Chapter 120 The Sudden Storm

Returning to the air-raid shelter where their team had been staying for the past two days, Lynn said to the short-haired, combat-clad war correspondent, "The conditions at the front line are indeed a bit rough, Miss Fürtlich. If you find it uncomfortable, we can find another place to talk!"

The young Ava looked clean and didn't seem like she had endured hard times, but she didn't have the demeanor of a pampered lady either. Taking a look at the dim and damp air-raid shelter, she didn't continue walking inside but instead sat down directly beside the steps where there was some light. Taking out a pen and notebook from her bag, she said, "Let's start here! Go ahead!"

"Alright!" Lynn liked this straightforward style, and her four subordinates followed suit, sitting down in front of the female reporter.

"I already know your names. Now, who will describe the events of the previous night's ambush on the Soviet troops?"

As Ava spoke, Lynn's gaze naturally rested on her face. Because it was a frontline reporting assignment, she wasn't heavily made up, but it was still apparent that she had applied some light makeup, and the lipstick color was slightly darker—during Lynn's era, ordinary women rarely used such traditional red lipstick, only some prominent celebrities showcased their "fiery red lips."

The short hair under the military cap appeared black at first glance, but she was sitting against the light, and the outside light was relatively bright at the moment, so Lynn recognized that it was actually a reddish-brown hue leaning towards chocolate, with no natural curls, and the length and thickness were comparable to that of a male soldier who hadn't had a haircut in about a month. As a woman, she gave an overall impression of being neat and tidy.

"Gordon, it's your turn!" Considering that her German wasn't fluent enough, Lynn let Wolfram speak.

Having received the coveted Iron Cross after serving for 14 months in his deployment area, the old soldier's mood was evidently good. He didn't refuse and began recounting the events of the previous night. As Lynn listened, she noticed that Wolfram was usually taciturn and tended to be cautious, but when given the opportunity to perform, he was vivid and colorful, and even added some heroic images to everyone in the story. Thus, a group of soldiers who had set out nervously became fearless warriors. Of course, Lynn's actions of eliminating Soviet scouts, shooting down Soviet drivers with two guns, evading Soviet artillery fire while driving, and operating rocket launchers were fully preserved.

In the end, Wolfram said, "Oh, boss, didn't you keep a souvenir?"

This was the first time the old soldier had called her "boss," and Lynn was stunned for a moment before taking out the periscope from the backpack of the "Katyusha" rocket launcher.

Seeing Ava's curious expression, Lynn explained, "This is our 'lucky periscope.' It was thanks to its observational function that I was able to dodge the continuous tank fire from the Soviet troops while driving and witnessed the rocket hitting the Soviet position, causing a tremendous explosion!"

Ava nodded slightly and promptly wrote down a new line in her notebook. From Lynn's position, her handwriting was very elegant, and the writing was neat, prompting some speculation: What kind of woman was she?

Boom!

Under the incessant gunfire in the distance, this "boom" sounded particularly clear and loud, and some dust fell from the roof of the air-raid shelter—based on Lynn's experience during this period, she knew that the explosion should have occurred in the urban area.

"Miss Fürtlich, the Soviet army is fiercely attacking our outer defenses. To be honest, it's not very safe here. I suggest you return to the rear as soon as possible!" Lynn's intention was good, but Ava didn't appreciate it. "Of course, I know it's dangerous at the front line. I have a sense of propriety as to when to leave and when to stay!"

Lynn was a bit bored and silently put the periscope back in her backpack. But in just a moment, several similar "boom" sounds came one after another, and some dust fell from the roof again, giving Lynn a bad feeling.

The senior war correspondent, however, remained unmoved, continuing to inquire about details from Wolfram and Graf, even teasing the two "boys," which embarrassed the inexperienced privates.

Boom, boom, boom...

The continuous explosions were getting closer, and Lynn finally couldn't sit still, getting up and saying, "I'll go out and take a look, I'll be back soon!"

Seeing Lynn's unusual nervousness, the four soldiers also noticed something, but seeing the war correspondent Ava still unmoved, they had no choice but to patiently sit there.

Walking along the winding passage out of the air-raid shelter, Lynn looked up but didn't see any trace of Soviet aircraft—there hadn't been any air-raid sirens in the city either, making her feel even more uneasy. Walking quickly to the nearby street corner, she saw many soldiers also curiously looking around, and in the northern part of the city, she could see rising columns of gray-black smoke.

