Chapter 47: Objective
Continuing to advance through the woods at a pace almost resembling a stroll, Lynn found himself trekking for a considerable amount of time. Unlike during retreats, he wasn't plagued by deep fatigue this time. Instead, his spirit grew increasingly alert, and even his stomach seemed to cooperate. Throughout this lengthy journey, he intentionally moved closer to those "night warriors" clad in dark attire, silently observing their behavior. Despite the tall officer occasionally checking his watch, there was never a moment when he pulled out a map or compass to verify the direction. The large box on his back looked quite heavy, yet he never stopped to rest or let his comrades take over for a moment.
The distant sound of artillery continued intermittently, indicating that the Soviets had no intention of letting the German defenders across the river enjoy peace at night. Lynn wondered about the German tanks he had seen while passing through the woods by car earlier and speculated whether their forces would launch a river crossing counterattack tonight. If so, then the task of this infantry squad would likely involve conducting harassment and sabotage operations behind Soviet lines. If not, then the mission was likely within the scope Lynn had previously speculated about.
As they continued walking, the tall officer finally slowed his pace and raised his left hand, prompting the dispersed group to halt. A "night warrior" carrying a large box hurried over from the front and whispered something to him. After listening, the officer did not nod or shake his head but instead waved his left hand. The scattered troops began to move again, this time deliberately moving slowly. Their steps were light, and their entire posture from neck to tailbone was carefully bent, each person appearing particularly cautious.
Still in a state of "deaf drama," Lynn could only follow suit and lower his head and bend his waist like his companions. Although there were no obvious sources of light ahead at this moment, the change in light could still be felt by the naked eye. After walking for about a hundred meters, Lynn finally saw the edge of the woods. A "night warrior" carrying a large box was squatting beside a tree, holding a rifle with a "large flashlight" attached to it and moving it left and right, his eyes close to the specially designed sight.
The officer raised his left hand again, signaling the soldiers to stop about ten to twenty meters from the edge of the woods, while he alone proceeded forward. Lynn took a few extra steps forward, observing as the officer approached the soldier squatting beside the tree, standing next to him and raising his rifle in a similar horizontal motion. From Lynn's position, the fields outside the woods appeared dimly silver-gray, with no visible village buildings or discernible roads. In a moment, the officer put down his rifle, letting it naturally hang at his waist, then took out a map from the slung leather bag on his back. The starlight was not enough for him to make out the lines on the map clearly, so he squatted down and beckoned with his right hand. Two "night warriors" without large boxes quickly approached, unbuttoning their shirts and pulling them open with their hands, bending over in front of the officer to form a rough semi-encirclement. The officer placed the map on his knee, turned on a flashlight, took less than half a minute to examine it, then turned off the flashlight and looked out for a moment before putting the map away.
Even with Lynn's decent sense of direction, after walking in the woods for several hours, he had already lost his sense of direction. Unlike GPS, using a combat map required the user to compare it with the actual terrain to determine their position. This could frustrate 95% of women and 60% of men during the day, and leave more than 99% of men and women helpless at night.
Seeing the officer wave his left hand again, the soldiers stationed in the woods moved as if playing "red light, green light," all stepping forward almost simultaneously. Their pace remained slow, their backs bent like shrimps, and their stern and uneasy mood resembled a group of ghosts extremely fearful of sunlight, feeling restless as soon as they left the sheltered area.
With his Mauser 98k held horizontally, Lynn bent his body at a wide angle, a posture that quickly made his back ache. If he were to maintain it for a long time, he felt it would be more bearable to crawl like a dog. Despite this discomfort, he "bit the bullet" and lifted his head to survey the open field with his own eyes. The dry grass had long been buried under snow and mud, and despite the cold wind blowing, everything seemed frozen in place.
Not far ahead to the right was the road, its black silhouette resembling an endless serpent, devoid of any vehicles traversing it, and no visible signs of Soviet camps, positions, or prominent guard posts nearby. All of this made Lynn feel a mixture of freshness, curiosity, and unease. He couldn't shake the feeling that he shouldn't be walking so easily in an area under Soviet control, especially in such a vast wilderness. After walking for about ten minutes, he suddenly heard someone lightly shout, "Vorsicht!" ("Watch out!" in German).
