Chapter 22: The Monarch

As Lynn loaded the fifth bullet into the 5-round magazine, the Soviet infantry in front finally retreated in despair. Setting down his rifle, the rookie soldier with decent marksmanship sighed deeply, turning to glance at his comrades. "Butcher" sat grimacing in the scattered trench, his face smeared with blood and mud, as if just crawled out from a pile of corpses. The other two soldiers from the same combat unit were also alive. The thinner one seemed to have a graze on his left arm, stoically bandaging it himself, while the relatively short and chubby one was panting heavily, still tightly holding his "Popo-sha" in his hands. In the most critical moment, both soldiers had wielded Soviet submachine guns, and together with "Butcher's" MP38/40, they successfully repelled the attempts of the Soviet soldiers to charge up the hill. At the crucial moment, a small group of German infantry bypassed the hill to provide support. Lynn noticed that two of them were using automatic weapons similar in appearance to the AK47—considering the timeline and the connection between the two, it should be said that the AK47 partly drew inspiration from the design concept of the German MP44 (StG44).

Regardless of whether the Soviets admitted to this imitation, Lynn felt that the late-stage weapons design and development level of Germany in World War II had indeed reached its peak. Apart from assault rifles, their jet aircraft and ballistic missile technology were also groundbreaking. It was a pity that the authorities failed to fully exploit these technological advantages, confirming an ancient Eastern saying: "Those who are virtuous have many helpers, while those who are lost have few."

Whether it was deeply impressed by the remarkable performance of the MP44 at close to medium range, or proud of his own shooting talent, in the midst of the fiercest battle, Lynn didn't even think of using his "Sand". When he came to his senses and looked at the Soviet submachine gun lying quietly beside him, covered with mud and dust, there was a sudden sense of trance in his mind, until the booming sound of artillery from the front line caught his attention again.

The battlefield, where dozens of tanks collided with each other, had now turned into a boxing ring where less than twenty vehicles engaged in the final duel. Most of the burning, smoking, charred, and sagging barrels belonged to Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns, while on the German side, Lynn only saw two Panzer IV tanks and one Sturmgeschütz IV destroyed by the enemy.

Both Tiger tanks were in motion, yes, both of them!

The genuine delight from the bottom of his heart was not the fluke of passing an exam or the satisfaction of successfully wooing a girl; it was filled with admiration for the battlefield situation and respect for the German tank crews. It was compensation for the morning's disappointment of not seeing their own fighters win air superiority, the satisfaction of holding the position with all their might while seeing their comrades perform equally brilliantly, and above all, the infinite hope for their own destiny. At this moment, a grandiose phrase suddenly popped into Lynn's head:

"Wietmann is dead, but Germany has never lacked aces!"

In his line of sight, the previously injured "Tiger" abruptly halted, evading the direct fire of the Soviet tank—the shell landed on its right front side just moments later. Judging by the timing and speed, if it had continued forward, the vulnerable side of the tank could have been hit by the shell.

While aiming sideways was undoubtedly domineering, facing an opponent of equal strength, such a posture was prone to being seized upon by the enemy, yet it also tempted the enemy to strike first. Faced with the Soviet tank that had already stopped and fired a shot, the "Tiger" calmly adjusted its gun barrel, seizing the opportunity when the opponent had just started and was unable to maneuver to deliver a powerful blow!

The white smoke from the firing charge gushed out from the horizontal side holes of the muzzle brake almost simultaneously. At almost the same time, the Soviet tank several tens of meters away flashed with flames, and gray smoke billowed. The distance between them was so close that the two plumes of smoke seemed to converge. Then came a loud rumble, and the bright yellow flames instantly engulfed the hit Soviet tank. Something resembling a tank turret cover soared into the sky like a "rocket," propelled by the intense explosion caused by the detonation of the ammunition, shocking everyone on the battlefield.

The idler wheels of the "Tiger" started rolling again, and the heavy roar of the engine sounded like a roar of victory from a monarch. In Lynn's view, the tank crew had found their rhythm; they were like skilled swordsmen in the era of cold weapons, daring to maneuver in a real duel and able to move freely in front of the enemy's blades and spears.

In an instant, the other "Tiger" that had formed a pincer attack also opened fire. The booming sound of the cannon resembled someone striking an immensely huge war drum, its momentum majestic and its sound unstoppable, penetrating all obstacles.

This time, the victim was another Soviet T-34, which, although like a tide rolling on the Eastern Front, found it difficult to break through the resilient defense of the German army once it slowed down and engaged in a fierce battle, especially with the enemy's strong firepower.

Overall, a "Tiger" had far greater support capability for the defense line than a regular 88mm gun.

Bang! Bang!

Two Soviet assault guns, resembling dwarven warriors in appearance, opened fire on the German Tiger tanks from several hundred meters away. With several tank wrecks in between, only one shell hit the target as intended, exploding upon contact with the armor of the Tiger tank turret, while the other landed nearby, posing a certain threat to the wide tracks of the Tiger tank on the battlefield.

The hit "Tiger" continued to advance, not turning its gun barrel to retaliate against the Soviet assault gun with its long barrel, but firmly staring at the last remaining IS-2 on the battlefield. This Soviet tank, resembling a "unicorn," had one side of its tracks damaged by a mine explosion. Although it couldn't move forward or backward normally, it could still make a clockwise turn on the spot with the intact side of its tracks and tried its best to aim its thickest armor and the most intimidating 122mm tank gun at the German tank. However, from Lynn's position, he could see two groups of German infantry advancing in a leapfrog manner along the trenches in front of the position. They were carrying the "Eiserne Faust 60/100" that Soviet tank crews despised, these single-use anti-tank rocket launchers were very simple to carry and use, although their range was not very long, when used properly, they could penetrate more than 200mm in maximum depth, posing a deadly threat to any model of Soviet tank.

To deal with the last IS-2, the Germans deployed not only tanks and infantry but also concentrated firepower from anti-tank guns positioned on the flank behind the defensive line. Lynn glanced around; at the beginning of the battle, the defending line had a total of 11 effective anti-tank guns and 5 anti-aircraft machine guns (heavy machine guns) for support. Now, there were only 4 anti-tank guns and 2 heavy anti-aircraft weapons left, with the destroyed guns surrounded by four or five, or even more, bodies. The German gunners fulfilled their vows through action, whether it was worth it or not, they now could only lie silently on the land that still belonged to Germany. For centuries, this had been traditional German territory, but it wouldn't be long before it was permanently divided, and more cruelly, there would no longer be Germans living here—everyone wanted to know the outcome of the war in advance, yet this foresight had become Lynn's painful burden. He silently raised his head; the sky was a melancholy blue, the clouds a bleak white, and even the sunlight lacked warmth.

Boom! Boom!

The successive sounds of artillery heralded the beginning of the final act, and this thrilling armored battle thus reached its climax. Under the pincer attack of the two Tiger tanks, the IS-2, which had been struggling to counterattack, finally succumbed in a series of explosions, following in the footsteps of most of its comrades. The thick armor protected some of the tank crew, but after failing to extinguish the fire, they were forced to abandon their vehicle. One of them was shot by German infantry just as he stepped out of the hatch, while another managed to run a few steps before being brought down by bullets from behind.

From this moment on, the remaining Soviet tanks completely gave up hope and began to retreat in reverse. Before they were out of the effective range of the German tanks, two more T-34s were successively taken out by the Tiger tanks.

At the cost of losing 2 Panzer IV tanks, 1 StuG IV assault gun, 7 anti-tank guns, 3 anti-aircraft machine guns, and hundreds of infantrymen, the Germans destroyed 5 IS-2s, 23 T-34s, 16 different models of assault guns, and over a thousand Soviet infantrymen. Calculated solely based on the ratio of combat vehicle losses, the German army achieved a staggering advantage of 1:12 in this battle. Even in the early stages of the Soviet-German war, such a loss ratio was quite astonishing, let alone when the Soviet army was equipped with more powerful tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled artillery. However, Lynn also knew that a determined defensive battle on fortified positions was fundamentally different from a mere encounter or ambush with tanks in the field. Without the sacrificial restraint of the defending infantry, the two Tiger tanks would have faced even more intense attacks from the enemy. Without the brave and accurate sniping of the anti-tank gun crews, more Soviet T-34s and assault guns would have been unleashed to besiege the German tanks. Without the tactical use of smoke grenades to disrupt visibility, and without the infantry's advance deployment of minefields to disturb the formation of the Soviet armored forces, such a victory would have been impossible!

Despite all these "ifs," Lynn felt that this battle of the weak prevailing over the strong was still a classic, worthy of being recorded in military textbooks and admired by future generations of soldiers and military enthusiasts alike. More important than tactics was the unparalleled fighting spirit displayed by the German officers and soldiers in this battle. Some say that the will of the German army in World War II was weaker than that of World War I, analyzing and comparing the reactions of the army and the people at the outbreak of war, the casualties of soldiers, and even the charging postures. But Lynn felt that this merely indicated a difference in the fervor for war between different eras of the German army. Before World War I, Germany gained tangible benefits from each battle, leading to a national desire to wage war, but after World War I ended in failure, Germany suffered enormous war reparations, and its economy collapsed. In such circumstances, people naturally became cautious about getting involved in another war. If one were to compare the fighting spirit of soldiers on both sides, why not look at the positions of the front lines at the cessation of hostilities in the two world wars?