Chapter 127: Long Live the Infantry

In less than five minutes, all seven T-34/85 tanks, which were enough to represent the Soviet Union's military-industrial capability during World War II, were completely wiped out.

Although both the German Panther tanks and StuG III assault guns used 75mm caliber guns, Lin'en could determine with certainty that their own "Jaguar" was the undisputed master of the intense artillery battle that took place within 200 meters. Sharp and precise artillery fire, agile and rapid movements, coupled with coordinated actions with the infantry, made this battle clean, efficient, and exceedingly impressive!

During this engagement, Lin'en and his combat group had eliminated at least 30 Soviet soldiers, including infantry fighting alongside tanks and armored troops escaping from damaged tanks. However, amidst his desire to celebrate, Lin'en could not hide his deep regret: the Allies, led by the United States, had inflicted prolonged and intense bombing raids on Germany, causing the German military-industrial complex to collapse prematurely. It was not just mass-scale military production that suffered; even regular weapon maintenance became difficult to sustain. Advanced weapons like the Tiger II, Jaguar, and Me-262, which had clear advantages, might never be produced in quantities sufficient to reverse the tide of the war.

This meant that such classic battles were merely fleeting moments in the twilight of the empire, serving no purpose other than to demonstrate the exceptional courage and combat skills of German soldiers.

After reloading his magazine, Lin'en decisively turned to his soldiers and shouted, "167th Combat Group, follow me forward!"

After eliminating the reinforcing Soviet tank squad, the German breakout force continued their assault without pause. In the side areas near the intersection, there were still many Soviet infantrymen. While they couldn't threaten the two German vehicles at medium to long range, they could use dense gunfire to hinder the advancing German infantry. Additionally, when the distance was close enough, they could effectively attack the German vehicles with anti-tank grenades, Molotov cocktails, and other weapons.

Following the artillery duel, the "Jaguar" and StuG III slowly advanced towards the intersection, suppressing the Soviet infantry hiding in the rubble with vehicle-mounted machine guns. However, it was evident that this was insufficient to cause significant casualties among the Soviet infantry relying on the ruined walls for cover.

Except for Wolfrum protecting Eva Sutcliffe following behind, Lin'en led all his soldiers intending to decisively eliminate the Soviet soldiers at the southeast corner of the intersection. However, in the pitch-black environment, it was still he and Bruhl, the night combat specialists, who could truly make a difference. With MP44 assault rifles equipped with infrared flashlights and infrared scopes, the two alternated in covering each other as they advanced, swiftly approaching the defensive area where the Soviet soldiers were deployed amidst the ruins.

At this moment, most of the Soviet soldiers were still focused on the direction of the intersection, but the intense firefight that had just occurred on Lin'en's side had prompted some Soviet soldiers to implement defensive measures in the opposite direction. Once they detected enemy approach, they responded with determined resistance using submachine guns and grenades.

The dense darkness obscured visual sightlines, but whether it was blindly spraying bullets or blindly throwing high-explosive offensive grenades and fragmentation defensive grenades, they posed a direct threat to the advancing infantry. Lin'en and his team, despite constantly monitoring their infrared night vision equipment, could not evade enemy bullets in advance, nor could they identify a grenade about to explode.

Since the ambush failed, Lin'en immediately changed tactics and ordered his soldiers, "Leap forward!"

In the tactical instructions of the "Vampire" assault team, "leap forward" certainly did not mean hopping forward. It referred to using terrain to cover each other during the attack, breaking through the enemy defense in a "stop-go-stop-go" manner, a tactic known as "infantry assault." It originated in the late stages of World War I when the German army selected experienced veterans to form "stormtrooper" units to break the stalemate of trench warfare. During an attack, multiple assault teams would advance using trenches, shell craters, and any available cover, while employing mortars, grenades, submachine guns, and flamethrowers to break through enemy defenses. These tactics proved highly effective during the final offensives on the Western Front. Unfortunately, in the war of attrition, the Allies, aided by the United States, eventually endured to victory.

Finding a section of wall only half-standing, Lin'en stopped. Through the infrared scope, he could clearly observe targets tens of meters away. Even though most of the figures were only visible from the waist up, he confidently picked them off one by one. Despite firing almost every bullet at the targets, he expected the enemy's firepower to diminish, but instead, the bullets flying in the darkness not only didn't decrease, they seemed to increase!

