"Lilia," seeing that Lilia had no knowledge of the matter, Raisa explained to her: "The infantry brigade commander who stayed in the factory area reported the results we achieved today to the front army headquarters via telegram."
"Infantry brigade commander?!" Lilia couldn't help but raise her eyebrows when she heard this, and asked Raisa tentatively: "Comrade Lieutenant, are you talking about Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?"
"I don't know the name of the brigade commander, but if he led the troops to defend the factory, then he should be the one who reported the results of the battle to his superiors." Raisa continued: "Commander General Khryugin learned that you shot down He was very happy after seeing the number of enemy planes, and said that according to the standard of shooting down five enemy planes, you can become an ace pilot, and you are now the ace pilot in the regiment."
"Second Lieutenant Lilia," Alexey squeezed in front of Lilia, stretched out his hand to her, and said with a smile: "Please accept my congratulations on becoming the first Queen pilot."
"Thank you!" Lilia's heartbeat inexplicably accelerated when she held Alexei's hand. She hurriedly said a polite word: "Thank you, Captain Alexei, thank you for letting the ground crew refuel our plane." Full of fuel and loaded with ammo.”
"Comrades, Second Lieutenant Lilia is the glory of our 437th Fighter Flight Regiment." Khostnikov waited for Alexei and Lilia to finish their conversation, turned to his subordinates, and said loudly : "How do you think we should welcome our heroine?"
After Khostnikov finished speaking, everyone was stunned for a moment, but then they rushed towards Lilia, lifted her up with all their hands, threw her into the air, caught her, and threw her again...
Alexei and Khostnikov walked aside, listening to Lilia’s exclamations and the excited laughter of the soldiers, and said to their regiment leader with emotion: "Comrade leader, our luck is so good." Not bad to get such a good pilot.”
"Yes, Alexei." Khostnikov nodded and said, "I didn't expect that the four female pilots sent to us by our superiors could actually achieve success on the battlefield alone for the first time. Such a huge result.”
While the two were talking, a soldier ran over panting and reported to Khostnikov: "Comrade commander, phone, your phone, the division commander wants to talk to you."
"The division commander's phone number?" After listening to the soldier's report, Khostnikov raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead, and said angrily: "Damn it, why did I forget to call the division commander for such an important matter?" Comrade reported."
Khostnikov ran back to the regiment command post, picked up the microphone on the table, put it to his ear and said: "Hello, comrade division commander, I am Colonel Khostnikov. May I ask if you have any questions?" What instructions?"
"Colonel," the dissatisfied voice of division commander Major General Boris Elson came from the receiver: "A female pilot who just arrived in our division soon became an ace pilot because of her first battle. You Why don't you report it to me?"
"Comrade Division Commander!" Faced with Boris's accusation, Khostnikov replied with some embarrassment: "I just got the news from the commander that the plane piloted by Second Lieutenant Lilia has returned. I am anxious to take him with me." I went to welcome her, but for a moment I forgot to report such an important matter to you."
Fortunately, his army had just produced an ace pilot. Although Boris was criticizing Khostnikov, he was still happy in his heart. He deliberately said with a straight face: "Comrade Colonel, if I didn't If I remember correctly, you were quite reluctant to assign them to your group a few days ago. I think they must have had enough of your cynicism these days, right?"
"Comrade Commander, who tipped you off about this? No, absolutely not." Although the division commander's guesses were correct, Khostnikov shamelessly denied it: "They just arrived two days ago. , in order to let them get familiar with the environment, I have not arranged combat missions for them for the time being. As soon as there is a suitable combat mission today, I ordered them to attack. I did not expect to achieve such results."
"Okay, comrade colonel, stop talking nonsense." Boris interrupted Khostnikov's boastful words and said bluntly: "A fighter plane in the women's squadron was shot down today. After consultation with the superiors, the commander , we will replenish them with a Yak-1 fighter jet as soon as possible. The new aircraft may arrive tomorrow morning, and you will arrange for someone to receive it when you arrive."
"Comrade division commander," Khostnikov couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise when he heard Boris say this: "In the past, didn't our superiors have to wait half a month at the fastest for us to replenish planes? Why is it like this this time? Hurry, the extra plane will be here."
"Colonel Khostnikov," Boris said in a stern tone: "If every squadron in your regiment can achieve results like the women's squadron, then your superiors will be able to replenish aircraft for you much faster. It will surprise you." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Next time you attack, don't let the women's squadron attack alone. They have too few aircraft. No matter how brave the girls are, they will face more than them. With ten or twenty times the number of enemy aircraft, they are still out of their depth. If possible, we can allocate forces from the other two squadrons to cooperate with them. I think Captain Alexei, the leader of the second squadron, would be very good."
"Understood, comrade division commander." Khostnikov turned to look at Alexey, who followed him into the command post, and replied: "Next time the women's squadron is sent to attack, I will definitely let the male pilots cooperate. They act.”
Khostnikov put down the phone and said to Alexei: "Comrade Captain, the division commander just said on the phone that the superiors have replenished the women's squadron with a Yak-1 fighter jet, which will be delivered tomorrow morning. Please send someone to receive it. I will leave this matter to you."
When Alexei heard this, he had the same thought as Khostnikov: "Comrade leader, how come the replenishment of aircraft was so fast last time?"
Hearing Alexei's question, Khostnikov snorted and imitated the tone of the division commander: "If your squadron can achieve the same results as the women's squadron every time it attacks, then the superior will give The speed at which you replenish the aircraft will be astonishing."
Alexey smiled sheepishly, and then said: "Comrade Commander, I estimate that the record achieved by Second Lieutenant Lilia can be broken by five people in a short period of time."
