Preface
Not far from the Yalu River, on the border of China with North Korea, where the heavy war has not yet been blown up by the bombs of heavy American bombers, there was an inconspicuous field airfield. Recently erected, it was preparing to receive the three hundred and twenty-fourth fighter aviation division from the Mukden direction into its location. The Chinese methodically cleared the second runway for the new MiG-15bis fighters strewn with a thin layer of snow. The Chinese were watched with a touch of mild fatigue by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners standing at the news point and smoking imported cigarettes.
And a few hundred kilometers away there was a train. In many of its carriages sat pilots dressed in the uniform of Chinese people's volunteers. Let them look a little like the Chinese themselves, and they could only speak Chinese on a piece of paper, but their rich military experience could not be compared with the Chinese pilots, who were still poorly trained. From this day on, they will have to defend another alien sky — the Korean one.
In a few hours, they will arrive in the Siniju area. Or, as the Americans will call it in the near future — "MIG Alley". And the names of Krylov and Li Si Tsyn will be known by every American pilot who fought with Soviet pilots. But they will never know that it was a Soviet ace pilot and three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Ivan Kozhedub.
***
A couple of weeks later
It was a normal, fine day. Another Thursday, which, in principle, was no different from other days of the week, filled with the daily routine of Soviet pilots at the border.
After breakfast, when the regiment was already resting, suddenly, the alarm sounded: "All pilots of the regiment are ready number one." For them, it meant getting on planes and being ready for immediate takeoff. But no sooner had everyone boarded the planes than the command followed: "Everyone launch and take off."
As it turned out, all MiGs of two regiments fly out to intercept bombers. Most of them are seasoned and experienced pilots who passed the Great Patriotic War.
Once everyone is up, it means the fight will be hot. Lieutenant Colonel Vishnyakov thought, taxiing his brand—new MiG-15bis onto the runway, waiting for his turn to take off.
And then the long-awaited words from the dispatcher sounded: "the fifteenth and seventeenth, you take off." Roaring engines, the last two MiGs rose into the air.
One of them was managed by as Kramarenko. Having gained altitude, he began to catch up with the front squadron, gradually increasing the speed of his jet machine.
Going with the climb to the north, the pilots saw mountains and a narrow ribbon of blue water under them. It was the Yalu River, followed by North Korea. The altimeter regularly gave out a figure of five thousand meters.
Suddenly, at an altitude of seven thousand meters, when the order of battle was already occupied, the planes flew into a dense sheet of clouds. But a minute later, when the MiGs flew out of them, the pilots found themselves over endless yellow fields. The mountain landscape of early spring was replaced by a golden plain.
— Your mother! What the hell is this? Pepelyaev, the commander of one of the regiments, almost shouted.
And really, it wasn't North Korea or even China. Confusion and misunderstanding was, practically, among all pilots. No one could understand what had just happened, and how to react to it now.
POV (from the first person) Kramarenko.
There was a feeling that what was happening was just a dream, but no, I realize and understand that now in reality, and it can't be a simple dream in any way.
Looking down once more, I could still see the beautiful golden fields waving in the wind. Although, I had already thought of the latter, because I simply could not notice it from such a height and speed. But no, wait, the altimeter made it clear to me that the altitude was three thousand meters. Although, in fact, this did not change the case in any way. And once again, how could this happen? No one gave me any answers, but Pepelyaev gave his voice.
"Attention! We are now under an unknown terrain. Everyone remain calm and vigilant, fully ready for battle."
His words, filled with determination, affected me as well. Maybe I am an "old wolf", but this is the first time with me. However, as with all the others.
After a quick roll call, we calmed down a little by the fact that no one was lost and all of our own are here, alive and unharmed.
As we should have done in this incomprehensible situation, we took a right turn. Turning around, we tried to find those strange and thick clouds from which we were thrown out here. But they were gone, and we were still here. All we could do was hope that everything would be resolved soon. If not, then you need to look for a place to land… But this is a last resort, because as long as there is fuel, we are able to fly somewhere. But where to?
