Capítulo 36: Chapter 36 Left Forward
Following the proud "German forward," the barely adequate pure infantry unit continued eastward along the river after passing through the town, and ten minutes later they arrived at their new position. Centered around the town of Horgen, facing the direction of the German defense, this position was located on the left flank of the front line. Although far from the bridge, Lynn noticed that this section of the riverbed was not only wide but also had a relatively small height difference from the riverbank, making it more suitable for armored vehicles to ford. As a result, the German soldiers who arrived here earlier had dug intersecting trenches on the north bank, with the main defensive works about fifty meters from the riverbank, supported by a two-and-a-half-story villa facing north.
It was evident that this villa, full of rich European flavor, once enjoyed a beautiful view. The land enclosed by wooden fences still showed remnants of decorative shrubs and flower beds, some covered under the white snow, while others had been damaged by the German soldiers' trenches and foxholes. In the backyard of the villa, there was even a large-caliber anti-tank gun with a low outline and a thick barrel, positioned in a pre-dug emplacement, covered with light-colored camouflage netting, effectively controlling a large sector of the area. The open area on the opposite bank of the river was clearly visible, extending until several kilometers away where lush snowy forests of pine and fir trees could be seen—those were the same forests where Lynn and his comrades ambushed the Soviet armored unit in the afternoon.
Leading this mixed group of Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS soldiers to the rear of the villa, "Junker" shouted the command for everyone to stand at attention, then walked to the front of the formation, head held high, and delivered a speech with vigor for over two minutes. Lynn had no idea what this guy was saying, but like the other soldiers around him, he kept up the appearance of listening attentively. Perhaps due to inherent resistance, he began playing a mental game of "double talk." For every sentence the other side said, he followed it with a self-made joke in his mind, such as "The Russian bears aren't scary; they just have more chest hair than you guys. No, wait, your chest hair is also quite lush," and so on.
As Lynn was positioned in the middle of the formation, deliberately maintaining a indifferent expression, "Junker" did not notice anything unusual about him. At the end of his speech, the soldiers divided into several groups according to their original affiliations to find their respective positions, and throughout the process, "Junker" mostly watched silently. Only when Lynn's group chose a position to the right rear of the villa did he come forward to make an adjustment—assigning this group of Waffen-SS soldiers to the front of the villa.
Although it was only a displacement of less than two hundred meters, in Lynn's view, the danger in front of the villa had greatly increased. Knowing it was intentional, the Waffen-SS soldiers, including "Butcher," at most grumbled discontentedly, but no one protested to "Junker." After jumping into the trenches, most of them stowed their weapons and began reinforcing their positions with the entrenching tools they carried, and when Lynn was about to do the same, "Butcher" suddenly started muttering to him, then turned back and pointed to the top of the villa.
Lynn puzzled over it for a moment: Was he being instructed to go up there to snipe?
In terms of marksmanship, someone did have confidence in themselves, but according to common sense, the higher you climb on the battlefield, the quicker you die. Surely, "Butcher" wouldn't want to harm him!
Unable to reach a conclusion through speculation, and seeing that "Junker" had already turned to the back of the villa, Lynn simply grabbed his rifle and climbed out of the trench. At this moment, soldiers from different units were all busy with construction work, and nobody cared about the movements of this Waffen-SS infantryman. Stepping on the stone-paved steps in front of the house, Lynn walked to the front door of the villa. The original wooden door was nowhere to be seen, replaced by sandbag bunkers built by a group of Wehrmacht soldiers here, with a long metal belt hanging on the machine gun mounted here, and the soldiers were busy moving wooden tables and chairs to the door. However, Lynn was very puzzled about how these things could reinforce the defense to a large extent.
Passing around the main entrance and climbing the stairs from the left side, Lynn encountered a similarly busy scene on the second floor. Soldiers constructed firing positions near the windows and balconies, utilizing every available position with sandbags, and they had even set up machine guns, rifles, and even an "infant" heavy anti-tank rocket launcher!
At first glance, there was no staircase leading to the top floor from the second floor. Lynn looked around and finally found a spiral staircase behind a wooden door, and as he stepped on the wooden steps, the creaking sound brought him back to his childhood memories, when many buildings still had wooden staircases, often worn thin and even punctured with holes after years of use.
Fortunately, this wooden staircase was relatively sturdy, making only noise without any wobbling sensation. Stepping out of the staircase's end was a small door, leading Lynn to a curved terrace. It was so small that it couldn't even fit a tea table and chairs, and the main roof of the villa was basically level with the ground of this terrace. The roof was covered with striped red-brown tiles, unsuitable for setting up firing positions—only two soldiers were lying there, using binoculars to observe the opposite bank of the river, likely to withdraw once the battle started.
Lynn originally intended to return to his position, but the sound of coughing from above suddenly caught his attention. Looking up carefully, although there were no stairs or ladders continuing upward from the terrace, he could climb up along the uneven wall. He leaned his rifle against the door and climbed two steps along the wall, poking his head out onto the roof, only to be met with a pair of deep blue eyes at close range. Lynn was momentarily stunned and upon closer inspection, he found a soldier covered in light gray camouflage cloth lying on the nearly two-square-meter square roof above the stairs leading to the terrace.
Was this the legendary battlefield sniper?
Seeing the rifle wrapped in gray cloth in the soldier's hand and the scope mounted on the rifle, Lynn immediately confirmed his judgment.
Lynn stared at the sniper, and the sniper stared back at Lynn, the two of them facing each other without knowing each other's intentions. After a few seconds, Lynn snapped out of his daze, his heart pounding, quickly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, obtained through bartering with "Boba Sha," and handed it over to the soldier in a difficult gesture, greeting him simply, "Hey!"
Without military formalities or slogans, the soldier responded equally simply, "Hey!"
For soldiers of either warring faction, cigarettes were a commodity, and ones from comrades were even more reason not to refuse. The sniper reached out his left hand to catch the pack of cigarettes, seeing it hadn't been opened yet, he was slightly surprised, but quickly tore open a hole in the pack above, shook it a bit, shook out a cigarette and then put it in his mouth. He handed the remaining cigarettes back to Lynn while thanking him.
Thanks to "Everyday German Conversations," Lynn understood the sniper's words and replied with a simple "You're welcome." Seeing that the sniper showed no intention of leaving, he shifted half a body's width to the right. Lynn quickly tucked the cigarettes into his shirt pocket and climbed up the edge of the roof. As the saying goes, "the higher you stand, the farther you see." From this rooftop, several meters above the ground, he could see even further ahead. The snow-covered forest exuded a spectacular natural beauty, occupying most of the field of vision ahead. The depression at the end was likely the village where Lynn and his comrades had fought before. The edge of the forest was about two to three kilometers from the southern bank of the river in front of him, with flat terrain and unobstructed views. Lynn felt that if he were the commander, he would make good use of the terrain here, laying mines and digging anti-tank trenches, so that the Soviet tanks and infantry rushing out of the forest would be unable to advance smoothly, allowing their own artillery to pummel the enemy comfortably. However, it seemed that the German commanders had done nothing in this regard.
Turning his head to the right, he saw the small town of "Horgen" not far away. From this angle, most of its houses were built on the gentle slope north of the river. The wooden and stone structures with pointed roofs were compact yet neatly arranged, giving Lynn a glimpse of the traditional European flavor far from the hustle and bustle of the city. Although the land of a foreign land might not be suitable for him, the indigenous people here should be living a harmonious and comfortable life.
There was a time when Lynn only wanted to live comfortably, but now that seemed like a luxury.
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