Chương 160: Chapter 159: War Wounds
"Commander, Soldier Brück is injured!"
At the sound of Noah's voice, it was clear that, tactically speaking, an 88mm anti-tank rocket launcher in Lynn's squad was obviously more important than an infrared night vision set. Confirming the safety of "Key Man", Lynn couldn't help but worry about the comfort of his comrade and former schoolmate. At this moment, the Soviet heavy tank in the front street was still spraying towards them with its rear-mounted machine gun, making it impossible for him to turn around and shoot. He had to replace the magazine, which still had seven or eight bullets left, and take off the pre-bound double magazine from the pouch on his right rib (the fixed-size pouch could only accommodate one magazine, so the double magazine could only insert one mostly, and the other would be attached outside the pouch), and calmly load it, pulling back the bolt and shouting through gritted teeth, "How bad is the injury?"
Noah immediately replied, "Shot in the lung!"
The lung? Lynn immediately had a very bad feeling: Brück's chances of survival were slim. In this era, the surgical level of major European and American countries was already quite good, but there were still not many ways to deal with lung trauma on the battlefield, especially in the harsh conditions of battlefield medical treatment. There were many cases of death due to lung infection, and personal willpower often didn't matter much at this time.
"Louie!" Lynn shouted loudly, "Can you help Lovoff stop the bleeding? We need Noah's anti-tank firepower!"
"Sure, no problem!" Helvich answered promptly.
"Noah! Noah!" Lynn shouted again, "We'll cover you, give that Russian wreck a shot!"
This time, the anti-tank gunner didn't answer. Lynn took out a reflector from his jacket pocket and leaned against the edge of the wall to take a look. The IS-2, which had been hit by a rocket, had moved forward from its previous position, and with the main gun turning back to the front, the angle of the rear machine gun was greatly restricted. The bullets could at most hit the rubble pile where Brühl was hiding. So, Lynn whispered the name of Wolfram, crouched down, and shot two bullets at the moving black shadow with his naked eyes. As a result, although the efficiency of single shots decreased, in the situation where there was already one less assault rifleman, they still maintained a relative firepower advantage over the Soviet soldiers on this side. After a moment, a rocket whizzed past with a strange whistling sound, its bright tail flame looking like a meteor streaking across the sky.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Lynn shouted retreat again, reluctantly but decisively. Having a casualty was secondary; conducting three rounds of rocket attacks from the same position was the maximum number he had anticipated beforehand. After all, the Soviet soldiers, with their manpower, equipment, and firepower, were in an absolute advantageous position on this battlefield. A slight delay might prompt the suppressed Soviet soldiers to call for artillery fire sufficient to blow up this German combat team, even if it was only heavy machine guns and mortars.
With dim vision, more and more dark red dots flew from the buildings on the side of the street, some off-target, some more accurately finding the ambushers. Concerned about lives, Lynn walked very cautiously. After giving the retreat order, he asked Wolfram to stop shooting and shot four bullets continuously from the right side of the wall toward the opposite side before pulling Wolfram back from the left side. They ran out two or three meters and immediately flashed into the rubble behind, keeping their heads and bodies as close to the ground as possible, moving sideways along the ruins using both hands and feet. They moved a distance horizontally along the ruins until they reached the collapsed building where Noah and the others had previously sheltered. From here, they could retreat through the central concave area of the ruins, but Lynn didn't retreat alone. Instead, he carefully climbed to Brück's previous observation position. Seeing Brühl slowly moving along the ruins from the other side, he immediately opened fire on the Soviet soldiers opposite until the enemy's bullets whistled over, then he decisively withdrew and waited until Brühl also withdrew before he lowly growled, "Quick, retreat quickly," and he himself was the last one to retreat from the ambush position.
Berlin was full of broken buildings and rubble. In the situation of city-wide power outage, Lynn and his soldiers walked safely through the inner blocks away from the firefight positions, entering one building after another, walking two to three hundred meters before finally easing their breaths.
Running a few steps while supporting Brück, Helvich ran back and forth a few steps, Lynn asked anxiously, "Hey, Louis, how is Lovoff?"
"Cough... cough..."
Helvich didn't speak, Brück's hard coughing was the answer.
"Brühl, watch backward and forward!" Lynn assigned simple action tasks and took Brück's shoulder from the other side, whispering, "Poor guy, how could he be so careless!"
"Cough... It's... luck... too bad!" Brück seemed to be smiling bitterly, he barely took steps, leaning towards Lynn, but only his helmet bumped against Lynn's.
