Chapter 1078: Day

On the German Wehrmacht’s position, a soldier holding a rifle was aiming and firing. He looked at the dense mass of Soviet Red Army soldiers charging at him, and the shock in his heart was beyond words. The enemy, defying death, was desperately trying to get close to the German positions, but was cut down, row after row, by the dense German bullets.

“There are too many of them. Our suppressive fire can’t beat them back,” a German soldier knelt on the ground, leaning against the trench, and reported loudly to his commander. In front of him, by the company’s radio set, the company commander and several NCOs were also kneeling on one knee.

The company commander was gripping the radio handset, requesting fire support from the regimental headquarters. “Sir, the enemy is exposed in the open, infantry. Requesting saturation artillery support. About 200 meters in front of our position. Yes, yes, about a regiment of soldiers.”

“Sir! Quick, look!” A soldier, who had just emptied his magazine while lying on the edge of the trench, turned his head and shouted to this side. “They’ve released some hounds. They’re running all over the position.”

“Hounds? What are they up to?” The German officer struggled to his feet, then lay on the edge of the trench, squinting at the chaotic battlefield. Between the bodies of the soldiers of both sides, there were indeed some fast-running hounds, searching for something. This German company commander had never seen this situation before. He could only duck his head back and give the order to his men to continue firing. “Organize your fire, take out those hounds! I don’t know what they are, but they must be eliminated.”

“Damn it! Who can hit those things!” a German soldier, having fired the last round in his clip, ducked back into the trench, holding his helmet. As he shoved a new clip into his Mauser 98K, he complained loudly, “These dogs are too fast, and they have Soviet cover.”

BOOM! A German Panther assault gun fired fiercely. The shell exploded in the crowd of Soviet soldiers, creating a brilliant flower of flame. The nearby Soviet soldiers were blown to bloody pieces, but more soldiers leaped over the explosion and continued to advance. And on the side of this German assault gun, which was running rampant on the battlefield, a hound was preparing to dive under the tank.

However, as it was adjusting its position, the dog was hit by a German bullet. It whimpered and struggled, but it could no longer get to its feet. The German assault gun drove past, far from it, and it was unable to get the bomb on its back under the tank.

BOOM! The bomb on this dog’s back finally exploded. The Soviet Union at this time had no time to research things like magnetic mines. The bombs on these dogs’ backs were just ordinary timed explosives. When the time was up, they would just explode.

The hound named Bernard, following closely, rushed to the side of this swaggering German assault gun. It didn’t adjust its position, but just charged headlong under the tank’s wheels. Because the track was rolling, its hind legs were crushed into a bloody mess, but its entire body was already under the German assault gun.

BOOM! With another loud bang, this hound named Bernard, along with the bomb on its back, disappeared from this world. Not even a piece of it was left. With its explosion, the German Panther assault gun’s road wheel was broken and sent flying into the distance. The track on one side also snapped and, as the tank moved forward, it slid off in front of the road wheels.

The German soldiers were stunned by this sudden explosion. They had seen the dozen or so hounds running around, and had finally seen one of them blow up a friendly assault gun. They didn’t know how many more of these hounds the Soviets had, nor did they know if these dog-bombs would charge their infantry positions.

“Fire on those dogs! Fire! Don’t let those dogs get close!” From some corner of the German lines, someone shouted hysterically. At his shout, another dog exploded on the position, sending up a cloud of thick smoke. Its position was in the open ground between the two armies, so it did not cause any casualties.

And then these timed bombs, which had reached their set time, just like that, one after another, before they had found their targets, exploded into one after another of brilliant fireworks. And before these few explosions had been completely drowned out by the gunfire, the German artillery support arrived.

The regiment’s direct-support 75mm field guns slammed a dozen shells directly onto the Soviet positions. A series of explosions suppressed the Germans in the open field. These shells completely dispersed the Soviet troops. They cried out as they were routed, leaving their comrades who were still screaming on the ground behind.

“Whew!” Watching the Soviet troops rout, the German soldiers all let out a long sigh. They had survived again, continuing to eke out a meager existence in this war, and then to endure one after another of hellish days and nights. Most of them, clutching their guns, shrank back into their trenches, and then began to smoke or to rest with their eyes closed.

