บท 150: Chapter 149: The Great Gunner, The Great Battle
Wrapped in a large group of soldiers, constantly retreating, and hindered by comrades in front of him, Lynn didn't even have the opportunity to fire his gun. At this moment, he finally experienced what it meant to be "irresistible."
Finally retreating from the ruined building, the particles of dust floating in the air greatly reduced. Lynn breathed heavily, almost unconsciously turning back to look around. Instantly, he saw his six subordinates - Wolfram, Bruck, Brul, Tanz, Techmell, and Noah - all staring at him. Although their eyes were filled with panic and helplessness, they still waited for his orders. Lynn's chaotic mind suddenly became clear.
"I am the commander, the spiritual leader of these brothers. As long as I am here, they will not become 'lonely souls' on this battlefield!"
"Brothers!"
Lynn roared with all his might.
Six pairs of eyes were all focused on the same person, and their backward steps slowed down accordingly.
Backing straight away may not always be the wisest choice. Once the enemy's tanks and infantry rush past the ruined building, they will inevitably mow down the exposed German soldiers with a hail of bullets. Glancing around, after the intense battle, the defensive fortifications around the street block had been attacked by Soviet artillery. Only one of the two anti-tank guns with four-legged mounts, the Flak 88, was still in action. Across a distance of more than ten meters, he saw behind the large gun shield three gunners, one carrying ammunition, one opening the breech, and one manually adjusting the traverse wheel, the thick barrel slowly turning towards the ruined building.
In the blink of an eye, Lynn made a judgment - a judgment without any room for regret. Shouting "follow me," he strode towards the Flak 88.
There was a debris pile about twenty meters behind where they could temporarily take cover, just slightly farther than the path to the gun position, but without asking why or considering, the six Waffen-SS soldiers followed Lynn without hesitation.
Crossing this distance at a sprint, Lynn dodged into the sandbagged gun emplacement. There were already five or six corpses lying behind, with at most Mauser 98k rifles beside them, indicating that they were gunners who had fallen earlier.
Lifting the submachine gun against the sandbag, Lynn saw Soviet infantry rushing out of the ruined building. These guys saw that most of the retreating Germans were in front of them, so they immediately opened fire with their submachine guns, while the gunfire from inside the building had not completely subsided. Seeing his soldiers retreating into the gun emplacement, Lynn didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. In a rapid fire mode, he fired five or six bullets in a very short time. Those Soviet soldiers who only saw the "feast" in front of them hadn't even thought about the gun emplacement. They were immediately taken down by Lynn, and Wolfram and Bruck, who reacted relatively quickly, also opened fire. By the time Lynn fired the second burst, the first group of seven or eight Soviet soldiers who rushed out of the ruins had already fallen.
However, before Lynn and his team could catch their breath, they saw a gray-painted iron monster charging out of the ruins, followed by a second group of more than ten Soviet infantry!
In the blink of an eye, the 88mm gun roared. Without time to blink, Lynn saw the Soviet T-34 charging out of the ruins being hit by the direct shot. At a distance of less than twenty meters, the high kinetic energy of the shell almost stopped it in its tracks. Unlike the hollow charge armor-piercing shells fired by infantry anti-tank rocket launchers, the German heavy anti-tank guns mainly used more mature technology - capped armor-piercing shells and tungsten armor-piercing shells in the later stages of the war. The latter had better effects, but the manufacturing cost and reliance on rare metals limited their large-scale use on the battlefield. Capped armor-piercing shells had no such concerns. The real killing part of the shell had pierced the armor - a black hole appeared on the side front of the T-34's turret, and several Soviet infantrymen on that side were knocked down by the fragments. Lynn was somewhat stunned. Until now, he hadn't instinctively reacted to the old veteran Wolfram's shout of "good." He realized that the Soviet tank that had been so menacing just seconds ago had been killed instantly.
The T-34 coasted nearly a meter before coming to a stop, its gun barrel drooping, but there were still several Soviet infantrymen on its other side. These seasoned soldiers would not rush out recklessly to their deaths. Some fired at the German Flak 88 position, while others seemed to be climbing onto the tank to help the possible surviving crew members. But at this moment, the retreating German soldiers from the front also opened fire from their new temporary position. Accompanied by the roaring of the MG-42, a series of bullets swept over, knocking down several Soviet soldiers. At this moment, three German soldiers even emerged from the ruined building. Although they were extremely panicked, they still instinctively fired a few shots at the Soviet infantry, completely ending the lives of these fast-running Russian "birds."
The immediate threat in sight was temporarily relieved, but the battlefield, which changed in an instant, was still full of crises. The enemy's tanks would not simply come out one by one to be shot, especially since the Soviet forces on the front of the street block had not stopped their attack efforts. Lynn adjusted his assault rifle to semi-automatic mode while turning his head to look at the three men in the gun position. They were still working according to their previous division of labor - one carried ammunition from the wooden ammo box, one opened the breech to eject the spent shell, and one adjusted the gun barrel by turning the traverse wheel. Lynn didn't realize until now that this gunner was the sergeant of the army who had pulled him out of the manhole when he emerged in the morning. The dirt on his face couldn't hide his youth and vitality, and the blood flowing down his right temple and cheek added a touch of heroic toughness.
