Battlefield Priest's Diary

Chapter 41 Night Attack
an hour ago.

A German soldier removed his conspicuous helmet, took off his uniform, and even pulled off his heavy military boots.

In the September night breeze, several soldiers, dressed only in thin clothes, picked up planks of wood and placed them on the muddy, waterlogged ground. They squatted or lay on the planks and moved forward in a strange motion, which was much faster than running.

"This is so undignified! A German soldier acting like a country bumpkin playing in the mud on a farm..." The commander looked at the scene with disgust.

"Before I joined the army, I was the country bumpkin you described, the one who played in the mud. Do you have a problem with that?" Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman suddenly appeared behind him and coldly reprimanded him.

"Sorry, sir! That's not what I meant!" The commander had no choice but to stand at attention and apologize.

"Remember, Major! The ugliest thing is when a person is rotting!"

"Yes, sir! I'm so sorry!"

"Organize a company of men to approach the enemy while clearing planks. Remember, don't take the main road; there might be landmines. Approach from the swamp on the side," Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman instructed, then continued issuing orders: "Light all the lanterns!"

"Sir, lighting a lamp in this position will expose our position and may even make us an easy target for artillery fire!" the commander hurriedly stepped forward to warn.

Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman remained noncommittal, instead looking towards the distant village and asking, "Major, have you ever caught a lapwing?"

"Uh, sorry, I've never had this experience before..." The major couldn't keep up with the other person's jumping thoughts for a moment.

Hoffman tugged at his gloves. "The lapwing is a very interesting social animal. They live together in groups of a dozen or so, and every night when they go to sleep, there is always a sentinel on guard. If a predator approaches, it will crow to warn them."

“The bird catcher covers the lantern with a cloth, turning it on and off intermittently. After the sentry bird calls a few times, it will stop being paid attention by its companions. That’s the perfect time to catch it. Do you understand what I mean?”

The major thought for a moment, then stood at attention and replied, "Yes, sir! I understand!"

"Okay, go prepare. Let the soldiers set off in the middle of the night."

As night fell, lights appeared in the distance, and soon flares were launched into the sky from the village, and the field artillery on duty began to bombard the light.

boom! boom!
After the cannon fire, the lights went out, only to come back on shortly afterward.

Boom! Boom! Another barrage!

This was repeated many times until midnight, when the enemy finally stopped firing shells regardless of whether there were lights on or not.

At midnight, a small group of German soldiers quietly approached the village from both sides using wooden planks as cover. They were barefoot, and to reduce weight, each soldier carried only a rifle and two wooden-handled grenades.

When they were less than ten meters from the village, the soldiers stood up and quickly approached their target.

They passed through the outermost house without any trouble and were about to throw grenades inside when something blocked their way.

Pfft!

A soldier bumped into something, and the barbed spikes instantly cut his unprotected skin.

"Damn! What the hell is this?"

A whooshing sound rang out.

Splash~ Splash~ Splash~
The sound of spoons tapping on lunchboxes echoed all around, carrying far on the night wind.

Someone instinctively reached out to pull, but the object on the other side rattled and made a louder noise.

"Enemies!" "The Germans are sneaking up!" The shouts echoed throughout the village in the next second.

"We've been spotted! Charge in!" The leading lieutenant made a decisive decision, ordering his soldiers to attack. If they could quickly capture a corner of the village, reinforcements would arrive soon.

As soon as they finished speaking, the sky in front of them suddenly lit up.

Boom!
Boom!
Boom! !

A flare rose from the very center of the village, illuminating the surrounding area as if it were daytime. The blinding light momentarily blinded the soldiers who were used to the darkness, and in the whiteout, some heard terrifying echoes.

That was the sound of a Maxim machine gun swinging its ammunition belt!

Bang bang bang!! Bang bang bang bang bang!!

The Maxim guns, which had been lying in ambush, suddenly opened fire, the flashes of the muzzles particularly glaring in the dark night.

Puff puff!! Puff puff!! Puff puff puff puff!!

The bullets made a distinctive sound as they pierced the human body. In the night battle, no red blood could be seen; only streams of black liquid could be faintly seen spurting from the swaying figures.

Some brave soldiers tried to cut through the obstacle in front of them with their bayonets, but each strike produced only the sound of metal clashing.

Barbed wire?!

Those damn Russians put up barbed wire in their own camp!

"Ambush! Retreat! Everyone retreat..." An officer had only shouted half a sentence when he was shot and fell to the ground.

The German soldiers no longer needed his orders. No matter how well-trained they were, their morale was quickly on the verge of collapse under such massacre-like shooting.

The soldiers turned and fled.

But they forgot that the road they came from was full of mud, and the planks they had carried were long gone.

The mud in the darkness resembled open mouths waiting for them.

Gunfire continued intermittently for half an hour. At dawn, the Germans counted their men and discovered that at least 70 men from one of their original companies had not returned.

"Damn it! These despicable Russians! This is clearly a trap!" the commander said angrily.

Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman thought more deeply. The failure of the sneak attack was not unacceptable, after all, no one could guarantee that every operation would be successful.

Although the loss of over a hundred people was painful, he had experienced battles far more devastating than this.

The key point is that, from what we can see now, the Russians on the other side are very well prepared, their tactics are extremely flexible, and the quality of their soldiers is in no way inferior to ours.

This contradicts his impression of the Russian troops as being of low quality and having a rigid and inflexible command style.

Did Lenningkamp send up his personal guard?

"Let the soldiers rest for a bit, and find someone smarter to question."

A little later, a sergeant covered in mud was brought before them.

The guy was barefoot, and even though he was wrapped in a blanket, he couldn't stop trembling. His face and hands were covered with tiny scratches, and he was in a state of panic.

"Your name is Fritz?" the lieutenant colonel asked, glancing at the other man's roster.

"Yes, sir!" the man replied, his lips trembling slightly.

Hoffman glanced at the man's still trembling body and ordered to the back, "Go get him a cup of hot tea!"

An aluminum cup filled with hot tea was handed to him. The sergeant named Fritz took a couple of sips, finally calming down. He swallowed and said softly...
"We infiltrated from the enemy's southwest corner. At first, things went smoothly, but when we got into the first row of houses, we ran into barbed wire, and... and..."

"What else?"

"It's very dark, I'm not sure, but it looks like canned food..."

(End of this chapter)