Chapter 8: Broken Path

During his high school years, Lynn used to enjoy running laps around the playground while envisioning his future. Never before had his footsteps felt as heavy as they did today. The last ounce of strength hidden in his body seemed to have been exhausted, leaving his lungs and throat burning uncomfortably, his abdomen feeling like it was under constant pressure, and his legs aching terribly.

As he had feared earlier, their makeshift defensive position was utterly inadequate. Seeing that the Soviet tank division had broken through the right flank and was quickly encircling them, the officers hastily ordered a retreat—whether this was under superior orders, Lynn couldn't tell, but he knew that the retreat began somewhat orderly. About two hundred soldiers stayed behind to provide cover, but the pursuing Soviet tanks and infantry quickly closed in. Caught between two forces, the two hundred soldiers left behind were no match for the Soviet troops. With Soviet tank shells and machine guns hunting them down, the first batch of over a thousand retreating German infantrymen engaged in a desperate race. Those who fell behind were torn apart by enemy fire, while others, although unable to outrun the bullets, had a much better chance of survival if they could make it into the woods.

Several kilometers behind the makeshift defensive line lay a vast forest. After finally entering the woods, Lynn found a tree to lean against, hands on his thighs, bending over as if he were a shrimp, gasping for air heavily. At that moment, he felt utterly unable to take another step.

Even with good physical conditioning, prolonged semi-starvation and extensive running had left the German soldiers in a sorry state. However, after resting for just a couple of minutes, they heard panicked shouts from behind, followed by artillery shells whistling through the air and crashing down to the ground like meteors. The explosions, at close range, subjected their eardrums to excruciating torment. Fortunately, most of the shrapnel was blocked by the trees, and some of the impact was absorbed, reducing the destructive force on the forest floor. Seeing their comrades running frantically into the woods, Lynn dragged his leaden legs and continued the retreat. With shells exploding one after another, people were constantly thrown by the blasts, as if invisible hands were hurling them away. The cries of the dying and wounded were incessant.

"This damned world! This damned war! These damned Soviets!"

Resentment swirled in Lynn's mind like a carousel. His already groggy brain was burdened even more heavily, and he felt like he could collapse at any moment. However, his body proved to be more resilient than he had estimated. Clad in thick winter clothing, wearing a standard-issue steel helmet, and carrying a firearm weighing 15 to 20 pounds, Lynn's body continued to trudge through the snow-covered forest for several kilometers in a state of exhaustion. It wasn't until the sound of explosions faded into the distance and the people around him slowed their pace that Lynn finally stopped, barely able to restrain himself from vomiting as he leaned against a tree trunk!

After a minute or two of mental blankness, Lynn finally regained consciousness and looked around at his surroundings, seeing nothing but the weakness of those who had survived the ordeal. Some could still stand, while others simply lay on the ground like corpses. After retching up only a bit of bitter water, Lynn's exhausted body struggled to support itself. He dropped to one knee, propped his rifle against the ground with one hand, and leaned his head and shoulder against the nearby tree trunk. The warm winter sun filtered through the branches, casting a natural beauty over the forest, but Lynn had no energy to appreciate it.

"Lynn! Lynn Gaeger!"

Upon hearing the Butcher's voice, Lynn suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity, and this was one of the very few phrases he could currently understand. The pronunciation of this name was "Lynn Gaeger," and the coincidence of the name made Lynn feel that everything was arranged by fate.

The Butcher loosened his helmet strap, rolled up his sleeves, and carried his submachine gun in his hands, followed by five bedraggled soldiers who had some connection with Lynn. Although Lynn could have addressed the Butcher as "Herr Offizier" like the other soldiers who spoke German, he preferred to "play dumb." As a sign of respect, he struggled to stand up and assumed a standing at-attention posture.

The Butcher returned a solemn military salute and continued forward. Lynn had no choice but to join the rear of this loose formation. The group didn't go far, stopping under a large tree near the edge of the forest. Except for the Butcher, the rest of them scattered and busied themselves, either sitting down or leaning against something.

"Oi, Hexi..."

One of the soldiers near the edge of the forest suddenly exclaimed, and the faint sound of metal tracks rubbing against the ground could be heard, causing everyone to tense instinctively. Lynn got up and looked out beyond the forest edge. They were now at the westernmost edge of the vast forest. To the west or north, they would soon leave the forest, and outside lay undulating hills, with several patches of forest no larger than a football field. The road ahead formed a three-way junction, one leading to the defensive position they had previously held, one heading towards the Baltic Sea, and another leading southwest.

As the metallic rubbing sound gradually became clearer, a Soviet armored unit appeared on the edge of the forest. The T-34 tanks were not moving particularly fast, so the sound of their tracks slightly overshadowed the roar of their engines. They were mainly advancing along the road to the west, but they were not arranged in a single battle column like the Allied tank units in the movies. Instead, the four leading tanks formed a relatively compact arrowhead formation, with the following tanks scattered along the road and its sides, each carrying several infantrymen. Roughly estimating, this armored unit had more than fifty tanks, with some armored vehicles and trucks carrying towed guns at the rear of the column.

