Chapter 129: Hello, Comrade!

Crawling on the muddy grassland behind the bushes, Lin'en occasionally glanced at the infrared spotlight. Armored targets with large size and sufficient heat sources could be detected within a range of 200 meters as long as there were no obstacles blocking the view, provided that the power supply of the infrared equipment was normal. Based on his experience using the "Vampire" infantry infrared equipment dozens of times, Lin'en knew from the image in the sight that the battery, fully charged the previous night, had little power left after being used for most of the night.

Bruhl, who had been hiding on the other side of the hill, quietly returned. Even before he spoke, Lin'en guessed what he was going to say—under current technical conditions, the battery power was a headache for every German night combat soldier.

"Sir, we're out of power!"

"Hmm!"

"What should we do?"

Other than saying "stare wide-eyed," what else could Lin'en do?

"Here they come!" Tante, lying next to him, had not suffered the ravages of enemy fire like his predecessors, and his hearing was always sharp.

Lin'en immediately perked up his ears. The sound he had heard earlier seemed to be getting closer. Once again, he turned on the infrared spotlight, and the bright spots in the sight were as blurry as the sound, but with his experience, he could still roughly estimate the number and size of the targets. Shortly after two motorcycles passed by, a convoy of armored vehicles appeared ahead, with no infantry accompanying them.

Lin'en gritted his teeth and ordered, "Prepare for combat!"

His soldiers were low on ammunition, but fortunately, they still had some anti-tank grenades distributed earlier, which could be used to launch a suppression ambush relying on the terrain. Lin'en pulled aside the youngest private, Tichimel, and whispered to him, "Go tell the troops behind us that an armored unit is approaching from the southeast. There are about fifteen or sixteen tanks and armored vehicles, and infantry may be riding on the vehicles. If the battle breaks out and it's Soviet troops, tell our people to prepare for combat or find a way to avoid the enemy!"

Taking on such responsibility for the first time, Tichimel, the "pretty boy" wearing a helmet, looked extremely nervous. In a trembling voice, he asked, "But sir, what about you?"

"We still have two hours until dawn!" Lin'en answered calmly, pretending to be composed. "The enemy doesn't know our strength and won't charge recklessly. We'll hold on here for a while and then retreat. After you go down, just follow them!"

Reluctantly, Tichimel turned away.

Redirecting his gaze to the front, Lin'en again turned on the low-powered infrared night vision equipment. The bright objects in the sight that formed a not-so-standard column—some scattered at the front and rear—looked like the head and tail of an arrow.

Although Lin'en had read countless books and materials on World War II, he had never truly fought alongside an armored unit. Therefore, he couldn't determine the enemy's identity based on the formation. He felt a bit regretful.

After a while, Bruhl and Wolfurum, who had been assigned to prepare for combat, returned to his side. "Sir, how should we proceed?" Bruhl asked.

Lin'en had already considered this question. "Attack the rear to create maximum chaos!"

"But what if they are our troops..." Wolfurum voiced the common concern.

Lin'en hesitated for a moment with a frown. "When the enemy passes by, I'll shout and ask. If they don't answer or open fire directly, we'll proceed with the plan. How does that sound?"

"Agreed!" Bruhl whispered.

Following suit, Wolfurum also made up his mind. "Agreed!"

After the two left, Lin'en felt even more anxious—like Wolfurum on his side, if they spoke Russian, but arranged for someone to reply in German, wouldn't it still be difficult to distinguish friend from foe?

Although the convoy of vehicles was moving slowly, a distance of one or two hundred meters was still a matter of minutes. Seeing the bright objects reflected in the infrared sight getting closer to the front, Lin'en still couldn't discern their contours with his naked eyes because there were no natural or artificial light sources in sight.

Closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, and opening his eyes again, Lin'en shouted with determination, "Hey, who are you guys?"

His voice echoed, but the convoy less than forty meters ahead did not stop immediately. As the sound dissipated, the clanking and rubbing sound of tracks and the rather dull roar of the engines were still audible.

The tense atmosphere made time seem to freeze.

After a few seconds passed, the other party neither answered nor fired. Lin'en was worried that they might slip away, so he was about to order an attack when the front finally responded in German: "5th Light Armored Infantry Division, immediately report your identity!"

This sudden question brought the tense atmosphere back to the brink of confrontation.

"All right! I'm Corporal Lin'en Gargo from the 167th Combat Group of the 4th Night Assault Brigade! Our people surround us!" Lin'en answered loudly, walking down the hillside with caution. At this moment, he had no room for retreat.

Perhaps this answer was sincere enough. Until Lin'en reached the foot of the hill, the other party did not ask any further questions.

Approaching, Lin'en saw German-style helmets and the silhouette of helmets with large ear flaps, finally feeling relieved.

"Thank God, you guys are our own!"

"Of course! Corporal Gargo, you're quite brave to come alone!"

A well-proportioned soldier walked towards him. It was the person Lin'en had just talked to. At this moment, the combat vehicles around had stopped, not randomly but in a state of dispersed defense with the engines still running.

Lin'en naturally lowered his gun, and the other person stood in front of him, extending his right hand without gloves: "Lieutenant Berwal Frtagn of the 1005th Tank Destroyer Company!"

The name seemed familiar to Lin'en, but he couldn't recall it for a moment. Lin'en took off his lined gloves and shook hands firmly with the lieutenant.

"Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Frtagn!"

"Tell us about your situation!" The stern-looking lieutenant got straight to the point.

Lin'en answered truthfully, "The Soviets have basically occupied Oranienburg. We've just broken through from the urban area. Behind us is Lieutenant Colonel Conrad Zigler, the 10th Grenadier Regiment of the 5th SS Armored Division, and a Panther tank, a Sturmgeschutz III, and over a hundred soldiers. Uh... Lieutenant, it would be best if you could send someone to meet them. I couldn't determine if you were our own or Soviet, so I sent a soldier to inform the lieutenant. They might choose to detour after receiving the message!"

"If our scouts find them, they should be able to make contact smoothly, just like us!"

With that, the lieutenant took out a cigarette, lit it with his hands covering the flame, took two puffs, and said, "In fact, my initial orders were to coordinate with the 5th Mountain Army to launch a counterattack and drive the Soviets out of Oranienburg!"

Lin'en widened his eyes. "That's impossible!"

"It's impossible now!" The lieutenant exhaled a long breath and sighed, "The 5th Mountain Army barely held the last line of defense. General Karat said his troops could only hold on until dawn. Without strong reinforcements, he will be forced to abandon his position. By then, the troops who couldn't retreat from Oranienburg will be surrounded by the Soviets!"

"I don't know about the specific situation of other units!" Lin'en glanced back at Oranienburg. "But there may not be many successful breakouts!"