Chapter Twenty: The Fall of Bei Bridge

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  "Awesome!"

  The Germans retreated quickly to the starting point on the opposite bank after losing this tank, as if waiting for something!

  "Look out! The Germans are going to shell us again!" Lieutenant Sally shouted urgently.

  The German howitzer bombardment is no laughing matter, and on a position without perfected trenches and anti-gun-fire facilities our artillery can slaughter us. On this extremely undermanned position every one of my soldiers is very precious!

  "One squad stays on high alert! The rest withdraw!"

  Boom! The German heavy howitzer continued to exert its dominance, but what surprised me was that the Germans did not pour all their firepower onto the bridgehead position. As several shells fell, their artillery fire began to extend into the ruins of buildings behind me! And the group I left at the bridgehead position, on the contrary, escaped unscathed.

  And I was in the midst of the damn cannon fire, like a startled rabbit, scrambling around everywhere. Damn it, the Germans were using cannons to chase us! However, although I was hiding in a very sorry state amidst the cannon fire, I still had great admiration for the German commander. As an officer on the battlefield, one must always be thinking about what the opposing commander is thinking, and this is also one of the qualities that officers must possess. Take this time when the Germans launched their artillery attack, they must have anticipated that as soon as they started firing, my first thought would be to launch a counterattack on the bridgehead position, so I would try to minimize casualties by hiding in the ruins of buildings, and they had guessed my thoughts exactly right.

  The German artillery was very accurate, although the shells were powerful, one shell would destroy or collapse houses within a 20-meter radius. The killing power of the shells mainly relied on shrapnel and its terrifying shockwave. However, due to the obstruction of urban buildings, the power of the shells was greatly weakened. Despite this, my team still had seven or eight unlucky soldiers killed or injured. I smiled bitterly and counted the surrounding soldiers again, only to find that there were barely twenty left. With such a small number, how could we stop the German advance?

  "Miller! Miller! Where the devil are you?"

  "I'm over here!"

  "Report our current situation to Major John Joe!"

  "Unexpectedly, Miller cried with a sad face: 'Officer, the walkie-talkie was destroyed by cannonballs!'"

  "Damn it! Why didn't you say so earlier! Goddamn, why didn't the shell blow you to hell?! What are you still standing there for? Go find Major John Joe and get him to send reinforcements quickly, tell him I won't be able to hold out against the Germans for much longer!"

  Miller wasn't late, it's just that the German shells were falling too densely, we were dodging their artillery fire everywhere and didn't have time to come. Miller, with a hint of grievance, slung his rifle over his shoulder and crouched down, hastily rushing towards Major Johann Bridge's command post. I don't know if Miller can deliver this message amidst the intense bombardment, but God willing!

  The command and communication system on the battlefield is extremely necessary, and the use of infantry walkie-talkies has created epoch-making significance in the history of war. Although subsequent communication equipment became more advanced, from the original platoon-level, company-level and above combat units equipped with walkie-talkies, to soldier-to-soldier communication earpieces, on the unpredictable battlefield a small piece of information can save countless lives, or even be the key to victory or defeat in a battle. This enormous function is absolutely necessary for vigorous development.

  Taking the defensive situation here, I am already in an extremely dangerous situation. Once this side loses its defense, the German armored forces will quickly bypass and encircle the bridge guarded by Major John Joe and the garrison of another bridge. At that time, the entire garrison of Carlington will be defeated if not routed. However, if I can report the intelligence in a timely manner at every moment, even if Major John Joe no longer intends to defend the bridge, he will arrange for the troops to retreat in an orderly manner! But I believe that once Major John Joe discovers that my communication is interrupted, he will immediately send someone over!

  "Get everyone back to the bridgehead position!"

  Taking advantage of the weakening of the German artillery fire, I was worried that the Germans would take this opportunity to launch another attack! Just as I returned to the position, the Germans once again repeated their old trick, but this time the German artillery fire went in the opposite direction, from the back to the front bridgehead position.