Though frustrated, Lin'en understood the situation: the Soviet soldiers were mostly taking cover, and his shots, though accurate, took time to reach them. If the enemy reacted quickly and took cover, they had a chance to evade the bullets. Therefore, the effectiveness of his precise shots at such a distance was naturally reduced.

Given the current situation, prolonging the battle would favor the enemy. Lin'en quickly changed tactics and ordered his companions nearby, "Anton, you lead everyone here to suppress enemy firepower and advance cautiously! Bruhl, you flank with me from the right!"

Unconsciously, "Quasimodo," accustomed to moving with a bent waist, became Lin'en's most reliable helper. The two quickly got up, avoiding the fierce enemy fire in front, stepping on broken bricks and tiles, and climbing over tall and low walls, eventually reaching a collapsed large building. Lin'en used the infrared flashlight to scan and found two faint figures at the top of the rubble.

"Bruhl, cover me!"

With a low voice, he slung the assault rifle over his shoulder and crawled up the rubble pile towards the top. It was a special climbing race; the enemy occupying the high ground on the rubble heard movement below and immediately emerged to fire rifles and submachine guns. The dark red bullets left short trajectories in the darkness, hitting cement blocks or other hard objects and sparking faintly.

Daa...daa...daa... Hearing the crisp sound of MP44 semi-auto fire behind him, Lin'en knew what to do. He continued climbing with courage, deliberately keeping a distance from the enemy's hiding spot. When he reached roughly the same height as the enemy he had observed earlier, he stopped moving and carefully raised the assault rifle. By aiming from the side, he gained more shooting angles. When one of the enemies stood up to fire, he held his breath and shot twice at the brightly colored silhouette of his head. The figure immediately collapsed forward.

Seeing his companion fall, another Soviet soldier on the rubble immediately sprayed Lin'en's direction with a submachine gun. Lin'en was prepared; he immediately sat down, back against the rubble, with a slight depression helping him dodge all the bullets. Bruhl, below, also opened fire in time, and the Soviet soldier emitted a muffled groan, and the gunfire stopped.

Without joy or pride, Lin'en slung his assault rifle, pulled out his shotgun with his left hand, and helped his feet crawl on the rubble, finally reaching the top of the rubble. It was only slightly over two meters above the ground, but it provided an overlooking position for a large area within a hundred meters.

Looking through the infrared scope, Lin'en could clearly see the positions of dozens of Soviet soldiers.

After loading his last "double magazine" that carried around ten bullets, Lin'en fired confidently. "Let these Russians go back to farming!" With the commanding aura of the king of hundred-meter marksmanship, he opened fire.

In the infrared scope, the first two bullets passed, and a Soviet soldier who had been counterattacking the German night combat team was immediately shot down—simple human silhouettes couldn't deceive the eyes easily. Lin'en quickly adjusted his aim, and two bullets hit another Russian soldier nearby. He seemed to be hit in the head, his hands raised, and his body leaned backward in an exaggerated manner. After the man fell, Lin'en coldly fired a third shot at his upper body, then turned his muzzle towards another target. These aiming and shooting steps might sound complex, but in actual combat, the intervals were so short that they were almost instinctive judgments made in an instant.

The high ground in the rubble continued to be showered with deadly bullets. Experienced Soviet officers and soldiers naturally wouldn't stand idly by. Before Lin'en finished firing a magazine, he suddenly saw a series of dark red lights flying towards him. Relying on his rapid response honed on the battlefield, he immediately made the simplest evasive action: ducking. With his upper body and arms pressed down, the assault rifle couldn't be fully retracted, but only the muzzle was raised, while the rifle body and the infrared flashlight under the scope were pressed down. Since the Soviet soldiers didn't have similar night vision equipment, they mainly relied on judging the trajectory of bullets to guess the enemy's position and used light machine guns and submachine guns to spray fire to clean a certain area within a certain range.

Bullets whizzed past the cement blocks in front of him, making a sharp sound. Lin'en didn't like this sound, which was even worse than scraping porcelain with metal knives and forks. Once he avoided the enemy's suppression fire, he didn't rush to change position but quickly aimed his gun, targeting the Soviet shooter he had just glimpsed and accurately naming each one.