Capítulo 159: Chapter 158: The Squad Shines
To conserve the remaining battery power, Lynn cautiously switched off the infrared spotlight, blending his sight with that of an ordinary person. Carefully peeking out from behind the half-ruined wall, he held the rearview mirror detached from the Katyusha rocket launcher, now able to see numerous figures advancing along the streets and alleys.
In reality, not all Soviet soldiers were as robust as imagined; there were also quite a few who were thin or short, not just towering giants. Amidst the flying bullets and shell fragments, their chances of being hit were theoretically different, but in practice, it often leaned towards "bullets have no eyes" - perhaps only in the face of gunfire did life truly achieve equality.
With the appearance of Soviet infantry, German soldiers stationed around the streets began counterattacking with their weapons. In the battlefield of urban warfare, every single or continuous gunshot sounded crystal clear. If one focused, soldiers could easily distinguish between German and Soviet firearms. Lynn had long been curious about one phenomenon: the disproportionately high proportion of Soviet infantry equipped with PPSh submachine guns. Aside from those using the Degtyaryov light machine gun and the DShK heavy machine gun, only a small fraction actually used the Mosin-Nagant bolt-action rifle. On paper, this seemed to indicate that the light firepower of Soviet ground forces was concentrated within 200 meters, and light and heavy machine guns struggled to compete with the standard-issue German equipment MG-34 and MG42. In theory, regardless of attack or defense, German soldiers with comparable numbers and quality should have a significant advantage against Soviet forces.
Observing from the right side of the half-wall, Lynn immediately turned around, passed by Wolfrum, crawled a few steps, and peeked out from the left side of the rearview mirror. This side did not directly face the street but was located next to a row of buildings on the right side of the street. Some of these buildings had collapsed entirely, while others still retained one or two walls, resembling the tooth sockets of a child going through a teething phase, extremely irregular. Passing through these buildings, the Germans could advance towards the Soviets, and it was not surprising to hear the voices of some Soviet soldiers.
With the special and vital combat mission, Lynn chose a ruin about a hundred meters away from the street as the ambush spot for his team. It was a collapsed building, and the collapsed outer wall had roughly piled up into a nearly circular "hill," with the inner part containing the floors of the building and some wooden furniture, relatively low in height. Although the night battle was not pitch black, as long as the enemy did not sweep through with a dragnet-like front line, this place had a relatively ideal battlefield concealment.
To avoid attracting the attention of passing Soviet soldiers with the glare of the mirror, Lynn quickly put it away and leaned against the last remaining section of the building, calmly contemplating the timing of the attack. The veteran Wolfrum, holding his MP44 assault rifle at an angle, also leaned against the wall, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Lynn. From their position, they could see Bruck, a professional night combat expert who should be adept at this kind of battle.
Moments later, the "Tiger" on the other side of the street roared continuously, but the subsequent explosions were not as intense as expected, even somewhat "soft," indicating they were attacking enemy armored targets with armor-piercing shells. Lynn did not hear the engine roar very clearly, so he guessed they were still attacking the Soviet tanks that had appeared earlier at the ambush site. After a while, just as he was about to peek out with the mirror to check the situation, he saw Bruck gesturing towards him from the ruins: enemies nearby!
Immediately listening carefully, Lynn barely filtered out the gunfire from near and far, and indeed heard the faint sound of footsteps moving among the rubble. Especially when boots stepped on broken glass, the subtle yet piercing sound made Lynn highly vigilant. Gripping his assault rifle tightly with both hands, ready to leap up at any moment - with his reaction speed and shooting accuracy, coupled with the cooperation of his companions, quickly annihilating seven or eight Soviet soldiers was not a problem. But doing so would expose the ambush, even if they could withdraw calmly with the help of infrared night vision equipment, finding another ambush site would be difficult.
Enduring the tense atmosphere that seemed to erupt at any moment, Lynn stared closely at Bruck's side, who had just made a hand gesture and then crouched down, blending better with the environment, indicating that the enemy was indeed very close. Enduring an extremely long two to three minutes, Lynn finally saw Bruck make a slight swing gesture with his left hand, signaling the all-clear!
The pressure eased, and Lynn took a few deep breaths. Immediately afterward, gunfire erupted from their side, occasionally accompanied by shouts of Soviet soldiers exchanging incomprehensible combat commands. But Lynn didn't ask Wolfrum next to him for help; instead, he continued to wait by the wall, keeping a close watch until the sound of metal friction and mechanical roaring emanated from behind the intense gunfire.
Seeing Bruck gesture that "targets had appeared," Lynn silently reached for the mirror. Initially, figures moving on the front side of the street were not visible, thanks to the effective suppression of German machine guns and assault rifles. But shortly after, figures began to appear moving along the edge of the street towards the Germans. The first big guy emerged, moving slowly and firing forward without stopping. Bright flames spewed from both sides of its barrel, proving its identity with this distinctive construction.