  Damn it! Why am I so unlucky! If I had just crossed over, I would have accepted my fate! If it were just a battlefield with cannons blazing, I wouldn't say anything! But why did I have to run into a group of cunning commanders who are like ghosts, how can I survive this?! Heaven, I'm furious!

  Heaven didn't seem to care about my silent wails, the shells continued to fall on my head in an orderly manner! However, the only thing that brought me joy was that after so many people died, I was still alive! I knew this was war, and I couldn't expect others to act according to my will, nor could I arrange for the Germans to be treated like monkeys. Since the start of this war, not only were commanders racking their brains to direct battles and annihilate the enemy with all their might, but even an ordinary soldier was trying his best to survive and kill more enemies! What did I amount to? Was it just a pointless sense of superiority from crossing over? At least, I didn't think so.

  As a former special forces soldier who was once idolized by the world, I finally understand why special forces can never replace regular troops in battle. This kind of bloody and brutal head-on confrontation, where soldiers suffer huge casualties to exchange victory on the battlefield, is not something that can be borne solely by the title of "special forces". When we only remember the glory and halo of special forces, those ordinary troops actually made greater sacrifices! If it weren't for them holding down the enemy's entire defensive power and energy, even if special forces became gods, others would still find ways to bring them down.

  Now, as I have more dealings with Germans and more opportunities to interact with them, I have to admire the Germans from the bottom of my heart. No wonder they can dominate the whole of Europe! No wonder that during World War II, Germany's entire military strategy has been studied by all modern military powers, this is not just Hitler's credit, it is the pride of the entire German military power! Even the arrogant United States has to learn from them?

  Yes, when the Germans were fully demonstrating the power of modern warfare on the vast continent of Europe with their Blitzkrieg tactics that integrated close air support from the Polish invasion campaign, Japan in the Far East was still using outdated World War I combat ideas. This is not to say that there is a huge cultural gap between East and West. In comparison, while the US military was making waves in the East, the German army in Europe had already left the US military's tactics far behind! The Germans can be said to be the teachers of the Americans. No! It should be said that the Germans are the ancestors of modern warfare!

  The Germans' intense artillery fire is making me wish for an American all-weather fighter to appear in this godforsaken place, at least it wouldn't let the German artillery be so rampant. But this is just a pipe dream, as the US military's combat thinking and some cutting-edge weapon performance have not yet caught up with the Germans', although they've only recently changed, but there's still a long way to go in learning.

  "Where is Lieutenant Kanti?"

  A U.S. military officer, accompanied by a dozen or so men, dodged German artillery fire, jumping from crater to crater in an attempt to avoid the hail of shells!

  "I am here!"

  "What's your situation! Lieutenant Colonel Cho sent me to reinforce you!" It was a US Army lieutenant, and although I was excited about his support, what made me even happier was that he brought with him the radio transmitter I urgently needed!

  "You've come just in time! I've just sent someone back to report to Colonel John Joe. And then you arrived!"

  "Sir! We didn't run into your man! But Lieutenant Cho sent us to bring you an anti-tank rocket launcher and a radio!"

  "Awesome! We really needed those two things! By the way, how are the guards in other directions?"

  "Oh, don't even mention it! The situation is almost the same everywhere! It's simply terrible, our troops have suffered extremely heavy casualties! Colonel John Bridge has already begun to use reserve forces!"

  "It's all over! We may not be able to hold this damned bridge after all! Just look at the morale of my men - it's extremely low. Luckily, the German attack is proceeding very slowly, otherwise these people would have run away long ago!"

  "Yes, Colonel John Joe told me to tell you, hold on a bit! Then he will notify your troops to retreat into the city and have a final showdown with the Germans!"

  "Got it! How much longer until our reinforcements arrive?"

  "Earlier it was said that the reinforcement troops were blocked and ambushed by the Germans, so they may arrive a bit later!"

