Standing in the middle of the ice on the side of the road, I braved the fierce cold wind and looked blankly at the endless stream of vehicles and people passing in front of me. My mind continued to consider how to strengthen the night air defense. To capture and shoot down the high-speed enemy aircraft in the environment with poor vision makes me feel like an almost impossible task. When I was at a loss, I happened to see a group of soldiers in the distance around a truck whose back half was burned into a frame, shouting a neat number to push the car to the side of the road. I know the soldiers are cleaning up the bombed cars on the road to make sure the transportation line is unblocked. I looked up at the sky. It was gray, and I didn't see the shadow of the enemy plane. Maybe they thought that they would go out at night and lose less, so they gave up the plan to go out during the day. I walked towards the busy soldiers and carefully observed the ice along the road. I found that all the holes in the ice that had been blasted in the air raid last night had been frozen and could be opened to traffic normally“ Report to the major that the road protection team is carrying out the task of clearing the road. Please give us your instructions! " A young lieutenant appeared in front of me. Maybe he thought I came to them to give instructions, so he took the initiative to report to me“ Go on with your mission, comrade lieutenant. "“ Yes, comrade major. " The second lieutenant gave a dry promise and ran to command his men to continue pushing. Although the back half of the truck was burnt down, the front part of the truck was basically in good condition. I feel that if it wasn't for the rear tires, the car would still be able to drive. I felt a chill and looked down. It turned out that the collar of my military coat was still open. No wonder the second lieutenant just saw my rank. I stood up the collar of my coat and buttoned it up. I felt much warmer. I looked around and saw that two or three hundred meters to the East, behind a chest high snow wall, there was a double anti-aircraft machine gun. Looking to the west, at about the same distance, there was an anti-aircraft machine gun. I guess they all belong to the independent AA machine gun company. Seeing this kind of deployment, I can't help thinking of the tower defense game I played before. I thought that if the enemy planes were flying along the transportation line, the anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns arranged by our army along the way would be enough to beat them down. When I think of the game, I suddenly have a flash of inspiration in my mind. I suddenly think of the famous air defense sentry of the volunteer army in the war of resistance against US aggression and aid Korea, and immediately have a complete plan of air defense at night. So I immediately yelled to the busy lieutenant in front of me, "Comrade lieutenant, please come here." The second lieutenant trotted up to me with a blank face. After saluting, he hesitated and asked, "Comrade major, do you have any instructions?" I pointed to the truck that had been pushed to the side of the road by the soldiers, and told the Second Lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant, please order the soldiers to push the truck to the middle of the open snow heap."“ Major, may I ask why? " I said sternly: "Comrade lieutenant, don't you know that according to the regulations, the lower level has no right to question the orders of the higher level, but should execute them unconditionally? If you think this task is incomprehensible, you can respond to your superior and ask him to come to me. I am major oshanina, the commander of the antiaircraft artillery battalion stationed on the south side of the road. " The second lieutenant reluctantly raised his hand to salute, weakly agreed, turned to command the soldiers who were preparing to rest, and pushed the car into the open snow far away from the transportation line. Looking at the back of his cart, I didn't forget to tell him loudly: "remember, push the car as far away from the roadside as possible!" After shouting, without waiting for his reply, I turned and trotted back to my tent. As soon as I opened the curtain, I saw kirianova and Orlova sitting in the distance with a sad face, pondering, and announced to them in a loud voice: "you don't have to worry, I have come up with a way to strengthen the night air defense." Two people stay on the spot, showing incredible expression. Who was not searching for a good plan just now. Not long ago, I left with a sad face. Suddenly I ran in from the outside and told them that there was a direct road. How could I not make them dumbfounded and dubious. I ignored them. Instead, I picked up the phone from my desk and went straight to the headquarters. As soon as I heard someone talking, I immediately told myself, "Hello, I'm major oshanina, commander of the second antiaircraft artillery battalion. I have something important to report to general hilov immediately! Yes, it's very urgent! "