Creeping on the muddy grass behind the bushes, Lynn occasionally turned on her infrared searchlight to glance at it. Armored targets with large size and sufficient heat sources can be detected at a distance of 200 meters as long as there are no obstacles to cover them, provided that the power supply of infrared equipment is normal. With dozens of experiences in using the "Vampire" infantry infrared equipment, Lynn knew from looking at the scope imaging that the battery that was fully charged the night before was exhausted after using it in the middle of the night.

Breuer, who had been hidden on the other side of the hill, quietly touched back, and before he could speak, Lynn guessed what he was going to say—under the current technical conditions, battery power was a headache for every German night soldier.

"Sir, there's no power!"

"Hmm!"

"What should I do?"

What else can Lynn do other than say "keep your eyes open"?

"It's coming!" Crawling on the side, Tanze was not ravaged by enemy artillery fire like his predecessors, and his hearing was always sharp.

Lynn immediately pricked up her ears, and the sound she had heard before was indeed closer. Turning on the infrared searchlight again, the bright colors in the scope were as blurry as sounds, but fortunately, with experience, he was still able to roughly determine the number and size of the other party. Shortly after the two motorcycles took the lead, a convoy of armoured vehicles appeared ahead of them, unaccompanied by soldiers on foot.

Lynn gritted his teeth and ordered, "Prepare to fight!" ”

The soldiers under his command did not have much ammunition, but fortunately, there were some anti-tank grenades that had been issued earlier, and they could barely rely on the terrain to fight a blocking battle. Lynn pulled the youngest private, Turchmel, aside and whispered, "Go and tell the troops behind you that an armored unit is coming from the southeast, and there are fifteen or six tanks and armored vehicles combined, and the accompanying infantry is likely to be on board." If the battle starts, it's the Soviets' troops, let's get our men ready for battle, or find a way to avoid the enemy! ”

Shouldering the heavy responsibility alone for the first time, the "big boy" wearing a steel helmet looked very nervous, and he asked in a trembling voice: "What should you do, sir?" ”

"It's still two hours before dawn!" Lynn pretended to be calm and replied, "The enemy doesn't know our strength and won't rush up, we'll retreat here for a while, and then follow them when you go down!" ”

Reluctantly, Titchmel turned around and left.

Turning his gaze back to the front, turning on the infrared night vision equipment with little power again, the brightly colored objects lined up in an unstandard column—the ones at the head of the row and the back of the hall were scattered and looked like the arrows and tails of a feathered arrow.

Although she has read countless books and materials on World War II, she has never actually fought with an armored unit, and Lynn cannot deduce the identity of the armored force based on the formation, and she regrets in her heart.

After a while, Wolfrum and Brewer, who had arranged for their soldiers to prepare for battle, returned to their side: "Sir, how to fight?" ”

This question Lynn has long thought about: "Attack the tail of the team, create chaos to the maximum!" ”

"But if it's our troops......," Wolfrum said of everyone's common concerns.

Lynn frowned and hesitated: "When the enemy passes by in front, I will send a message and ask, if they don't answer or open fire directly, then we will attack according to the plan, how about it?" ”

"Agreed!" Brewer whispered.

Immediately afterwards, Wolfrum also made up his mind: "Agreed! ”

After the two left, Lynn's mood became even more apprehensive - just like Wolfrum on his side could also speak Russian, if it was a Soviet combat unit, but arranged for someone to reply in German, wouldn't it still be difficult to distinguish between friend and foe?

Although the speed of the chariot column was on the slow side, the distance of one or two hundred meters was still only a matter of minutes. Seeing that the bright objects reflected by the infrared scope were already in front of him, Lynn could not distinguish their outlines with the naked eye, because there was no natural or artificial light source in his line of sight.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, open your eyes, and shout, "Hey, who are you?" ”

The roar of this voice did not immediately stop the chariot column less than forty meters in front of it, so the sound dissipated, and the sonorous sound of the tracks and the rather dull roar of the engines were still in the ears.

The heavy and tense atmosphere makes time seem to freeze at this point.

