Capítulo 23: Shortcut
"I've won!" Kuhn declared, his voice calm and controlled. "Six shots in the nine-ring. Do you want to go again?"
"How did you do that?" Qin Chuan asked, bewildered.
Kuhn didn't answer immediately. Instead, he calmly reloaded his rifle with a magazine, then pulled out a single bullet from his ammunition pouch and held it up for Qin Chuan to see before sliding it into the chamber. The realization dawned on Qin Chuan—despite the standard five-round capacity, the K98K could be loaded with a sixth round in the chamber. This was a crucial advantage for a sniper, especially when facing British soldiers armed with the ten-round Enfield rifles.
Qin Chuan accepted his defeat with grace. Rather than feeling discouraged, he actually felt more confident—knowing the K98K could hold six rounds meant that the difference between it and the ten-round Enfield wasn't as significant as he'd thought.
The rations for the next two days remained the same: bread and roasted potatoes, a diet Qin Chuan had become accustomed to, though it always left him feeling somewhat hungry due to the limited supply.
But good news finally arrived on the evening of the second day: a supply convoy had reached Agdabia.
This was thanks to the Italian forces capturing the port of Brega just ten hours earlier.
The North African theater had a unique characteristic: both the British and the German-Italian forces had to import supplies from outside Africa. The continent was too impoverished to support an army of over a hundred thousand men, and beyond basic provisions, everything from ammunition to fuel had to be brought in from elsewhere.
The British brought supplies from their colony in India, across the Indian Ocean, through the Gulf of Aden, into the Red Sea, and then via the Suez Canal, which they controlled, to the front lines. Sometimes, they risked shipping supplies directly from Britain across the Mediterranean, as India couldn't provide everything the British forces needed.
For the Germans and Italians, supplies came across the Mediterranean from Italy to Libya.
This made the capture of coastal ports critically important for both sides. For example, before the capture of Brega, the German-Italian forces had to bring supplies into the ports of Sirte or even as far as Tripoli, and then truck them over hundreds of miles to the front lines.
Those "hundreds of miles" were across desert terrain, where convoys consumed vast amounts of water and fuel, all while being vulnerable to British air attacks.
The capture of Brega changed this dynamic: supply ships could now unload directly at Brega, and convoys had only a short distance to transport goods to Agdabia. This not only reduced the journey length but also minimized fuel consumption and the risk of air attacks.
That evening, dinner was noticeably better. In addition to the usual bread and potatoes, there were honey and jam, and the bread portions were doubled. As Qin Chuan and his comrades devoured their food, the mess unit even roasted sausages over the fire, the rich aroma filling the air. Any reluctance Qin Chuan had once felt toward sausages had long disappeared—hunger had a way of making anything appetizing.
Qin Chuan reflected that anyone who claimed they couldn't eat something or were picky had simply never truly experienced hunger. Once you've felt the gnawing pain of an empty stomach, even the thought of starvation... you might find yourself willing to eat anything, even something as unthinkable as human flesh.
It's a grim truth about human nature, but also a brutal reality.
"Those Italians finally did something right!" Big Bear mumbled through a mouthful of sausage. "They actually managed to take Brega..."
"Do you really think they defeated the British?" the baker retorted. "After we captured Agdabia, the British at Brega either retreated or were surrounded by us!"
"You mean..." Big Bear wiped the grease from his mouth. "You're saying the British abandoned Brega? But that's not what the Italians said..."
Earlier, Big Bear had chatted with some of the Italians from the supply convoy.
"Oh, come on!" Werner laughed. "We finally have someone here who believes the Italians!"
The German soldiers erupted in laughter.
Only Kuhn remained composed, methodically tearing his bread into pieces and placing them in his mouth, bit by bit.
After the laughter died down, Kuhn spoke up, "Get some rest tonight and prepare to move out."
"Move out?" The men were taken aback, turning their gaze to Kuhn.
Qin Chuan, however, understood what Kuhn meant. The Germans had halted at Agdabia due to supply shortages. Now that a closer supply line had been secured and supplies were adequate, it was time to resume the pursuit of the British.
Qin Chuan also realized something else: the British had been retreating for two days. If the Germans wanted to catch up, they would need to take a shortcut...
A glance at the map revealed the situation. Ahead lay Cyrenaica, where the coastline along the Mediterranean formed an "S" shape.
As previously mentioned, in the North African theater, armies typically marched close to the coast, not only because that's where the only road, the "Via Balbia," was located, but also because proximity to the coast made resupply easier.
Both the Axis and British forces followed this practice.
The British had been retreating along the "S" curve of the coastline. If the Germans, who were two days behind, wanted to catch up, they couldn't simply follow the British along the coast; they would need to take a more direct route, a shortcut.
But that was easier said than done. Taking the direct route meant venturing deep into the desert, far from the coastline and its essential supply lines.
The thought of the entire force marching into the desolate, scorching desert sent a chill down Qin Chuan's spine... Faced with the choice, he would rather die in battle or from hunger than die of thirst.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Captain Three-Fingers Basil began distributing equipment and supplies to each platoon. These supplies included an extra thirty rounds of ammunition, about five days' worth of bread and a few roasted potatoes, and an additional canteen.
Another canteen... Every soldier already carried one, but now they were being issued a second.
There was no need to explain what this was for—it was to carry extra water in preparation for venturing into the desert.
The atmosphere immediately grew heavy.
The soldiers had been fighting in the desert long enough to know what it meant to go deeper into it. Carrying an extra canteen wouldn't solve the problem; that water would likely be gone in less than a day.
After a long silence, Werner finally spoke, "I hope we have enough trucks so we can carry enough water and food!"
"We don't have many trucks," the baker replied. "And even if we did, they wouldn't save us... Trucks need fuel and water too, and they break down easily in the heat. Worse, they could expose us to British air attacks!"
The soldiers fell silent again, realizing that the baker was right.
Only Kuhn remained unfazed, sitting by the fire, tearing his bread into small pieces and eating them slowly, one by one.
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