"The division commander also said that the women's squadron cannot be allowed to attack alone. Their number of aircraft is too small. If we encounter a situation like today again, we will suffer a big loss." Khostnikov knew very well that the women's squadron rushed By then, the German bomber formation that bombed the factory had almost run out of ammunition, otherwise it would be very difficult to achieve today's results. If we encounter a German flying formation again next time, let alone achieve any results, it would be good if we can escape unscathed. Therefore, he told Alexei: "From now on, every time the women's squadron goes out on a mission, your squadron must take out four Set up a fighter plane and go with them. Do you understand?"
Regarding Khostnikov's order, Alexey was unable to express his sorrow. He thought that the regiment was all composed of Lager 3 fighter jets, whose performance was not as good as the Yak-1 fighter jet. If an air battle really breaks out, I'm afraid that my four fighter planes will hold back the girls. However, now that the order has been issued, it is obviously impossible to object anymore, so he can only bite the bullet and reply: "Understood, comrade leader. When the women's squadron attacks in the future, I will personally lead the team to cooperate with them."
If Alexei asked the deputy squadron leader or someone else to lead the team to assist the women's squadron in combat, Khostnikov might not be reassured. At this moment, Alexei offered to personally lead the team to cooperate with the women's squadron every time. , then nodded and said with satisfaction: "Comrade Captain, with your full cooperation, I think the Women's Squadron will achieve greater results."
Alexei left the regiment command post and went straight back to the pilots' quarters. When passing the room where the women's squadron lived, he saw that the four girls were there, so he stopped at the door, raised his hand and knocked on the open door. When everyone in the room focused their attention on him, Ah Lexai asked politely: "Can I come in?"
"Please come in, Comrade Captain." Due to Alexei's previous help to the women's squadron, he is now the most popular person among the girls. Raisa stood up quickly, smiled and said to Alexei: "We We have just made black tea with honey, please come in and have a drink."
Alexei entered the room, sat down on a chair near the door, and asked with a smile: "Lieutenant Raisa, we are all comrades in arms. If you need help, just tell me and I will find a way." I’ll help you solve it.”
"Comrade Captain, you have helped us so much, how sorry to trouble you again." Raisa said, taking the cup of hot tea handed over by Maria, and handed it to Alexei: "Please Have some tea, comrade captain."
"Comrade Captain," Katya, who had been silent until she saw Alexei picking up the teacup and preparing to drink tea, asked timidly, "I want to ask you a favor, okay?"
Alexey quickly put the teacup on the table next to him, sat up straight and looked at Katya and said: "Katya, if you have anything to do, just ask. As long as I can do it, I will do my best to help. .”
"That's great." Hearing Alexei say this, the expression on Katya's face suddenly became relaxed: "I would like to ask you to help me ask when can we replace the lost aircraft?... …”
"Katya!" Before Katya could finish her words, Raisa sternly stopped her, and then said apologetically to Alexei: "I'm sorry, comrade captain, Katya was shot down because her plane was shot down by the enemy. I can no longer fly into the air for combat in a short period of time, so I feel a little anxious, so I made such a presumptuous request to you. I hope you don't mind her recklessness."
"Lieutenant Raisa, you must not blame Katya. If any of us saw our comrades in the air continuing a desperate battle with enemy planes, but we had to fight because of the loss of the plane. If you stay on the ground and stare, you will feel very anxious." After saying this, Alexei revealed the purpose of his trip: "I am here today to inform you of something. thing."
When he said this, he paused intentionally for a moment to observe everyone's expressions. Seeing everyone staring at him intently, he continued: "The superior informed us that a Yak-1 fighter jet will land at the airport in the morning, and ordered me to be responsible for receiving the aircraft."
Raisa waited for Alexei to finish speaking, then asked cautiously: "Comrade Captain, I would like to ask, when this new Yak-1 fighter arrives, who will it be assigned to?"
Alexey grinned and did not answer directly. Instead, he asked: "Lieutenant Raisa, you have been in the regiment for several days. It should be very clear that except for you, the entire regiment is equipped with other squadrons." It's a Lager 3 fighter jet. Do you think the superiors would never equip a squadron equipped with Lager 3 fighter jets with a Yak-1 fighter jet?"
Although Alexei did not clearly explain to whom the fighter jet was handed over, the girls all understood that when the fighter jet arrived at the airport, the person who could fly it would be Katya.
"Ula!" Katya cheered happily when she learned that she would get a new plane soon. She turned around and hugged Lilia who was standing behind her, and said excitedly: "Lilia, did you hear this? The superior gave me The new aircraft equipped will be delivered early tomorrow morning, so I can still be your wingman tomorrow to compete with the Germans."
Lilia raised her hand and patted Katya's back gently a few times, feeling happy for her wingman pilot: "Katya, when you get a new plane tomorrow, we can fight side by side again."
Katya broke away from Lilia's arms, stood up straight, and said with a serious expression: "Lilia, I promise you, starting from tomorrow, I will never let a German plane shoot me down again. They If you shoot me down once, then I will shoot down ten of their planes to let them understand that the people in our women’s squadron are not so easy to bully.”
"Katya, you are right!" After listening to Katya's words, Raisa stepped forward and hugged her shoulders and said: "After you get a new plane, we will shoot down more German planes from the sky and let them They will be frightened when they hear our name in the future.”
"Well said, Comrade Lieutenant." Alexey stood up from his seat, walked in front of several people, and said: "You have already left a deep impression on the Germans in today's battle. I think As long as you achieve similar results a few more times, you can scare the enemy. As soon as they hear your name, they will tremble in fear."
After expressing his views, Alexei added: "Comrade Lieutenant, there is one more thing. The regiment leader asked me to tell you. From now on, every time you take off for combat, our squadron will send four fighters to coordinate the operation. And These fighter planes will be commanded by me personally."
Set a small goal first, such as remembering in 1 second: Shukeju