"It's indeed an IS-2!" Lynn muttered to himself softly. During World War II, only a few Soviet combat vehicles were equipped with muzzle brakes. Among tanks, only the Joseph Stalin II and III types received this "honor," while the self-propelled guns included the SU-76 and SU-152. However, the SU-76's power was relatively small, primarily serving as infantry support, and the SU-152's muzzle brake structure was long and multi-rowed, producing a flame different from the standard double-hole muzzle brakes when fired.
Waiting for a moment by the wall, Lynn once again extended the mirror. The first Soviet tank rumbled forward, indicating that it had closed the distance to less than 200 meters from the stranded "Tiger." For two heavy tanks with equally formidable firepower, this was undoubtedly a close-range melee. If it weren't for the dim lighting and the complex terrain of the street, the outcome would have been decided long ago.
Seeing the opportunity approaching, Lynn raised his left hand, clenched it into a fist, and then lowered it, signaling "begin the planned attack." Bruck immediately crawled backward, giving way to Noah, who carried the 88mm anti-tank rocket launcher. As Noah aimed and attacked, and even had the opportunity to carry out second or third attacks, Lynn, Wolfrum, Bruck, and Helwig, these two pairs of soldiers, undertook the direct cover.
Putting the mirror in his shirt pocket, Lynn turned the knob of the infrared equipment, took a step sideways, and raised his rifle. Through the slightly dim infrared telescopic sight, many figures could be seen on the right side of the street, most of whom were trying to break through the German blockade and advance forward, attempting to flank the German tanks. Before the Soviet soldiers concentrated their attention on the front, they did not notice the German anti-tank personnel hiding in their positions. Lynn and his team took advantage of this, and just as the first rocket flew towards the second Soviet tank that had just appeared in the street, the real challenge began.
"Fire!"
As the rocket hit the Soviet tank, Lynn, with his left foot forward and his right knee on the ground, shouted loudly. His contemplation and thinking about the battlefield made him clear-headed, abandoning any thoughts of luck. Even though he didn't see where the flames lit up, experienced Soviet soldiers could deduce the location of the German anti-tank personnel from the heavy smoke left by the trajectory of the "tank killer" rocket. Instead of waiting for their suppressive fire, it was better to take the initiative to eliminate those Soviet combatants who were most likely to pose a threat to their side.
Crack... crack... crack... Lynn's assault rifle fired rhythmically. At a distance of just a hundred meters, he hardly needed to consider bullet deviation, and there was little need to calculate the movement of the targets. He simply fired directly at the bright-colored figures in the infrared sight, and his night combat hit rate was even higher than during the daytime. With Bruck and Helwig using an "infrared night vision device + MP44 assault rifle," Bruck and Bruck using ordinary MP44s, and Helwig using the Mauser 98K bolt-action rifle, the firepower output efficiency of the five soldiers was comparable to that of a standard squad equipped with an MG34 or MG42 machine gun. Moreover, unlike the traditional machine guns and submachine guns, the precision and efficiency of assault rifles in single-shot mode were quite remarkable. By the time he changed magazines, Lynn estimated that he had hit nearly twenty Soviet soldiers in his breath, and with some overlapping from his comrades, the sudden attack had inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviet soldiers in a short period. It also formed a suppressive effect on the battlefield on the right side of the street, comparable to an MG-42, allowing Noah, who had just finished reloading, to calmly shoot out a second rocket - it went straight towards the front of the IS-2, which had only revealed a small portion of its rear near the side of the building, and in a matter of seconds, it fiercely "touched" the "king of land" on its rear.
With his "famous skill" of changing double magazines single-handedly, Lynn began firing again before Wolfrum emptied his previous magazine. There were no exposed targets nearby, but his next few shots traversed the street, killing Soviet soldiers on the opposite side. This exhilarating shooting allowed him to release the accumulated frustration, but Lynn did not lose himself in the moment. He kept moving the muzzle, closely watching the movements of the two Soviet tanks that had been hit by the rockets. While the "tank killer" lived up to its name, being able to effectively attack most tanks on the battlefield, the IS-2 seemed even more challenging to deal with than imagined. The lead tank was hit in the rear, and its engine was instantly extinguished, but it did not obediently "lie down." Its 122mm cannon roared, and the shot might hit the "Tiger," which was also unable to move; the second tank, hit by a rocket on its side, initially seemed to lose mobility, but shortly after the second rocket hit its companion's rear, it quickly moved forward again and turned its turret to the left rear, followed by a fierce barrage from the coaxial machine gun towards Lynn's direction.
"Watch out for bullets!" Lynn roared low, reminding Wolfrum next to him to dodge. A string of bullets then struck the wall in front of them, but fortunately, the ordinary machine gun bullets could not penetrate the wall. Yet, a few seconds later, a scream came from behind the ruins, and everyone was dodging enemy gunfire, unable to see who had been hit.
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