Chapter 144 Temporary Transfer

Amidst the rumble of artillery fire, Lynn descended into a basement through the steps. The power lines throughout Berlin had long been severed, so to provide illumination, five kerosene lamps were lit in the basement, creating a strange mixture of odors including gunpowder, ink, and kerosene, making it quite peculiar to smell.

Seeing four or five officers wearing helmets and camouflage combat uniforms gathered around a square wooden table, Lynn cleared his throat and halted, saying, "Excuse me... who's in charge here?"

Two officers simultaneously stood up, their faces stained, but still showing no more than forty years of age, and the collar patches vaguely revealed officer insignias.

"What's the matter?" The officer closest to the steps initially spoke in a casual tone of inquiry, but when he saw the German soldier accompanying Lynn into the basement escorting a Soviet colonel, his eyes lit up, and he quickly turned and shouted, "General! General! Look, these soldiers have captured a Soviet colonel!"

With such a loud voice, almost everyone in the basement reacted, except for the officer diagonally across from him who remained focused on the battle map, muttering to himself. It wasn't until he noticed the change around him that the officer raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the surprised and curious crowd, finally settling on the Soviet colonel, before speaking in a rough, donkey-like voice, "Oh, this guy... is a Russian colonel! Ha!"

Having experienced temporary deafness in the first few days on the battlefield, Lynn could easily surmise that this German officer had an issue with his ears.

After staring at the Soviet colonel for several seconds, the commanding officer, with small but sharp eyes, finally turned his gaze to Lynn, giving a brief glance and saying, "Waffen-SS? Oh, Corporal, is it your men who captured this Russian guy?"

In line with his loud voice and poor hearing, Lynn stood at attention and replied loudly, "Yes, sir!"

"Felix! Interrogate him, see what information we can gather!" The general called out to his subordinate without bothering to lower his voice, the roughness indicating the strain caused by excessive speaking. What made Lynn even more uncomfortable was that despite directly receiving the prisoner, the general didn't even spare a glance of approval before burying himself back into studying the battle map.

"Yes, sir!"

A tall and burly middle-aged officer finished speaking and left the wooden table. He walked straight to Lynn and, without deliberately lowering his voice, said, "Sergeant, you and your men did very well. The general doesn't mean anything else, just has reservations about certain actions of certain Waffen-SS units!"

Recalling some wartime records mentioning the atrocities committed by the armed Waffen-SS in occupied areas, Lynn could understand the general's peculiar attitude. He slightly raised his head, facing the middle-aged officer directly, "Berlin Night Raid Special Forces, SS Sergeant Lynn Garg, ordered to lead the unit to the 8th Defense Zone for operations, raid the Soviet command post, and capture a senior Soviet officer, now transferring him to the 6th Defense Zone Headquarters!"

This was a simple handover procedure. The middle-aged officer, wearing a green-trimmed collar patch, saluted Lynn, "Colonel Staff Officer of the 281st Infantry Division of the German Defense Forces, Temporary Staff Officer of the 6th Defense Zone Headquarters, Felix Kaman, following the orders of General von Notz, to receive, guard, and interrogate the Soviet prisoner! Also... Sergeant Garg, there are a few orders we just received that you may not be aware of yet!"

Lynn couldn't predict what he was about to hear, hoping it wasn't terribly bad news.

"Just this morning, Field Marshal Helmut Weidlin was appointed as the new Berlin City Defense Commander, so... we have two orders from the City Defense Headquarters, and the contents are somewhat contradictory. The first one ordered all Night Raid Special Forces to return to the city center after covering attacks in their defense zones, signed by Laurentz Bach. The latter ordered all Night Raid Special Forces to be placed under the jurisdiction of the respective zone commanders' headquarters after completing their night raid missions, signed by Helmut Weidlin!"

As a senior but not yet seasoned World War II military enthusiast, Lynn had never specifically studied the final battle of the Third Reich. He only knew that during the Battle of Berlin, the appointments of senior German officials were like a carousel, often chaotic and contradictory, and the final blow unexpectedly fell into the hands of Admiral Dönitz. As for Colonel Bach being relieved of his position as city defense commander due to injury, ineffective command, or other reasons, he was completely clueless.

