The patrol departed, and they marched in a tactical formation in a column through the snowy forest. Many of the surrounding areas were scattered with broken branches and bare trunks that had been bombarded by German shells. The group remained silent, with Parks in the middle of the line, and Sergeant Martin and Lieutenant Halig at the head of the line.

Everyone's expressions were tense, and they were alert to what might happen around them at any time, paying attention to every unusual noise. The further you go, the more this caution manifests itself in everyone.

In the dark night, flares were constantly rising, and the occasional sound of German machine gun fire, or the explosion of one or two shells, seemed relatively loose in such a night sky.

"What are they shooting?" Malaki whispered to Lutz, "Did they find us?" ”

"No, they didn't see anything!" Rutz chuckled, "They just rely on this to embolden, and to be honest, the Germans are even more scared than we are." Captain Parks said! ”

"I want to rely on this to be brave, too!" Malaki shrugged his shoulders, "Even so, we are short of ammunition and shells, and God knows how long we will survive this situation!" ”

"Don't ask me this!" Lutz shook his head and said, "Why don't you ask Captain Parkes?" ”

Malachi, of course, would not ask Captain Parks, and he did not speak, but silently followed the group. There were also many people with different minds, who were not tired of this patrol, and even had some expectations, hoping that Captain Parks would give them some changes. Rather than staying in the bunker and dying of mold and rot, it is better to follow Captain Parks to fight, not to mention that every time you follow Captain Parks on a mission, you can achieve an exciting victory.

The German foxholes were not like Company E, they were just traditional foxholes, there was nothing special about them, and their foxholes were not very deep, just because they felt that the Americans would never risk their lives to raid them. After all, the Germans now have a huge advantage in terms of strength between the two sides, and they have always maintained coercion over E Company.

The Germans placed two companies in the defensive line. They also maintained the advantage of E Company in the defensive line. Although it was difficult for them to infiltrate the defense line formed by E Company with Parks bunkers, their advantage in manpower also allowed E Company's patrols to infiltrate their own defense.

"Our patrol is coming back!" A German soldier hid in a foxhole and said to his companion, "I hate such patrol missions, endlessly, we can't penetrate the Americans' lines, and the Americans can't penetrate our lines, why do we still have such a confrontation?" I just want to go home. I haven't seen my mom in a long time, and it's been almost a year since I left Germany! ”

"Don't complain, Adson, I haven't been back home for two years." The German shook his head and said, "To be honest, I'm a little skeptical right now that we're going to win this war." I've heard that a lot of people are dead on the Eastern Front, the Russians are advancing on us, we are fighting on both fronts, we have limited energy, and if we can't stop the Americans and the British, we will have to be occupied by them! ”

"Just like we occupied France? Folcott. Edson looked at the German soldier, "It was a wonderful moment, we drank countless good wines in Paris, and the women of Paris, beautiful and unrestrained, of course, these are not paid, we are occupiers." Adelson said with a smile on his lips, as if reminiscing about the good old days.

The German soldier named Forcott looked at Adson, shook his head, and said with some frustration: "Don't dream, Adson, we still have to face the Americans, if we can't stop them, then the next time in Berlin we drink our wine and sleep with our women are Americans, British, French and damn inferior Russians." Just think about it, it's disgusting! ”

Adelson was silent, he knew that this was a very likely thing, the scale of the offensive on the Western Front was very large, and it could be seen from the expressions of their commanders, they had serious expressions, and showed great courage as if they were gamblers, putting all the bets on the way they were, expecting the greatest gains, but also worried about the panic of losing all their money.

At this time, the occasional sound of machine-gun fire from the defensive line gave the two silent men a little energy. Although the Germans are now unstoppable, they have met with resistance in Bastone, and they have invested too many troops to try to open this passage, but it is like a nail embedded in a tree, and it cannot be pulled out. And they used this as a salient to besiege the American regiments, even under the siege of their regiments, the American troops still did not retreat, they still blocked the advance of the German army.

"Adson, if we can't go back this time, remember to help me give this letter to my wife!" Folcott pulled a letter out of his bosom, and then he opened it and looked at it again, "Remember, it's in my bosom in the left pocket!" I've been out for two years and the child should be 4 years old, it's like going back to see my little angel! Faulcott's eyes looked fascinated.

"Well, I hope you do the same for me!" Adelson smiled.

"Help you get the letter to your wife?"

"No, give my pocket watch to my wife!" Adelson pulled out a gold-plated pocket watch from his bosom, he raised his hand, hung it in the air, and swayed, "This is what my wife gave me when she was newly married." She's such a beautiful girl, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for the call-up order, I would be with my wife! ”

"That's it!" Faulkot nodded, and then the two of them curled up in the foxhole, and the snowflakes began to fall again, and their bodies were slowly covered with snow, looking like two dead corpses in the snowstorm, not moving, and not alive. They don't want to move, they just bask in their own memories.

The Germans were happy, compared to Company E. They shelled if they wanted, they attacked when they wanted, and they had thick military coats to help them withstand the cold, as well as plenty of food supplies to keep them fed. And the US military has nothing. They ran out of shells in the first few days, and now there is no threat. They lack food and clothing, as well as medical supplies. Seeing that Christmas is coming, they will spend a Christmas in cold and despair.

The officers of the German army had such an opinion. Every time they see the deathly silence on the U.S. line, they will maliciously wonder, are all Americans freezing to death or starving to death?

Major Treshel was one such optimistic man, and he sent both companies of the battalion headquarters to the defensive line, leaving one company in reserve. As the battalion commander, he knew that the Americans on the opposite side had a very powerful cover, which made it difficult for them to move an inch, but the Americans obviously did not have the ability to attack him. And their manpower and supplies are much worse than their own.

He could sit at the battalion headquarters and have dinner with the company commanders, and then there would be dessert and fruit wine after the meal. His battalion headquarters was built like the permanent one, not at all like the temporary one, where they could have a fire, barbecue, and even play poker with a few officers, because they never feared that the American army would suddenly launch a counterattack against them.

The regimental headquarters urged them several times to launch an attack on the American troops on the opposite defensive line, but Major Treschel did not follow the order, he just kept eliminating the patrols, and he did not dare to do a large-scale attack. He despised the commander of the regiment who gave the order, because the attack of a regiment had been defeated by the American army before, and almost all the heavy armor had been lost, and the loss of soldiers was also very serious, and it was almost impossible for one battalion of his own to complete this task.

"How are the soldiers?" Tresch sat at the table, opposite him the three company commanders, who had a small dinner party, and the orderlies served them the most delicious veal and the most delicious wine, all of which were French high-class goods, "I mean the soldiers on the line!" He said and gently wiped his lips with a napkin, his movements graceful, as if he were a nobleman. In fact, he was just a farmer before he joined the army, but after staying in the army for a long time, he always liked to imitate some big people, in order to make himself look more educated and noble.

"Pretty good!" One of the captains, the company commander across from him, nodded, "The morale of the soldiers is high. They were warmly dressed, well fed, and had wine to keep out the cold, which Americans couldn't match. ”

"Will they be able to penetrate our defenses?" Treschel continued, he liked to talk to the officers at the dinner table, more like a table meeting with the generals.

"I promise, absolutely not!" Another officer sitting across from him replied, "We have infiltrated their lines, they are undermanned, they only rely on that strange cover to defend us, although we can't penetrate them, but they will never be able to penetrate our lines, and they will definitely not be able to attack us!" ”

"Very good!" Trischl nodded and smiled, "Gentlemen, our main purpose is to hold this line of defense, and now that we have done it, the Americans have done it." We'd better be okay! Unless there is an order, which gives us an order to attack the Americans. Even so, I have to think first of all about the interests of the soldiers and officers. ”

"But the regimental commander already has the order to attack!" A company commander asked with some hesitation.

"Leave that alone, do you look like a war?" Treshel couldn't help but shake his head, "The line of defense that can't be captured by a single regiment, can we take it?" He smiled heavily, and then nodded to himself, "But we also have to make a show, tomorrow, we are set for tomorrow, how about your company launch a tentative attack on the American army?" Captain Redett? He sneered at the company commander who had just spoken.

"This—" The company commander named Redett couldn't help but blush, it was obvious that this was an impossible task, and not a single regiment of American troops on the opposite side had been captured. He stammered, "Sir, I heard that the American soldier on the other side is called Parkes, I wonder if the strength of a company is a little less!" ”

"Where did you know that Parks was on the other side?" Trysch said with some displeasure.

"It's what the captured captives said on the first day of our exchange of fire with them, that Parks' company was also set up here, and that bunker is also called Parks' bunker!" Redett's face was a little unnatural, "At least we have to send two companies, even if it's a tentative attack, we can't take it lightly!" ”

The name Parks was already very famous in the German army. From the sniper general in Arnhem's first battle, the Germans knew about Parks through the captives, and this man brought shame and awe to the Germans.

"Okay, okay, I'll think about it again!" Major Trischel nodded a little displeased, and in order to lighten the atmosphere, he raised his glass, and then said to the three people, "Anyway......"

Before he could finish his words, suddenly fierce gunfire rang out outside, and someone was shouting: "Americans, Americans have infiltrated!" ”

(To be continued)