"Don't worry, we'll take you to the field hospital!" This was the most reluctant but necessary comfort Lynn had to say. It wasn't a kind lie; it was just that many times the wounded didn't make it to the moment it could be fulfilled.
Brück didn't answer, coughing and either struggling to breathe or continuing to smile bitterly.
Listening to the intermittent gunfire, Lynn and his team remained vigilant and formed a loose formation to protect the anti-tank shooter and the wounded. Lynn estimated the distance and direction in his mind, feeling it was safe enough. He decided to change direction and head south toward the direction of the center of Berlin along an inconspicuous alley. Originally, he intended to return to the position where "Tiger King" and most of the soldiers were defending in one go. However, after walking about a hundred meters, Brück suddenly coughed violently, accompanied by slight convulsions. Stopping to support Brück to sit against the wall, Lynn looked up at Wolfram and said, "Gordon, go ahead and scout the road. If you encounter our own people, it's best to ask them to bring a stretcher!"
As the coughing eased slightly, Brück sighed, "Uh... I really want to go home!"
"It'll be okay! You'll go home, sooner or later!" Lynn said as he took out a flashlight. He let Brühl watch from a high point and then opened the flashlight to check Brück's injuries. The poor man's clothes on his chest had been soaked with blood, leaving a small bullet hole on the "Vampire" assault team's combat uniform specifically designed for Brück.
Perhaps the wound was intensely painful, Brück gritted his teeth, but when Lynn stuffed the hemostatic cotton into the wound, he still cried out in pain.
"Well done!" Lynn praised insincerely— he would rather be inactive than see such a hero in pain.
Brück coughed again, and when Lynn took the flashlight back from Helvich, the light happened to sweep across his pale face.
"Let's go... Don't delay everyone!" Brück gritted his teeth, but he had no strength to stand up on his own.
Lynn firmly rejected this proposal, "Rest for a while longer!"
The sound of gunfire continued to echo in their ears, indicating that the two "Tiger Kings" were still holding on to the fight. As for their situation, Lynn had done everything he could. The rest was up to the tankers themselves to fight against fate.
A few minutes later, Wolfram ran back from the front, followed by two "big-eared helmets" carrying rifles and submachine guns. Seeing their postures, Lynn knew they were just old soldiers temporarily brought in to help, not medical soldiers capable of saving Brück's life. Fortunately, Noah and another soldier spontaneously found a barely usable broken door panel from the ruins. The four of them each carried one corner, and everyone took turns to rush forward. Along the way, Lynn suddenly remembered a scene often seen in TV dramas: after someone was injured, relatives rushed along with the stretcher to the operating room, then the red light came on, and bystanders were forbidden to enter. Life and death were at the mercy of the plot— at this moment, how he wished he were that god who controlled everything, instantly making his intimate comrade jump off the stretcher and a group of people immediately returning to the battlefield to beat up the Soviets who outnumbered them. But reality was cruel, a while ago, Brück coughed from time to time, but by the time they crossed the next intersection, he had quieted down.
Lynn quickly reached out to feel his breathing and pulse. There was still a glimmer of life, but the situation was already very dangerous.
The further forward they went, the successive bursts of gunfire were left behind. Lynn had never expected to leave the battlefield where the Tiger King and the IS-2 had collided in such a way. He really wanted to see the confrontation between the kings of this era on land, but he obviously put comradeship and the image of heavy loyalty in a more important position. About twenty minutes later, they finally arrived at the next defensive position that had not been attacked by the Soviets— the last line of defense on the east bank of the Spree River. Because of the rescue of the critically wounded, they were allowed to pass through the last bridge section of the river to enter Berlin's famous Museum Island, where the largest field hospital in the 4th defense zone was set up. Passing through this small island, which was not large but had many museums, memorials, and monuments, they entered the central urban area of Berlin. The street under the Bodhi tree was in sight, and on both sides of the street stood several buildings such as the National Library, the National Opera House, the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, and the Army Library. The endpoint was the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of German victory. From there, the Reichstag building, the Imperial Chancellor's Office, and various ministries were concentrated within a few kilometers.
After sending Brück to the field hospital, Lynn and his soldiers suddenly turned around and found that the Soviets had advanced very close to the heart of Berlin. As long as an ordinary T-34 raised its barrel to fire, it might have a chance to hit directly on the bunker where Adolf Hitler was hiding. This sounded interesting, but for the countless German soldiers and civilians who were entrenched in this city, it was a piece of news sufficient to destroy their will to resist.
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