Antiaircraft Gun

The weapon in question was the 88mm anti-aircraft gun, a legendary piece of equipment that Rommel famously repurposed to destroy tanks on the African battlefield. At this point, Qin Chuan believed that Rommel still had time to utilize it; otherwise, the German forces wouldn't be in such a dire situation.

It didn't take Qin Chuan long to find the 88mm anti-aircraft gun—it was a massive 4-meter-tall piece of artillery, impossible to miss.

Without hesitation, Qin Chuan rushed towards the gun and shouted at the German artillerymen standing nearby, "Why aren't we using this?"

"What?" The artillerymen looked at Qin Chuan in confusion. "But it's meant for anti-aircraft use!"

Hearing this, Qin Chuan felt a wave of helplessness. The German's response was eerily similar to the story he'd heard about the British: There's a tale about the 88mm gun where a British captain, after being captured, wanted to see what the Germans used to destroy the "Matilda" tanks. When they showed him the 88mm gun, the British captain angrily remarked, "This is unfair! How can you use anti-aircraft guns against tanks?"

"It doesn't matter what it's for!" Qin Chuan shouted. "The enemy tanks are almost upon us! If you don't fire a few rounds now, you'll never get the chance to fire again!"

The German artillerymen were stunned for a moment but then nodded in agreement. "You're right, we should give it a try!"

With that, they quickly got to work. The crew scrambled to reposition the 88mm gun, set it up, loaded it, and adjusted the aim. Within minutes, they were ready.

"Fire!" The anti-aircraft gun roared, and a British tank was instantly engulfed in flames, erupting into a fireball. The gunners couldn't help but cheer.

But there was no time to rest—the British tanks were only about 700 meters away.

These artillerymen were clearly well-trained, rapidly reloading, aiming, and firing again. With another "boom," they destroyed a second tank, with no surprises.

One after another, they took out six tanks, missing only three shots.

One reason for the gunners' accuracy was the slow speed of the "Matilda" tanks, which had a maximum speed of only 24 km/h. At this moment, the British tanks were moving at around 7 km/h to keep pace with their infantry and maintain accurate targeting.

At that speed, the tanks moved at roughly the same pace as a walking adult, and since they couldn't easily change course or position without leaving their infantry exposed, the German gunners could easily track their movements and aim precisely.

After destroying two more tanks, the British forces began to panic.

In fact, the British still had a chance to win; even after losing ten tanks, they still had over thirty remaining.

If they had pressed forward despite the artillery fire, they could have quickly broken into the German lines, where the 88mm guns would have been less effective.

But the British soldiers' fighting spirit wasn't strong enough to make such a sacrifice.

The first to retreat were the British infantry. Whether or not they received orders, they suddenly abandoned the tanks and retreated behind the hill like a tide pulling back.

Seeing the infantry retreat, the tank crews had no choice but to turn and flee as well.

But retreating in tanks is far more difficult than advancing, as turning around exposes their weaker rear armor to the enemy. The German gunners seized this opportunity, unleashing a barrage of fire that destroyed another dozen tanks, with some even having their turrets blown clean off.

"Well done!" Rommel, watching from above, couldn't help but shout in excitement, "Beautifully done! They've truly surprised me. These are our brave German soldiers, aren't they?"

As dusk began to fall, the troops hastily cleaned up the battlefield before setting up camp, finally giving Qin Chuan a chance to rest.

Dinner was a piece of bread and a small piece of sausage.

Though he was starving, Qin Chuan found it impossible to eat. The sight of the sausage, especially its red color and the smell of meat, brought back memories of the battlefield—the blood, the dying gazes of his comrades.

"Deadweight!" The "bear" finished his meal quickly, drank some water, and then called out to Qin Chuan, "Get me a pack of cigarettes!"

Without thinking, Qin Chuan got up to head towards the supply box, but the baker quickly stopped him.

"Why don't you get it yourself, Gross?" the baker asked.

"Uh..." The "bear" was taken aback. Qin Chuan had always been the one to handle such tasks, and no one, including the baker, had ever objected.

"I think..." The baker continued, seeing the others remain silent, "You may not know what Friedrich did today!"

"What did he do?" the "bear" asked. "Wet his pants?"

The German soldiers around them burst into laughter:

"I saw him running away!"

"Yes, he fled from the battlefield!"

...

"No!" The baker cut them off. "He didn't run away. In fact, he saved our lives—he might have saved all of our lives!"

"This... can't be!" The "bear" looked incredulous.

The baker nodded towards Qin Chuan. "Friedrich, why don't you tell them where you went after you left the battlefield?"

"I didn't go anywhere," Qin Chuan replied. "I just had them set up the anti-aircraft gun to fire at the tanks."

The camp fell silent.

The baker nodded at Qin Chuan, signaling him to sit down, then addressed the others, "Now, do you understand why we won today? So, I expect you to show Friedrich the respect he deserves, understood?"

"Yes, Sergeant!" the soldiers responded, one after another.

"Well done!" One soldier handed Qin Chuan a canteen. "Sorry, we didn't know!"

"No, it's okay!" Qin Chuan felt a bit ashamed because they weren't entirely wrong—he had been running away rather than directing the anti-aircraft gun.

"Hey, I say..." The "bear" raised his canteen. "Here's to the 'deadweight' who became a hero!"

"To the 'deadweight'!" The others raised their canteens and took a swig as if it were a toast with wine.

"So..." The "bear" continued, "Since the 'deadweight' is now a hero, maybe we should stop calling him 'deadweight'?"

"How about 'Flak'?" another soldier suggested.

"Not a bad name!" The "bear" nodded with a smile, then raised his canteen again. "To 'Flak'!"

"To 'Flak'!"

...

Hearing this new nickname, Qin Chuan nearly spat out his water. But the Germans... they surely didn't realize the other connotations of this nickname.

"Keep up the good work!" The baker patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder. "From today on, they'll consider you one of their own."

The battlefield is a brutally realistic place; it only respects the strong.

Qin Chuan wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing because he wasn't certain he could maintain that status as a strong person.