Steel Soviet Union

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The Willys Jeep in white winter livery was traveling on the final road to the airport, and the two big men sitting in the car were giving an exciting concert of their own.

"The Red Army soldiers march forward, answering the call to fight! From the Taiga Forest to the British coast, hey! The most powerful Red Army in the world!"

"Red Army soldiers, polish your bayonets and hold on to your guns tightly! We should all become more tenacious as we fight and fight the enemy to the death on the battlefield!"

If there is no car music, it becomes car music by itself.

Iushkin and Malashenko, two idiots with nothing to do, sat in the car and sang randomly, singing whichever line came to mind, and singing that awesome part.

The strange thing is that no matter which one of the two starts the song first, the other one can immediately pick up the lyrics and continue singing along.

I didn’t know which song I was singing along the way, but the melodious singing sounded like a big speaker on the car.

There were even Red Army soldiers on patrol along the road who were infected by the singing. They stopped and sang triumphantly along with the singing that floated over from afar.

And Iushkin would deliberately slow down his car at this time so that he could sing a little longer with the soldiers on the street and join in the fun.

Stopping and singing along the way, Malashenko and Iushkin, who played the roles of human car speakers, both had their voices hoarse. It was not until they finished singing the song "The Most Powerful of the Red Army" that it was finally over. .

"After singing all the way, my throat is a little dry. It's really tiring."

Malashenko, who was leaning on the seat, reached out and unscrewed the lid of the kettle and hurriedly poured two mouthfuls into his mouth. After a mouthful of ice-cold water passed through his throat, he felt that his throat, which was about to smoke, felt better. And the final destination of this trip: Pitomnik Airport also appeared in his sight.

"Is this the airport where supplies were shipped to that old bastard Paulus? It looks quite stylish."

Malashenko was right. Before the final stage of the Sixth Army's siege in Stalingrad, Pitomnik Airport was the only lifeline for the desperate German army in Stalingrad.

At its peak, this airport once had hundreds of transport planes and bombers landing and taking off every day, unloading more than 200 tons of supplies from the aircraft cabin and bomb bay for the Sixth Army to continue fighting, but this situation was just after all. few.

More often than not, the German troops waiting eagerly at this airport could only wait for dozens of planes and less than a hundred tons of supplies a day. At the worst time, only single-digit planes could land in a day.

The unloaded supplies were not enough to be consumed by the defenders of Pitomnik Airport, not to mention supplying the entire army group.

Therefore, being able to be transferred to guard Pitomnik Airport was a real job for the soldiers of the Sixth Army during the siege of Stalingrad.

Although staying here won't make your stomach as round as a ball every day, at least you won't have to eat a hundred grams of bread slices mixed with snow every day like other troops fighting in the city.

The defenders at Pitomnik Airport could barely manage to eat half full.

Even the airport is supervised by military police, and officials come to inspect the work from time to time. But the German soldiers, whose main thoughts every day were on how to avoid hunger, could still find ways to steal some food and line their own pockets.

If someone wants to get this food, they have to pay a hefty price.

Either exchange for similar food but with different flavors, or use the hard currency in the army: cigarettes as transaction currency.

The worst cigarettes of the Russians cost a large pack to exchange for a piece of bread. If they were high-end cigarettes smoked by Russian officers, they would be worth a lot. One pack of cigarettes can be exchanged for a piece of bread, two packs of cigarettes can be exchanged for a small can, and if you bring three packs, the entire package, as big as a shoe, will be yours without opening the cover.

The German army's own cigarettes are more valuable when used as currency. It depends on the manufacturer of the cigarettes, where the tobacco is from, and how it tastes. The final monetary value is determined by the quality and taste. The rules of the transaction are that simple.

On the other hand, if you want to trade food for other things, such as cigarettes, new shoes, newer and better cold-weather clothes, that's fine too. The hard currency that can be traded is not limited to cigarettes. Based on the principle of barter, the transaction can be carried out as long as both parties are satisfied.

Underground black market transactions like this are most popular at Pitomnik Airport. All kinds of traders are everywhere on the streets and can be found casually. It has become a core black trading market for the Sixth Army, which is short of supplies.

Don’t the top brass of the German army know about this? Don't you want to intervene?

Of course I know, and I have tried to take care of it, but I can't stop it and it doesn't help.

"You don't give us enough food, and let us starve to fight for the Führer. Now you don't allow us to trade the spoils we worked hard for in private, and you are trying to starve us to death!"

"If the head of state knew about this kind of thing, guess whether he would judge you first or me first? At least I have a clear conscience, but you will only attack your comrades and live in an ignoble existence. You damn chain dogs! Bitch bitches Raised!”

When a German veteran who was caught at the transaction site revealed himself, he yelled hysterically at the military policeman responsible for arresting him and spoke his true words, which were heard by many people present.

The gendarmes, who were also hungry themselves, seemed to have received certain orders and rarely bothered with these matters since then.

However, the transactions at Pitomnik Airport did not increase as a result. Instead, they became less and less day by day, and in the end they almost completely disappeared.

When not even a plane full of hope landed during the day, even the defenders of Pitomnik Airport, which is famous for its fatness, had to find ways to risk their lives to get food.

What was once a "fertile land" has become a "barren land". Are any traders willing to come to such a place to do business?

The answer is obviously no. It is a useless business even if the consumption power is gone.

After driving the car along the road into the airport, Malashenko, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, saw at a glance a pile of plane wreckage piled haphazardly at the edge of the airport.

Judging from the models, there are both German Junkers transport aircraft and Heinkel 111 twin-engine medium bombers. However, these badly damaged German aircraft with broken and deformed wings are obviously unusable, and it is estimated that they will not be repaired and used again. value.

Malashenko even noticed that the remains of some German soldiers were hanging out from the hatches and damaged holes of several aircraft wreckage. A pile of arms and legs looked particularly dazzling and eye-catching against the reflection of the pale snow. I don’t know why these dead German soldiers have not been able to “bury themselves in peace” until now.