บท 102: Chapter 102 Reverse Thinking
In the instant they jumped back into the ditch, Lynn felt a long-lost sense of survival surge within him. However, facing the approving gazes of his comrades, the "show" had to go on. Even though he clearly saw his two comrades return to the ditch ahead of him, in order to demonstrate his concern for his close comrades, he anxiously shouted their names at the top of his voice.
Due to the explosion occurring too close to the road, the two young soldiers who entered the reserve unit simultaneously experienced temporary deafness. It was only after their comrades reminded them that they stood up and assured Lynn of their safety. Lynn nodded encouragingly at them and then shouted loudly towards the soldiers around him, especially towards Sergeant Eric, the squad leader, who was at the front: "Retreat, quickly retreat! Head east!"
The western area was under their control, but the leading ten or more T-34 tanks of the Soviet artillery convoy had already turned around and were advancing towards them while firing. If Lynn and his team went west, they would easily be intercepted by the Soviet tanks on the way. The only option was to retreat to the east, taking advantage of the cover of darkness to evade the enemy's pursuit.
Actually, before Lynn shouted, Eric had already ordered a retreat to the east according to the plan. However, he didn't have a naturally loud voice, and the intense gunfire and successive explosions hindered the verbal commands from reaching the rear of the squad in time. Consequently, a considerable number of soldiers heard Lynn's shouts instead. Nevertheless, despite the chaotic circumstances, the German soldiers retreated hastily but not in confusion along the ditch to the east. Lynn only followed after Brouck and Frins had run past him. Fortunately, the Soviet artillery unit had limited combat soldiers, and being suddenly ambushed in the open, they were unable to organize a large-scale pursuit force in a short time, with only about half of the tanks and several dozen soldiers advancing cautiously towards the ditch. This cautious approach, which was logical, gave the German night assault team the opportunity to escape!
Forty minutes later, as the intense sound of cannons and explosions from behind gradually faded, the soldiers in front of the column finally slowed their pace. Although Lynn was also panting, he still straightened his body as much as possible and looked back calmly. Judging by their marching speed, they had left the ambush site at least seven or eight kilometers behind. The Soviet tank shells had ceased to "follow" long ago, and now they could still see the flames on the other side of the road. It seemed that the Soviets had only managed to push the burning trucks off to the side of the road but were too busy to extinguish the flames. As for the sound of cannons and explosions, judging from the intensity, it seemed to be coming from a more distant location.
Lübeck walked to Lynn's side, panting, and said, "Has the Soviet attack started?"
Lynn turned to his comrade, and their previous battle experience had subtly changed the way his comrade looked at him—exactly the effect Lynn wanted. Then, he spoke with an air of righteousness, "Fortunately, we launched an ambush first. Hopefully, our unit was prepared for defense after hearing the explosions!"
"With such a loud noise, they shouldn't remain indifferent!"
This voice came from behind, and Lynn quickly turned around, assuming the position of attention— the most basic etiquette for subordinates facing superiors.
"I didn't misjudge you, Lynn!" Sergeant Eric looked at Lynn admiringly, "Your judgment was very accurate! Well done!"
In the East, modest words were necessary; in the West, modesty was sometimes unnecessary. Lynn raised his head slightly, straightened his chest, and calmly accepted his superior's praise.
"Now... Lynn, what do you think our next move should be?"
This was a question that commanders often faced and often agonized over. Lynn had considered many options along the way, but by now, he had made up his mind: "Continue forward!"
"Continue forward?" Sergeant Eric's tone was not certain.
Lynn analyzed calmly, "If we turn back now, although we still have a chance to find and attack that Soviet artillery unit, their vigilance should have been significantly heightened after the ambush, and those tanks are something we simply can't deal with!"
"Should we continue ambushing along this road?" Eric asked again. Although the previous battle was hasty, the achievements of a night raid team of just over fifty people were quite remarkable.
When an ordinary person tastes success in one thing, the first reaction is to try it again, but on the battlefield, often the opposite is true—do what the enemy doesn't expect you to do!
With this in mind, Lynn succinctly replied, "After the armored units and artillery, what will come next is the infantry units and supply convoys!"
After hearing Lynn's inconclusive words, Eric easily inferred his meaning. He nodded approvingly and shouted, "Continue forward!"
Unlike in some ordinary units where there were mixed old and weak soldiers, only elite soldiers were selected for the "Vampire" assault team, and the over forty soldiers transferred from the "Nordic" division were all young soldiers. A brief rest in place was enough for them to recover their strength, and everyone returned to formation promptly. After walking for about two kilometers, they arrived at a small river with a north-south orientation and a width of over two meters. This area was still traditional German territory, so the assault team had detailed terrain information in advance. Eric first dispatched a group of "Night Warriors" equipped with infrared night vision gear to cross the river, set up vigilance on the opposite bank, and then the main force quickly crossed the river in three columns.
"Look! That's Kapoka Village. There are Soviet outposts on the outskirts, and there are cars in the village. It seems... the Soviets have set up a field command post for some unit here!"
After observing alternately with ordinary military binoculars and infrared night vision devices, and studying the map, Eric expressed his thoughts to his two deputies—Sergeant Enric and Lynn.
Hearing the name Kapoka, Lynn couldn't help but think of Pokajie. It was the classic battle belonging to the Tiger King Wittmann, where he commanded four Tiger tanks and one Panzer IV tank to send over fifty British tanks and armored vehicles to destruction, also earning himself the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross personally awarded by the Führer. Unfortunately, that was more than half a year ago. At that time, Germany, although also fighting on two fronts, had not completely lost hope of victory. Today, Wittmann already lay in an unnamed place near Caen in France, and Germany's situation was nearing its end.
Putting aside these heavy thoughts, Lynn spoke up, "Are you suggesting we launch an attack on it tonight?"
After receiving Eric's affirmative gesture, Sergeant Enric also expressed clear agreement.
"Although the enemy's command post is the best target for a night raid, but... it seems like the weather tonight is not favoring us!" The moonlight Lynn referred to would not interfere with the operation of the infrared night vision device but provided the opponent with a certain observation distance. It should be noted that the maximum effective range of the "Vampire" night vision device carried by infantry was less than 200 meters, and the infrared searchlight installed on vehicles was 400 meters, so the darker the better. As for the previous ambush of the Soviet artillery unit on the roadside, such a battle did not use the infrared night vision device at all, so there was no such problem.
Immediately after, Lynn turned to the west and said, "The Soviets are launching an attack on our defense lines. Presumably, all supply points and transportation hubs are operating like gears. The operational significance of any target is probably not inferior to the heavily guarded command post. I think we should patiently look for a more secure target!"
Thinking that this statement also made sense, Eric looked at his first deputy, "What do you think?"
Although very friendly to the newly arrived second deputy, Enric answered with a pragmatic attitude, "Our time is limited, and the soldiers' energy is also limited. If we bypass it and continue to search forward, we don't know when we will find a new target! After all... we just fought a battle!"
With the opinions of the two assistants conflicting, Eric frowned and thought for a moment, then picked up the binoculars and observed for a while before turning to Lynn, "Personally, I also lean towards swift and decisive action!"
Since both Eric and Enric thought so, Lynn had to choose to obey.
In terms of specific battle arrangements, Lynn didn't say much and completely followed the deployment of Sergeant Eric, but he still carefully pondered the intention behind these battle instructions in order to accumulate more battlefield experience for himself.
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