Military History
During one of the darkest chapters in the Soviet Union’s history, pilot S. Kuzniecov was flying his Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik back from a mission across the vast Russian territories now dominated by the German military when he was engaged by a squadron of Messerschmidt fighters. A swift and fierce dogfight ensued, but the Soviet pilot was quickly outgunned and shot down from the sky. As the Sturmovik descended, it left a black streak of smoke behind. However, there was no explosion as it touched down. Noticing this, one of the German pilots decided to land on a nearby flat patch of land to finish off the Soviet pilot and maybe claim a victory trophy. But the German could not have known what awaited him as he approached the smoldering wreck… —
