Chapter Thirty-Two: Pincer Movement

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  I don't know what to say about the Germans' performance, they dare to implement such a bold plan. If the troops participating in the ambush can't stop his reinforcements, then unless the Germans cut off their own wrists, otherwise, if I wait for my breath to recover, I will be completely tied up by him. Of course, there are no assumptions in war, and now I am struggling to save myself from the German army's frontal assault, which has left me thoroughly exhausted! Now everything is just about who breaks through the other side's blockade first!

  "Josen, what?! Both of my armored vehicles have been destroyed?!" I grabbed Josen's collar in anger.

  "Sir, the Germans are attacking with at least a battalion, while I don't even have a decent defensive position. What am I supposed to hold them off with?"

  What Josen said was not wrong, it's just that I couldn't be sure if I could withstand the German attack. The Germans were not made of mud, they also had machine guns, mortars, and even an anti-tank gun, with sharpshooting snipers, none of which could be underestimated. Although these were all strengths that the German army had already been scouting out, as long as we were fighting head-on, none of this would have been a problem. As long as my troops retreated and merged with Charlotte's platoon, all problems would have been solved. It was just that now they were ambushing me, cutting off my retreat route in one go, and even implementing the tactic of encircling and annihilating me on the battlefield.

  The tactic of encirclement and penetration was originally just a concept in my military courses, and I thought it was only used by the side with more troops. But after experiencing it firsthand, I deeply felt its terror. At that moment, you didn't know the situation of your comrades or other units. Everywhere was filled with gunfire and the shadows of enemy movements. Any enemy who passed by would shoot at you, throw hand grenades... In fact, everyone knew there weren't many Germans in front of them, but the continuous appearance of enemies made you involuntarily magnify their numbers to infinity. You thought you were fighting alone because you knew that with only your own strength, you wouldn't survive for a minute. At this time, your spirit would collapse into despair, and you might even think of surrendering shamefully. When morale hit rock bottom, that was the most terrifying moment! This is exactly what the German tactic of encirclement and penetration aimed to achieve!

  "Josen! Listen up, I'm giving you one last battalion, I want twenty minutes from you. If you can't hold on, then die on the battlefield!" My eyes were about to turn red with rage as I pushed Josen away, "Hilton, go support the front lines!"

  Quinson's iron-green face said nothing, and he led Sergeant Hilton's squad into the battlefield immediately.

  "Brothers, the damned lieutenant said that he wants me to hold off those damned Germans for twenty minutes, otherwise he'll shoot me dead. Brothers, you listen up too, even if I die, I want to see you guys get me these twenty minutes!"

  These twenty minutes were spent in hell, German mortar shells rained down on the small hill defended by Joensen like raindrops. Boom! The dust raised by the exploding shells blocked out the sun, and Joensen couldn't see the actions of the German troops dozens of meters away, he was desperately directing the heavy machine gun beside him to sweep towards the direction of the German army.

  "Damn it, Mandley, my machine gun ammunition, get me my machine gun ammunition!"

  "Sir, Mandrake is dead!"

  "Oh God! What are you mumbling about? Hurry up and get me some ammo!"

  The heavy machine gunner beside me had already changed seven or eight in an instant, and the scrapped gun barrels were also thrown on the ground four or five, but this machine gun was still stuck on this small hill without moving an inch, because it was my last commanding height, if I lost it again, my front would be completely covered under the German firepower, at that time I could only surrender.

  The German commander who took the place was obviously impatient with the delay in taking the place, his face was also iron-green, he kept waving the Mauser M1898 officer pistol to urge his soldiers to intensify the attack on Joensen.

  "German soldiers, for the Führer, for our homeland, kill the Yanks!"

  "Long live Germany!"

  "Charge! Charge!"

  The German soldiers, like a group of madmen from an asylum, crawled out of the ground and rushed forward, regardless of Josen's heavy machine gun suppression fire.

  "Come on! Come on! All you motherfuckers come on!" Josen's face was a bloody mess, his eyes gleaming with a ferocious light, like a demon emerging from hell. There were hardly any men left around Josen, who single-handedly manipulated the heavy machine gun, its tongue of fire ceaselessly sweeping across the German soldiers rushing forward.

  Rat-a-tat-tat, the withering fire of heavy machine guns swept across the German troops charging at the front, sending them tumbling to the ground. The bullet holes in the bodies of the hit German soldiers were as big as thumbs and immediately burst open like a bloody fog. A German soldier's body was hit by bullets, his upper body twitching involuntarily, his feet still moving forward, but then several more bullets struck him, the sound of penetration like hitting a sack of flour, the soldier finally couldn't hold on, fell to the ground, but he didn't die completely, he crawled forward two steps, eventually died with his head tilted, but even in death, his gun was still pointing at his enemy.

