Chapter 124 Trap

Returning to their concealed location with three hastily gathered night combat soldiers, Lynn handed over the Mauser sniper rifles and the surveillance mission to Wolfroom, then leaned back in the warm chair:

"You three don't need to be restrained! Can you tell me about your previous combat experience?"

Among the three, Sergeant Brell had the highest rank and was responsible for carrying the infrared night vision equipment, and he had been the one answering Lynn's questions before.

Setting down their heavy gear, Brell sat against the wall and began to recount the battle: "Our task was to assist our allies in holding the fort in the 6th district. We stayed there all morning, and the Soviet forces appeared and attacked the fort about an hour ago!"

"The 6th district? North of the city? An hour ago?"

Lynn pondered for a moment. It seemed that after breaking through the outer defense line, the Soviet forces didn't immediately attack the northern part of the city but instead circled around to the south along the already damaged roads. They were indeed cunning!

Brell then briefly described the course of the battle: "The enemy launched a group assault with over twenty tanks, and although their infantry was not numerous, they easily broke through the fort. We tried to resist, but it was futile. Apart from Sergeant Zwig, another companion of ours was killed. Initially, we attempted to retreat towards the city center, but we encountered Soviet tanks and soldiers on the way, so we had to run towards the south of the city!"

Lynn nodded sympathetically, saying, "Unfortunately, the southern districts of the city were occupied by Soviet troops early on, and the roads out of the city are now in enemy hands. They've deployed tanks and machine guns, so we'll have to rely on luck when we move under the cover of darkness!"

Upon hearing this news, Brell and his two companions were both surprised and disappointed, but they ultimately accepted this reality calmly.

Seeing Eva, who had previously been asleep, awake now, Lynn introduced her: "By the way, this is a senior war correspondent from the propaganda department. Our mission is to escort her back to the safe zone behind the front lines! If you're willing, you can join us until the end of this mission!"

What else could these three soldiers, who had already accepted Lynn's command, say?

Next, everyone chatted intermittently. The situation was grim, and there wasn't enough food to satisfy their hunger. The soldiers' morale was low, and Eva remained silent for a long time, neither asking Lynn nor busying herself with her notebook. She just sat there silently, lost in thought, or dozed off for a while. At a quarter past five, Wolfroom came down carrying his rifle. He told Lynn that the fighting inside the city had become very sporadic, indicating that there weren't many German troops left holding out, and it seemed that the Soviets had effectively taken over Orlaningrad.

Although there wouldn't be any major changes before nightfall, Lynn knew that there would surely be many units attempting to break through tonight, and the Soviets would be extra vigilant.

Finally, the sky darkened, but Lynn didn't rush to lead the deployment. Instead, he alone put on the infrared night vision equipment and went to the hiding spot they had used during the day.

Soviet soldiers had built simple defensive positions at the street corners with sandbags and set up machine guns. They appeared to be of average strength, but there were many soldiers lurking in the nearby ruins, and another small team of tanks was on standby in the distance.

Obviously, this was a carefully laid pocket, a trap.

There were still no stars or moonlight this night.

Just past seven o'clock, the somewhat quiet city area once again echoed with gunfire, soon followed by explosions. It seemed that the elite night combatants lurking in basements, air-raid shelters, and other hiding places had begun to act.

Like a leopard waiting for its prey, Lynn waited calmly.

Gradually, the gunfire and explosions increased, and although each individual firefight wasn't particularly intense, the overall noise was still formidable, as if the entire city were in battle.

Lynn still kept his eyes on the street corner. As the fighting inside the city continued to escalate, Soviet tanks, vehicles, and infantry squads passed by one after another, but the Soviet soldiers who had been lurking around didn't leave.

Could the street corner he had been watching all afternoon become an insurmountable obstacle? Lynn felt somewhat unwilling, but he had to consider other routes rationally. Following the combat sketch in his mind, estimating the distances and success rates of different paths, the conclusion was frustrating: whether circling around from the east or west of the city, or attempting a breakthrough from the south, they would have to pass through layers of Soviet interceptions. Due to the limited effective range of the infantry's infrared night vision goggles, they might not be able to avoid Soviet tanks in time along the way. Therefore, any route would be extremely dangerous!