***
Dragons and ponies
About two decades ago, the pony peoples, all three races: terrestrial, Pegasus and unicorns, united to resist the evil spirits of the Wendigo, and not die from their terrible cold. The friendship that united everyone last time was again subjected to a cruel test of strength. Namely, a massive attack of dragons — great and powerful, greedy and vicious, ready to kill anyone for gold, they plundered and burned pony cities. Will the ponies be able to cope this time? Everything will again depend on joint actions and putting all their strength. And even knowing that many will fall in battle, they will fight to the end, to the last soldier, defending their home.
And now the very day has come that will bring the long-awaited victory ... or a crushing defeat and doom to certain death. Everything will be decided here and now! There won't be another chance!
The assembled army, though small, was still ready for the impossible — to fight back and completely defeat the hordes of dragons. And despite the fact that there were relatively few dragons, only three hundred, they are still difficult creatures. Their strong scales protected them very well from almost any cold weapons, and natural immunity to magic did not give a huge advantage to unicorns that could burn anyone else in magical rays or twist in telekinesis. Their razor-sharp claws tore the pony's small bodies to shreds in comparison with them, and the strongest armor was opened under their mighty paws (they could only protect the enchanted ones) of that time. Natural flames burned villages and towns, and their large wings made them mobile and sudden opponents.
There were only six thousand ponies themselves. And even numerical superiority did not make this fight equal. Pony could only hope for military cunning and his own courage.
Now the army was slowly moving in the direction of the Dragon Mountains. Stomping through the fields, they were going to certain death.
This hour came long before the mountains themselves. It was foolish to hope that the dragons would leave the perimeter unattended, but the ponies still had another goal — they wanted to be as far away from their towns and villages as possible, so that in case of defeat, the ponies could go into the woods in advance, hiding from the wrath of the winged monsters.
From the sky, because of a couple of clouds, a slightly battered pegasus scout flew out. He was reporting a huge number of dragons flying here. Not forgetting to mention the other four scouts who stayed there, deciding to detain the lizards while the army had at least a little time to prepare for the upcoming battle. They died, no doubt, but they died heroes. You couldn't wish a better death on a pegasus warrior.
Battle formations unfolded, pegasi rose into the air, earth ponies bared their spears, unicorns conjured a protective field from dragon fire. Everything was ready. And the dragon army was not long in coming, announcing itself with a shower of fire. The shields withstood the first blow. The second group of winged lizards immediately attacked from the rear, taking the ponies in a tight ring. But the Pegasi were ready for such a turn of events, and immediately rushed to the second group of the enemy. The main thing for them was to protect the unicorns, which are very vulnerable now.
Despite the furious noise of the battle, all its participants heard an unusual growing noise.
***
Attack!
Fifteen minutes later, the pilots noticed a strange movement on the left side of the group. As they approached, they saw a picture of a battle. But it wasn't people who fought there, but dragons and small, winged horses— pegasus! In addition to aerial combat, there was also a battle of dragons and other horses on the ground. Fiercely repelling the attacks of the winged monsters, the ponies (they were too small for horses) counterattacked and again went into a blind defense. The dragons let out jets of fire, but they seemed to run into an invisible wall and did not harm those who were below. Only Pegasi, not protected by this wall, burned alive in the air. But even those who were lucky enough to dodge became prey in close combat.
"So believe after that that there are no miracles." Vishnyakov said, fascinated.
POV (from the first person) Kramarenko.
A battle of creatures from fairy tales? All this looks like a mass hallucination or schizophrenia in me. like needles, thoughts pierced my head.
If this is all real, then something must be done! We will not fly in circles, because we simply run out of fuel, and we will become easy prey. It is unlikely that we will be able to fight back with pistols and knives.
"Commander, the enemy on the right is thirty, below forty." my wingman Milaushkin reported.
Looking at the space indicated by him, I saw about thirty dragons flying straight at Pepelyaev's regiment. The decisive moment is either to evade and evade pursuit now, or to engage in battle. It turns out to take the side of the pony.
"Attention everyone! Prepare to attack. We beat dragons, — large winged lizards." the commander of the regiment, Pepelyaev, gave the command. Most likely, he had the same thoughts as me.
