Chapter 665: Germany Will Live Forever
In the evening, the Americans finally stopped their attack. The landscape was littered with burning tanks and rubble that had been leveled to the ground. The German soldiers clutched their weapons and watched the red sun slowly descend over the desert, their hearts filled with the same kind of vast and epic feeling as the ancients who wrote of “lone smoke rising straight in the great desert, the long river’s round sun setting.”
No one could remember how many basic loads of ammunition had been fired. They only knew that people were constantly delivering airdropped ammunition to the various fronts. The ammunition that they had originally thought was sent by mistake by the logistics department had now become one of the paratroopers’ most precious treasures.
Borol stared at the road in front of his position that stretched to the horizon, at a loss for words for a moment. His unit had lost a full 190 men in ten hours of fighting. If another battalion sent by the division had not relieved them, they would have likely lost more than half their strength in the afternoon.
Most of the less than 300 remaining soldiers had already fallen asleep from exhaustion. After the long and fierce battle, they had all overdrawn a considerable amount of their physical strength. Their original battle position had now been handed over to another paratrooper battalion, but compared to when they were there, the situation for this new replacement battalion was even worse.
The paratrooper fighting vehicle that had been supporting Borol had been destroyed by American artillery at three o’clock in the afternoon. The crew had suffered four killed and one seriously wounded. Now, the German paratroopers in this direction could only rely on the rocket launchers and recoilless rifles in their hands to deal with the American tanks. What was even more pitiful was that the ammunition for the 75mm field guns they had brought with them was also basically gone.
Suddenly, Borol saw a Kübelwagen and an American jeep driving over along the road. He subconsciously slung the MP-44 assault rifle from his shoulder. He had taken it from a fallen German veteran. It was said that this veteran had eliminated at least 20 American soldiers that morning and had even kicked away a hand grenade thrown by the Americans.
“What’s this? Americans, coming over with a white flag?” Borol stood by the side of the road, puzzled, and asked the staff officer in the Kübelwagen that had stopped beside him, “Have the Americans surrendered?”
“I’d love to tell you that the Americans have surrendered, but in fact, they’re not here to surrender. They’re just here to persuade us to surrender to them,” the staff officer said with an embarrassed smile. “These Americans say that if we surrender, we will receive the highest treatment. He says their General Patton says we are all warriors and should be respected.”
“I thought Americans couldn’t even speak a human language…” Borol slung the assault rifle he was holding back over his shoulder, then gave a bitter smile and pointed at the two American officers holding white handkerchiefs. He asked the staff officer from division HQ, “What does the division commander say? And General Student…”
“I don’t know. I was just sent to escort them here. These guys came a little late. The sentries didn’t see their white flag clearly and almost shot them. Later, they were lucky enough not to be hit and were captured. I was ordered to send them to division headquarters,” the staff officer said, pointing at the two American officers and describing the situation with some contempt. On the battlefield, the strong only worship the strong. As for those who cannot defeat their opponents, they are usually not taken too seriously.
“General Student!” The American officer, ignoring the crude lower-ranking officers, introduced himself upon seeing Student and then began to state the purpose of his visit. “Your unit has been surrounded. We have an army of one hundred thousand men and over a thousand tanks. This is not a force that your light infantry can contend with. General Patton greatly admires your command ability. If you are willing to surrender, General Patton will personally arrange for you to go to the United States and become the commander-in-chief of the American paratroopers.”
Student had suffered some minor injuries during the American artillery barrage in the afternoon. His arm was still bandaged; a piece of shrapnel had pierced it. Fortunately, it had not damaged any blood vessels or bones, so after a simple dressing, General Student had even inspected some sections of the defense line to stabilize the morale of his troops.
He looked at the very neatly dressed American officer and forced a tired smile. Compared to the other’s cleanliness, his general’s service uniform, though of a higher rank, was covered in dust, and some places were still stained with blood from his arm. But his voice, though hoarse, was still firm. “I have no interest in developing airborne forces in the United States. Please go back and tell Patton that Student would rather die in battle at Damanhur than betray his own country.”
“Your Excellency, please seriously consider General Patton’s suggestion. After all, you are not alone. There are also many German soldiers here. There is no need for them to die in battle here. If you surrender, you will receive preferential treatment, and your men can be spared from annihilation. Why not consider it carefully?” The American officer who had come to persuade him became anxious. He looked at Student’s blood-stained uniform, not understanding why the other party would not agree to such superior surrender terms. “You can keep your sidearm and your staff guards. Your soldiers only need to hand over their weapons and can keep all their personal belongings. You even have the right to write letters to your families.”
