Chapter 60 Despairing to the Extreme is Indulgence

  "Sir, if we keep going like this, in just a few more blocks we'll be right on top of the marked German artillery emplacement!" Jimmy yelled to me.

  I took a glance at the American soldiers who were cautiously moving forward behind the tank, and said with some pride: "Lieutenant Jimmy, look at how our casualties have decreased all the way from City Hall!"

  Lin Bona curled his lip and exposed my shortcomings, saying: "Captain, you don't see how much more ammunition you've used than other troops. I estimate that if you were the division commander, within a month, you could empty the entire US arsenal!"

  "Haha, what a pity I'm not your superior! If I were, you'd all be thrilled to death! Following me wouldn't require you to work yourselves to the bone like other troops do!"

  Jones continued to stir up my shortcomings, saying: "I'm telling you, dear Captain Conte, if you keep doing this, I reckon the brothers in the quartermaster's department won't come to supply us with ammunition!"

  My face is now thicker than the sky, shaking my head and saying: "You're exaggerating too much, I didn't use that much! It's too exaggerated!"

  Lieutenant Berna leaned over to me and whispered, "Captain, how much longer do you think that kid John can last in our troops? Look at him now, fighting so fiercely on the front lines! He's completely unlike those useless desk officers!"

  I lowered my voice and said to Lin Borna with a somewhat bitter tone: "Lin Borna, let's not bother about John, who knows, one day he might become our superior! You'd better hurry up and try to get on his good side while you still can!"

  Lin Bona shook his head and said, "I'm fed up. Once the war is over, I'll apply for discharge and never be a soldier again. Who needs to fawn on anyone?"

  I couldn't help but give a thumbs up and say, "Well, you're one of the talented ones from our D company, and you're the only one in the whole regiment who speaks German. You'll be able to make your way anywhere you go, and who knows, maybe even better than when you were in the army!"

  Lin Bona pouted, but sighed: "Captain, I'm not because of this, nor do I know why, as soon as I put on this uniform, I thought of Qiao Sen and the others! So I don't want to be a soldier anymore!"

  I nodded and comforted him: "Lin Berna, cheer up, the war will be over soon, and time will make us all better!"

  Lin Bona nodded, but turned back to beckon to several of his soldiers. "All of you, pay attention to your movements and maintain formation!"

  John was rotated in as the lead assault team, but he seemed to be putting in more effort than Jones' three men. The speed of the attack clearly picked up, and I knew this was John's way of proving himself in front of his soldiers. However, I had to remind John multiple times to slow down and keep pace with the other friendly units to achieve a synchronized advance. John would always agree to execute, but he just couldn't seem to bring his speed down, which made me consider pulling him back, but considering John's emotions and the fact that the Germans wouldn't let him fall behind, I figured it was enough to just remind him from time to time. To be honest, I also had a competitive streak and wanted to outdo the other US military units; otherwise, if I were to strictly enforce orders, John would have to listen.

  John led his men in a fierce charge into the German army's depth, with tanks closely following behind. As long as the Germans dared to show their heads, John would mercilessly fire back at them without hesitation. The only thing that gave John a headache was the German snipers who kept popping up and taking potshots at him. Despite John being extremely cautious in his movements, several of his men were still taken down by the German snipers. John looked at the soldier with a hole in his head and wished he could slice the German sniper into pieces with his knife. John's anger was seething, but the war didn't change according to his will.

  The German "Golden Trio" of three men, constantly shifted to strike back at John's advancing infantry, often with the German sniper taking out an exposed American first, then using machine guns to pin down any US soldiers trying to close in. If the position was suitable, they would also take potshots at the tanks behind John. Although the German anti-tank gunners wanted to attack the tanks, they had to risk their lives to get into a good position to do so, but often found themselves cut down by American machine guns first. The Germans were not stupid and wouldn't engage in a futile firefight with the US infantry without an effective way to counter the American tanks!

  John's troops had now opened up a gap of nearly two streets with the adjacent friendly forces on both sides, although it was only a distance of several hundred meters, but in such a complex urban environment, it was still relatively dangerous. I looked at the combat map marking the positions of various troops advancing and changing constantly, and found that John's troops were too far ahead.

  I turned to Miller and said, "Have John halt the advance immediately, establish a defensive line and wait for the supporting troops on both flanks to arrive in position!" Turning around, I pointed to a bend on the map and said to Jones and others, "Speed up your advance, Jones, you set up a defensive line at this street corner and receive the supporting troops! I believe other troops will follow up soon!"