Upon hearing perhaps his most familiar German word at the moment, Lynn quickly dropped to the ground, and the soldiers around him almost simultaneously completed the same action. Just moments after they all hit the ground, accompanied by a crisp sound, a dazzling light suddenly burst forth from the sky, instantly dispelling the darkness that had covered a large swath of the field. Following the trajectory of the illumination flare, the illuminated area on the ground quickly moved, as if God were shining a giant flashlight searching the ground, ultimately passing over the humble German soldiers lying prone — realizing that he was now exposed to the light, Lynn's heart was suddenly filled with panic: although the German soldiers were all lying down, how could they hide in this exposed field? It's over, it's over, this time it's definitely over! He didn't know whether he would die under the Russian artillery fire or be riddled with machine gun bullets. The next second, the next second, a barrage of gunfire would surely come raining down. Brothers, should we run? Running back to the woods might still offer a glimmer of hope!
Despite the panicked thoughts running through his mind, Lynn managed to maintain control and quickly got up to run back towards the woods. The expected gunfire didn't come, and as he cautiously lifted his head, he saw the light fading rapidly as the illumination flare fell, and there was no sign of Soviet artillery or combat troops in sight. It seemed that the illumination flare was simply released by the Soviets as part of a large-scale surveillance operation, with sentries likely using binoculars from a distant position to observe. As long as there were no enemy forces moving in this area, their surveillance objectives would be achieved. Moreover, this was not a flat and pristine snowfield; with patches of snow, mud, and undulating hills, at a distance, it was impossible to distinguish between lying people and spread-out mud.
It wasn't until the illumination flare completely extinguished that Lynn's heart, which had been mercilessly gripped, finally relaxed, but then he thought to himself: the Soviets may have detected something abnormal here and were still gathering artillery or combat troops. Temporary calm didn't mean the danger had passed, and the best course of action would be to leave this open wilderness area as soon as possible!
As if hearing Lynn's thoughts, the tall officer quickly got up as soon as the illumination flare faded, waving his left hand again. The fifty-strong unit moved forward again, each person involuntarily picking up their pace. After walking for about two kilometers, the officer used his right hand to roll up the sleeve of his left hand to check his watch, and once again called out lightly, "Vorsicht!"
Damn it!
Lynn muttered in his heart and quickly dropped to the ground. Sure enough, half a minute later, another illumination flare lit up, following roughly the same trajectory across the open field, and the light eventually disappeared into the wooded area.
Counting silently in his heart from the appearance to the extinction of the Soviet illumination flares, Lynn reached twenty-five.
The field was damp, the clear night sky unable to retain the heat from the daytime sunlight on the earth, making the temperature unusually low. After only lying down for a short while, Lynn felt the cold seeping through his clothes, affecting his chest, abdomen, and legs. Seeing the officer get up again and wave his hand, Lynn quickly got up, patting his clothes as he did so. Although this wouldn't immediately dry his clothes, it would at least reduce some of the absorbed moisture. Looking towards the chaotic distance, he realized that the Soviets were releasing illumination flares at specific intervals, and the "night warriors" who had scouted ahead had already figured out the pattern, allowing them to confidently and safely evade the long-range Soviet surveillance.
This process repeated four times, until the German squad finally crossed the field and entered another wooded area. Here, the pine trees resembled those displayed in European and American homes for Christmas, with symmetrical triangular shapes and a canopy of snow-white. The shrubs scattered at the edge of the forest resembled roadside landscape plantings. Upon entering the woods, everyone finally got a rare moment to catch their breath, and they instinctively slowed down their pace. This forest wasn't large; crossing it would only take two or three hundred meters. However, when the German soldiers reached the other side, the world before them was no longer cold and silent.
Jumping campfires, moving shadows, songs accompanied by accordions, and faintly discernible vehicles, "long-nosed" tanks, "neckless" assault guns, and rigid-lined trucks. In the distance, the abandoned village had clearly become a temporary camp for Soviet armored units.