Chapter 15: In the Trenches Together

Logan led the German paratroopers, still disguised as British soldiers, calmly towards the truck waiting at the foot of the slope. It was evident that the British soldiers awaiting there were anxious—most of their troops had already withdrawn, and staying behind enemy gun barrels was undoubtedly very dangerous!

Twenty steps away, the private leaning against the rear wheel of the first truck asked, "Sir, where's Corporal Philip?"

Taking advantage of the British soldiers' lack of heightened vigilance, Logan immediately replied with a serious tone, "We found a wounded soldier who couldn't evacuate in time, and the corporal is trying to get him down!"

Stepping forward, the private with a broad jawline and a high bridge of the nose asked, "A wounded soldier? How is that possible? The wounded in our regiment retreated before us!"

Shrugging, Logan replied, "I don't know. The corporal said he knew this person, but... he seems very reluctant to leave! Perhaps he's been severely traumatized!"

The private took a step forward, still skeptical. Just then, the truck's driver suddenly exclaimed, "Look, we've got Jerry on our position!"

With things having reached this point, Logan had no need to look back. He quickly drew his pistol. If these Brits were sensible, they could survive, but they stubbornly raised their rifles.

The German paratroopers in British uniforms opened fire. At such close range, the prepared side dominated this slaughter. The Lee-Enfield rifles, which the British boasted about for their high firing rate, now became deadly weapons harvesting the lives of British soldiers, while the Bren light machine guns also demonstrated their practicality. When the gunfire subsided, the cab and the truck's compartment were riddled with bullet holes, and red liquid dripped down the truck bed.

Stephenberg, accompanied by several paratroopers, checked the rear of the truck and then raised his thumb to Logan. "All clear! Problem solved!"

"Very smoothly! Almost too easy!" remarked Grot, standing beside Logan, putting down his rifle and leisurely lighting a cigarette.

Witnessing close-range carnage again, Logan's mindset underwent subtle changes. Ultimately, he was not a bloodthirsty person!

"Lieutenant, look over there! Something's happening!"

Hearing German, Logan's initial reaction was to curse vehemently, but he suddenly realized that the voice was somewhat distant. Turning his head, he saw a soldier in black uniform from the SS running down the hill, pointing to the northwest with his right hand.

Raising the binoculars to take a look, Logan was stunned for half a second. He saw more than a dozen British trucks speeding towards them, and it seemed that many infantrymen were following behind.

"What's going on? Has that fool Thomas sensed something wrong? Or have we just encountered British reinforcements by chance?"

There were many questions on the battlefield, but most of them had to wait to be clarified later. Logan quickly led his paratroopers back to the British position on the hilltop. The slope facing away from the canal was much gentler than the other side, so at the same height, the slope reached nearly thirty meters—a gentler slope did not necessarily determine the difficulty; the key was the lack of protection from the canal, making it easier for infantrymen to rush up!

The yellow trucks stopped beyond the range of the machine guns, and it was visible to the naked eye that two to three hundred British soldiers got off the trucks and, under the command of officers, were preparing for an assault. In less than the time it took to smoke a cigarette, amid sharp whistle sounds, the British infantrymen, in skirmish formation, rapidly advanced towards the position!

"They're moving fast!"

Seeing that the enemy had spent very little time from getting off the trucks to launching the attack, Logan couldn't help but admire. In his concept, a coordinated attack seemed to be a very serious and complex matter. No wonder, he had only been in this era for less than two weeks, and he hadn't even seen a military exercise of the Wehrmacht—German military was known for its strict discipline and swift action, and the British's performance was not worth mentioning in the face of modern blitzkrieg!

However, due to the lack of ferries, there were only about thirty SS soldiers who had crossed the canal, with no heavy weapons. With this force, holding a wide defense line seemed precarious to Logan!

The SS junior assault squad leader (lieutenant) standing aside didn't seem nervous. He called over a subordinate, gave some instructions, and then had the NCOs deploy the soldiers who had crossed the river along the entire defensive line.

Since a frontal confrontation seemed inevitable, Logan simply had the paratroopers take off the British uniforms they wore outside. Northern France in May wasn't exactly hot, but after shedding the "yellow skins," Logan felt particularly relieved, and looking at his subordinates, each one seemed equally relieved.

Bang... Bang...

The sound of artillery suddenly came from behind without warning. Turning his head to look, Logan exclaimed inwardly! Puffs of white smoke rose from behind the German positions across the canal. The field artillery had spoken! What surprised him even more was the appearance of some black iron objects at the edge of the woods. Taking a quick look through the binoculars, Logan was surprised! They were tanks!

He had seen many pictures, but when the real thing appeared before his eyes, Logan dared not confirm whether they were Mark III or IV tanks. With their sturdy and broad appearance, angular lines, and a thick, straight gun barrel, these tanks were quite formidable by 1940 standards!

There weren't many steel beasts adorned with white Iron Crosses, but judging by the rising smoke from their barrels, they quickly joined the ranks of fire support. Shells whizzed past overhead. In just a blink of an eye, they enveloped the British infantrymen in a terrifying wall of fire!

"Is this the artillery support you called for?" Logan just switched back to German and still felt a bit uncomfortable.

The SS officer replied loudly, "Yes, to show the Brits some colors! Otherwise, they'll think we're rookies!"

"Rookies? That's a fashionable term," said Logan, loudly. "If we can get those tanks up here quickly, the position will be secure!"

The SS officer turned his head and looked back. "We have to wait for the engineers to build the pontoon bridge! As long as we hold the position, it should be done in another two hours!"

"How long?"

"Two hours!"

Amidst the gaps between artillery and explosions, Logan finally heard the answer from the other side. He remembered hearing on a military program once that a certain pontoon unit, using a new type of bridging, built a pontoon bridge in just twenty minutes on a river over a hundred meters wide, allowing heavy equipment to pass. The canal in front of them was only about ten meters wide, yet it would take the German engineers two hours to build a pontoon bridge. At first glance, the efficiency seemed unusually low!

Considering the current level of technology, Logan could only think about making more use of his "forward-thinking" in the future. Fortunately, the accuracy of the German artillery was good. After a few rounds of shelling, they had already decimated the British infantrymen who had launched the first assault!