NOVEL NEXT Chapter 136: Sudden Change
November 30th. Heavy snow once again blanketed the Ardennes. Because the snow hampered transportation, the search teams scattered throughout the mountains withdrew quickly—especially since they also had to haul the artillery they'd collected in the mountains, and even damaged or abandoned tanks.
In short, retreating took time.
On a mountain road, Zhao Chang'an, with a carbine slung over his shoulder, kept blowing into his palms for warmth. Born in Suzhou, he'd never experienced such a harsh winter. Even during the winter when the war broke out, when he and his parents walked all the way to Anhui, then Hubei, then Sichuan… after traveling so far, he'd never seen snow this heavy or weather this cold.
In the middle of the road, a massive M25 "Dragon Wagon" tank transporter was hauling not only a Panther tank, but also a Panzer IV. The task force had only twelve of these heavy-duty transporters in total. After all, the Americans used them to retrieve abandoned German tanks and to repair or transport damaged American tanks to rear maintenance depots.
Because of this, the task force had to use the outdated M19 tank transporters as well—there were only twenty-two of those. The limited number of tank transporters, especially the "Dragon Wagons," had always restricted the collection of weapons.
Now, it was also slowing the march. As they passed a mountain slope, the M25's engine roared so loudly it shook the whole valley. If not for the transporter's shoulder-high wheels still turning, Zhao Chang'an would have worried the whole thing might slide off the road.
"Come on…"
Soon, the convoy crested the slope and, by dusk, entered Bastogne. But the convoy didn't stop—instead, after unloading the tanks, artillery, and ammunition, they returned to their previous base…
"The Ardennes is part of the Siegfried Line. Aside from some bunkers where we found abandoned German weapons and ammo, there's a lot of artillery and tanks scattered throughout the mountains. Unlike what we captured in France—mostly French, Russian, and Belgian equipment—here it's mainly German, and most of it is from '43 or this year, almost brand new…"
Hauling the weapons and equipment found in the mountains, Chu Yunhui couldn't help but swallow hard.
"We found…"
71 15cm s.FH18 howitzers—about half of them completely intact. Even those that were damaged only had their barrels destroyed. As long as we replace the barrels, they can be put back into service…"
Then, Chu Yunhui spoke up.
"Three days, Commander Li. Just give us three days, and we guarantee we'll bring everything back…"
Yet another team asking for more time—the other two teams also needed more time.
It was either three days or four days…
After considering for a moment, Pierre said,
"Two days! You have two days to bring back as many intact weapons as possible. We still need to transport these weapons to Metz, and time is tight. General Patton's Third Army will soon launch a new offensive. Once the Germans' Siegfried Line is breached, there will be more weapons to pick up than we could ever count."
Using Patton's offensive in the Saar region as an excuse, this was Pierre's reason for recalling the three search teams. Whether the Siegfried Line could be breached was irrelevant; what mattered was minimizing casualties on their side.
At the same time as he gave them two days, Pierre also reassigned trailers and trucks from other search teams to help transport the collected supplies to Metz as quickly as possible.
With Patton's Third Army stationed there, safety was guaranteed.
By December 1st, after several days of frantic transport, the tanks and artillery piled up at the Sixth Search Battalion's base had almost all been moved to the rear, leaving only a few severely damaged tanks and guns behind. Although these were only good for spare parts, for people long accustomed to scarcity, they were still reluctant to abandon them.
Although the main force had already withdrawn to Bastogne, two companies remained on guard here. At night, most of the men staying behind were writing letters home.
"We're living in a noble's manor—very bright and spacious…"
By the light of a small candle, Peng Shangwu was writing a letter to his family with a fountain pen.
"Tonight, we had American 'Spam' for dinner. Mother, you don't need to worry about your son going hungry here. It's different from back home—here, we can eat Spam every day, and there's so much of it we can't even finish it all. By the way, did you receive the two cans of Spam I sent you last time? They taste really good…"
Peng Shangwu, who had just graduated from high school last year, joined the military full of patriotic fervor. But he was quickly dealt a harsh blow—even in the army, he couldn't get enough to eat. Only after he and his comrades protested did things improve a little, but still… they were hungry.
But from the day he was sent to France as a reinforcement, everything changed. Not only could he eat his fill, he could eat well—meat every day.
Even if it was always fried Spam or boiled Spam, it was still meat!
With meat to eat, what was there to complain about?
Not only was there plenty of meat, but they also had thick, warm American cotton jackets and down quilts. Even though it was freezing cold outside, once you crawled into a down quilt, it was cozy and warm.
Life was truly comfortable.
At 10 p.m., as squad leader, Peng Shangwu urged his men to get some rest. For him, tomorrow would be just like today—comfortable, quiet, and just a little bit chilly.
Maybe a bit more tiring than today, since they still had to train.
Early the next morning, before dawn, Peng Guoliang, like everyone else, was jolted awake by violent explosions.
"Where's that shelling coming from…"
"It's artillery fire, artillery fire…"
Before the shouting had died down, a flash of explosion lit up the pitch-black window. Even though it was far away, they could still feel the ground trembling.
"The Germans—the Germans are attacking…"
Awakened from their dreams, the team members grabbed their weapons. As a search team, they only had light arms. Once they picked up their M1 carbines, the sounds of explosions quickly blended into a chaotic roar.
Captain Feng Zhijie of the Thirteenth Company rushed into the command post.
The sudden, continuous shelling startled them, leaving them bewildered and at a loss—what now?
"Are the Germans attacking?"
A shell landed just over a hundred meters away, and the blast wave shattered the window glass, sending shards flying and injuring several men. In an instant, the room was stained with blood.