Volume 1: The Last Rays of the Empire Chapter 10: Injured but Still Standing

  The infantry's victory over the infantry made the originally unpredictable battlefield situation suddenly clear. The remaining Soviet soldiers retreated to their own tanks in a hurry, trying to rely on the last two T-34s and one BT tank to block the German infantry's impact, but this was exactly what the Germans wanted to see! Under the cover of their companions, German soldiers holding "Iron Fists" and "Tank Killers" quickly took position. These two weapons could effectively attack Soviet tanks from the side and rear, but the fatal flaw was that their range was too short: the improved version of the former had a range of only 100 meters, while the upgraded version of the latter had a range of only 200 meters, both within the effective range of machine guns. The operator was very likely to be injured by the enemy's accompanying infantry, so they were usually used in positional defense battles and field ambushes, where their own infantry suppressed the opponent's combat personnel, which was the most favorable attacking situation.

  Standing next to a truck that had been crippled by an explosion, Lynn witnessed the entire firing process of the improved "tank killer", also known as the RP-54 type 88mm anti-tank rocket launcher. Unlike watching movies or reading texts, this kind of personal experience was quite thrilling - the difference may be like the difference between watching someone else ride a roller coaster and riding it yourself, with a qualitative difference in sensory experience!

  After firing the rocket, the stout German anti-tank infantryman immediately retreated to the back of the truck with a shielded rocket launcher, and in front of him, a loud explosion erupted, a strong impact lifted countless large and small debris, and the rising smoke and dust spread like fog. Another member of the anti-tank team, carrying an ammunition box on his back, immediately took out a rocket shell, and the two men tacitly cooperated to quickly complete the reloading, and at this time, another explosion of similar intensity occurred in front of him, followed by another slightly lighter one.

  The member of the anti-tank squad responsible for loading peered out to observe ahead, then made a four-fingered gesture to his comrade. Lin didn't know what it meant, but saw the fat soldier in charge of operating the "tank killer" swiftly dart out, kneeling on one knee, with the anti-tank rocket launcher horizontally slung over his shoulder. He spent about three or four seconds aiming and adjusting before firing another rocket.

  Boom!

  A powerful explosion shook the ground, and then Lynn suddenly heard someone shouting excitedly that all Soviet tanks had been destroyed?

  At this time, the gunfire around had not stopped yet. Lin En did not dare to take a peek, but instead searched for the figure of "Butcher". However, the surrounding area was filled with smoke and dust, making it difficult to see even the outline of people, let alone their faces. Lin En slightly bent his waist, holding his rifle at an angle, and cautiously moved a few steps to the side, very slowly - this was where the difference between veterans and rookies became apparent. At a very close distance, bullets that had just left the barrel whizzed through the air, and Lin En suddenly felt his left arm being "bumped" by someone. However, he did not see anyone in his peripheral vision, and the spot where he was "bumped" started to feel scorching hot with pain. His heart was filled with shock: he had been hit!

  What was feared most had finally happened, and Lin couldn't help but think of Huang Mao and the other comrades who were injured in battle. Some had died on the spot, while others with lighter injuries either stopped bleeding and bandaged their wounds themselves or with the help of their comrades. Those who were lucky enough to receive timely medical treatment from medics, but more people had to wait until the end of the battle before they could see a medic, by which time they may have lost too much blood and their injuries had worsened.

  With a terrified and flustered heart, Lin En finally made the correct reaction: he quickly squatted down and looked around, soon discovering that the shooter was hiding under a truck in front of him. Before the opponent had time to manually reload the second rifle bullet, he aimed his gun at the fastest speed - pulled the trigger!

  Bang!

  The butt of the gun recoiled against his shoulder, Lynn instinctively unloaded and recocked it. In fact, if the first bullet had been lost without timely rescue from a companion, or if the enemy had held an assault rifle rather than a rifle, he would have been dead for sure. Fortunately, this hypothetical situation did not occur, and at a distance of less than 15 meters, Lynn fired a shot to the head, while the Soviet soldier lay face down, with bright red blood seeping from his helmet onto the muddy ground.

  Since ancient times, killing people has been punished with death, but this time Lin En killed his opponent on the battlefield, which is reasonable and justifiable, without fault or guilt.

  His left arm was still burning with pain, but the feeling was gradually becoming clearer. Lin En knew that this bullet should not have hit the bone, he plucked up the courage to turn his head and take a look, there was a hole in the outer side of the military uniform on his left arm, the blood had not yet seeped through the clothes and flowed out, it seemed that the situation shouldn't be too bad.

  "Kill the pig! Kill the pig!" (German: Macht den Schweine tot!)

  Lynn finally spoke up as he returned to the truck, calling out "Butcher" - a name the soldiers used for him. Lynn guessed it wasn't his surname or given name, but rather his military rank or title.

