A train was traveling westward on the plains of Eastern Europe. From the bulletproof plates hanging on several key parts of the train and the machine guns deployed on the roof, it could be seen that this was a military train.
After the outbreak of the war between the Soviet Union and Germany, the German Air Force was very active, causing a large number of trains on the road to be attacked by air strikes.
When the air force of the country was unable to completely expel and suppress the enemy, it was crucial for them to strengthen the self-defense and air defense capabilities of the train.
In the face of the precise bombing of the famous Stuka dive bomber, the main reason for the large-scale destruction of the Soviet trains in the early stages of the war was because the train heads were blown up.
The German pilots were all experienced in the Western European battlefield. They had rich combat experience and were even ace pilots.
During the dive bombing, they could even accurately hit fast-moving vehicles on the ground, such as tanks and trucks.
As for a target as large as a train that had to travel along a fixed track, it was even easier for them.
When the train was designed, all the power systems were placed at the front of the train, which meant that the German pilots only needed to stare at the front of the train to blow it up.
As long as the front of the train could be destroyed, the Soviet train would immediately be paralyzed on the road. Not only would it become a live target for the German army, but it would also block other trains behind it, causing the entire line to be congested or even stopped.
In order to solve this problem, Mao Xiong gathered many high-level officials of the railway department and the military in the country to carry out a reform in the second half of 1941.
They had re-designed their train. Not only did they add a few anti-aircraft guns on the top of the train, but they also deployed a large number of anti-aircraft artillery units.
Moreover, they had also improved the train's power system. After drawing lessons from the design of the dual locomotive of the Beijing-Zhangjiang railway in China, they had also installed a second locomotive on their domestic trains.
In this way, even if the front locomotive was destroyed by the German army, the rear locomotive could still provide sufficient power to push the train forward.
With the addition of the two train engines, the difficulty of destroying the train immediately increased by a large margin. If the German army wanted to hit the train engine at the back, they would have to endure the fire of the anti-aircraft guns and machine guns installed on the top of the carriage. This would greatly increase the difficulty of the German army's mission and reduce their success rate.
After all, the German army lacked large bomber aircraft. Most of their bomber aircraft were based on the Stuka dive bomber, which was flexible, fast, and high-precision frontline support bomber.
Although the Stuka dive-bomber was powerful, their combat style made them less safe. During the dive bombing, they would get closer and closer to the ground. When they were shot by the ground, the probability of being shot down and injured would increase exponentially.
In addition to these improvements, Mao Xiong's military also specially strengthened the protection of the railway. They set up a lot of air defense positions along the railway, and almost every few kilometers, there was a battalion of anti-aircraft artillery troops deployed in place. As long as the German army attacked, the Soviets only needed to hide in the defense area of these anti-aircraft artillery troops to be protected.
In short, after adopting this series of countermeasures, in the second half of 1942, the air threat of the German Air Force to the Soviets was greatly reduced.
The losses suffered by the Soviets also began to decrease rapidly. Although there were still some troops that were destroyed on the road, the number of casualties was naturally much lower than in the first two years of the war!
At this moment, the army that was moving from east to west was the new army after the transformation.
At this moment, in the cab of the train, the conductor, Ivan Zariev, was staring at the road in front of him as he drove carefully while cursing the damn weather in a low voice.
It was already the beginning of December, and there was a large area of snow in Furious Bear Territory. The sudden drop in temperature and the heavy snow were not small challenges for railway transportation.
When snow fell on the railway, it would greatly reduce the friction between the train and the tracks, and the frozen section could even derail the entire train.
Moreover, after driving into the boundless snowfield, the entire field of vision was filled with a vast expanse of whiteness. This would greatly stimulate one's eyes, making one feel tired and uncomfortable.
What was even worse was that Mao Xiong's train manufacturing skills were limited. The gaps in the train were very large. When the train was moving at a high speed, the cold wind blowing in from the outside directly poured into the driver's cabin, making it as cold as an ice cellar!
Even if he kept drinking vodka, he could not keep his body warm!
Moreover, as the train gradually approached the battlefield, the possibility of them being attacked increased.
This caused his nerves to remain in a tense state, and he did not dare to relax at all!
And this greatly magnified his fatigue…
In short, it was really torturous to carry out such a mission in such terrible weather!
However, he did not dare to complain too loudly when he thought about the soldiers on his train and the fierce expressions of the Soviets. He could only curse in a low voice.
"Where is the next stop?"
After driving on the snowfield for a long time, it was easy to lose one's sense of direction.
It was easier for people like Ivan who often traveled long distances, but for the Soviets on the bus, it was a bit difficult for them to identify the direction and determine their position under such conditions.
"The next stop is Uspensko, a small town with a population of about 3000. We need to replenish our fuel and fresh water here.”
"Hmm, very good. How far is it from Uspensk?”
Hearing that they were going to stop for an hour, the young officer was obviously relieved.
Obviously, he did not like this trip either.
"We're five kilometers away. We'll arrive in about ten minutes.”
"Okay, drive well. I'll inform the other soldiers!”
The young officer turned around and left after saying that!
Commander Ivan was already freezing in the driver's seat. The soldiers on the roof of the car, who were constantly on guard against aerial attacks, were probably frozen into popsicles!
Therefore, when they arrived at the station, they had to get down immediately to get some warmth and eat something to replenish their heat. Otherwise, it was not impossible for them to freeze to death on the roof of the car!
Ten minutes later, the army safely arrived at Uspensko.
Wu!
Captain Ivan blew the whistle and greeted the people in the station.
However, the strange thing was that the people in the station did not seem to hear them. They ignored them and allowed them to stop at the station on their own.
"Strange, there is always a small group of soldiers guarding this place. Why isn't there one today?”
As soon as he stepped out of the cab and onto the platform, Captain Ivan noticed something strange.
However, he didn't care. When he saw the shivering soldiers rushing into the station, he quickened his pace and followed them.
No one noticed that after they got out of the car, rows of black muzzles were raised behind them...
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