Even in 1943, the average life expectancy of our attack pilots did not exceed twenty combat missions, and after forty they were nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The author of this book has more than a hundred of them, and each one was “Russian roulette” with death. Having received a baptism of fire over the Fiery Arc, where the assault air regiments burned out in a matter of days, Oleg Lazarev was shot down on the very first flight - first he received an anti-aircraft shell directly into the bomb bay (the bombs miraculously did not detonate), then he was attacked by Fokkers, who riddled him with Il- 2 (37 hits!) and seriously wounded the gunner, he had to make an emergency landing, saved only by the phenomenal survivability of the “flying tank.” And this was far from the last time when he returned from a mission “on his word of honor and on one wing” - in fact, from every combat sortie, the “humpbacks” (the front-line nickname “Ilov”) brought back dozens of holes, and during the attack under concentrated anti-aircraft fire “sheaves of sparks from bullets ricocheting against the armor flew as if from an emery grinder.” This is the price our stormtroopers paid for the right to become “PUNISHMENT OF HEAVEN” and “BLACK DEATH” for their enemies...