Chapter 146: Entrance

In almost everyone's prayers, there was a slightly longer interval before the third appearance of the signalman. Lynn's watch showed 11:14. If pronounced in Chinese, this wasn't a good sign. The signalman recited the numbers of two units in one breath, and twenty-six soldiers got up and left. Now, apart from Lynn's team, there were only seven National Defense soldiers left in the air-raid shelter. They might have enough time before the next "roll call," or maybe everyone would have to rush to the front lines when the signalman appeared for the fourth time.

For a newcomer about to make their entrance, nerves were inevitable during the speech. But with Lynn's rich experience, he could face gunfire calmly. Due to Karuno's serious injury and transfer to the field hospital, the National Defense soldiers who foresaw the situation in the sewer naturally left after assisting their comrades in receiving treatment. The soldiers left accompanying Lynn were only six: Bruhl Bloom, Gordon Woflrum, Noah Nuremberg, Marcus Tanze, Karl Tichmer, and Lothar Bruck.

In the time that followed, Lynn put aside his mental burdens and had earnest conversations with each of them, combining his observations to assess their reliability and intentions. Time passed quickly, and when urgent footsteps echoed in the passage of the air-raid shelter, he stopped abruptly, mentally preparing for the brave battle ahead. However, what appeared before him was the guard sent by Lieutenant Colonel Kaman earlier to lead the way. He walked straight to Lynn, put down the two bags in his hands, and said, "Comrade Sergeant, sorry for the delay. These were not easy to get!"

Even without opening the bags, Lynn could guess their contents. He stood up and said, "Thank you very much, brother!"

Upon hearing the word "brother," the guard was surprised and somewhat touched. He quickly said, "I'm really sorry. We couldn't get the batteries you mentioned. Can we substitute them with car or motorcycle batteries?"

Lynn shook his head calmly, "It's okay. If we have a chance to return to the city center, we'll find the logistics supply depot of the assault team ourselves! Oh, by the way, how's the situation ahead?"

At this moment, Bruck and Wolfrum opened the bags containing food and ammunition respectively. Such additional treatment naturally made the nearby National Defense soldiers envious. The guard sighed as he looked down, "It's probably not good."

Lynn made a rough judgment based on what the guard said, and then said to Bruck, "Lothar, gather everyone here! It's rare to have the opportunity to have lunch together. The next meal might be in heaven or hell!"

What was in the bags was just some breadcrumbs and potato chunks. Seven people sharing it or fourteen people wouldn't fill their stomachs. Following Lynn's orders, the National Defense soldiers were happy to fill their stomachs before heading to the battlefield. Both sides sat together casually, quickly finishing their food, exchanging names, and words of blessing, until the signalman for the fourth time arrived.

Seeing the signalman rushing in, Lynn raised his hand to check the time; there were still twenty minutes until 2 o'clock. With this frequency of replenishing the reserve, the situation ahead was indeed not optimistic.

"Everyone..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a shell fell near the entrance of the air-raid shelter. The ground trembled, not enough to lose balance, but the strong shock caused by the massive explosion rushed in through the entrance. The signalman staggered and almost fell. He quickly steadied himself with his helmet and shouted loudly, "Superior orders... Everyone immediately support the front line position, block the enemy's attack at all costs! Fight to the death!"

Finally, it was their turn!

Lynn quickly adjusted his helmet, checked his collar, and straightened his uniform. Although night vision equipment was not needed during the day, leaving it here might get it buried. He even considered the heavy batteries as makeshift Kevlar vests! Even if they couldn't stop bullets, they could at least provide some protection against fragments and debris from behind. He detached the infrared spotlight from his gun and stuffed it along with the wires into his bag. As for the infrared telescopic sight, although the view of people and scenery was somewhat blurry, it could still be used as a makeshift sniper scope.

Under Lynn's lead, the six soldiers of the night combat special forces quickly packed up their equipment. The bag of ammunition brought by the guard was limited, only three or four dozen rounds per person. Unfortunately, there were no rocket-propelled grenades to match the "tank killers" - hopefully, there would be plenty of these on the frontline.

Although their side was the first to complete the preparation before departure, Lynn announced loudly, "Attention... Salute to the National Defense brothers!"

The soldiers of the Waffen-SS immediately stood at attention, watching as the same number of National Defense soldiers marched out of the air-raid shelter, following their commander's lead. At this moment, the crude and rigid entrance of the air-raid shelter was imagined by Lynn as the player's tunnel. How he wished he was leading his brothers onto a glorious football field rather than a battlefield where life and death were at stake, receiving cheers from fans instead of the baptism of flames and steel... Finally, the splendid fireworks seen at night turned into a deadly threat at close range. The dazzling flames and rising black smoke deeply stimulated their visual senses. The booming of the artillery was like hammering on their eardrums. The earth shook violently, and the world trembled fiercely. Lynn and every soldier before and after him had no choice but to throw themselves into this life-and-death contest with the Grim Reaper. In order to avoid shells and the fragments and debris they produced, they sometimes performed football-like tackles or dives, keeping their heads and bodies close to the ground. More often than not, limited by the limits of human neural reactions, they could only entrust their fate to the judgment of the heavens.

The difficult journey from the air-raid shelter to the barricade position was only about two or three kilometers. It was getting closer, finally arriving at their destination with the courage of crossing the line of fire. However, the German soldiers were not greeted with relief but with a new round of deadly competition. The opponent was now the fierce attacking Soviet ground forces, and Death wielded its sharp scythe, personally acting as the world's most terrifying referee.

"Quick, get into position, and fire fiercely! Fast, fast, fast!"

As soon as they arrived at the barricade line, Lynn heard this hoarse and ferocious voice. He saw a burly National Defense sergeant rudely ushering the reserve soldiers into the front-line barricade position. Anyone who hesitated would receive a kick. This reminded him of the "Butcher," but his old boss never urged soldiers to go to dangerous places. Although the barricade had concrete fortifications and sandbag bunkers, it had been riddled by Allied airstrikes and was now nothing but a shell. Moreover, the bunkers along the way could only protect the front, and they had no defense against mortar shells falling from above or exploding behind them. In just a moment, Lynn saw two National Defense soldiers who came together being blasted away by an explosion when they entered the position. Another soldier he hadn't met before fell to the ground injured, his cries of pain immediately drowned out by the intense gunfire!

Ahead was a fiery pit. Pretending to be deaf, Lynn led his soldiers towards the right side of the barricade—he had noticed two four-story buildings standing side by side there. They hadn't escaped Allied airstrikes either, and now they were just concrete shells. The collapsed floors and walls formed undulating piles of rubble at their bases. Some German soldiers had used this as a defensive position. Some even climbed to the upper floors along the remaining stairs, using the height advantage to snipe at Soviet armored and infantry targets. Rocket-propelled grenades trailed white smoke as they were fired from the buildings, either hitting Soviet tanks directly, breaking tank tracks, or slightly off, sweeping away Soviet infantry with intense explosions. They fell in groups, only to be replaced by more!

Being new here, Lynn didn't seek glory but aimed to adapt quickly to the environment and the rhythm of battle. So as soon as he entered the building, he loudly called on his men to "fire while prone." Hearing the bullets flying past, he himself lay behind a pile of rubble. If he didn't raise his head, he saw a series of lights flying past from above, as if witnessing the most brilliant meteor shower of the century.

Damn it! Lynn cursed inwardly in frustration. From the outside, the main framework of this dilapidated building seemed to withstand Soviet mortar shells, but after coming in, he realized that the density of gunfire here was no less than that at the front barricade. Fortunately, he had instructed everyone to lie down early, or else they would easily be hit by stray bullets from both sides.