The Willys Jeep in white winter livery was traveling on the final road to the airport, and the two gentlemen 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 the Vietnam War continues and fight the enemy to the death on the battlefield!"
If there is no car music, it will become car music by itself.
Iushkin and Malashenko, two idiots who had nothing to do, sat in the car and sang randomly, singing whatever phrase 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 in 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 stopping along the way, singing while walking, Malashenko and Iushkin, who played the role 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. .
"Huh... I've been singing all the way, and 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.
"This is 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 used to have hundreds of transport planes a day. Bombers landed and took off back and forth, unloading thousands of tons of supplies from the cabin and bomb bay for the Sixth Army to continue fighting. But after all, this situation was just few.
More often than not, all the German troops waiting at this airport can expect are dozens of planes and hundreds of tons of supplies a day. In the worst cases, only single digits of planes can 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 the 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 get enough to eat.
Even though the airport was supervised by military police, and officers would come to inspect the work from time to time, the German soldiers, whose main concern every day was how to avoid going hungry, could still find ways to steal some food and line their own pockets.
If someone wants to get these foods, 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 Russian tobacco, Malacca, costs a large pack to exchange for a piece of bread. If it is a high-end cigarette smoked by Russian officers, it will be worth a lot. One pack of cigarettes can be exchanged for a piece of bread, and two packs of cigarettes can be exchanged for a small piece of bread.
For cans, if you bring three packs, the whole piece, 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 they are from, and how they taste. The final monetary value is determined based on the quality and taste. The rules of the transaction are as simple as that.
On the contrary, if you want to exchange food for other things, such as cigarettes, new shoes, and newer and better cold-proof clothes, you can also do it. The hard currency that can be traded is not limited to cigarettes. Based on the principle of barter,
As long as both parties are happy with the deal, it can go ahead.
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 anywhere. 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 they want to step in and take care of it?
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 vain. You damn chain dogs! Bitch bitches
Raised!"
When a German veteran who was caught naked at the transaction site screamed hysterically at the military policeman responsible for arresting him, and spoke his truth, it was 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, but became less and less day by day, and in the end 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’s 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 German aircraft are extremely damaged and have broken and deformed wings. They are obviously unusable and they are probably not repaired or used anymore.
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.