Chapter 18: Archer's Talent

  Some military enthusiasts often refer to the German 88mm gun as "Roaring Heaven's Master", but this is just their expression of admiration for this multi-purpose weapon. In the German army at that time, the 88mm gun did not have such a grandiose name. Soldiers sometimes called it the "Tank Opener" or "Armored Opener", and some people called it "Frederick's Guard" because of its large size. Later in the war, Krupp and other military enterprises began producing specialized anti-tank guns using standard gun mounts, which retained the excellent armor-piercing performance while reducing the height of the gun and increasing battlefield concealment. However, by then Germany's military production had far exceeded the demands of the battlefield. Therefore, those 88mm high-altitude anti-aircraft guns with tall mounts continued to be active on the Eastern and Western fronts, making up for the severe shortage of German tanks and assault guns.

  Within the range of vision, Lin pointed out 4 traditional 88mm guns. Although carefully camouflaged with fresh branches and camouflage nets, the muzzle fire and white smoke produced when firing still clearly exposed their positions. Fortunately, the thick smoke on the battlefield greatly interfered with the Soviet tankers' line of sight, while for German anti-tank gunners, as long as they saw the outline of the tank in the gap between the smokes, they could blast a shot, and this relative advantage was obvious.

  Following the rhythm of the anti-tank guns, the German tanks also opened fire after advancing hundreds of meters. Due to his previous experience of narrowly escaping death, Lin En had high hopes for those two tall Tiger tanks, and there were many successful cases in historical records where German tanks with fewer numbers could still achieve great victories, "Legendary Killer" Wittmann once achieved a stunning record of destroying 20 Soviet T-34s, 23 infantry guns and anti-tank guns in one day on the Eastern Front, at that time he was using this Tiger tank.

  Like previous battles, the two Tiger tanks did not fire hastily. After stopping, they often needed four or five seconds or even more time to aim and adjust. Every shell that pierced the smoky battlefield seemed to have achieved something - the sound of shells hitting the ground and exploding on armored targets was different, and after listening several times, it could be distinguished.

  As the battle raged on, the lone smoke launcher at the rear of the village fired three more rounds in succession. Perhaps they had run out of smoke rockets or were worried that the thick smoke would affect their own tanks and anti-tank guns, the soldiers stopped firing and quickly pulled it back to cover. Meanwhile, the German infantry anti-tank team, advancing by leaps and bounds, bravely entered the densest part of the smoke. Lynn could only see flashes of light from within the smoke and had to guess at their battle based on the sounds. A desire for battle was quietly stirring in his heart.

  "Knock it off!"

  The low voice of the "butcher" suddenly came from the side, and Lin En followed his gaze to see the shadow of Soviet soldiers in the burned forest ahead. To avoid strong visual contrast between white and black, they took off their white coats that could keep warm and hide themselves in the snowy ground, and their brown 1940-style steel helmets and traditional Soviet military uniforms were like most pictures and movies. From a distance, they didn't carry heavy machine guns and recoilless rifles except for their personal firearms, and there was no road on the steep slope, so they had to find footholds while moving forward, often slipping down but quickly getting up to continue moving forward.

  Due to the terrain on this side not being suitable for tank vehicles to advance, the attacking infantry could not deploy, and between the scattered woods there were natural trenches and strip open spaces. Therefore, the German army defending the village did not deploy anti-tank guns on this side. Apart from Linen and a few others, some infantry had previously dug 20-30 meter long trenches in the flank and rear positions, but most of them had been reinforced to the front line before the bombing began.

  Estimating that the Soviet soldiers attempting to flank their position were about to enter rifle range, Linen picked up his Mauser rifle, rarely looking at the sight on the gun, 500 meters. He pushed the bolt forward and began to aim at the moving brown shadows in a three-point-one-line manner.

  He concentrated and waited for about two minutes, feeling that the Soviet soldier at the front had already arrived within 500 meters, but "Butcher" still didn't show any signs. Lin En glanced in his direction with a glimpse of his eyes, seeing "Butcher" staring tightly in that direction, so he didn't make any more random guesses, silently adjusting the sight range to 400 meters - after a while, it was adjusted again to 300 meters.

  At a distance of 300 meters, an adult in the line of sight is already half the size of a finger, taking into account the influence of gravity and wind direction. Lin En intentionally shifted the aiming point slightly to the upper left of the target. This suddenly reminded him of the once-popular "Crazy Tank", reminding him of familiar maps such as Lonely Bridge, Ice Peak Valley, Steel Factory, and Sacred Temple. To take out the opponent, one must comprehensively consider wind direction, speed, distance, obstacles, and trajectory. Some people even use a ruler on the computer screen to calculate, those who often hit with one shot are inevitably suspected of using external software. Lin En, who had played to high-level medals, was also considered a small cow, as long as his luck wasn't too bad when he went out, he could always perform well, but he also suffered from opponents' doubts and curses.

