Chapter 179: Musings in the Woods

In a long and vivid dream, Lin En saw not his family, but Alice and Catherine. As summer approached, the young and graceful woman wore a plain dress that swayed, revealing a pair of slender white legs, while the little girl, with her curly hair and cute floral dress, danced under her mother's gaze. "Um..." Upon waking, the pain in his shoulders and legs was the most real sensation, albeit slightly eased compared to before. Opening his eyes, the clear sunlight filtered through the leaves, filling the surroundings with natural harmony and beauty.

"The commander is awake! Do you want some fish soup?" Tikhomirov's voice sounded like a regular conversation.

This guy doesn't seem to be worried about his own injuries at all! Lin En muttered in his mind.

"Oh, awake again, great!" It was Wolfram's voice, accompanied by the slurping sound of drinking soup, sounding quite uncouth.

"Our Commander Galgo is truly a cat with nine lives, the Soviets couldn't kill him with their limited skills!" Brüll's words sounded teasing, and Lin En wanted to retort, but based on previous experience, he decided to conserve his strength.

"Fantastic!" Noah exclaimed enthusiastically. "Becoming Minister Goebbels' savior will surely lead to prosperity in the future, and we can bask in his glory too!"

"Hey, you guys!" Lin En finally couldn't help it. He turned to look at his subordinates sitting against the tree trunk, each enjoying their rare meal with boxes of food and bread, while the scent of burning wet firewood filled the air. Of course, there was also the aroma of food.

"Sit up and have some fish soup?" Tikhomirov brought his boyish face closer, holding a clean food container in his hands, asking sincerely.

The same question asked twice, Lin En indeed felt hungry now, so he let Tikhomirov help him sit up. This place was neither a makeshift operating room nor an armored car compartment but an open-air location in the woods, with the stretcher replaced by blankets, cushioned with loose twigs and leaves underneath.

As Tikhomirov spooned soup into Lin En's mouth, he explained, "Soldiers caught some fresh fish in the stream, there are several of them! The Minister kept his share for us, what a kind man!"

Kind man? That's what I got with my life! Lin En continued to mutter in his mind. As the fish soup entered his mouth, his stomach felt even emptier.

After drinking several sips of soup, Lin En remembered the main point and asked softly, "Hey, Karl, did you see... anyone important besides the Minister?"

Tikhomirov had a habit of rolling his eyes when pondering questions, and this time was no exception. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Do majors and captains count?"

"Are you dumb? How can ordinary officers be compared to the Minister?" Tanzer mocked from the side, then informed Lin En, "I only saw a Colonel from the Waffen-SS, Minister Goebbels should be the most important person here!"

"How is that possible?" Lin En immediately muttered to himself, albeit audibly this time.

Tanzer might not have heard what Lin En muttered, but he thought he was being wise in his analysis, saying, "Commander, think about it, ever since the Imperial Marshal and the SS leader were ordered to be arrested, the only ones bigger than Minister Goebbels would be those marshals, right? But there isn't a single Wehrmacht soldier here, it doesn't make sense!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Brüll leaned over to remind Tanzer, "Some things are best left unknown, some names are best left unspoken!"

Seeing Brüll's serious look, Tanzer quickly shut his mouth.

Among the six remaining subordinates, both Wolfram and Brüll were undoubtedly experienced, each with their own strengths. So Lin En turned to Brüll and asked, "What did you see?"

"I didn't see any familiar faces from the magazines, just noticed that there are quite a few members of the 'Führer Escort Division' here, and they seem more excited than usual!" Brüll's calm tone was far better than Tanzer's earlier messy analysis, and it reinforced Lin En's own speculation — the Führer was the ultimate boss escorted by this convoy!

But if the Führer himself left Berlin on April 27, would there still be the scene of the Führer's suicide in the bunker on April 30? Would Eva Braun and the Goebbels family of eight also be substitutes? These explanations were plausible, but Lin En was still puzzled: why wait until the Soviets surrounded Berlin before breaking through in such a risky manner? Why not arrange for substitutes earlier? Was there some other hidden truth behind this?

"Oh, right! That big tent over there should be where the big shots gather. Communications officers keep going in and out, and there are also several senior medical officers!" Brüll pointed to the tent that Lin En had seen Colonel Bach enter before the surgery.

"Senior medical officers?" Lin En strained to turn his head in that direction, but there was no one coming in or out at the moment.

"Mm-hmm, they're easy to identify!" Brüll swallowed a piece of bread soaked in fish soup and then said in a solemn tone, "Senior medical officers mostly have experience from the last war, they're older and have higher ranks, and most importantly, they always look worried!"

"Oh!" Lin En wasn't interested in questioning the correlation between worried looks and senior medical officers. He continued to look over there for a while, and sure enough, a guy in a white coat came out. Even though it was broad daylight with temperatures around twenty degrees Celsius, his coat was buttoned up tightly, revealing only his officer's rank on the collar.