There were three large ones, about fifty in total, and four small ones, about thirty or forty lizards, groups of dragons.
Alexander Vasko, the commander of our regiment, immediately gives the order:
"Attack, cover!"
These words were followed by a sharp turn to the left and a dive. The entire strike group rushed after him —eighteen MiGs. With great speed, they got close to one of the large enemy groups, the one that was at the rear of the pony, and was now watering those with a rain of fire. A dangerous moment, because there was also a second small group of cover dragons. Now they were above the first and could pose a threat to attacking aircraft.
So it's our turn. I give the command to the wingmen:
"Turn left, attack the second group!"
I'm rushing forward with a climb. There are five winged lizards ahead. I open fire from the guns on the neighbor and immediately go to the right. Just in time. At the same time, where I was just now, a fiery wave passed. The green dragon did not leave my quickly cast glance. Having already received "fire" from my guns, he could not stay in the ranks and was now flying down like a stone.
"There is one," I noted.
My wingmen, rushing like hawks, also shot down several "Gorynychs" and were now making a U-turn for the next approach.
Down below, the scaly ones were also having a hard time. The unexpected attack threw them into shock, and in the air decreased by about a dozen more dragons. There were lizards on the right wing, too, but Pepelyaev's second regiment was seriously engaged in them, having already thoroughly battered them.
Having "overslept" our attack, the "Gorynychs" rushed into a counterattack, trying to shoot down the MiGs or, at least, prevent us from beating them with impunity. But where do they care about us. They were slow and less maneuverable at high speeds. So we quickly got out of the attack and hit them again from above, at the peak.
Breaking the formation of the monsters, we sowed more and more chaos and turmoil in their ranks. They have already stopped fighting with the pegasus and the rest of the ponies, completely switching to a new threat, to us.
The dragons decided to change tactics, starting to pursue freely operating pairs in small detachments, but at the same time exposing themselves to a blow from the flanks. We took advantage of this by rushing to intercept one of these detachments. They were expecting a blow, but not there at all. Having decided that we would attack from behind, the link of dragons defending the rear turned out to be too far from the first and their help was insignificant. But some of our people were still hit by a fiery jet. After a bit of digging, this pair of MiGs jumped out onto the vertical, did not receive any damage, and we continued the fight, laying new turns.
"The Soviet MiG was too much for them," I said with a smile and satisfaction.
Despite the fact that the battle had just begun, there was already panic among the winged lizards. And not a single MiG was shot down. This must have increased the fear of our winged machines.
Several dragons were following me. Having marked the left U-turn, I leave with a sharp U-turn to the right and gain altitude. Having completed the loop, I find myself behind and slightly above the "Mountaineers". Before they could fly apart, I had already put a sighting mark on one of them. A short queue, and one quietly goes down. The rest scattered, and pressing their wings to their sides, dived to the ground. I didn't rush after them, deciding it was better to remove a few more flyers above and to the left by twenty degrees, me.
Yes, that's how it turned out," I muttered, seeing how most of the "Gorynychs" simply fled from this air battle. They were descending to the north, to the mountains visible in the distance. This fight was for us.
***
Aerial combat. A look from the pony's side
The battle became more and more like a massacre. Pegasus fell, burned by a fiery hurricane or torn claws. The Earthlings lost a lot of soldiers in counterattacks, and the unicorns were magically exhausted and fell from fatigue or died from single attacks of nimble dragons that slipped to defenseless unicorns. The chances of victory were fading by the minute, and hope was fading with each fallen.
Still hearing that same incomprehensible "roar", if that was how it could be described, suddenly, huge iron birds suddenly swooped down. But they did not flap their wings and did not press them to their bodies to fly very fast — they growled, and white stripes remained behind them. A couple dozen of these birds rushed closer to our rear, to the dragons pestering unicorns. Suddenly, flashes of fire "blinked" under their bellies, and several dragons were torn apart by these unusual lights at once. The wings turned into ragged "rags", and the thick hide gaped with holes.
