Chapitre 110: Chapter 110 Absolute Command
According to an unwritten tradition, if heroes on the battlefield were to receive an audience with the Führer and be awarded the Medal of Valor, the accompanying reward would be dining at the same table as the Führer. Even as the war drew to a close, this reward was still upheld. However, it was said that due to his bad mood, the Führer did not appear at the banquet, and Lynn did not see the faces of Army Kettler and SS officer Hausser again. Instead, there was only a Major General named Wilke at the table, who appeared to be quite old, probably close to or already past retirement age, hence relegated to more administrative duties in the rear.
Compared to the banquet halls of the Imperial Chancellor's Office, the officer's mess hall located in the underground bunker had nothing special to boast about, but it hadn't degraded to the level of being crude and unsophisticated. The variety of food on the table was not extensive, but it was the first time Lynn had tasted authentic high-end Western cuisine. The dishes cooked by the "official" chef were fragrant, tender, and flavorful, far surpassing what could be found in cheap Western restaurants or military mess halls.
After the meal, Lynn and several other wounded SS officers were led to another hall. There, SS General Hafner presented them with the Wounded in Action Medal, but apart from a perfunctory word of encouragement, the general didn't say much. It seemed that as the war approached its end, all ceremonies related to achievements had become purely formal.
After this, Lynn left Berlin for Brandenburg to recuperate from his injuries. However, after just two days, he received a military order requiring him to hurry to Oranienburg north of Berlin. There, to his surprise, he met Lawrence Bach.
Standing once again before the dashing leader of the "Vampires," Lynn felt as if he had met a long-lost relative. Unlike the life-and-death dependence he had on "Butcher," he saw Bach as a wise leader, a strong protector, and a straightforward and kind elder brother.
This time, Bach already had a silver star on his shoulder, indicating that he had been gloriously promoted to SS Colonel. As for Lynn, who had personally killed dozens of Soviet soldiers and been personally praised by the Führer, he was still a "reserve corporal" between a non-commissioned officer and a soldier. Promotions and battlefield promotions were still just legends to him.
There were no pleasantries, no greetings; the two men tacitly chose the most straightforward way of communication. Bach took out a grass-colored envelope from his pocket and handed it to Lynn, saying, "They're all fine!"
There was no letter in the envelope, just a black-and-white photo less than six inches in size.
The White Goatbeard family was still dressed as they were when they parted. The elder still looked calm, with no trace of happiness or sadness on his face. Alice still looked pretty, even more so in the photo, but there was still a hint of melancholy in her eyes. Little Carol stood in front of her mother, seemingly not used to being photographed or perhaps because the sunlight was too bright, she frowned, her youthful face showing vivid expressions.
After scrutinizing the small photo for a while, Lynn remembered to thank Bach.
The 23-year-old SS Colonel nodded solemnly, "I have another piece of news for you: you're about to become a commander. But that's not good news—we're in increasingly dire straits!"
This statement puzzled Lynn. Having his own unit was something he had been eagerly anticipating, even if it was smaller in size and lower in quality, it should still be good news!
One reluctant to ask, one reluctant to say more, but the mystery was soon "naturally" revealed. It turned out that Bach's appearance was not coincidental. As the commander of the "Vampire" assault team, he had come specifically to attend the establishment ceremony of the 4th "Night Assault Combat Group." Following the call to "turn Berlin into the enemy's grave" proposed by the Führer, Heinrich Himmler, the highest commander of the SS, ordered the formation of one thousand "elite anti-tank demolition teams," one thousand "elite infantry sniper teams," and two hundred "elite night combat teams" equipped specifically for urban guerrilla warfare, in order to deplete the enemy's forces with a resolute urban defense battle and turn the upcoming Battle of Berlin into Germany's "Battle of Moscow Defense."
With the orders from the Imperial heads, commands naturally had to be executed without compromise. With the establishment of the 4th "Night Assault Combat Group" equipped with 50 night combat teams, the "Vampire" assault team had successfully completed its mission under extremely difficult conditions. Although Lynn was honored to be selected and appointed as the commander of one of the combat teams, he couldn't muster much joy. If the scale was only one-third of a regular night assault squad, his team, numbered 167, hardly qualified as "elite."
Among the four soldiers, none had night combat experience as seasoned members of assault teams. Two soldiers came from the SS "Imperial" Division, although they had fought on the front lines, they were both discharged early due to injuries. The other two soldiers were selected directly from the SS reserve, receiving only a few weeks of training in second-rate training camps, not even meeting the standard of an ordinary soldier, yet they were somehow selected for the night combat unit!
Despite feeling disappointed, Lynn knew that Bach's move was indeed an unavoidable one. If seasoned veterans were directly drawn from various night assault teams at this time, even if each combat team was assigned two people, the formidable "Vampire" assault team would directly fall into a state of nominal existence. How could they dispatch groups of "night warriors" to conduct night assault missions?
At least soldiers were still soldiers, better than civilians who were old, weak, sick, and disabled. Lynn consoled himself in this way, and his mindset calmed down. After the establishment ceremony, he led his soldiers to receive the corresponding equipment and ammunition from the quartermaster. The infrared night vision device was naturally the tactical core of this "elite night combat team." As the only member who had received professional training in night combat, Lynn unavoidably took on the heavy responsibility. However, due to his arm injury, the entire set of equipment was temporarily carried and kept by Private Gordon Wolfroom. This soldier, who served in the SS for 13 months and was wounded twice, was less than five feet and seven inches tall, relatively short among Europeans, but quite robust. When he reported for duty, he was equipped with an outdated mp38 submachine gun, which was then handed over to Private Anton Graf. Graf, who served in the SS for seven months, had a slight sequelae on his arm from his first injury—his left hand couldn't be raised to shoulder height without external force, and his flexibility was greatly reduced.
Given the lower requirements for strength and stability, Graf was given the mp38, while he handed his original sniper rifle with a scope to Private Marcus Tanzler. This newcomer from Swabia was only 17 years old this year. If it were in an era with the Labor Protection Law, such behavior might be suspected of employing child labor. Fortunately, this child developed early, and now he stood at five feet and nine inches tall. Although he was slightly thin, when he put on his helmet, wore his uniform, and held his rifle, he looked the part.
Finally, the primitive and simple Mauser 98k bolt-action rifle was handed to 16-year-old Private Karl Tichmer. He had a doll-like blond hair and a youthful face, but he was undoubtedly a little handsome. However, he spoke softly and timidly, always with a shy expression, and often liked to hide behind Marcus Tanzler.
Despite the severe shortage of firearms, the ammunition issued to each night combat team this time was quite abundant. Lynn's combat team received three boxes of ammunition in total, including 7.92mm standard bullets, 7.92mm intermediate power bullets, 9mm pistol bullets, m43 hand grenades (with a fuse at the top), and m39 egg-shaped hand grenades. In addition, the quartermaster specially gave Lynn a slightly smaller wooden box filled with 7.63mm pistol bullets, which were difficult to replenish on the battlefield.
After carrying the ammunition back to the temporary camp, Lynn gave the order, and the four soldiers lined up neatly. Although this was a combat team smaller than an ordinary infantry squad, the feeling of giving orders still made Lynn feel exhilarated. In such a team, with the huge advantages of rank, experience, and prestige, he undoubtedly had absolute command as the commander, and the soldiers each had their own strengths. Next, it would depend on whether he could be a "magical coach" and train them into qualified and even outstanding German soldiers in the shortest possible time.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone