Capítulo 12: Collaboration
The battle progressed more smoothly than expected, as the British defenses turned out to be much weaker than anticipated. They had only stationed a few gunners in the buildings or constructed simple sandbag barricades on the streets to form basic defensive lines.
For the Germans, who had tanks at their disposal, these defenses were hardly a challenge. The tanks led the way, blasting any building that might harbor enemies, and then the German soldiers would approach under cover, tossing grenades through windows or doorways.
The grenades used by the Germans were the S4 model, which resembled a potato masher. It had a long wooden handle attached to a round metal body filled with explosives. These grenades produced little to no shrapnel and relied primarily on their explosive power to incapacitate enemies inside buildings. In reality, their main purpose was to temporarily disable the occupants, allowing the German soldiers to storm in and finish off any survivors.
However, not everyone hiding inside the buildings was an enemy.
In fact, most of the occupants were Libyan civilians, the residents of Agdabia. Strictly speaking, these civilians were on the same side as the Germans, as Libya was an Italian colony at the time, and Italy was Germany's ally. Therefore, Libya was also an ally of the German forces.
But the Germans didn't concern themselves with such nuances. They drove the crying residents out of the buildings, many of whom were wounded, with blood staining their white headscarves and clothing, making a stark contrast.
The German soldiers waved their rifles at them, rounding them up like prisoners.
Qin Chuan could understand this behavior to some extent. From a survival perspective, the German soldiers couldn't afford to risk their lives by sparing civilians who might pose a threat. If the British hadn't hidden among the Libyan civilians, using them as cover, the situation might have been different.
The German soldiers were highly disciplined, and what stood out most was their spirit of cooperation and teamwork.
Qin Chuan had never served in the military before, so he didn't know if other armies, like the Chinese or others, functioned the same way. But in the German army, it was common to encounter groups of scattered soldiers who didn't know each other's names or unit numbers, yet they could fight together seamlessly when needed. Their coordination was as smooth as if they had trained together in the same unit.
In other armies, such situations might have led to thoughts like:
"You're not my superior, so why should I follow your orders?"
"Whose unit gets the credit for this battle?"
"If the credit goes to your unit, why should we risk our lives for your benefit?"
But the German soldiers didn't concern themselves with such matters. On the march, the baker had ordered five scattered soldiers to join their unit and fight alongside them, and these five soldiers performed exceptionally well, especially a private named Werner.
Werner was particularly talkative and seemed to have a touch of hyperactivity, constantly fiddling with something in his hands—sometimes bullets, sometimes grenades.
"Hey, are you a sniper?" Werner asked, juggling three bullets like a circus clown.
"Yes," Qin Chuan replied.
"How many enemies have you killed?"
"I don't know," Qin Chuan said. "I haven't kept count."
In truth, Qin Chuan knew exactly how many enemies he had killed. He could even remember the faces of each one and the circumstances of their deaths. Later, Qin Chuan realized that this was because he hadn't killed enough people yet. As more enemies fell to his bullets, those memories would begin to blur.
"Hmm," Werner looked Qin Chuan up and down, noticing his lower rank. "This is the first time I've seen a private… Are you sure that sniper rifle isn't something you just picked up?"
"Don't doubt him," said the bear, who was cleaning his machine gun. He turned and smiled. "You can trust him. If you'd joined us earlier, you would have seen him blow up an entire building!"
"With his rifle?" Werner asked in disbelief. "How did he do that?"
"He just did," the bear replied.
Werner smiled but said nothing more.
Qin Chuan didn't initially understand what Werner was smiling about, but he later realized that Werner was itching for a challenge with him.
Werner was indeed impressive, as his ability to juggle bullets while conversing demonstrated his agility and quick reflexes. He played a crucial role when they encountered a stronghold consisting of two buildings.
It was at a T-junction, where the British had cleverly positioned their firepower. They had stationed several dozen soldiers in the buildings on either side of the junction, each with an anti-tank gun and several machine guns.
From the main street, the German soldiers couldn't see the British positions. At any given moment, if the Germans tried to attack one of the buildings, they would expose their flanks and rear to the other building's defenders. This was true even for the tanks.
As a result, the junction was littered with the bodies of German soldiers who had fallen in various postures, along with a destroyed Panzer III tank that had been hit from the rear by an anti-tank gun. The tank was still emitting thick, choking smoke.
"Friedrich!" the baker called out to Qin Chuan. "Can you suppress them?"
Qin Chuan glanced around and reluctantly replied, "Sergeant, their position is well-concealed. We won't be able to see them unless we bring down those two buildings."
The baker looked at the two adjacent buildings. Indeed, the British soldiers were hiding in the blind spots behind the buildings.
"so…" the baker mused, "Could we occupy those two buildings and engage them from there?"
"That's probably not a good idea," the bear said. "They have anti-tank guns, and they've removed everything in those buildings that could be used as cover. If we try that, we'll just become sitting ducks."
The bear was right; the British had clearly anticipated such a scenario and prepared accordingly.
The best option seemed to be demolishing the buildings completely, but even that wasn't an ideal solution.
"I have an idea," Werner said.
"What's your idea?" the baker asked.
But before the baker could finish, Werner, carrying a satchel charge, dashed out.
Machine-gun fire quickly erupted, but Werner miraculously avoided being hit.
It wasn't a miracle—Werner had chosen the right path. Instead of turning at the T-junction like others had, which had led to their deaths, he sprinted straight to the end of the street and darted into a small building between the two larger ones.
The British hadn't anticipated this move, and their fire was focused on the street, leaving the small building in a blind spot.
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