This was less of a daring breakout than a hopeless gamble.

Despite feeling hopeless, Lynn remained calm. He waited, patiently waited, an hour passed, and then another hour passed. Although the German troops besieged in the city were at a disadvantage in terms of both troops and weapons, they still relied on their familiarity with the urban area and used the infrared night vision equipment to deal with the Soviets. If it weren't for Eva's arrival, Lynn and his group would have shown their prowess by now. However, having witnessed the daytime battle, Lynn had given up hope of using this city to tie down and deplete the Soviet troops. Berlin, perhaps, was a stage big enough.

The intermittent gunfire and explosions were like stubborn boxers in the ring, despite being battered and weak, they still dodged desperately while looking for opportunities to counterattack.

Approaching midnight, someone finally challenged the Soviet blockade line in Lynn's line of sight.

Hundreds of soldiers were involved in the battle. Lynn wasn't sure if there were soldiers equipped with infrared night vision goggles among them, nor could he help them choose a safer route for escape. All he could do was to preemptively fire upon the hiding places of Soviet soldiers to disrupt their deployment and warn his own soldiers to beware of ambushes.

A single spark was enough to ignite the powder keg, and the intense battle erupted immediately. Although the German soldiers fought tenaciously, relying on ruins and buildings for cover, at a critical moment, the Soviets suddenly turned on the vehicle-mounted searchlights deployed in the distance and launched illumination flares, illuminating the entire neighborhood. The Soviet machine guns, mortars, tanks, along with the infantry conducting counterattacks, wove a terrifying web of firepower. The German soldiers attempting to break out not only failed to achieve their goal but also left behind a large number of bodies and retreated in panic, with casualties far exceeding half!

The sight of corpses strewn across the ground weighed heavily on Lynn's mind, and the sudden appearance of the Soviet searchlights filled him with unprecedented fear—they were the arch-nemesis of the "Vampire" commando!

There was no clock chiming midnight, but as time passed, the German troops in the city became like exhausted boxers, still fighting but lacking the vigor and spirit they had in the earlier part of the night.

Lynn quietly returned to the hiding place, where it was evident that the soldiers were both worried and anxious, including Eva.

The path of surrendering to the Soviets was not an option, a point Lynn remained clear on. He still made a decision:

"I'll lead, Breuer will bring up the rear. We must be cautious during the operation, especially regarding noise! When it's time to charge, we must not hesitate!"

With that said, Lynn obtained two anti-tank grenades from Wolfrum, firmly attaching them to his belt. After checking and adjusting all the equipment, he looked at everyone and nodded. "Let's go!"

The group silently left the hiding place. In this chilly night, this place was the only one retaining a bit of warmth.

The dangerous crossroads had to be avoided. Lynn led the seven soldiers and the female war correspondent first north for about a kilometer, then turned east for a stretch of road, until they saw the road ahead. Lynn observed several figures lurking on the roadside through the infrared night vision goggles.

They might be Soviet soldiers, but they might also be German soldiers trying to break out of the city. It was impossible to distinguish in the night vision goggles, and those people were separated by several meters from each other, making them difficult to control. Lynn made a tough decision. He led the team to detour north for a while, and as they saw another crossroads looming ahead, he signaled everyone to stop—they had to cross the road at this section!

After observing through the infrared night vision goggles, there were no people on this side of the road, but heat sources were vaguely visible in the ruins on the opposite side.

This complex environment was truly testing Lynn's patience.

The young commander didn't recklessly charge across the road, nor did he give up. He led the team cautiously to the next intersection and stopped beside a completely collapsed building. Before long, the gunfire from a distance gradually approached, presumably from another group of German breakout troops. Lynn noticed that there were many people moving around the ruins near the intersection. Without night vision goggles, it would be impossible to see these guys changing their hiding positions, but now... Hmph!

"Prepare for battle!" Lynn lowered his voice. To prevent the Soviets from using searchlights again, he instructed Tanze and Wolfrum, "Shoot when you see the searchlights, and try not to leave any alive!"

As for Brühl, the user of the second set of night vision goggles, he was naturally an important firepower output in night combat. However, in the darkness, Lynn couldn't see his expression and didn't know how skilled he was in combat. Hopefully, he would be a good assistant.