Soul to the Rhine

Chapter 111 Escape from Hell
"Okay, if you finish writing your letter, put it in this iron box, and the postman will deliver it to your home."

"Berlin is being bombed, can you deliver it too?"

The logistician pointed at the box on the ground with his hips crossed: "You are here to fight the war, didn't I also deliver it? Besides, it is the great postman who delivers the letter to you, not me."

"Then I've written it and give it to you." A soldier handed over a piece of letter paper.

"I finished writing too."

Soldiers handed over the papers one after another. The support staff sorted them out and handed them to Heinrich at the side.

In order to prevent soldiers from leaking military secrets when sending letters home, all letters sent must be inspected by superiors before they can be passed.Heinrich took it, scanned it roughly, and signed his name on the outermost paper package.

Among them, there was one written by Rosia. Of course, due to the lack of pen and ink, she wrote very little, just two sentences, saying that she was safe.

Another large barrel containing food on the ground was filled with bread, canned meat, and the like.In normal times, their average daily ration is only about 400 grams of bread, which is not enough to support the calories consumed by a soldier fighting on the battlefield, but now it is Christmas benefits, and the logistics have added food for an unprecedented time.Because there were several fewer people alive in the team than two days ago, everyone was given more food.

"Xiao Xia, if you don't eat it quickly, why are you pretending to be it?" Bettina glanced at her side, used a dagger to pry open a can of beef, picked up a spoon and put it in her mouth.

Rosia smiled, put away the medical kit, and said, "I just don't want to be hungry again tomorrow."

No one will come to deliver food tomorrow. She must ensure her daily food intake to prevent herself from starving to death. And now, she can't eat anything else after just eating.

Obviously Bettina is not a person who is very cautious in times of crisis. She finished the canned food in a few seconds. She smacked her lips, put her head behind her head with her hands, and lay directly on the ground. She kept looking up, not knowing what she was thinking. What.

A soldier took some food to the Soviet female soldier, and then resisted again, and then compromised.

The city is now riddled with holes and cannot bear any more destruction.In the past month or so, Rosia has watched many battles. To paraphrase the German army, they were fighting a "rat war."Even though we've conquered the kitchen, there's still a battle to be fought in the living room.

Usually a workshop and a house have to go through many times of brutal competition.

Maybe it was because Christmas was here, or maybe God was tired of such cruel scenes. In the next few days, the Soviet and German troops had a tacit understanding and did not engage in any more large-scale fierce battles.

But the situation in the industrial zone does not represent the whole of Stalingrad. In other urban areas and streets, the two armies are still fighting fiercely. The lack of military equipment once again choked the life of the German Wehrmacht.

A few days after officially entering 1943, the Soviet army launched a large-scale strategic counteroffensive, codenamed Operation Jupiter, in an attempt to break through Italy's outer defense lines in the Soviet Union and capture Rostov.At this time, the Sixth Army was trapped in the city and had completely lost support.

Paulus, the commander of the Sixth Army, reported to Hitler for the Nth time: The troops can no longer support it and there is no point in continuing to resist. Please allow us to surrender.

And Hitler always insisted on his answer: surrender was impossible, and the Sixth Army should fulfill its heroic duty in Stalingrad to the last man.

The battle continued for another two days, and the Sixth Army began to face a complete collapse. At the same time, it was difficult for the Fourth Panzer Army in Stalingrad to sustain itself. With the insistence of many German field marshals and headquarters, Hitler finally reluctantly agreed. The retreat of some soldiers was led by the SS, with the intention of tearing apart the Soviet encirclement in the Caucasus Mountains.

According to the past performance of the German army, this kind of breakout is a task that they are fully capable of, but at this time, they all ignored time.

There was not enough time to evacuate such a large force, and the Soviet army was bound to bury all the Wehrmacht troops here.

On January 1, as the SS, Heinrich received an emergency breakout order to create a gap here for the armored group army to evacuate.

At this time, the new round of Soviet-German occupation had been going on for two hours, and the position they had been holding was about to be lost.

There were bursts of gunfire outside, rumbling artillery fire, constant explosions in the factory, landmines buried under your feet, and bombers circling non-stop above your head. The sound of sirens has been filling everyone's ears.There were no weapons, no artillery fire, and even very few bullets left. Under such circumstances, it was not easy for them to open a gap.

"Lieutenant Colonel, we have been surrounded, where should we evacuate?"

Where to withdraw from, there is no plane, and the ground is not safe, so we can only go underground.

"Go to the workshop of Factory A, which can lead to the outside of the industrial area and take the underground sewer." Heinrich quickly made a decision. Reality had forced them to flee in panic. As for the task of breaking out of the encirclement, they were now Too busy to take care of myself, I can only wait until I get out.

