Chapter 841: Rein's New Weapon

“Am I supposed to squat with my hands on my head?” Carius said, a brilliant smile spreading across his face as he saw Rein. The two had gotten along well back when the all-elite 501st Battalion was first formed, and seeing each other now was like a reunion of old friends.

In war, you quickly discover you have no friends. The so-called friends you’ve just met, whose hometowns you’ve just learned, will be mostly gone after a single battle. Then come the new faces, looking at each other coldly, racking their brains for an opening line. After a while, no one thinks about making new “friends” anymore.

So, in the midst of a cruel war, to see a familiar face, especially an old, familiar one, is something to be thankful for. It means the person you know isn’t dead, and you yourself are still alive for the time being—a truly pleasant thing indeed.

“If your ambush hadn’t been so clumsy, I would have thrown a grenade!” Rein said with a smile, unloading his rifle and putting the safety on as he walked up to Carius. “Be glad it was Alice who opened fire. If I had given you a full magazine from behind, you’d all be meeting God.”

“Come on, stop trying to scare people. I don’t believe you’d see a group of us in SS uniforms and just open fire until your magazine was empty,” Carius said, laughing and giving Rein a hug. He then pointed to the people around him. “These are all my students, my senior apprentice, my junior apprentice… a bunch of guys who are just along for the ride. All masters of tank warfare.”

This was no boast from Carius. His unit could truly be considered an elite force on par with Rein’s 1st Company. When the 503rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion had been attached to Army Group A, its combat record had rivaled that of the 501st, which had the army’s number one tank ace, Wittmann, making them the two most powerful fist units under Army Group A’s command.

Carius himself had destroyed 123 tanks with a single Tiger, firmly holding the third spot among Germany’s aces. He had once, while attacking the flank of Minsk, single-handedly destroyed dozens of tanks from a Soviet armored rearguard, nearly breaking Wittmann’s record for the most tanks destroyed in a single battle, which had been set in Britain.

And his unit, with a total of over 300 enemy tanks destroyed, was firmly in the top three of all German armored forces. Coupled with his fighting style, which was steady yet fierce, he was a rare expert in localized tank battles.

Otherwise, his battalion would not have been chosen to be the first unit in the German army to be equipped with the new King Tiger tank. And after re-equipping with the King Tiger, he had personally led his troops to participate in the brutal battle for the Orsha Heights. In that bloody battle, at the cost of one King Tiger, they had destroyed a full 17 Soviet tanks, including 5 Stalin tanks.

In fact, the King Tiger from his battalion that had been destroyed had not been taken out by an enemy tank, but had had its track broken by one and was then blown up by swarming Soviet infantry. Before it was destroyed, the 503rd had successfully rescued the crew and had disabled the equipment inside before abandoning the tank.

Subsequently, the German army had launched an offensive to recover the wreck of the King Tiger. The Soviet army, seeing that they could not capture this severely damaged new German tank, had no choice but to blow it up, completely destroying it. And before it was abandoned, this King Tiger had been hit by a dozen or so Soviet anti-tank guns of various sizes, but not a single shell had been able to penetrate its thick frontal armor.

Carius and Rein walked at the head of the group, followed by a throng of officers and men from the 503rd who surrounded Alice, Andre, and the others. After all, talented and capable people are respected and welcomed everywhere, not to mention there was a rather pretty young lady among them.

“I hear your Tiger was abandoned in that railway bridge battle that the propaganda department has been shouting about everywhere?” Carius asked Rein, who was beside him, as he led the group towards the 503rd’s battalion headquarters. “Why are you fighting so desperately? Do you really think the war can’t be won without you?”

Rein glanced at Carius, who was about his age but already looked much older, and finally answered, “I’ve never thought the war would be any different without me. But I owe the Führer a favor. I have to fight every battle seriously to repay that favor before the war is over.”

Carius looked at Rein, then sighed. “You never used to say these things to me. You would just smile and change the subject. It’s been a long time, and you’ve changed a lot. But I still have to advise you, fighting every battle seriously often means you won’t live to see the end of the war.”

