Chapter 34: War Hero

As Logan arrived at the temporary headquarters of the Führer Guard with Stephenberg and four paratroopers still able to fight, there was only one four-wheeled armored vehicle with a circular antenna and a regular half-track armored vehicle left. Logan recognized from afar the officer standing on the wheeled armored vehicle named Marco Rost, one of Dietrich's staff officers, who had also served in the Wehrmacht and was said to have been transferred to the SS for some offense.

Seeing the running paratroopers, Rost shouted anxiously, "Hurry, Lieutenant, we've been waiting for you! Hurry up!"

Logan intended to make a light leap onto the vehicle, but he quickly realized he didn't have the agility for it and instead climbed up steadily. Since the vehicle could only seat three people, Stephenberg had to take the four paratroopers to sit in the back half-track.

Before the vehicle started moving, Logan caught sight of the bespectacled man also climbing onto the half-track armored vehicle. He was about to marvel at the paparazzi spirit of this era when the imminent explosion, fierce enough to split the earth at any moment, allowed no room for distraction.

"Hurry, head north!" Rost ordered the driver urgently.

The grass field where the "White Stork" reconnaissance aircraft had taken off and landed was to the north of the town. With the east and west sides becoming battlefields, the north and south sides had become the only refuge.

The whistling sound stimulated their eardrums, soon transforming into the "heavy hammer" shaking the earth. Although the first bombs were still outside the town, their power clearly exceeded any weapons previously seen on the battlefield, causing the entire town to tremble like never before!

Urged by the explosions, the driver unleashed the legendary spirit of F1, racing at breakneck speed on the narrow winding gravel road, even attempting an immature "drift" when turning. However, this speed still couldn't outrun the enemy's barrage. Just as they were about to leave the town, a staggering fireball finally erupted nearby...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

These shells fired from the direction of the sea never came alone. Amidst the earth-shattering explosions, Logan once again experienced the awe-inspiring magic of "deafening". The powerful shock effortlessly swept through every street!

"Hey! Stop the car!" Logan suddenly shouted. Just as the fire flashed, he saw several figures stumbling towards the outskirts of the town. Even in such a life-threatening situation, two guys managed to clumsily fall.

"We can't stop! We have to break through!" Rost showed no sign of weakness: whether or not you were a guest of the officer, now was a matter of survival!

But Logan wasn't backing down. He grabbed the driver's hand on the steering wheel firmly. "Stop the car for me!"

Screech...

The front of the car veered, nearly crashing into the wall ahead, almost rear-ending the half-track armored vehicle behind—it had a road speed no less than that of the wheeled armored vehicle!

Logan leaped down. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up later!"

That was for Stephenberg and the paratroopers.

Impulse was the devil, and Logan had always been such a devil since he was a child. If getting into fights in bars for friends or chasing thieves on the street for strangers with a sense of loyalty or justice could be attributed to something, then throwing punches on the sports field or leaving abruptly after an argument seemed to be only due to impulsiveness—although with age, Logan thought he had become mature and steady, the most primitive nature of a person didn't disappear but was temporarily hidden.

When a child sees his toy falling into a ditch, he forgets about wrestling to pick it up. From the moment Logan jumped out of the car, what would subordinates think? How would comrades see it? What would his fate be? Everything was thrown behind him, he only remembered the innocent and melancholic eyes, the fair and graceful face, and the thin and frail figure...

"Lily! Lily LeGris!"

The weak figure struggling to help his companion responded.

"Are you alright!" He grabbed the cold little hand, but "Little Sophie Massot" was full of fear, not even knowing what to say.

"Follow me!" he said loudly in French.

The two old people were the weak links in this barrel. Even if their buttocks were on fire, they could only hobble along. Logan was at a loss. Just then, several burly figures appeared: two lifted the old man on the left and the right, another simply carried the old lady, while one lifted the little boy on his shoulder as if he were a toy.

"Hey, Trent, you... you guys..."

Logan looked in astonishment at his paratroopers. Trent Stephenberg, Mark Ayla, Gérard Hether, Nick Gomez, and Rensin Fritz, every one of them stood beside him.

"We won't abandon any comrade!" Lieutenant Stephenberg said seriously, disregarding Logan's adventure, which seemed to be only for a seemingly ordinary French girl.

Logan was filled with mixed emotions.

Bombs continued to fall, explosions constantly shaking the ground beneath their feet, and the situation didn't allow these paratroopers to admire the great comradeship. At this moment, the two SS armored vehicles had selfishly left, but with the help of comrades, the speed of these elderly, weak women, and children increased significantly. Just before the entire town was almost flattened, they finally stepped into a relatively safe green area.

Whew...

Logan breathed a long sigh. "Trent, thank you! Actually..."

"Heh, no need to explain!" Lieutenant Stephenberg looked at these French people dismissively. "You have your reasons for doing anything, that's not something we need to worry about! We trust you, respect you, and are willing to follow you!"

Hearing these words, Logan felt a little despondent: if he was crazy, that's one thing, but he must not drag these good brothers into the fire in the future!

"The British seem to be serious!" Lieutenant Stephenberg frowned, looking into the distance. "It could be one, or maybe two battleships, at least 12-inch guns. This shows they attach great importance to Monck as a support point. Lieutenant, you've nailed a stake in the heart of the Allies, making them suffer every second, wishing they could get rid of it quickly!

"I just provided the idea, the real completion of this task is Dietrich and his SS!" Logan said objectively.

Watching the town gradually becoming a ruin and the gunfire extending eastward, Lieutenant Stephenberg sighed, "If only our navy were as powerful!"

Before Logan could respond, a flash of white light made him instinctively dive to the side.

"Alright, excellent, let's take another one!"

This seemingly irrelevant remark immediately made Logan guess the reason. He turned his head angrily and indeed saw the bespectacled man manipulating the ancient camera with a magnesium light.

"You bastard..." Logan didn't say the second half of the sentence, partly because he didn't want to curse his companion, and partly because there was no need to provoke this seemingly formidable guy!

"The elite paratroopers of the German Air Force fearlessly rescued five civilians under enemy bombardment, from the despicable mouths of the British guns. What admirable courage! Oh, are these French people? Excellent! Doctor will surely appreciate these photos!" The man with glasses said as he took another photo of them, the magnesium flash emitting a blinding white light.

"What do you mean by this?" Logan asked, not mincing his words.

The man with glasses replied calmly, "Hehe! Defeating France is only a matter of time for us. Throughout history, occupiers have always sought to soften the resistance and animosity of the inhabitants. The best way to do this is through psychological warfare, and these photos provide the perfect material—quite authentic, without any exaggeration."

"I don't like this kind of propaganda. You better delete the photos!" Logan said, then suddenly realized that "deleting" was for digital cameras, so he corrected himself, "How about this, sell me the film instead?"

"Sell?" The man with glasses smirked, "Don't worry, Lieutenant, you can have as many photos as you want, I'll develop them for free! Of course, if possible, I'd like to conduct a special interview with you, about the elite paratroopers raiding the British Command Headquarters!"

If it weren't for not wanting to cause trouble for the old man, Logan really wanted to grab the camera and smash it to pieces. This rare moment of restraint truly changed his and the entire paratrooper unit's fate because this seemingly insignificant man with glasses had a quite intimate relationship with the mastermind of the imperial propaganda machine, the notorious Dr. Joseph Goebbels.