  "Damn it, throw hand grenades!" Johnson's hoarse shout was actually just for himself, the few soldiers around him had already opened the hand grenades and were constantly throwing them into the group of German soldiers.

  Boom! Although this round of grenades did not kill many German soldiers, it also hindered the speed of the German attack, causing the morale of the German attackers to plummet.

  "Keep charging at me! Don't stop the mortar fire, blow that machine gun to pieces!" The German officer yelled loudly.

  "Bang!" A crisp gunshot, the German officer's skull was split open from behind as if someone had taken a large axe and thoroughly chopped it open, with red and white brain matter splashing out instantly. A precise shot, one bullet to kill.

  "Sniper behind!" The German soldier near the officer shouted loudly to remind his comrades! The German mortar squad frantically adjusted their barrels, turning towards David who rushed over from behind to rescue them.

  "Get down! Move! Quick, move with me!"

  David dragged Krieger just a dozen meters away, and the German mortar immediately blasted over, boom! The smoke and dust that rose up instantly submerged David and Krieger's figures.

  "Take out those two men!" Another German officer immediately took over command of the battlefield and promptly detached a squad from the troops besieging Josen to encircle David and Krein!

  War has never been a one or two-man battle, even if you have the ability to reach the sky, on the battlefield, you are just one of those who fight for their lives. Maybe you can kill more enemies than others, but when everyone around you is dead, it's only a matter of time before you die too. There's nothing to be proud of here. Here, constantly protecting your comrades and others means protecting yourself, this is the iron law of the battlefield.

  "Cover me!"

  "Bang" another accurate shot, a German army rifleman fell to the ground without making a sound, his skull also burst open like a broken egg!

  "Machine gunner! Take him out!"

  Just as David was reloading, the German squad's machine gunner, who had been hit by the previous shot, suddenly stood up and fired at David. If this German soldier had really pinned down David, the other Germans would have immediately rushed over and turned David into a meat pie. At this critical moment, Krein opened fire. He didn't dare guarantee that he could hit the German machine gunner's head with one shot in the midst of the intense gunfire on the battlefield, so he chose to aim for the chest. The German was hit! Due to the inertia from being struck by the bullet, the German machine gunner's arm jerked upwards into the air, and the machine gun fired a few more rounds before falling to the ground.

  "Move quickly! Quick!"

  The German mortar immediately adjusted the distance and fired another burst, in war, there are generally three ways to deal with the opponent's sniper. The first is recognized as a sniper dealing with a sniper, the second is to use artillery fire to cover and bombard the area where the sniper is located, and the third is the real infantry pursuit that takes lives!

  The Germans' mortar barrage and the pursuing German soldiers forced David and Krein to flee for their lives. Before long, a piece of shrapnel from a mortar shell ripped into David's leg, opening up a bloody gash.

  The terror of German artillery in World War II was overshadowed by the influence of other branches, but its achievements and lethality are undeniable. The Germans developed the K18 105mm heavy gun and the 170mm K (MRS) heavy field howitzer, which outperformed Soviet and Allied artillery in range, accuracy, and killing power. At the end of World War II, when countries scrambled to seize German spoils, German military technology was a top priority.

  The most famous representative of German artillery is the 88mm anti-aircraft gun secretly developed by Krupp in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. The Flak 88 can be used against both air and ground targets, especially against tanks on the ground, which can be said to be almost destructive. Not only did the Soviet T-34 suffer greatly from this cannon, but it was also a nightmare for British and American Allied tanks. The Tiger tank's fame is largely due to its installation of the 88mm gun, which made it nearly invincible against Allied tanks.

  The Flak 88mm gun also had an amazing anti-aircraft effect, the "88" gun's anti-air range could reach a height of 26,000 feet, and Krupp company later modified the "88" gun with a special spring that can speed up the "88" gun's anti-air firing rate. However, this gun also has some disadvantages, that is, this gun cannot shoot out much arc on the ground, so if there are obstacles in front of the target it wants to hit, it may greatly affect its hit rate.

  The Germans also equipped a gun called the Gustav supergun, with a caliber of up to 800 mm. During an attack on the Soviet Union, it hit a Soviet ammunition depot, causing a massive explosion that blew up millions of tons of ammunition reserves in the Soviet arsenal. A single shot weighing over a ton made the ground shake noticeably even tens of kilometers away from the German army. Unfortunately, the Germans spent a huge amount of time and effort to develop this supergun, but it was only fired more than 20 times in its lifetime before being abandoned by the German army. However, this also shows that Germany's determination to apply and develop artillery is not inferior to any other country.