After several seconds, the other party neither answered nor fired. Lynn, fearing that the other party would slip away because of this, was about to give the order to attack, when a German reply finally came from the front: "5th Light Armored Infantry Division, report your identity immediately!" ”

Lynn wanted to get further information, but he didn't want the other party to know his strength, so he deliberately shouted in the name of Major Ziegler: "The 10th Grenadier Regiment of the 5th Armored Division of the SS!" Where did you come from and where are you going? ”

The other party immediately replied: "We have come from Verkhniy Innocentov, we have been ordered to reinforce the 5th Mountain Army, and now we are rushing to Oranienburg to support the retreating troops!" ”

On this fateful occasion, Lynn still didn't dare to be careless, and said logically: "Now that you have passed through the defense area of the 5th Mountain Army, tell us, is there still a German battle flag flying there?" ”

"Yes!" The other party still did not hesitate at all this time, "We did pass through their position, which was riddled with holes, but the German red battle flag was still flying proudly!" ”

Lynn, who had been deceived by such words of pride, recognised it, and rose from behind the bushes, ready to lie down at any time to the sound of gunshots, though he was not sure if he could move faster than a bullet.

"Don't fire, I'm down, just by myself! I've got a gun, it's a night vision device, and I need to make sure you don't have any intent to attack! My soldiers are ready for battle! ”

There was no response, Lynn carefully picked up the MP44, and in the infrared telescope, he saw that some of the vehicles in front were still moving, but the last few had stopped, and there were infantry disembarking to defend them - if it was the Soviets, they should have opened fire a long time ago.

"The 5th SS Panzer Division also has night fighters?" The other party's sudden questioning brought the atmosphere back to a tense state.

"Alright! I'm Lynn of the 4th Night Assault Battle Group, 167th Combat Group. Corporal Gargo! Surrounded by our people! Lynn replied calmly and aloud as she walked down the hill. At this time, there was no turning back.

Perhaps this answer was sincere enough that the other party did not ask another question until Lynn descended to the bottom of the slope.

Upon approaching, Lynn was relieved to see the silhouette of a German military hat and a steel helmet with large ears.

"Thank God, you are really your own people!"

"Of course! Sergeant Gargo, you're brave enough! Come down alone!"

A well-proportioned soldier walked up to him, and the voice was the same person who had just spoken to Lynn. At this time, the surrounding combat vehicles were stopped, but they were not parked at random, but dispersed on the spot while keeping the engines running.

Lynn naturally lowered the muzzle of the gun, and the other party also stood still in front of him, unhurriedly stretched out his right hand that had taken off his gloves: "1005th Tank Destroyer Company, Boval. Lieutenant Vortagen! ”

Thinking that the name was a little familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while, Lynn took off his velvet gloves and shook hands with the other party very hard.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Vortagen!"

"Tell me about your situation!" The Wehrmacht-looking Wehrmacht lieutenant cut straight to the point.

Lynn replied truthfully: "The Soviets have basically occupied Fort Oraniin, we have just broken out of the city, and there is Conrad of the 10th Grenadier Regiment of the 5th Armored Division of the SS in the back. Major Ziegler, as well as a Leopard tank, a No. 3 assault gun, more than a hundred soldiers. Belch...... Lieutenant, I think you'd better send a crew to the joint. I couldn't be sure if you were your own or Soviets, but I sent soldiers to inform the major that they might choose to take a detour! ”

"If our scouts spot them, they should be able to connect without a hitch, just like us!"

After that, the lieutenant took out a cigarette, lit it with both hands on the lighter, took two puffs in a row, and said: "In fact, the initial order I received was to cooperate with the 5th Mountain Army to launch a counterattack and drive the Soviet troops out of Oranienburg!" ”

Lynn's eyes widened: "This can't be! ”

"It's impossible!" The lieutenant exhaled a long breath and sighed: "The 5th Mountain Army has only barely held the last line of positions, and General Carat said that his troops can hold out until dawn at most, and if he does not receive strong reinforcements, he will be forced to abandon his position, and then the troops in Oranienburg who have not had time to retreat will be surrounded by Soviet troops!" ”

"I don't know the specifics of the other troops!" Lynn glanced back in the direction of Oranienburg, "But I'm afraid there aren't many people who can successfully break through!" ”

(To be continued)