  The sound of gunfire from the front of the convoy intensified for a while, then gradually became sparse. Just as Lin En was about to take care of his wound himself, "Butcher" appeared, still with his sleeves rolled up high, holding an assault rifle in one hand, and exuding a strong killing aura all over his body. It seemed that many more Soviet soldiers had become his victims. Seeing Lin En's appearance, he put away the ferocity on his face, walked over with big strides, bent down to tear open Lin En's sleeve, looked at him with some surprise, took out a flat metal flask from his upper pocket, opened it and poured its contents onto Lin En's wound. A sudden sharp pain came from the wound on his arm, Lin En endured it without crying out, but his gritted teeth expression once again earned him "Butcher"'s disdain. He said two sentences in a low voice, Lin En did not dare to respond at all.

  He simply cleaned the wound and didn't even bandage it, then got up and left. Watching his agile figure holding an assault rifle, Lin En felt that the failure of this war should be blamed on the strategic decisions of the higher-ups rather than the military itself.

  The sparse gunfire died down in no time, the battle was over! Lin En carefully walked out from beside the truck and saw that all seven Soviet tanks in front of him had become scrap metal, three armored vehicles were either overturned or blown up by cannonballs or anti-tank rockets. The trucks behind them were riddled with bullets and shrapnel. The bodies of Soviet soldiers were everywhere, their death poses were also bizarre. About 30 to 40 people surrendered with no other choice, German soldiers were driving them to collect the scattered weapons around.

  The scene before his eyes, Lin En stood in place somewhat at a loss - without any experience or knowledge telling him what to do at this time. Of course, the surrounding area was not lacking in the remains of his comrades, but the German soldiers who had won the victory had a rare look of relief on their faces, and overall, it was a beautiful and successful ambush, only the victors did not have time to celebrate. Apart from treating their own wounded personnel, all they did was select weapons and equipment left behind by Soviet soldiers that they could use, and search for dry rations and canned food from them. The several Soviet-made cannons towed by trucks were impossible to take away, and there were some ammunition boxes in the truck's carriage, so the German soldiers moved them down and piled them around the cannons ready to blow them up.

  "Hey, Lynn!"

  A slightly thin, relatively tall man with a large ear helmet held a poposhka in his hand and had another one on his back. He walked a few steps towards Lin En, holding the poposhka vertically and throwing it over. Lin En's left hand was injured, but he still held the Mauser rifle in his right hand. With the reaction of an amateur goalkeeper, he quickly squatted down and caught the poposhka in his arms - just as the gun butt hit his left abdomen, causing a dull pain.

  Lin En couldn't recall the man's name, only knowing that he was also a subordinate of "Tou Fu", and as for their relationship, it was unknown. So after receiving the gun, he just smiled at the other person. The man also smiled back, and casually threw over a packet of bullets and a large piece of bread that the Soviet soldier had prepared as a spare. The former could solve Lin En's concerns about ammunition, but the latter was obviously what he needed most urgently now. Holding the hard bread, he couldn't wait to fill his empty stomach immediately, but seeing everyone still busy, he just tore off a small piece and stuffed it into his mouth, putting the rest in his pocket, then chewed while putting the Mauser rifle on his back - supposedly the PPSh was one of the most lethal individual weapons in World War II, much more powerful than hand-cranked rifles at medium to close range, but Lin En had gotten used to the Mauser rifle over the past two days and still felt it was more comfortable.

  No matter what, a burst of gunfire always seemed to have an effect at critical moments. Lin En fiddled with the simple but not-so-simple submachine gun, and suddenly heard some commotion in front of him. He looked up to see German soldiers driving Soviet prisoners of war into a group, while other German soldiers surrounded them from a distance, forming an irregular arc. When all the prisoners were concentrated next to a truck, some prisoners seemed to understand something, angrily shouting and calling out, and other prisoners soon joined in. Lin En didn't understand Russian, but he clearly heard the word "fascist", and the scene that had appeared in the movie suddenly flashed into his mind - the sound of German soldiers pulling the bolt on their guns immediately confirmed his bad guess. Before he could say or do anything, a continuous and crisp gunfire rang out, dense at times like the sound of heavy rain hitting tiles during a storm. It lasted only four or five seconds, and when the gunfire stopped, the area next to the truck was filled with blood.

  Lynn was stunned, the bread that had not been swallowed yet stuck in his throat, dozens of lives disappeared in an instant. If it were a battlefield fight, it would be fine, but this simple and thorough slaughter caused unprecedented shock to both vision and soul. The German soldiers who fired or watched earlier, including SS and Wehrmacht, now all had cold faces, which plunged Lynn into deep confusion and reflection: Is the meaning of war just ruthless slaughter between people?