Chapter 26: The Difference Between New and Old Soldiers

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  The platoon quickly finished its preparations, with an M8 Greyhound armored scout car leading the way as a vanguard, and another one covering the safety of D Company's rear. This also allowed for timely reactions. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Heber sent out Captain Charlotte, who led his troops to guard my flank, keeping a certain distance from me, and we set off towards the forest in the north of Monstereau in a coordinated manner.

  As soon as I left the garrison at Monaster, I unexpectedly encountered big trouble. Due to the bad weather in recent days, it had just rained heavily, and although the rain had stopped, the sky was still gloomy, like a sullen woman. Whether on the highway or in the fields, everything was muddy. One of my trucks, which carried ammunition and could be used to transport wounded soldiers in case of an emergency, got stuck in the mud and couldn't get out no matter what!

  I furrowed my brow, this isn't a good omen!

  "Damn it all! Haven't eaten yet? Come on and give me a hand! Push it out!"

  "Sir, the wheels are stuck! We need a few more people!"

  "Jimmy, lend a hand!"

  "Yes, sir!"

  At last, after much effort, they finally managed to push the truck out of the mud pit. Jimmy rubbed the mud off his hands and said with a smile:

  "It can be deduced, sir!"

  "Good job!" I patted Jimmy on the shoulder and turned to shout at the troops: "Don't slack off! Give me all your energy! Don't be like a woman, or I'll send you back to Texas to herd cattle!"

  "Haha!" The troops burst into another fit of laughter, and the tense atmosphere was suddenly swept away.

  "Damn it, I'm talking to you, kid! Get your butt up, spit, spit, spit, get your chest out!" My deliberate slip of the tongue immediately triggered another burst of laughter!

  "Captain, you really have a knack for this! You've lifted the whole unit's morale in one go!" Quinson chimed in quietly.

  "Get out, get out, get out! Don't come back with this nonsense! I'm not a fool, how can I lead you guys? Alright, when Jiao Sen enters the danger zone to complete his mission later, you must be careful for me. I don't want to lose another squad leader!"

  "Captain, you know what I and Jones hate most about your words is this kind of talk!" Josen said with a sorrowful face.

  "Fine, blame me for being too nosy! Then I hope you won't be shot dead by a German with one bullet!" I said with a spit.

  "Haha, Lieutenant dies first, I won't die!" Josen said, jumping far away at once, laughing and dodging my flying kick.

  "This scoundrel, I must think of a way to deal with him, or else he'll turn the sky upside down!" I thought to myself, plotting my countermeasures against Joanson's little tricks.

  "Report, sir! The scouting party ahead has sent word that an unspecified number of Germans have appeared!" My communications soldier interrupted my thoughts with a sense of responsibility.

  "Order the scouting party to keep a close watch on the Germans' movements! I want you to get a grip on the Germans' tail!"

  "Yes!"

  The reconnaissance squad was led by David, who took two other snipers from D Company with him. My intention was to let David take these two young men with good marksmanship skills and let them gain more combat experience on the battlefield, hoping they could survive until the end of the war. As soon as they set out, they immediately caught wind of the Germans' trail. But I had some doubts - why would the Germans be so easy to catch? Was it a deliberate attempt to lure me in?

  Damn Germans, even if it's a trap, they think I'll jump in anyway, that's my pain. No wonder on the battlefield against Japan, the Japanese knew that the puppet guides and decoy troops would be problematic, but they still rushed to throw themselves into the fray. It's not that they're foolish, it's just that seeing the enemy's main force within their grasp, they can't bear to give up, otherwise who knows when they'll find the enemy's main force again? Although they remind themselves to be careful of ambushes at all times, they still fell into the carefully laid trap set by the puppet troops. Now on this European battlefield, I've also fallen into such a strange circle! Only time will tell what the outcome will be!

  "Jenson, get over here, you're dead!"

  "Officer?" Jenson stepped forward with a boost of courage, but his body remained tilted to the side, ready to jump away at any moment, which made me somewhat amused.

  "Alright, put away your tricks, let's talk business!" I said, straightening up.

  "Alright then, Captain, can you stop kicking me?" Josen said with an innocent face.

  "Alright, alright! David says he's found the Germans' tail! I suspect it's a German ruse!"

  "Amazing, truly amazing! Captain can see right through it!" Hashimoto said with a feigned look of admiration.

  "I really should decide to replace you and find someone else to take your place!" I glared at Joanson discontentedly.

  "Good God, you won't find another officer in the entire US Army who has talent and can understand you!" The pitiful look on Josen's face made Miller, the communications soldier standing next to me, burst out laughing.

  "What are you laughing at? What's so funny?" Joe barked at communications soldier Miller, his tone unusually harsh!

