Colonel Bestuzhev has an assignment to support the Soviet offensive by forming an air regiment equipped with the newest Yak-3 fighter aircrafts.

The hospital staff are unsure of how to treat Zhenya as all her documents were destroyed during the raid; meanwhile, at a training aerodrome located near the aircraft factory, Bestuzhev observes the training of flight cadets and meets an old friend.

Vasilevskaya's unit tracks the Pe-2 bombers during their mission to detect the disguised German air defence batteries; later, Bestuzhev notices the strange behaviour of Vasilevskaya, which he reports to general Makarov.

Shugaev teaches Voitik the intricacies of air combat and talks about his argument with Lazurkevich; meanwhile, Bestuzhev sets the regiment the task of intercepting German bombers without getting involved in a battle with their covering fighters.