"The Soviets have breached the defenses!"

A panicked shout came from the top of an undamaged building, and people subconsciously looked up. The soldier on the rooftop was holding binoculars, repeating the same sentence loudly and waving his hands.

Finally, it's here!

Having imagined this scene many times, what Lynn least wanted to see was the Soviet army breaking into the city during the day. On one hand, the advantage of the infrared night vision goggles couldn't be utilized, and on the other hand, the Soviet air force could easily exert its superiority in controlling the airspace. With gains and losses, the battle situation became extremely precarious.

Back in the air-raid shelter, in addition to her four subordinates and the war correspondent Ava, there were also more than a dozen other soldiers from the nighttime combat groups. Lynn shouted loudly, "The Soviets have broken through the outer defenses. Everyone, prepare for battle! Miss Fürtlich, we must protect you and get you out of here safely!"

The war correspondent knew the severity of the situation. Upon hearing the news, she didn't say a word and quickly packed up her notebook and pen. Lynn instructed her subordinates to equip themselves fully and personally put on the infrared night vision goggles.

"Alright, Comrade Ava, from now on, please follow my orders unconditionally until we safely escort you out!"

As Lynn said this, her sharp and penetrating eyes showed surprise and disappointment.

"Okay!" This answer was a bit lacking in confidence, but for a woman to remain so calm and composed in such a rapidly changing situation was already quite impressive.

In less than five minutes, when Lynn stepped out of the air-raid shelter again, the atmosphere outside had changed from tension before the storm to chaos as the storm raged on. The enemy's shells were falling blatantly, each explosion bringing strong shockwaves and noticeable ground tremors, large clouds of smoke and dust began to pervade the streets, and to make matters worse, the air-raid sirens were wailing at inappropriate times.

"Damn it!"

Lynn cursed angrily. If it weren't for Captain Kalleger being so annoying, she would have been conducting field interviews in the underground bunker at the command post, leaving it to those guys at headquarters to handle such situations. Whether they dispatched cars, armored vehicles, or whatever arrangements they made, it had nothing to do with her. At least she wouldn't have to risk being shot at on the streets amidst the gunfire!

Complaints and regrets couldn't solve the immediate problem in front of her. Lynn regained her composure and calmly considered the route to the combat group headquarters. Three blocks, three intersections, a straight-line distance of less than 1200 meters, which she had walked in about ten minutes on her way here. Running fast, she could do it in five minutes.

Thinking that Soviet aircraft could appear in the city's airspace at any time, Lynn decided to avoid the main roads and take the alleyways. However, as she led the way ahead for less than fifty meters, she heard an extremely urgent "whoosh" sound, and before she could shout "take cover," a shell landed at the intersection ahead.

At the limit of her nerve reflexes, Lynn turned to the right, using a side-fall motion to pull Ava, who was following closely behind her, down and pressed her under herself. Before she could finish the motion, a huge explosion, like a devouring force, enveloped them with an exceptionally violent shockwave. Although she had experienced life and death on the battlefield many times, encountering a shell falling and exploding at close range in such an exposed situation, Lynn's heart was completely suspended—subconsciously, she knew that she could be hit by shrapnel at any moment, only hoping that God would give her a quick end, not enduring the extreme pain suffered by those severely wounded, and eventually dying in agony.

After a moment of blank consciousness, Lynn quickly used her body's cells to explore whether she was intact. Fortunately, except for her left elbow, which was protecting the mp44 and infrared spotlight and was sticking to the ground, causing it to ache and numb, the rest of her body didn't feel any abnormal pain.

Lynn raised her head, and the smoke and dust produced by the explosion were very thick, but they dissipated faster than expected. At this moment, she could vaguely see the shell crater at the intersection and the outline of the building across the street. Looking back with difficulty, she saw her subordinates all lying face down.

"E-everyone okay?"

The first person to speak up was the one underneath her, "H-hurts!"

Lynn got up from the ground, and the war correspondent's military cap fell off, her chocolate-colored hair covered in gray-white dust, her large eyes staring at Lynn with a complex expression.

"Sorry!" Lynn tried to pull her up but found her tightly clutching her right hand, and her complexion was very ugly.

"Injured?"

Ava didn't answer, and Lynn looked back to see that her four soldiers had already crawled up safely. Wolfram took a step forward and came to Lynn's side, also asking, "Injured?"

At this point, Ava finally squeezed out a sentence from her lips, "I might have a fracture!"