Student extended his uninjured arm, interrupting the other’s plea, and said, “I don’t know what you Americans think, but we Germans have our own pride and perseverance.”
He looked at the American officer, then smiled before continuing, “In Germany, there is a small town. In the last world war, this town sent reinforcements to the front three times. Of the thirty thousand young men, very few were able to return. The Führer once told me about this town. He said there is a stone tablet in the town, and the words written on it make me feel ashamed—it is engraved with: ‘Even if we all die in battle, Germany will live forever’.”
Before the shocked expression of the American officer, Student stood up. He walked to the door, then turned his head slightly and said a final sentence to him, “The next time we meet, either I will be accepting your surrender, or you will be stepping over my corpse. It’s that simple.”
Soon, the American officer who had come to offer surrender terms left Damanhur. He took with him the news that Student and the remaining 20,000-plus German paratroopers refused to surrender. The Germans’ supplies were so stretched that they didn’t even keep the American officer for dinner. The Americans, however, were generous. An hour after the officer left, fifty 155mm howitzers began to pound the German positions. By 8 o’clock, the entire city of Damanhur was a sea of fire. The Germans spent a tormented night accompanied by the rumbling of cannons.
But along with the sound of the cannons, an exciting piece of news spread through the German paratrooper positions: Student had rejected the American offer of surrender and had spoken that inspiring slogan.
“Even if we all die in battle, Germany will live forever!” When Borol shouted the words that Student had said to the American officer to his own men, all the German paratroopers let out a loud cheer. They raised their arms, proving their will with the most fervent of cheers.
“To hell with Patton!” a German machine gunner said, carrying his MG 42 and with a cigarette dangling from his lips, his mouth full of curses. According to the news just received, Borol’s battalion had to send one company to the front line to reinforce the positions and to meet a possible American tank attack at dawn.
There were no more heavy weapons to spare for support, so in the end, the gap at the front could only be filled with soldiers. War is not just a battle of words; most of the time, it relies on real strength to ultimately solve the problem. Guts can’t be eaten for dinner. In the end, who is the boss depends on the planes, cannons, and tanks.
Things turned out pretty much as everyone had thought. At dawn, the Americans launched a new round of offensives. The fighting was even more intense than on the first afternoon. The Americans had given up the idea of dividing and conquering and had organized their troops to attack the German paratroopers from all directions simultaneously.
The casualty figures on both sides rose rapidly. In a short period of time, the Americans had left behind 5,500 bodies, while the Germans, facing tanks with flesh and blood, had also paid a heavy price of 3,100 casualties. The outer positions around Damanhur were all captured by the American army, but in the city, the German paratroopers used the terrain to wear down the Americans’ remaining time with brutal street fighting.
The battle had reached its cruelest stage. The two sides fought repeatedly for every ruin. A train station on the south side of the city changed hands 13 times. In the fiercest of the fighting, the Americans only held it for 5 minutes before they were driven out again by the arriving German paratroopers. The positions were littered with the bodies of soldiers from both sides, and for a time, no one had the spare time to deal with the dead.
“Reporting, General!” A staff officer walked into the command vehicle where Patton was and handed him a document. “General Montgomery has confirmed that 3 divisions of German troops have crossed the Alexandria defense line and have appeared not far from here. Rommel’s troops have finished cleaning up the battlefield and are closing in on our rear guard…”
His words undoubtedly tolled like a death knell in Patton’s ears. The plan to wipe out the German paratroopers was becoming more and more difficult. It was clear that if they continued to fight around Damanhur, it would be a question of whether the 8th Armored Division and other elite units could even escape. But even if he decided to leave now, another fatal problem lay before him: was he really going to abandon Montgomery’s 9th Army Group so easily?
Thinking of this, Patton stood up unsteadily and repeated in a voice no one could hear clearly, “Germany will live forever? What about America?”
This scene once appeared in the real World War II, with the protagonists being American paratroopers. Although the plot is the same, it represents the courage of two nations! A salute to all the warriors who dared to face a strong enemy!
Published: 2025-09-16T09:37:19.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-13T16:10:46.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c665-germany-139012784
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