1942, July 22, 8 p.m.

Xia Ming followed the company to a temporary camp on the north bank of the Don River in the rear of the 51st Army of the Sixth Army.

It is already less than 10 kilometers from the front line.

After getting off the train, he followed the logistics force composed of two Italians all the way, which also made Xia Ming deeply feel the huge pressure brought by the war.

He had seen many wounded soldiers covered in blood being transported to the rear en masse, either missing arms or legs, and even having a hole in their stomachs, and the bloody scene made him unforgettable for the rest of his life.

But that's good, at least they're alive. can be transported back to China, this fate is saved.

There are also many scenes of corpses being cremated collectively after being cleaned up from the battlefield.

When encountering such a situation on the road, everyone will collectively observe a moment of silence for the fallen soldiers.

Of course, there are many fighters whose bones are left and cannot be recovered at all...

At the beginning, when he saw some scenes, his stomach would unconsciously flush with sour water, but now he is even used to it.

From time to time, you can hear a loud noise of fighter groups flying overhead.

Xia Ming knew that the real battle was not far from him.

"Hey, nervous??" Mueller sat in the truck and shivered, lit a cigarette, and took a deep breath.

Although he graduated with honors in the training camp, it was also his first time on the battlefield. He was even worse than Xia Ming, and he vomited several times on the way.

At least Xia Mingqiang couldn't help but not make a fool of himself on the spot.

"Does nervousness work??" Xia Ming looked at Mueller's fingers holding the cigarette and still trembled, and winked at him gently.

In fact, he is also nervous to death now, but he just didn't show it.

“... Haha, your voice has changed, and you still say you're not nervous? Mueller took another deep breath when he heard Xia Ming's trill, and handed him the cigarette.

“... All right. Xia Ming took half a cigarette a little depressed and took a deep breath.

He and Mueller were both non-smokers, but now they do.

I don't know why, seeing the smoke whistling out of my nose, the whole person is a little more relaxed. Maybe it's a psychological effect that really helps to relieve tension.

"It's the same for everyone to go to war for the first time, I remember the first time I participated in the battle, I couldn't even figure out the east, the west, and almost shot my own people.

I was also locked up for a week for this. Harry sat in the front row, turned his head, and smiled very kindly.

"Thank you." Xia Ming took another puff of his cigarette and nodded at Harry. The veteran looked like Mr. Bean, but he wasn't stupid at all. It's always possible to see details that others don't pay attention to. If the Germans also had a political counselor, he would definitely be the right person.

Xia Ming has been stepping up his marksmanship for the past few days. Now he's confident that as long as he stays calm and focused, he can hit wherever he wants within the rifle's maximum range.

So the first thing to do is to overcome your fears and anxieties so that you can keep your head above water in all situations.

And once on the battlefield, he will follow Harry and Joseph closely. The experience of these two veterans will definitely help him, and he must not rush forward.

Just as he was thinking to himself about extinguishing the cigarette butt, the truck stopped.

There was a loud shout from outside: "Soldiers, get out of the car quickly, the rear camp has arrived." ”

There was a platoon of people sitting in the car, and after hearing the sound, they quickly stood up, packed their belongings and got out of the car in an orderly manner.

At this time, the camp was brightly lit, and Xia Ming's assault company had already been assembled, and they were the last platoon.

Standing still, the company commander, Captain West, was standing in front and whispering to a major commander.

The dim night could not stop Xia Ming's superhuman vision. Although he couldn't hear what the two were saying, the slight beads of sweat oozing from the captain's forehead and the uncontrollable shaking of his Adam's apple still proved that he was nervous at this time.

After a few minutes, the two chiefs saluted and then stopped talking.

Captain West took a deep breath and said loudly, "Guys, I'm afraid we won't be able to rest tonight. At present, the military headquarters is assembling at the front, preparing to encircle and attack the Soviet 62nd Army for the third time in the early morning tomorrow morning.

They guarded the banks of the Don River in the direction of Karachi and were the nails that we had to pull out in our march.