From the side of the Earth ponies, the dragons also began to fall several pieces at a time. Attempts of flying lizards to repel the attacks of unusual, iron birds ended in failure. The dragons simply could not catch up with them, and dodge when another bird tore this lizard apart. The scales began to tilt quickly to the side of ponies and iron birds. Here the winged and powerful creatures could not withstand such an onslaught of terror and ran as fast as they could. None of the pony races has ever seen such a thing. For the first time, they FLED rather than retreating from the battlefield. The first time they were completely defeated.
But the iron birds were not satisfied with their shameful flight, and they rushed after them, knocking down even more dragons than in the first minutes of the battle.
At least two hundred died, and more of these lizards will die today. The victory was hard given: the ponies were now exhausted and exhausted from a hard fight. A lot of dead and wounded. But now the pony has a glimmer for a peaceful future, and all thanks to the iron birds of death.
Even the pegasus scouts did not fly after them, wisely deciding to lick their wounds and not get into trouble.
***
After the fight
POV (from the first person) Kramarenko.
Chasing the winged lizards, we shot down more and more, until we simply ran out of shells. Already thinking that it was time to turn around, I noticed strange, thick clouds, exactly the same ones in which we were thrown, the devil knows where. I immediately handed everything over to Vasko. There was a risk that we would find ourselves out of our world, but the option of staying here forever did not appeal to us even more.
And so all two groups entered the clouds, hiding in their thick veil. A minute of waiting and we are thrown out on a familiar, heart-achingly familiar terrain.
Yes! This is Korea! I mentally shout with delight.
We immediately, without a second, take a course for the base. We don't have any shells anyway, and we're running out of fuel. Oh, and we'll get a hat.
The alarmed voice of the dispatcher sounded:
"What happened, why were you silent?"
Briefly answering what we would like to know ourselves, we take turns boarding.
"Eh ... " I sighed, not feeling the long-awaited relaxation.
As it turned out later, the connection disappeared immediately after the interception of the B-29. How and how it turned out that we simultaneously participated in the battle with the bombers, and in the battle with the "Gorynychs", remains a mystery. After reviewing all the films, we could not find an answer to what happened. Having promised each other to be silent and never bring up this topic again, we safely returned to everyday life, still protecting the skies of Korea from American B-29 "super—tanks" - as they quickly ignited under the fire of our guns.
And in that battle with the bombers, we, as it turns out, shot down ten B-29s and two fighters. Maybe it really was just a fancy for all of us? Either way, we'll never know. Although, maybe it's for the best that everything turned out this way.
***
The New Princess and the mystery of the Iron Birds Holiday
Booming footsteps echoed through the empty throne room. Today was filled with joy and fun, because today is the holiday of Iron Birds. The very holiday when the beautiful, fully clad in silver armor, giant birds, became the saviors of the young Equestria back then. They decided the fate of their ancestors by granting them victory over evil dragons. They are not afraid of fire and sharp claws. They don't need to flap their wings to fly at the speed of Rainbow Dash, the fastest pegasus ever. From their gaze and screams, the slain dragons fell.
On this day, according to the custom of the ancestors, all ponies dance, and pegasus do mass tricks, proving to each other that only he and she, this couple can also fly masterfully and quickly, like a pair of these mythical creatures. The main reward of this holiday is the title of the disciple of the Iron Bird, and which not every pair of Pegasus can get.
Many historians claim that there are few sources that have come down to our days. Iron Birds have become overgrown with legends, and it has become impossible to make out where the truth is and where it is just a heroic epic. Legends also say that one day they will come to the rescue again, and again they will save the pony from certain death. At least, that's what was written in the books "The First Century of Equestria" and "Equestria Holidays. Their origins."
But no one has been able to solve the mystery of these birds yet, because it could incur the wrath of their owner — the Great Princess of the Sky Silver Flame, who directed these silver creatures into battle in one fell swoop.… The challenge to these old legends was thrown by the young supreme ruler of Equestria — Princess Twilight Sparkle.
"The long seven years of ignorance are over. I have almost solved this mystery-shrouded Equestria holiday. Ha! Soon I will find out who you are — Iron Birds carrying death on their gray wings." Twilight said in a low voice.