Colonel Kaman's tone was not pointed, making it difficult for Lynn to judge, so he decided to ask directly, "Sir, I'm not very familiar with issues regarding the validity of documents, so... which order should my men and I follow now?"

Although several ranks lower than Colonel Kaman, Lynn's directness was met without airs. Colonel Kaman tactfully replied, "The first order is supposed to be invalid by now, Sergeant!"

Lynn thought for a moment. It wouldn't be wise to openly disobey orders at this point. He made a decision with a sense of opportunity, "In that case, sir, the Berlin Night Raid Special Forces will now accept commands from the 6th Defense Zone Headquarters! Please assign us our mission!"

At this moment, General von Notz spoke with his booming voice again, but only to discuss with his subordinates how to hold several main street intersections. Obviously, Soviet ground forces had crossed the river in large numbers under the cover of air and artillery fire, and their armored units were quite challenging for German infantry units severely lacking tanks and heavy weapons.

Colonel Kaman turned to look at the general, but did not go over to inquire about the issue. After considering for a moment alone, he spoke gently, "Well, Sergeant, you and your men have been fighting all night. I'll arrange a place for you to rest and inform you when there are operational orders!"

Sending elite night fighters to the forefront of street fighting as cannon fodder would be a waste. Lynn quickly responded, "Yes, sir!"

Colonel Kaman immediately called for a guard and instructed him to take Lynn and his men to the air raid shelter for rest, and to find some food, fresh water, and ammunition for them.

Before leaving, Lynn thanked him, and Colonel Kaman only nodded slightly before turning to follow the soldier escorting the Soviet colonel to a corner further inside. As for how he would make the stubborn enemy talk, Lynn didn't have to worry at all. The Defense Forces were not like secret police; there weren't so many torture tricks.

Exiting the basement where the 6th Defense Zone Headquarters was located, Lynn's ears were once again filled with the sounds of artillery and explosions. Against the backdrop of these thunderous roars, gunfire sounded like the drizzle of spring. Lynn turned back, only to see occasional flashes of fire from the ruins of buildings where sewers had previously emerged, and in the distance, broken blocks were billowing with thick or faint columns of smoke, indicating that the anti-tank artillery of the defending forces was engaged in a struggle with the attacking tank artillery. Hopefully, the brave soldiers of the Defense Forces could repel several rounds of Soviet attacks!

Some questions were not easy to ask directly to Colonel Kaman. Seeing that the guard responsible for leading him was previously stationed in the headquarters, Lynn handed him a cigarette and inquired about some information. From what this man revealed, officers were also puzzled by the rapid turnover of the city defense commander. As for Colonel Bach's situation, neither the orders from the High Command nor the City Defense Headquarters mentioned it, as if he was just temporarily filling the position and would immediately step down once a suitable candidate appeared, without causing any trouble.

But Lynn had a vague feeling that things weren't as simple as they appeared on the surface.

"Alright, here it is!"

The guard led Lynn and his men to the entrance of the air raid shelter. In the later stages of the war in Berlin, air defense facilities, large and small, were scattered throughout the neighborhoods. Some were solid fortifications built by German engineering units, some were civilian facilities such as subway tunnels converted into shelters, and some were even basements and underground storage rooms of civilians. In terms of safety, only the first type truly provided ideal concealment, while the latter two could still protect against shrapnel from street battles but might turn into graves directly if hit by bombs or artillery shells.

Entering the air raid shelter, Lynn took a brief look around. Although it wasn't a sophisticated structure connected to the city's main defense system, it was at least reinforced with concrete. Moreover, the upper part was purely a ruin of a building, eliminating the risk of collateral collapse from the collapse of tall buildings. What was even more valuable was that it had a "back door," which was an escape passage connected to the sewer system. This seemed to have been manually excavated by construction teams, and thus, a circular steel door resembling a tank hatch was installed. It could be completely locked from either side, ready to block any enemy intrusion.