Volume 1: The Last Rays of the Empire Chapter 8: Roadblock
In his middle school days, Lin En liked to run laps around the playground while thinking about his future. At that time, his footsteps were never as heavy as they are today. The last bit of strength hidden in his body seemed to have been exhausted, his lungs and throat felt scorching hot and uncomfortable, his abdomen felt like it was being squeezed continuously, a dull ache, and the numbness and swelling in his legs didn't even need to be mentioned.
As feared, our own reserve position was not able to withstand the attack. Seeing that the Soviet tank corps had broken through the right flank and formed a rapid encirclement, the officers hastily ordered a retreat - whether this was with the permission of their superiors Lin En did not know, but he only knew that at the beginning of the retreat it was still somewhat orderly, with about 200 soldiers left behind to cover. However, the Soviet tanks and infantry in front soon joined the pursuit. Surrounded on both sides, the mere 200 soldiers left behind were not even enough for the Soviet troops to fill their teeth. Under the pursuit of Soviet tank cannons and machine guns, the over a thousand German infantrymen who had retreated first unfolded a running competition - those who lost were directly torn apart by enemy fire, while others who could not outrun the shells but managed to run into the forest alive would have a much greater chance of survival.
Four or five kilometers behind the reserve position was a large forest. After entering the forest with great difficulty, Lin found a tree to lean against, using his buttocks to support himself, his hands propping up his thighs, and his waist bent like a shrimp, panting heavily. At this time, he really couldn't run another step.
Even if the physical reserve was good on weekdays, after being in a state of semi-starvation for a long time and continuing to engage in large-scale running exercises, the German soldiers who entered the forest were all disheveled. However, they had only rested for two minutes when they heard someone shouting frantically behind them, followed by shells whizzing through the air like meteorites, crashing through the branches and falling to the ground. The close-range explosion again subjected their eardrums to painful destruction, but fortunately, the tree trunks blocked most of the shrapnel and absorbed some of the impact, so the shell did not cause such a strong destructive force on the open terrain. Seeing his companions running wildly into the depths of the forest, Lin En could only drag his leaden legs to continue retreating, with shells falling one after another, constantly sending people flying through the air like an invisible giant hand tossing them out, and the cries of the dying and wounded were incessant!
"This damned world! This damned war! These damned Soviets!"
Resentment swirled in Lin En's mind like a merry-go-round, and his already somewhat dizzy brain was even more unbearable. He felt that he might faint at any moment. However, this body was apparently stronger than Lin En had estimated, wearing thick winter clothing, a standard steel helmet, and carrying 15-20 kilograms of firearms equipment and a thick woolen blanket. In a state of exhaustion, it continued to run forward in the snow-covered forest for several kilometers. Until the sound of artillery explosions was left far behind, and seeing that the people around him were slowing down their pace, Lin En finally stopped, leaning against a tree trunk, and couldn't help but retch!
After a minute or two of mental numbness, Lin En finally regained consciousness, looking around at the people who were not weak after the disaster. Some people could still stand, while others lay "dead" on the ground. Only a little bitter water was spat out, and his tired body couldn't support him. Lin En knelt down with one knee, propped up his gun with one hand, and leaned his head and shoulders against the trunk of a nearby tree. The warm winter sun shone through the gaps in the branches, giving the forest a natural beauty, but he didn't have the energy to appreciate it.
When he heard the voice of "Butcher", Lin En suddenly had a kind of inexplicable intimacy, and this was also one of the few phrases he could currently understand. The pronunciation of this name was "Lin En. Gargoyles", and the coincidence on the name made Lin En feel that everything was arranged by fate.
Only to see the "butcher" unfasten his helmet buckle, roll up his sleeves high, holding his assault rifle in hand, with five disheveled soldiers following behind him who had some connection with Lynn. Although he could learn to say "officer" like other soldiers in German, Lynn still preferred to "play dumb" at this time, and with the last of his strength, he stood up and made a standing salute gesture to show his respect.
"The Butcher" returned a serious military salute, then continued walking forward. Lin had no choice but to join the end of this loose procession. The group didn't walk very far before stopping under a large tree near the edge of the forest. Except for "The Butcher", everyone else immediately seemed to relax, either sitting or leaning against something.
"Oh, Xi..."
A soldier near the edge of the forest suddenly shouted, and the sound of metal tracks faintly came through. Everyone tensed up out of instinct. Lin stood up and looked outward from the forest. At this point, they had already reached the westernmost part of a large area of forest. Going west or north would quickly take them out of the forest, where there were rolling hills with several small forests, each about the size of a football field. The highway formed a fork in front of them, one road leading to their previous stronghold, one stretching towards the Baltic Sea, and one heading southwest.
As the metallic friction sound became clearer, a Soviet armored unit appeared on the edge of the forest. The T-34s were not moving fast, so the track noise slightly covered the roar of the engines. They were basically advancing westward along the highway, but they didn't form a combat column like the Allied tank units in the movies. Four lead tanks formed a relatively compact arrowhead formation, while the following tanks were scattered on the highway and both sides, with several infantrymen riding on each one. Roughly estimated, this armored unit had more than fifty tanks, and there were also some armored vehicles and trucks towing artillery at the rear of the column.
