As massive explosions rocked the artillery positions, the 2nd Panzer Division of the German army advanced to the frontlines. Stopping 1200 meters away from the British positions, they commenced their first long-range bombardment. Learning from past mistakes, the German armored division didn't rush headlong into battle but started with heavy fire to clear the area before launching a full-scale assault.
The sixty tanks fired shells with fiery trails, flattening building after building. No structure protruding above ground was spared.
At the Arnhem Cathedral, an adventurer with a sniper rifle was taking precise shots. When a tank aimed its barrel at him, he just smirked dismissively. The cathedral had withstood several tank bombardments over the past few days and remained standing.
However, his expression changed when he saw at least four tanks simultaneously targeting him. Without hesitation, he ran towards a large hole to escape the cathedral. As an adventurer, he could survive the fall from this height with only minor injuries. But just as he jumped out of the broken window, he saw a shell flying straight towards him.
"No!" was his last cry before being blown to pieces in mid-air. The cathedral collapsed into ruins.
The sound of bombers filled the sky.
Twenty-five Stuka dive-bombers, grouped in fives, formed five V-shaped formations, creating a medium-sized flying column heading towards the town.
"Watch out, Stukas! Take them down!" Hong Lang yelled.
Twelve adventurers raised their guns and fired into the sky.
"Fire!" shouted Jin Gang.
An adventurer capable of summoning thunderstorms raised his arms to the sky, summoning massive thunderclouds. At least ten Stukas flew into the clouds and were struck by the fierce lightning. They burst into flames and plummeted to the ground, while a few managed to escape.
"Ha, I took down eight in one go!" the adventurer shouted excitedly. His powerful thunderstorm attack drained a lot of his energy, and he wouldn't recover anytime soon.
But then, Jin Gang yelled, "Watch out!"
The adventurer looked up just in time to see a huge bomb plummeting down, heading straight for him…
The seventeen Stukas that evaded the thunderstorm regrouped and dived towards the ground again. They released bombs in quick succession, exploding in a sequence on the ground and creating a wall of dust and smoke.
A flare bomb landed near where the adventurers were gathered. Everyone scrambled to escape as a massive wave of fire surged towards them. Two adventurers were engulfed in the flames, screaming in agony.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Jin Gang called out loudly.
In just a few minutes, German artillery had flattened the frontline positions, leaving only rubble.
The bombers continued their dive bombing, targeting British heavy weaponry.
Tanks and artillery captured by the 2nd Airborne Regiment became their primary targets. Cluster bombs turned these positions into infernos.
The second line of defense was rapidly being breached.
"Fall back to the third line!" Frost shouted.
The British Red Devils, after days of fighting, were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of ammunition, physical strength, morale, equipment, and numbers.
All they could do now was trade space for time, but the time they could gain was severely limited.
In the distance, a figure was seen crouching and running towards them, with shells exploding nearby, lifting the figure into the air, only to fall back to the ground. It was Wen Rou.
"Come this way!" Hong Lang shouted.
A Stuka swooped down, releasing three heavy bombs, one of which was falling right above Wen Rou.
Jin Gang leaped out of the trench, pointing towards the descending bomb.
Miraculously, the bomb stopped in mid-air, frozen in its trajectory.
As Jin Gang bled profusely from his mouth, ears, and nose, he struggled with the effort of having stopped the bomb. With bloodshot eyes, he shouted, "Quick!"
Wen Rou sprinted towards Jin Gang, and upon reaching him, she embraced him and dove into the trench, both of them crashing heavily into it. Just then, the uncontrolled bomb exploded on the ground behind them.
"Damn, you're... really heavy," Jin Gang groaned, rolling his eyes.
Wen Rou chuckled, her dusty face showing a trace of gratitude: "Thank you, big guy. I forgot you had that trick up your sleeve."
"I wish I had more energy. If I did, I could have controlled one plane to crash into another. Unfortunately..." Jin Gang coughed up blood as he spoke. The bomb hadn't hit him, but the strain from overusing his abilities had injured him.