"Colonel Bach should be uninjured, and Minister Goebbels and his family at most have minor injuries, they don't need such high-level medical officers to worry!" Lin En speculated in his mind, but he wouldn't let others hear it. However, when Brüll saw him gazing intently at the tent, he quietly brought his mouth, still smelling of fish, close to Lin En's ear and whispered, "Commander, do you also think the Führer..."

Lin En suddenly turned his head, almost brushing his cheek against Brüll's mouth, feeling a sudden jolt of fear.

Seeing Lin En's reaction, Brüll thought he had said too much and quickly grinned, "Just kidding! Just kidding!"

After drinking half a food container of fish soup and eating some black bread he brought himself, Lin En felt much fuller. With his mind full of doubts and speculations, he lay down again, but still felt uneasy. He signaled for Brüll to come over and whispered to him, "Your speculation isn't unreasonable. Keep an eye on the tent area. If anything unusual happens, let me know!"

Brüll nodded quickly.

Lin En rarely enjoyed such a pleasant nap. Unfortunately, the pain from his wounds occasionally pulled him back from deep sleep to shallow consciousness, but he reassured himself in his heart that resting more would benefit the recovery of his injuries. When he felt a chill creeping in, he finally opened his eyes. Although the sky had dimmed somewhat, it was still some time before true darkness fell. The soldiers around him were calmly folding up their tents, while a small group gathered near the armored communications vehicle, where the technical sergeant was likely receiving messages from the outside world via radio.

Spotting Bruhl's figure, Lin En called out his name. The unique Waffen-SS soldier quickly approached and volunteered a report: "Communication with the outside world and Berlin has been cut off. The latest news is that the Soviet army has advanced to the Tiergarten area. Tank artillery can directly shell the Reich Chancellery and the Reichstag building! Berlin may not hold for much longer!"

"Is the Führer still in Berlin calling on the military and civilians to continue the fight?" Lin En asked nonchalantly.

Bruhl nodded solemnly. "Indeed! It seems..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Lin En interjected, "Not necessarily!"

"You mean..." Bruhl glanced towards the tents.

Lin En remained silent, focusing on checking his wounds. The gunshot wound in his leg fortunately didn't hit any bones or tendons, which was quite fortunate. It would take quite some time to recover, but the shoulder injury seemed less severe, without any shrapnel left behind. With proper rest and nutrition, it would probably heal completely in a few weeks given his young physique. Thinking about recuperation reminded him of their ultimate destination for this journey. He asked Bruhl, "Do you know our current location?"

"Not entirely sure," Bruhl replied. "All I know is that it's within the defensive zone of the 12th Army, probably southwest of Berlin."

"Southwest?" Lin En pondered. The recent meeting of the American and Soviet forces at the Elbe River was a matter of days ago. Although the eastern and western fronts were now connected, the areas under Allied control were not entirely secure. There were still weak points that could be exploited for rapid assaults. Moving south towards Bavaria or north towards the coastal regions would both take them through German-controlled areas. In the official historical records, German commanders strongly advised the Führer to retreat south and continue to command the fight, but the Führer scoffed at such suggestions and even strongly opposed them.

"Damn those so-called official histories!" Lin En suddenly thought to himself. Perhaps many events in history, like the Berlin breakout, had buried truths due to various reasons, leaving only so-called facts compiled by victors and rulers. At least Goebbels couldn't possibly return to Berlin with his family through the encirclement by the Soviet army, and those extremely mysterious disc-shaped aircraft couldn't possibly be illusions created by German engineers, right?

About an hour later, dinner was served at the makeshift camp in the birch forest. Smoked meat, bread, and mushroom soup were served, much more plentiful than what Lin En had previously enjoyed in Berlin. Furthermore, his leg and shoulder injuries weren't severe enough to affect his appetite, and the allowances for patients had been expanded. He made sure to replenish himself heartily. Afterward, the soldiers formally packed up their camping gear, and the wounded were lifted back onto the armored vehicles. At Lin En's request, Bruhl kept a close eye on the tents throughout the entire process. In addition to the Goebbels family, the apparent SS colonel resembling Bach, and two other SS officers of similar rank, he also saw medical personnel carrying a stretcher with someone aboard, who was then loaded onto the lead "Panther" tank. Additionally, there was a woman with a veil covering her head, of unknown identity, who followed alongside the stretcher, escorted by the SS colonel into the same "Panther" tank.

Bruhl described what he observed and added his analysis, "That tank must have been modified; otherwise, the stretcher couldn't fit inside, and it couldn't possibly accommodate one, two, three, four, five, six... six people! At least six people!"

"Another six people?" Lin En furrowed his brow slightly. It seemed his estimation of the capacity of the "Panther" tank carrying the Goebbels family wasn't off the mark, but unfortunately, the rescue was too hurried, and he didn't get a chance to see how it was modified internally. Could it be that they removed the cannon breech support and ammunition, leaving only the thick armor and propulsion system?