In the USSR, a real cult of the Il-2 attack aircraft developed, which became one of the main symbols of Victory. Stalin himself said that “silts” were needed at the front, “like bread, like air,” and Soviet propaganda called them “flying tanks.” and the "black death". However, contrary to post-war myths, this attack aircraft cannot be considered “unsurpassed” or “invulnerable” - its armor protected only from bullets and shrapnel, and its flight characteristics were quite ordinary. It was made a formidable weapon by those who fought, died and won in the “silts”—the pilots and gunners of the attack air regiments of the Red Army Air Force. You will hear their living voices, their frank stories about what they saw and experienced in this book - the long-awaited continuation of the bestseller “I Fought on Il-2.”