  "Yes!"

  The Germans were forced to retreat step by step under the firepower of the US military, and Colonel Rops of the German army guarding the dock area was staring at the constantly changing battle map with red eyes, thinking about various combat strategies in his mind, but after careful consideration, he was always troubled by the biggest problem of insufficient troops.

  "Damn it, just give me one more regiment and I'll have them damned Yankees whipped back to where they came from!"

  "Colonel, through the frontline defense troops' report, I found that at this location on the street, there is a group of 30-40 American soldiers with extremely fast attack speed, and they have already broken through our defensive line." Colonel Rops' staff officer pointed to a place on the map of Serburg's defensive battle.

  "How far are they from the other Americans?" Colonel Ropps stared intently at the map, considering whether to counter the overall American offensive deployment through this point.

  "They are over there, and we have three small teams here and here, pinning down this American force, while this American force and other US troops are about two blocks apart. The frontline commander wants to take out this exposed American force, but due to the overall shortage of manpower, we can't organize a large-scale attack on this American force, only layer-by-layer ambushes!"

  "Damn it, still a problem of insufficient troops! What unit is this that's engaging us?"

  "US Cavalry!"

  "Raiders?" Colonel Rops thought for a moment before making his decision. "I've decided! We must destroy the American ace who was heavily damaged, aren't they fond of using cannonballs to clear the way? I'll make him afraid! And along with it, let the combat will of other American troops collapse!"

  The staff officer hastily said, "Colonel, their follow-up troops are not far from them and will come to support at any time. Once our troops get stuck with these Americans, it will make the entire defensive situation unstable! Moreover, the Americans have a large number of tanks in the rear for support! But this is not the main point, our troop strength is the biggest obstacle to counterattack, because we don't have enough reserve troops to support this plan!"

  Rops picked up an MP40 submachine gun, stuffed a few magazines of ammunition into his waistband, and while organizing the command center to prepare for a final counterattack, he said to the staff officer: "Fulde, this is not the time to discuss this. We must seize this fleeting opportunity to counterattack the Americans. Whether or not we can wipe out this American force, it's worth boosting the morale of our troops. If we let this opportunity slip away, it will be extremely difficult to get another chance to take down an American force!"

  Von Feld's staff officer was suddenly speechless, he was very clear about the overall situation of the troops now. Although the morale and determination to die of the troops were still very strong now, as the war dragged on, when the troops lost that last bit of morale, they would be unable to withstand the US military's high-consumption offensive method that relied on artillery shells to open the way.

  The staff officer understood that an army, where everyone is swinging between fearlessness and fear of death, is not afraid to die, but with the idea of ??"killing one to make a profit, killing two to make one", however, when countless people die in front of you, and you personally feel that even with your life, you cannot resist the enemy's offensive, you will become desperate and collapse! No matter what kind of determination to die you had at the beginning, the morale of the troops must have started from a high point and fallen rapidly like hell, making this army collapse in an instant. This is why there are so many examples in the world where troops, whether commanders or soldiers, write about fighting to the death when they start fighting, but once the battle becomes unfavorable, many troops either collapse or surrender to the enemy, and this phenomenon often occurs when surrounded by the enemy! When people are desperate, it's a natural instinct to indulge!

  Now if Lieutenant Colonel Rops can recreate or devour an entire US military unit, the shock to the US troops who value their lives as gold will be sufficient. It is extremely important for the morale of the German army, which has been on the defensive all along, and it is also the most needed now. Major Feld thought for a moment and also figured it out, and he picked up an MP40 submachine gun and followed behind Lieutenant Colonel Rops.

  Luo Pu Si glanced at Fu Er De and said: "You stay here to command the troops, I'll go!"

  Veldt's staff officer smiled and glanced at the empty room, saying: "The troops don't need command now, you can't leave me here alone, can you?"

  Luo Pu's middle schooler slapped his forehead and said: "It seems that you've made up your mind! In that case, you'll be in command of tank number four!"

  Veld nodded in agreement with Rops' arrangement at the middle school.

  Lopatkin's middle school brought out the last No. 4 tank and the Dongfeng self-propelled gun that had escaped from the city hall, making a final counterattack!

  The cries of death began to make John truly feel the bloodiness and cruelty of war!