They had just abandoned Factory A in the industrial zone not long ago. There was an underground sewer entrance dug out next to the workshop. It was the only way to escape from the area underground. The importance of Factory A to them is self-evident. .However, due to the lack of equipment and military supplies, they fought bloody battles for three days and suffered numerous casualties. They could no longer sustain an attack of this level and had to give up their position.But now if you want to escape from hell, you must go back there again.

"If you are caught by the Soviet army, you will be executed immediately. You have to think about it!" Although Heinrich was cruel and cold, he was still a good officer and would respect their choice.

The dozen or so soldiers behind him were silent.

Staying here is hell, and Factory A is not hell. The three days of fighting there have become almost everyone's nightmare.Here they are waiting for death. Returning to Factory A is like entering a tiger's den. What they are fighting for now is just luck and seeing who God favors.

At this time, a figure stood out from the crowd, it was Bettina. She had a serious face, raised a gun in one hand, and shouted loudly: "Just go to Factory A, there is no such nonsense, the motherland is behind you, and Berlin is smiling at us. , what is our loyalty?”

This shout was just like the roar they made when they defeated the enemy. They cheered and smiled on the land they occupied. They were proud when they received the medal. The passion seemed to return to their hearts at this time.Everyone raised their right hands in a Nazi salute and roared at Heinrich: "Our loyalty is honor!"

My honor is loyalty!
In their hearts, even if they have been completely shrouded in the shadow of death, the glory of Germany still shines everywhere in Europe.

Rosia couldn't help but burst into tears.

A group of "lunatics"!
But their courage and spirit are shocking and worthy of respect.

The team quickly set off, with a soldier at the end carrying the weak Soviet female soldier. This person was not only their prisoner, but now also a hostage.

The air-raid sirens kept sounding, and bullets continued to be fired from the gaps between the factories. They could only hide behind the potholes and gravel piles on the ground to take cover, and while attacking, they moved towards Factory A.

The strength of the Soviet soldiers and their support far exceeded the imagination of the German army. Because of the assistance of the United States, they were no longer as isolated as they were during the Battle of Leningrad. On the contrary, the experience of the Soviet Union and Germany had changed, whether it was the Wehrmacht or the SS. , are now at the end of their rope.

A shrill air raid siren sounded at this time.

"Air strike, lie down!"

With a heartbreaking reminder, everyone quickly fell down and pushed down those around them as well.

A huge explosion sounded in their ears, and a pit more than two meters deep was blasted on the ground not far away. Countless mud, sand and rocks wrapped in broken ice flew out and hit them.

Such a scene made Rosia seem to have returned to the time when he was in Mézières, France. Air strikes are far more terrifying than bullets. A random bomb can make a person's bones disappear and become fragments.

The aircraft overhead was the Soviet Yak 1, a new single-body fighter. It was quite proud after dropping a bomb. After hovering in the air for two and a half weeks, it was suddenly hit by an anti-aircraft gun fired from a distance and turned into a A blazing fireball spun and fell to the ground.

"Damn it, get out of the way!"

The place where a dozen people lay down was in the direction where the fighter jet came down. They rolled their bodies in an instant and were far away from their previous positions. Those who stood up and ran for two steps were all swept to the ground by the remaining power.

Fortunately no one was injured or killed.

"Lieutenant Colonel, there is a bomb shelter here. Should we go in and take shelter temporarily?"

Their location is not far from Factory A. There is only a moderately wide road in the middle, but there is no protection or cover at all. If they rush over now, they will definitely be beaten to pieces by the Soviet gunmen ambushing there. Outside, it was a duel between bombers and anti-aircraft guns.

"Go in." Heinrich made a decisive decision. There was no other choice at this time.

Two soldiers took the lead and fired a burst of fire inside, then walked in with flashlights.

The lights inside the air-raid shelter had already been shattered, but fortunately, the inside was not dark at all, and there was light coming in from the top. Of course, this also meant that the air-raid shelter had been damaged to a certain extent.

More than a dozen people walked in one after another. The air-raid shelter was not small, so they had a large range of activities. A few soldiers walked around inside for a few times and checked again before sitting down with a little peace of mind.

"Where's Meyer?"

A soldier said suddenly. He looked around from the first person at the door to the last one. Even the Soviet female soldier was there, but sniper Meier was missing.

"Where are the Meyers?"

At this time, other people also discovered that something was wrong. There was one less person among the already few people. Everyone knew what this phenomenon meant, but they were unwilling to believe it.

Bettina, Heinrich and Meier, they are all excellent snipers, but now, they have lost Meier.

The soldiers all lowered their heads, Bettina kept staring at the weak Soviet female soldier on the opposite side, and Rosia was also thinking about Meier she had seen.