A few German soldiers were ordered to retreat from their positions, to go to the battalion headquarters in the rear to receive replacement ammunition and other supplies. One battle was usually not followed by another. The enemy on the other side also needed to rest and to readjust their deployment. A few soldiers, squatting in a corner, began to talk about the hound-bombs they had encountered today, their faces from time to time showing a look of pity.

“If someone asked me to strap a bomb to my dog, I wouldn’t agree,” a German soldier said, shaking his head in regret. “If I did that, my mother would probably strap a bomb to me and throw me out.”

“Hahaha.” The surrounding soldiers also grinned. Their lips were all dry and chapped. Their faces were black with smoke and dust, but their teeth were still white. These soldiers were all enjoying the brief respite from the fighting. After all, only those who had been through the flames of war knew the value of peace.

A soldier, bent over, walked straight over from the far end of the trench. He came to the company headquarters, leaned against the wall of the pit, and relayed the order from the battalion to the company commander. “Orders from the division. The 2nd Regiment will, in half an hour, replace the 1st Regiment, which has suffered heavy losses, in defending this position. Your company is to withdraw, to go to the rear to rest and to replace your lost manpower.”

“Yes, sir! For us, this is absolutely great news,” the German company commander said with a smile, patting the orderly on the shoulder. He then pointed to the surrounding area and said, “So, we still have to eat one last meal on this position? And then leave this godforsaken place?”

The signals soldier nodded, and then pointed in the direction of the rear. “It seems so, sir. After all, the 2nd Regiment has the right to a big meal before they go to the battlefield. I still have to go and inform 3rd Company on your left, so I won’t rest here. Good luck to you.”

Soon, a whole company of soldiers came to replace the German soldiers on this position. This company had had a total of 135 men when it had set out, but when it had left this position, there were only 84 left. They were thankful that they had finally made it to the time to leave the front line. Their sad expressions, after seeing their own barracks in the rear, had turned into a wave of cheers and laughter.

“My God! Heil Führer!” a soldier shouted, seeing a row of partitioned showers. He immediately grinned from ear to ear. “God bless, we haven’t had a shower in a month, have we? To be able to take a hot shower, and to eat a warm dinner, is really great news.”

“And you’re excited about this? They’re giving you a chance to take a shower and to eat a hot meal, which just means you have to serve at the front for at least another month,” an old veteran said, holding his weapon, his face numb as he walked past these not-so-bad field facilities.

To be mocked by someone he was not very familiar with immediately made this jubilant young soldier a little embarrassed. And so he frowned and, raising his hands, said, “Hey, my name is Hans Borchert. In any case, you should be a little happy that you can wash this mud off yourself, right?”

“I say, Hans Borchchert, is it?” this old veteran said, stopping his steps. He then turned around and looked at this young soldier. “My name is also Hans, Hans Wenger. In September of last year, I was ordered to fight at the front. My company commander told me that if I fought hard, I could go home for Christmas. It is now seven months after Christmas, and I’m still at the front… What do you think I should do? Cheer like you, and say, ‘Hey! I can take a shower, that’s great!’? No, what I want to say is: ‘Damn it, I have to take another shower at the front.’ Understand?”

Although the German Wehrmacht had begun to implement a system of unit rotation and rest a year ago, this plan was often disrupted by the chaos at the front and the sheer number of troops. It should be known that the German army had more than 7 million regular troops, and of these, at least 1 million had not returned to their homes since the beginning of the war.

Many officers had not been able to take leave. For example, Kluge, at the front, had never returned to his own home. He often told his men that he himself was not as gifted as the other generals, so he could only work harder to make up for his shortcomings.

Everyone knew that this was his way of expressing his loyalty to the Führer behind him, and this persistence had indeed infected some of the others. And as the front line had become more and more stable, the construction of the German rear had finally begun to slowly catch up. At least in the areas that had been occupied for a long time, the German army had built a lot of rest and refit barracks for the frontline troops.

But there were still 6 million families who, when December 25th of last year had come, had not been reunited. Because at least 6 million Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS troops had spent a brutal Christmas at the front, with their comrades.

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