  "Great!"

  "The butcher" suddenly shouted, Lin En didn't have time to be puzzled, the gunshot from his companion made him understand instantly. His left hand gripped the fore-end tightly, his shoulder pressed against the stock, his right hand applied natural force, bang! The target in his line of sight trembled and fell backwards.

  This was the first time Linn had visually confirmed that his bullets hit the target, and he couldn't help but feel exhilarated. The Soviet soldiers across from him immediately opened fire in return, but at a distance of over 300 meters, their "PPSh" simply fired blindly, and the bullets only knocked down a few leaves, posing no threat to Linn and his men.

  Lin's movements were smooth and continuous as he pulled the bolt, ejected the shell, and re-chambered. The metallic click of the bolt locking into place was music to his ears. Zhang grabbed another shot, taking aim once more, but this time the target wobbled and rolled down the slope beside him.

  Beautiful!

  Lin En silently let out a loud cry, at this moment he was no longer in a state of having no grudges with the Soviet soldiers, but rather they were all fighting for survival. With one less enemy, his chances of survival would increase accordingly, and at the same time, his inner desire to prove himself was quietly growing.

  Crack... thud... crack!

  Crack... thud... crack!

  Crack... thud... crack!

  Lynn's shooting became more and more accurate, and the three consecutive shots within half a minute were surprisingly all on target. Although it was not necessarily a fatal shot every time, five out of five hits at this distance without using any auxiliary aiming devices meant that her marksmanship skills were no longer "average".

  In his university military training, with a semi-automatic rifle at 200 meters distance, Lin En fired five shots, four of which hit the target and one hit the bullseye. The target paper was kept until graduation, and the bullet hole in the tenth ring position has always been his secret pride. Similarly, many male students only had one or two hits out of five shots, and some people only received a brand new target paper, it seems that there is still some difference in talent.

  Only two Mauser rifles fired at this moment, and dozens of Soviet soldiers fell down only seven or eight, but under the interference of gunfire, their footsteps became obviously flustered. The faster they went, the more they stumbled, and the overall advance speed did not accelerate.

  Upon hearing the gunfire, five German soldiers deployed at the foot of the hill came up, bringing with them an MG-34 machine gun. Although no gold was seen, several Soviet soldiers across from them fell to the ground as soon as the machine gun fired. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, Lin En calmly reloaded five rounds into his rifle and continued firing in succession. At a distance of less than 300 meters, the bullets from the Mauser rifle seemed to have eyes - every time he fired, someone on the other side fell. In a relatively relaxed state of mind, Lin En even had the opportunity to identify where each bullet hit: one in the chest, one in the abdomen, one in the back, and one magnificent shot to the head!

  Five bullets were fired, and at least three more souls were added to Lynn's hands. Under the intimidation of the German army's machine guns, the Soviet soldiers who tried to sneak up finally retreated in a hurry. By the time Lynn reloaded his bullets, they had basically turned around and ran out of 100 meters. Although there was still a certain hit rate for shooting at this time, in order to save ammunition and with the mentality of seeing good and collecting, Lynn did not fire again.

  The machine gun fire stopped, Lin En let out a long breath and turned his head to look at "Butcher" when he found him staring back at him, then immediately raised the thumb of his right hand.

  Lynn smiled slightly, and she felt that this smile was mostly made up of shyness.

  The small-scale infantry battle on this side lasted for less than ten minutes before and after, while the rumbling cannon fire on the main battlefield quickly drew Lin's attention back. The white smoke gradually dispersed, covering a large area including the village, and its density decreased significantly, making it possible to vaguely recognize the outline of tanks from a distance. At first, Lin thought that the stationary Soviet tanks were destroyed by the defenders, accounting for half of the attacking force, but the situation was far from optimistic. The motionless tank bodies suddenly flashed with cannon fire, shooting at German targets after just a few seconds. Once the two German Tiger tanks moved, their shallow camouflage effect greatly weakened, and many shell craters appeared around them, forcing them to start and stop frequently due to the frequent incoming shells, but no matter how the vehicle moved, the thick barrel always pointed towards the center of the battlefield and fired frequently.

  The busy German positions and anti-tank guns on the flank and rear sometimes accurately hit Soviet tanks, which exploded and stopped after being hit, but only for a short while. These ugly monsters moved again, giving accurate and fierce counterfire. Lin looked to the side and back, just in time to hear a shell whizzing by from nearby, and his heart couldn't help but feel a strong sense of tension. The intense explosion and huge roar finally came from the hillside below. His ears were still ringing, and when the smoke cleared, the position of the 75mm anti-tank gun was in disarray: the cannon was overturned, one gunner was thrown tens of meters away, two bodies left on the spot were incomplete, and another two gunners lost their trace.