  "This news is very disheartening, Lieutenant!"

  "Looks like we're on our own now!"

  The German artillery unit finally ended their five-minute scheduled attack, but our mission was far from over. The German armored troops, who had been waiting on the line of departure, launched another fierce assault! But unlike before, the Germans concentrated five tanks and nearly a hundred infantrymen in front of me, apparently intent on breaking through my defensive lines with one blow!

  "Damn it, the Germans are going all out!" I whispered to the lieutenant.

  It can be seen that Lieutenant Müller also felt some tension when he saw the Germans' attitude, and as soon as I spoke, he asked urgently: "Can we hold on this time?"

  "I don't know!"

  "Huh?"

  Yes, this is the truth. With these thirty or so men, whose morale was extremely low, who could guarantee that they would be able to withstand a German attack?

  "The Germans are attacking!"

  "Flare! Flare! Fire the flare!" The soldiers were shouting loudly to each other, not out of excitement, but actually out of extreme tension and fear!

  We lit up the Germans, and they returned the favor to us! The continuous illumination shells made the entire night sky as bright as daylight. Our position was completely exposed in front of the Germans. The German tanks began to move towards the bridgehead again, and it seemed that this time they were the real main force, the famous Panzer IV tank of World War II. As the tanks moved, the German infantry also formed an attacking formation, slowly advancing forward. A fierce attack officially kicked off once again.

  This time the Germans were smart, as soon as their tanks arrived at the bridgehead, they continuously fired smoke bombs forward, creating a smokescreen to block our line of sight and provide cover for the infantry's attack. The Germans seemed to be hiding in this smokescreen, causing great obstacles to our defense!

  "Sir! What shall we do?"

  "Hit! Hit me!"

  No target, only constantly shooting forward blindly! The Germans' way of attacking, I had never encountered it in the military exercises of the last century. At that time, almost every military exercise was planned by the higher authorities in advance. What ammunition is available, how to attack which area, all have a general outline, even if it's a simulated real battlefield environment, it can't be completely created like a real war environment.

  In this real battlefield, the opponent continuously creates large areas of smoke screens, making it difficult for the defender to speak. Anyone who is on the offensive has their troops and other strengths that must be superior to those of the defender, and by artificially disrupting and destroying the geographical advantages of the defender, they can completely gain the initiative!

  This is a living lesson that the Germans have given me! My troops have been completely defeated by the German steel torrent hidden in the smoke screen! It's not that I'm not good, it's just that the German firepower is too strong. When the German tanks continuously fired smoke bombs and shells, the first batch of positions spewed out fierce machine gun flames from the shooting holes, while the infantry closely followed the tanks to charge forward. I knew that the situation was already lost, and continuing to defend would be unnecessary, which would only lead to everyone's death on this battlefield, not to mention that the troops had already reached the brink of collapse.

  "Fall back! Everyone fall back!" I yelled hysterically. "Ensign, hurry and tell Lieutenant Commander Joe that we're under heavy attack by the Germans! The North Bridge has been completely overrun!"

  Perhaps in the East, I would be guilty of desertion, but I know that's in the East. Here, at most, I will receive a scolding, but at least my life can be preserved! After all, being alive is good!

  Actually, my order was unnecessary. The soldiers had already begun to run away in droves. My order merely made this behavior a bit more legitimate, at least the soldiers wouldn't have to worry about being shot by their officers for retreating!

  We kept firing our guns at the German army behind us, although this obstruction would not cause any harm to the Germans, but for soldiers like us who were fleeing, at least we could feel a little more at ease, thinking that the German army would be deterred from pursuing us because of our defensive gunfire.

  " Lieutenant! This won't do!" Jones, still alive and well like me, gazed anxiously at the approaching German troops and shouted urgently.

  "Come on, Bruce, let's go over the top!" I yelled to Bruce who was carrying a machine gun behind me. "Machine gun up! Everyone give me covering fire or we'll all be cut down like ducks by the Germans!"