“I know. The favor I owe the Führer is that he once gave me my life,” Rein said with a nod. “If I am lucky enough to not die, only then can I continue to live with a clear conscience. I am different from you, and also different from Wittmann. You are all warriors, while I am just a demon.”

“Not many people describe themselves as a monster. You said the Führer once saved you. I’m actually a little more interested in that,” Carius said with a smile. “Did the Führer personally save you?”

“He brought me out of that hell,” Rein answered directly, without thinking. “It was the first time I had breathed air that wasn’t rotten, the first time I had felt the temperature around me, the first time I didn’t have to wake up every morning and fight with demons.”

“I really hope what you’re saying is just a metaphor, but I know you, so I know what you’re saying is probably all true,” Carius said, swallowing. “I can only wish you good luck. At least the weapon our Führer has prepared for you now can save you a second time. It can be said to be the best tank in the world, bar none.”

“I’ve heard. Apart from its firepower, this tank is a completely new design. The new chassis uses a more reliable suspension system, and the entire tank is said to have better protection,” Rein had done his homework before coming. At least in Guderian’s office, he had seen the performance summary of this tank, which was still a top-secret document.

Carius laughed. “I can tell you responsibly that once you get in this tank, you will feel like a tiger with wings. It has a night vision system. Although it’s not very easy to use, it can help you gain an incredible advantage at night.”

“You mean, in complete darkness, I can see the enemy?” Rein asked with a frown.

“Yes. It’s a very strange feeling. You can see the opponent, you can see it from a few hundred meters away. Although it’s a bit blurry, it doesn’t affect your ability to hit the target,” Carius replied.

“And it can also aim while on the move, and even fire?” Rein continued to ask.

“You’re right. It can indeed shorten the time needed for a stop-and-shoot on the move, but you can’t hit a target while speeding over rough terrain. In this respect, it’s the same as the Tiger we used to have,” Carius said, stopping at the edge of the small town where the 503rd’s battalion headquarters was located.

He pointed to a tank parked in the distance, a tank Rein had never seen before, and said to his old friend, “Go and see for yourself. You might fall in love with it immediately. It is the crystallization of German technology. I hear it actually uses a new technology that makes it even faster to produce than the Tiger.”

“Thank you,” Rein said, quickening his pace. He led Andre and the others to the side of Carius’s tank. They saw a super tank that seemed even more powerful than a Tiger. At a glance, this tank was designed for the better annihilation of the enemy. At the very least, Rein could feel the murderous aura emanating from it.

The familiar 88mm cannon and the coaxial machine gun. What made Rein feel even more gratified was that on top of this tank’s turret, at the commander’s hatch, there was actually a pre-reserved mount for a machine gun. At the very least, in a pinch, Rein could use this machine gun to cover the tank’s flank, which was a rather thoughtful design.

What made Rein’s blood boil even more was that the ballistic shape and the increased weight of this tank would allow him to deal with the dangerous Stalin tank with ease. This gave him a much greater chance of winning when he faced the Wolf King, Wolf.

“When can I start learning to use and command this tank in battle?” Rein asked Carius, who had just been overtaken by him and was now walking slowly beside him.

“Don’t be in such a hurry, Captain Rein,” Carius said with his trademark smile, pointing to the building in the center of the village where the battalion headquarters was located. He spoke to the impatient Rein, “Our battalion commander heard you were coming to visit and has personally prepared a table of food. We’ve opened several cans of beef. We can’t let them go to waste, can we?”

“Alright, Carius,” Rein said, unable to refuse his hospitality. He nodded in agreement. “There’s still some time. Please arrange a place for the five of us to stay. There are five of us, so it would be best if we could have a few bedrooms.”

“We’ve already prepared everything. Five beds, but we only managed to get three new quilts. You know, supplies are not easy to come by these days,” Carius explained. Before his words had even faded, cheers came from the distance. Everyone was raising their hands high, as if some great joyous event had occurred.

“I don’t know what’s happening. If you’re not in a hurry to rest, we can go and see what’s going on together,” Carius said, and then walked in the direction of the cheers. Rein naturally followed.

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