Steel Soviet Union

The huge explosions one after another almost destroyed the entire pier with earth-shaking ferocity. Malashenko, who had entered the air raid shelter to temporarily avoid the air attack, felt the violent shaking of the concrete ground under his feet. This kind of entire underground The sense that the building was about to collapse, with the air-raid shelters trembling all the time, was something Malashenko had never encountered before.

"Damn, the earth is shaking and the mountains are shaking. It's like riding a roller coaster. No, it's more exciting than riding a fucking roller coaster! They say artillery is the god of war. No matter how strong the field battle is in the face of air strikes, The artillery group can only be regarded as a younger brother."

It's exactly what Malashenko is complaining about at this moment.

Compared with such planned carpet air strikes against a single fixed ground target or area, the traditional ground artillery group really pales in comparison to this level of powerful air strikes.

A heavy aerial bomb rains down bombs with explosive power measured in units of one hundred kilograms of TNT equivalent, enough to eclipse any large-caliber heavy artillery with a charge calculated in double-digit kilograms.

The earthquake-shaking air raid that turned the entire pier into a sea of ​​ruins and flames came and went quickly. After the German bomber formation dropped all the one-ton heavy aerial bombs it carried, the pier's air defense positions were ravaged in a mess and suffered casualties. The heavy-hit German BF109 fighter fleet also turned around and left together with the bomber formation.

Compared to the ruins of the wharf, which was already a sea of ​​flames and ruins, the price paid by the well-prepared Luftwaffe in this air attack was only the drizzle of a total of 12 fighter planes shot down.

When the air raid ended, the German fleet had basically all fled away, and a formation of 24 Lager 3 and 12 MiG 3 fighter jets belonging to the shore-based aviation arm of the Baltic Fleet arrived belatedly.

There is no advanced equipment such as long-range air search radar, which is still a black technology at the moment, to support the Baltic Fleet shore-based aviation pilots who maintain combat readiness at the airport and are on standby at any time, until the airport dispatch headquarters receives a message from their superiors. The news of the attack required an immediate attack and interception before setting off.

It’s just that this dilly-dallying and time-wasting has long missed the best opportunity to intercept the Germans. It only took less than twenty minutes from the sound of the air defense siren to the landing of the last aerial bomb, and the Soviet interceptor group was accurately calculated. The German Air Force, which arrived at the approximate time, did not leave any chance to the former.

Although the Soviet pilots hovering over the messy dock were unwilling to do so, they still had no other choice. The Germans who had already walked away did not leave any chance for the Soviet pilots to fight.

The German Air Force, which had a very clear tactical purpose, specifically targeted the Ladoga Lake pier for this trip. Any secondary goals other than this must serve the primary goal first and not the Soviet aviation as its mission. The target Luftwaffe has no need or reason to fight with it.

No matter how badly damaged the dock was after being bombed by the Germans, the soldiers and civilians of Leningrad, who had long been accustomed to the continuous bombing by the Luftwaffe day after day, did not complain too much and turned to the German aircraft fleet. After Yuan Dun flew away, he immediately walked out of the air raid shelter and started to continue the unfinished work.

After all, complaining with your mouth cannot bring about any actual changes. Doing it with your hands can change the current bad situation more than talking with your mouth.

Walking his somewhat frivolous body along the long air-raid shelter corridor connected to the ground, he saw the sun again. Malashenko, who had experienced such a large-scale air raid for the first time, was still frightened. It was as if his soul was being roasted on a fire. As for the near-death feeling of almost collapse and suffocation, Malashenko, who is still alive after the disaster, really doesn't want to experience it a second time.

"I really don't know how long this kind of days of being bombed every day will continue until the siege of Leningrad is lifted? Damn it!"

Malashenko, who knew exactly what he should do now, immediately started shouting loudly at the people around him who had walked out of the air-raid shelter. Familiar names and accents are calling the soldiers of the First Independent Heavy Tank Breakthrough Battalion to move closer to their direct commanders.

The thirsty Malashenko shouted loudly for at least two minutes before summoning all his subordinates in the surrounding crowd.

After taking stock, Malashenko was pleasantly surprised to find that his experienced crews who had just followed him through the Yelnya Salient did not suffer much loss.

These tank crews who have received professional military training and air defense drills are obviously much calmer when encountering air attacks than ordinary civilians who are chaotic and at a loss.

Although it sounds a bit disgraceful like a deserter, the first batch of personnel who evacuated to the air raid shelter in an orderly manner after the air raid siren sounded included almost all of Malashenko's subordinates. Car crew.

Such a situation cannot be called a cowardly behavior in Malashenko's eyes. After all, no matter how powerful the tanks running on the ground are, they cannot reach the planes in the sky. This is simply a complete conflict between the arms. Fair fight.

Under such circumstances, if you continue to stay stupid and not run away, you will be a complete fool. The truth of leaving the green hills without worrying about running out of firewood also applies to the battlefield.

As a battalion commander, Malashenko, who relied on his ability to use steel on the blade, naturally did not want to see his troops wasted in air strikes. The difficult ground battle in Leningrad had not yet officially begun for Malashenko. start.

The time went back and forth from the dawn when Malashenko had just arrived at the dock, to the cloudless sky in the east when the sun rose in the blink of an eye.

Unsure whether the Germans would continue to launch a second wave of air strikes to expand the results, Malashenko knew that time was running out. After counting the number of people, he immediately commanded the troops and began to rescue the tanks that had just been unloaded on the dock before the air strikes. and equipment.

Although it is almost self-evident how much equipment could have survived the devastating air strike that shook the earth just now, but Malashenko, who knew that every tank was extremely precious in this difficult situation of being surrounded on three sides, Unwilling to give up, even if he could only save one tank, it was meaningful to Malashenko.

Malashenko, who was disgraced by the rubble and various wreckage fragments, led his troops to the battle in person. Like scavengers, he began to manually clean and rummage through the ruins of the equipment unloading point in his memory.

The hard work paid off, and a shout of surprise echoed in Malashenko's ears just a few minutes later.