Thinking that the Soviet tanks that charged through the ruins might not be so easily dealt with now, Lynn suddenly had a bright idea and shouted to the gunner, "Raise the gun barrel and blast the porch!"
When he shouted the first time, the young and spirited army sergeant didn't realize that the Waffen-SS officer was speaking to him - long hours at the gun position had also affected his hearing. When Lynn urgently shouted the second time, almost everyone in the ruined building could hear him, and the army sergeant turned his head in confusion. After a moment, he realized it, and quickly turned the steel wheel, raising the gun barrel slowly.
Hating that the reaction speed of this manual mode was not fast enough, Lynn couldn't help. Considering the distance, the three National Defense soldiers who had just retreated from the ruins ran to Lynn's side. The circular gun position was roughly divided into two layers, although theoretically it could accommodate ten gunners and several combat soldiers, when more than a dozen people crowded inside, people couldn't help but worry about the terrible casualties caused by a shell hitting.
Accompanied by the muffled rumble of the engine and the grating friction noise of the tracks rolling, the second T-34 finally burst forth from the undulating rubble at the base of the derelict building. Not only were there several Soviet infantrymen flanking it, but there were also two crouched on the rear of the turret, wielding **. The entrance of this Soviet tank was quite spectacular. Just as the front half emerged from the swirling dust, the turret, along with the barrel, had already swung towards Lynn and his men's side. Without waiting for the flak88 to speak, the deadly 85mm tank gun roared with a resounding "thud". In an instant, more than half of the German soldiers on the gun position were terrified. Perhaps it was saved by the broken steps in front of the ruined building, or perhaps the Soviet gunner was disturbed by his own anxiousness. This shot was as unbelievable as a professional footballer kicking the ball out of bounds in the penalty area. The shell actually flew over the heads of the German soldiers and landed more than thirty meters away.
Seeing the unexpected mistake of the opponent, Lynn was genuinely frightened, realizing that despite his rudimentary training in artillery at the "Vampire" assault camp, the real combat in front of him was not something he could handle easily. So, while calmly picking off the Soviet infantrymen attacking with the tank, he prayed that the handsome German gunner behind him could hold his nerve and hit the target with one shot. But he couldn't help but worry: this guy mustn't lose his composure and end up firing directly at the Soviet tank at this critical moment—doing so would be akin to the goalkeeper's "butterfingers" on the field, risking the lives of everyone present for a long shot.
Four shots hit three Soviet infantrymen, and Lynn himself narrowly avoided being hit by bullets from the enemy. Finally, amidst his prayers, Lynn heard the flak88 roar again. Without looking up, he saw the shell hit the doorway between the first and second floors of the derelict building. This large chunk of concrete, originally supported between two shaky columns, collapsed directly from the direct hit, bringing down both columns. One completely collapsed, and the other tilted halfway, perfectly blocking the space where the two T-34s had charged out before.
Although this only temporarily slowed down the Soviet tank's charge out of the ruined building, Lynn felt a huge relief. Immediately, he shouted, "Noah!"
One Soviet tank after another charged out of the ruined building. The anti-tank shooter, who had received special training, had already hoisted the 88mm infantry anti-tank rocket launcher on his shoulder. He waited only for Lynn's command without a moment's hesitation and directly fired a rocket at the Soviet tank, which was more than twenty meters away!
Seeing the bright tail flames and grey-white smoke trailing behind the spindle-shaped weapon speeding towards the T-34, Lynn's heart leaped with joy, and his hands clenched the assault rifle slightly tremblingly. Although this directly resulted in the next shot being fired into the air, it had no effect on the situation. The rocket hit the turret and hull junction of the Soviet tank, which was one of the most fatal weaknesses among the five weaknesses of tanks. The explosion immediately caused serious casualties among the accompanying Soviet infantrymen, and once their protected tank lost its combat capability, the fate of these infantrymen would become very bleak in the face of the enemy's nearby positions.
"Well done, Noah! Well done!" Lynn's praise burst out like the suppressed emotions. The more he experienced the bitter struggle, the more he felt that the battlefield was a place where extremes of human behavior were played out. Silence only led to greater oppression and even collapse, while release and eruption were more suitable ways of decompression for normal people.
"Hey!" Noah grinned bitterly. "Captain, it's the last shot!"
"It's okay, Noah, well done!" Lynn immediately comforted— he knew very well that this was the last rocket, and he often calculated in his mind how much ammunition his men had left. He turned sideways, scanning each subordinate. Regardless of their performance in the recent battle, they had exceeded his expectations, giving him more confidence in the road ahead.
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