He was a handsome and clean boy, very young, only 23 years old this year, and he had never been in love since he was a child.In Rosya's mind, his marksmanship attracted more attention than his men, but the young boy had stayed forever in Stalingrad, the hell they desperately wanted to leave.

Silence spread in the air-raid shelter, listening to the faint sound of bombing outside, everyone seemed to be wandering away.

After a long time, a soldier suddenly laughed.

Everyone else looked up to see him. The soldier held the gun barrel with a subtle smile. He curled the corners of his mouth and said, "We are still alive."

The words were also subtle, but the others understood immediately, and another soldier next to him also exclaimed: "By God's grace."

"Thinking about how long it's been since I prayed to God, it's a blessing that He hasn't forgotten me yet."

"Maybe if you pray now, he will let you go to Factory A safely in a while."

Several soldiers were talking. One of them started, and the others followed and recited a prayer. Slowly, the entire air-raid shelter reverberated with the sound of prayer, although their expressions and movements were not as pious as real prayers.

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..."

“May the Father’s kingdom come, and may the Father’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

“Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors…”

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for the kingdom, the power, and the glory are the Father’s forever…”

"Amen!"

Bettina said the last two words calmly, with the same light of faith on her face as the other soldiers.

Rosia has no religious beliefs, but she can vaguely understand the thoughts of these people. Faith is the scale and streetlight in their hearts, just like Hitler is the faith that makes them crazy now.

The atmosphere in the air-raid shelter became calm again. Many people were dying every day, and they had no time to grieve for their comrades.

Just about an hour later, there was a sudden huge explosion above the head, and dust and gravel fell down in the entire air-raid shelter. Sitting inside it felt like an earthquake.

A bomb was dropped directly above the air raid shelter.

Everyone was in shock, looking up worriedly, with their hearts still hanging in their throats, when they heard a strange sound above their heads. Then, the cement roof shattered at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then everyone Before anyone could react, a huge cement slab crashed down.

"No, the air raid shelter is going to collapse!"

The soldiers immediately stood up and ran outside quickly, but the roof collapsed much faster than they imagined.Rosia stared blankly at the cracks on it, almost unable to react. Heinrich beside her had quickly pulled the person up and threw him outside.

"boom!"

The cement board smashed down, scraping Heinrich's back and falling to the ground, stirring up a large amount of dust.

"Come on!"

The others were already rushing out like crazy. Heinrich turned around and pulled her and ran out quickly. Huge boulders kept falling from behind. A soldier behind was accidentally hit and was immediately submerged in endless dust. The sound of falling boulders struck everyone's hearts like a death bell.

Using all their strength, they were about to run to the door. In two more steps, they could escape from this place.At this time, Rosia heard an extremely painful groan from behind. The sound was so familiar that it made her body stiffen instantly.

Rosia turned around abruptly, and saw Bettina fell on the ground and was half of her body pressed down by a huge wall. Except for her two hands, her chest was completely smashed into the ground.

"Bettina!"

She screamed in fear and hurriedly ran over, but was held back by Heinrich at the door.

"Rosiya, come out quickly."

"No, Bettina, she's inside...she's being suppressed." Rosia said, tears falling quickly. She raised her head tremblingly and pointed at the person only one step away: "Save her, We need to save her."

"Hurry...go." Bettina squeezed out two words in pain. Her face had been deformed, and gravel kept hitting her shoulders. Maybe half of her body that was suppressed had turned into flesh. , because Rosia has seen a lot of blood flowing out from under the stone wall.

"come out."

Heinrich handed her a hand outside the door. The air-raid shelter was about to collapse, and Bettina was right in front of her. If she took a step further, how could she watch her familiar friend buried in hell like this.

"Save her Heinrich, she is Bettina, it is Bettina..." Rosia shouted frantically outside, but Heinrich's face had become more serious.

His blue eyes had the usual indifferent light, and he was not moved by the figure on the ground. He just said the fact coldly: "You can't save her."

No one can lift such a heavy stone wall, and it is useless for them to enter.And without enough medicines and medical facilities, even if people were rescued, she would still die.

But Rosia couldn't understand his indifference at this time. She was stunned and was dragged out by Heinrich unprepared. Looking back in panic, what she saw was Bettina taking out the gun with difficulty and falling. Among the gravel, he slowly lifted it up and pressed it against his temple.

“For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are the Father’s forever…”

She recited a prayer, then suddenly raised her head and looked at Rosia who was stunned outside the door, a twisted smile appeared on her lips, and she murmured softly.

"Long Live Germany!"

"boom!"

　Heavy...will update more tomorrow

　　
　
(End of this chapter)