Two legs can't outrun the enemy's wheels. Looking at this powerful Soviet armored unit, Lin En fell into despair again. With the combat effectiveness of these German soldiers, no matter what, they couldn't defeat their opponents. Leaving the forest and continuing to retreat would be tantamount to being a living target for Soviet tanks. But if they stayed here, it wouldn't take long before they fell into the encirclement of the Soviet army's follow-up troops. At that time, they would either fight to the death or surrender, seemingly with no other way out. Thinking of this, Lin En leaned helplessly against a large tree, silently watching the German officers gathered together discussing something. The rank of "Butcher" was clearly not enough for such a battlefield meeting, and he just stood nearby holding his submachine gun waiting for the officers to make a decision. Two communication soldiers were busy fiddling with an old-fashioned backpack radio nearby.
After a while, the German soldiers who stayed at the edge of the forest to monitor the movement of the Soviet armored troops ran back quickly with their waists bent. Judging from his expression and tone when reporting to the officers, the situation outside seemed not too bad. Two German officers, who looked like lieutenants, immediately took binoculars and walked towards the edge of the forest. About two minutes later, they returned to a distance, one of whom went to the side of the communication personnel wearing headphones to explain something, while the other explained the situation among the waiting officers. After a while, all the officers nodded one after another, and then each gathered their subordinates for deployment.
Soon, the "butcher" took orders and returned, chattering to his subordinates. Lin En was still listening to heavenly books, and nothing could be seen from other people's movements and expressions, so he had to wait in a daze.
The rumble of machinery from the other side of the highway gradually weakened until nothing could be heard. It seemed that this Soviet armored unit was in a hurry to advance and had no interest in searching for German remnants along the way. Judging by the time of sunrise, Lin En estimated that it was only around 9 o'clock in the morning. The clear sky was filled with the roar of planes flying overhead, most of which were probably Soviet fighter jets and bombers. If they wanted to wait until nightfall, they would have to stay in this basically defenseless forest for eight or nine hours. Although the Soviet armored unit that had just passed by was only passing through, it did not mean that the Soviet infantry units behind them would not enter the forest to search - Lin En, who had read extensively on military history, felt that he could play a special role in military command, but with his language barrier and low rank, he could do nothing but watch coldly.
After resting for half an hour, Lin En felt that his body and limbs had recovered some strength, but his stomach was still very hungry. During this time, another Soviet army unit passed by on the road outside the forest, with fewer tanks, but still not something that these German infantrymen could shake off. Just as he was worried about starving for a whole day in this inexplicable place, Lin En suddenly heard the sound of tracks coming from another direction. The surrounding soldiers became alert again, but soon, the soldier responsible for sentry duty ran back with a smile on his face. The two highest-ranking captains listened to his report and quickly got up and walked westward. Everyone was full of curiosity, but their position was still dozens of meters away from the edge of the forest, and even those with sharp eyes could only vaguely see the scene outside the forest through the tree trunks, so someone got up and followed them in that direction.
Because he couldn't "hear rumors", and also saw the "butcher" slowly moving in that direction, Lin En put down his rifle and canteen and walked over. At the edge of the forest, he saw the source of the mechanical noise: two German tanks covered with fresh branches, gray-white camouflage, and black-and-white iron cross emblems. They had a pair of tires on the front, tank-style tracks under the carriage, and the one in front had a turret on top, with a thick cannon barrel that looked powerful, while the one behind was an open-top .251 ordinary model.
Although he had never seen the real thing before, Lin En was still able to identify them, especially the assault gun car in front that evolved from ordinary armored vehicles. It mainly appeared in the late war and had a certain anti-tank capability. However, an armored vehicle is after all an armored vehicle, and its defensive power cannot be compared with that of a tank. If it were to face Soviet tanks head-on on the battlefield, the chances of winning would probably not be great.
Two armored vehicles were parked beside several German soldiers, who wore ordinary army camouflage uniforms and appeared to be infantrymen going out to reconnoiter. The ones wearing black uniforms were the crew members of the two armored vehicles. When two captains walked up, both sides saluted each other and then talked while gesturing with their hands. Before long, they seemed to have reached an agreement on some issues, and one officer, dressed in a black armored combat uniform and wearing a large steel helmet with earflaps, followed the captains back into the woods. At first, the officers did not give any instructions to the surrounding soldiers, but instead studied a map together with the officer from the armored vehicle. After about ten minutes, a soldier who had been executing a sentry mission in another direction ran back to report on the situation, and the officers began circling and drawing on the map again. Soon, the officer rushed back to the armored vehicle, while the captains gathered their subordinates to issue orders, which were then transmitted to each combat squad and platoon by the officers.
Soon, the "Butcher" also received the order. Lin En still couldn't understand his words, but by looking at his gestures, she could roughly understand: The infantrymen were preparing to work with two armored vehicles to ambush here!
Just one more assault armored vehicle carrying a large cannon and one ordinary armored vehicle that seemed to be equipped with a mortar, the Soviet armored unit led by T-34 still sounded like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Lin En was nervous, but the calmness and bravery of the German officers and soldiers at this moment made him feel admired - in the same era, the defeated National Army was far behind, and the difference between the two was like heaven and earth!