As a supplementary source of troops, we must quickly rush to the front line to garrison and participate in tomorrow's assault mission.

Now follow me to the quartermaster office to replenish ammunition and reach the front line in 3 hours.

All stand upright and go! ”

With the commander's order, the company ran forward quickly...

"Whew..."Xia Ming secretly took a breath.

I didn't expect to go to the battlefield so soon, and his mood has become a lot calmer now. He can't dodge this knife no matter what, so it's better to give it a go.

There will definitely be rewards for completing the mission, and you will have to become stronger if you want to complete the goal. There is no other way to go but to fight the enemy bravely.

To this end, when he passed by the Quartermaster Department, he also requested an additional set of 50 rifle rounds.

One of the quartermasters, an Italian veteran, not only replenished his ammunition, but also gave him a P38 pistol.

"Child, may the Lord bless you for your safe return."

Before leaving, the veteran's eyes moved him very much.

To be honest, the Italians did not perform well in World War II, but their title of logistics captain is still worthy of recognition.

Especially on the Soviet-German battlefield, they made a considerable contribution to the continuous delivery of supplies to Germany.

************

At 10:35 p.m., the assault company arrived ahead of schedule at the battalion headquarters at the front line.

After being assigned by the battalion commander, a 1-kilometer line of defense was handed over to them for defense.

Captain West divided the company into groups of two, each holding a line of about 10 meters.

Xia Ming and Harry were placed in a group. The squad leader, Joseph, had planned to take him personally, but Harry volunteered to discourage him. They were also given a simple bunker to garrison.

At this time, it was already 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, and Xia Ming couldn't sleep at all. Squatting in the bunker, he looked around very intently.

It is surrounded by a flat grassland, and the view is quite broad. Xia Ming's eyesight was at its limit, and the night could not stop him at all, and he could already vaguely see the defense line of the Soviet army in front.

At this time, both armies were resting and recuperating for tomorrow's battle.

The occasional sporadic sound of gunfire seemed to foreshadow the imminent outbreak of tomorrow's battle.

A night attack is unlikely, because there is no point in it. The darkness of the night blocked the enemy as well as its own, and in this environment, launching a strong attack on the opponent's position without the cover of tanks and planes was no different from sending them to death.

"Xia Ming, listen to me, go and rest for a while. Tomorrow's battle will definitely last for a long time, and if you don't have enough spirits, you won't be able to cope with it when the time comes, don't blame me for not reminding you. ”

Harry leaned against the wall and tore a slice of bread while handing it to Xia Ming.

"Hey, I really can't sleep." Xia Ming took the bread a little depressed, stuffed it in his mouth and took a bite.

"You must be nervous right now, right? It doesn't matter, when you get to the battlefield, you forget everything, even what you call yourself. Follow me tomorrow and listen to my command. Harry smiled and shook his head, which was understandable, he hadn't slept all night before his first fight.

The only thing he can do as a veteran is to help these recruits adapt quickly to the battlefield.

"Well.." Xia Ming nodded gratefully. Looking at the land under the vast starry sky, I'm afraid tomorrow will be stained red with blood, right?

"Huh—" At that moment, he seemed to see something moving slowly in the distance.

Quickly sat up straight and took a closer look. By constantly adjusting the focus, he saw a small group of enemies in the isolation zone about a kilometer ahead, slowly creeping forward. The number of people is about a platoon, about 40 people.

"What's wrong? What did you find?? Harry saw Xia Ming pick up the binoculars and sat up very seriously.

Through the telescope, Xia Ming saw more clearly. Even the facial expressions of these Soviet soldiers can be seen clearly.

They very carefully took out the round anti-tank mines from their backpacks and carefully placed them behind the barbed wire fence with the cooperation of their partners...

"Rub, these people should be the enemy's engineer platoon, and they are really bold enough, and the position they are arranged is also yin enough."

Xia Ming still admired these soldiers in his heart, but they were all his own enemies, so he must not be soft.

Secretly swallowed, and carefully took out the rifle.

It was the first time he had faced an enemy, and the sound of his heart beating was clearly audible.