Two legs were ultimately no match for the wheels of the enemy. Watching this powerful Soviet armored unit, Lynn once again fell into despair. With the combat effectiveness of these German stragglers, they were no match for the Soviets. Leaving the forest to continue retreating meant becoming live targets for Soviet tanks. However, staying here meant being surrounded by Soviet infantry units soon enough. When that happened, it would be either fight to the death or surrender, with seemingly no other way out. Thinking of this, Lynn leaned helplessly against the big tree, silently watching the German officers conferring nearby. The Butcher's rank was obviously not high enough for such a field meeting; he simply stood nearby with his submachine gun, waiting for the officers to make a decision, while two signalers busily operated a vintage backpack radio nearby.

Before long, the German soldier tasked with monitoring the movements of the Soviet armored unit at the edge of the forest quickly ran back, his expression and tone suggesting that the situation outside wasn't too dire. Two officers, appearing to be lieutenants, promptly approached the forest edge with binoculars. About two minutes later, they returned from a distance. One of them went to the signaler using the headphones and gave some instructions, while the other walked among the officers waiting in place to explain the situation. Shortly after, the officers nodded in agreement, and they began summoning their subordinates to make arrangements.

Soon, "the Butcher" returned after receiving orders and began speaking rapidly to his subordinates. Lynn remained perplexed, unable to understand what was being said. From the actions and expressions of others, he could discern nothing, so he simply waited numbly.

The mechanical roar from the direction of the highway gradually diminished until nothing could be heard. It seemed that the Soviet armored unit was rushing ahead, not interested in searching for remnants of the German forces along the way. Judging by the time of sunrise, Lynn estimated it was only a little past 9 o'clock in the morning. Warplanes continuously flew over the clear sky, most likely Soviet fighters and bombers. If they had to wait until nightfall, they would have to spend another few hours in this largely defenseless forest. Although the recent Soviet armored unit was just passing through, it didn't mean that subsequent Soviet infantry units wouldn't enter the forest to search. Despite Lynn's belief in his ability to contribute uniquely to military command due to his extensive knowledge of military history, his inability to communicate and his low rank left him unable to do anything but watch!

After resting for half an hour, Lynn felt his body and limbs regain some strength, but his stomach still grumbled with hunger. During this time, another Soviet unit passed by on the road outside the forest. Although the number of tanks was reduced by almost half, they were still beyond the reach of these German infantrymen. As Lynn pondered about spending the whole day hungry in this inexplicable place, he suddenly heard the sound of tracks coming from another direction. The surrounding soldiers became alert once again, but soon, the soldier responsible for vigilance returned with a joyful expression. The two highest-ranking captains listened to his report and quickly headed west. Curiosity filled everyone, but their position was still dozens of meters away from the edge of the forest. Some stood up and followed to get a better view.

Unable to eavesdrop, and seeing "the Butcher" also moving slowly in that direction, Lynn left his rifle and canteen behind and walked over. At the edge of the forest, he saw the source of the mechanical noise: two German armored vehicles covered with fresh branches, painted with gray-white camouflage, and adorned with black-and-white Iron Cross emblems. They had a pair of tires at the front and tank-like tracks at the bottom. The front vehicle had a turret with a large gun barrel, indicating considerable firepower, while the rear one was the open-topped ordinary model, sd.kfz.251.

Although he had never seen the real thing before, Lynn could still identify them, especially the assault gun derived from the ordinary armored vehicle in front. It mainly appeared in the later stages of the war and had some anti-tank capabilities. However, armored vehicles were still just armored vehicles, not comparable to tanks in defense and firepower. Facing Soviet tanks head-on on the battlefield would probably not give them much chance of winning.

Several German soldiers stood beside the two armored vehicles. Those wearing regular army camouflage should be infantrymen who had gone to scout contact, while those in black uniforms were the crew of the two armored vehicles. When the two captains approached, they saluted each other and began conversing while gesturing with their hands. Soon, they evidently reached an agreement on certain issues, and one non-commissioned officer, dressed in black combat uniform with a helmet with large ear flaps, followed the captains back into the forest. Initially, the officers did not issue any instructions to the surrounding soldiers but instead studied a map together with the non-commissioned officer from the armored vehicles. After about ten minutes, a soldier who was on guard duty in another direction ran back to report, and the officers began marking the map again. Shortly afterward, the non-commissioned officer swiftly ran back to the armored vehicles, while the officers gathered their subordinates to issue orders, which were then conveyed by the non-commissioned officers to their respective squads and platoons.

Soon, "the Butcher" also received orders. Lynn still couldn't understand what was being said, but he could grasp about half of it from the gestures: the infantry was preparing to coordinate with the two armored vehicles to set up an ambush here!

Just adding one more assault armored vehicle with a big gun and an ordinary armored vehicle that seemed to carry a mortar, trying to confront the Soviet armored unit dominated by the T-34 tanks still sounded like trying to break a rock with an egg. Lynn was undoubtedly anxious, but the calmness and courage of the German officers and soldiers at this moment made him feel admiration—within the same era, the contrast between the defeated Nationalist Army and them was like heaven and earth!