  "As the head of the search team, what good advice do you have?" I asked Joanson directly, not wanting to get entangled in personnel issues again.

  "I think that since the Germans can easily let us catch their tail, there must be a problem. I estimate they want to lure us deep into the forest and then use the terrain of the forest to separate us and eat us one by one. I suggest that the distance between our troops cannot be dispersed under any circumstances! In addition, at each high point or key point, we must set up more defensive positions, even if an accident occurs, it is good to hold on and wait for reinforcements!"

  "In that case, our progress will slow down!" I said thoughtfully, resting my chin on my hand.

  "It's better this way, let the troops all lie in the woods!" Josen said, turning his head to look elsewhere, waiting for my final intention.

  "It's also good, since the Germans want to use the forest to ambush us, we also want to find their main force and eliminate them as soon as possible. Then let's put on a real show and lure the Germans in!"

  "What's tempting?"

  "You'll know when the time comes!" I actually don't have a detailed plan for fighting the enemy yet, but I said it with an air of mystery.

  "But be careful, Lieutenant. The Germans aren't so easily deceived! If things go wrong, we might end up being the ones to suffer!" Hashimoto warned me with a worried expression.

  "I know this, but as for searching for Germans at the front line, it's up to you!"

  Qiao Sen smiled and said: "Understood!"

  Jorgensen returned to his platoon and soon broke away from the main force, with each squad spreading out in a skirmish line. As Jorgensen's troops fanned out, they immediately adopted the Germans' tactics wholesale, clearly having studied their techniques thoroughly in peacetime.

  Germans generally advance in open terrain with the entire squad, if the squad leader wants to continue advancing while allowing each subordinate to use their weapons at any time, they should issue a verbal or signal command to form a "skirmish line". If it is in a silent state, they should make a gesture of holding both arms forward and crossing them. Then, usually with the machine gunner as the core member, along with his assistant and soldiers equipped with rifle grenade launchers, forming the center, while the rest of the squad deploys in a staggered formation. The front half of the soldiers are led by the squad leader on the right side of the machine gunner, while the rear half is led by the deputy squad leader on the left side. The squad continues to advance. If only the soldiers scatter, then the leading soldier of the group becomes the core member. Without receiving an order, the distance between each person in the squad should be around 5 paces, which is the optimal infantry attack and defense distance researched by the Germans.

  Joanson's search team formation followed the German method, using machine guns as the firepower focus of the entire infantry squad before the war. When shooting positions were taken, if the squad leader wanted his subordinates to occupy combat positions, he would issue a "shooting position" command, or in silent mode, raise his right arm horizontally and then raise his right fist vertically upwards. After receiving the command, the whole squad should immediately disperse, with the machine gunner quickly selecting an ideal firepower point for his machine gun team. The others spread out to the left and right of the machine gun firepower point. Everyone should quickly occupy their positions, lie down and prepare to open fire. Without special orders, the distance between each person was about 5 paces, and it was necessary to ensure that everyone could see their comrades on either side. Then, the squad leader would issue various commands orally or by gesture. This German infantry tactic was basically followed by infantry units of all countries until my previous life. The Germans really are the ancestors of modern warfare.

  As soon as Colonel Joe's troops deployed, my various units also entered a state of combat readiness. The nerves of the new recruits who had just come to participate in the battle immediately became tense, but they were scolded by the old soldiers from D Company next to them.

  "The battle is not over yet, now all of you keep the usual training state for Laozi, otherwise the German bullets will come to find you cowards soon!" shouted a veteran soldier who had just been promoted to squad leader.

  "Sergeant, we're not ready yet, how can we fight those damned Germans!" a new recruit retorted.

  "You dare to talk back! I'll teach you how to do it, and you'd better do it obediently, otherwise don't blame me when you're dead!" The sergeant kicked the new recruit's buttocks with a loud thud, and the new recruit was immediately frightened into silence.

  This kind of thing is a very normal phenomenon in a team with more than 80% new soldiers. Usually, this kind of harmless teasing doesn't matter, but before the war, such an attitude will absolutely receive severe punishment from superiors. Because it involves the effectiveness of orders at critical moments! Just like my several squad leaders under me, when nothing's going on, they always chat and laugh with me, but once a key issue arises, no matter whether my order is right or wrong, they will unconditionally obey. It's precisely because of this reason that I don't oppose it in daily life, nor do I pretend to put on a stern face as a superior for my subordinates to see. Everyone takes care of each other and has fun with each other, which is actually quite good.

  There are many problems with new recruits in the team, but I think that as long as they have gone through a baptism of blood and fire, all their problems will no longer be problems. In fact, nobody is born a seasoned soldier, the only difference is that some people are still alive, some have already died, and some are about to become old soldiers!