"How's Shen Yi?" Hong Lang asked urgently. "I saw him blow up the artillery positions. Did he make it out?"
A flicker of pain crossed Wen Rou's eyes as she shook her head: "He never planned to come out."
Meanwhile, Shen Yi had the barrel of the Spirit Fire Gun against the SS major-general's head, with the Vampire Touch positioned at his throat. Outside the tent was a hellish scene of billowing smoke and raging fires, with dozens of SS soldiers aiming their guns at Shen Yi.
Their expressions were solemn, but there was no panic in their eyes about their superior being held hostage.
The rumbling of explosions sounded like background music to this tense moment, surprisingly lightening the atmosphere with an almost comical element.
Neither Shen Yi nor the captured major-general showed any signs of nervousness.
"You... are an exceptional soldier," said the SS major-general unexpectedly. "It's astonishing. How did you manage to infiltrate my position and accomplish all this? How could you just appear out of nowhere?"
"Shouldn't you be more concerned about your own life?" Shen Yi replied with a smile.
The major-general coldly responded, "I don't think so. Perhaps you don't understand who the SS are. Do you think holding me hostage will get you out of here? That's laughable. This isn't peacetime. It's war, and everyone is prepared to sacrifice for their country. The SS are the most loyal to the Führer. If there's anything that frightens us, it's not death, but failing to fulfill the sacred mission entrusted to us by the Führer."
Shen Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.
He recalled some legends about the SS.
A famous American war correspondent had once said that objectively speaking, the most formidable, courageous, and reliable military force in human history should be the SS of World War II.
Setting aside political stances and moral judgments, the members of Hitler's Nazi SS were notoriously fanatical, unafraid to die for their country, and recognized as the most fearsome professional soldiers.
Soviet Marshal Zhukov once said that whenever his commanders and troops heard that the SS was on the German front, everyone would write their last letters, become solemn, and even desertion occurred. In his memoirs, he wrote: "...those damn Nazi SS were real soldiers. Compared to them, Eisenhower's and my men were just amateur kids. Deep down, they were opponents I respected."
As Hitler committed suicide, in just one month, more than 63,000 SS members followed their leader in suicide, and over 70,000 were killed resisting in corners rather than surrendering. According to later statistics by the U.S. Army, not a single member of Hitler's Nazi SS voluntarily surrendered to the Allied forces; they fought to the last bullet before being captured. The last words of an SS sergeant, "Tell the Führer I did my best, tell my father I still love him," are still widely circulated.
Despite the SS's later infamy for their numerous war crimes, particularly their active role in the Holocaust, the SS internally comprised two main groups: the SS Secret Action Squad and the Waffen-SS, the armed SS. The main perpetrators of the massacres were the Secret Action Squad, while the Waffen-SS was the fearsome military force that terrified enemies on the battlefield. Although they also participated in massacres, their involvement was relatively less. However, being part of the SS, they unavoidably shared the blame.
The "real soldiers" Zhukov referred to were the Waffen-SS, the very force Shen Yi was now facing.
Their combat prowess was unknown to Shen Yi, but their loyalty and fearlessness in the face of death became immediately apparent. The SS major-general suddenly shouted, "Our glory is loyalty! For the Führer, everyone get ready to..."
The SS soldiers were already preparing to fire.
"Wait!" Shen Yi yelled.
The major-general gave a cold, arrogant laugh, "Drop your gun, and I might spare your life, but you won't get more than that."
"I think I prefer to try my own way to stay alive," Shen Yi replied with a sly smile.
He didn't trust the major-general's words. The SS were known not only for their bravery but also for their ruthlessness.
A British paratrooper holding an SS major-general hostage would be a disgraceful story for the SS, and Shen Yi knew there was a high chance he would be shot on the spot after releasing the major-general. But he was confident he could minimize that possibility.
"You wanted to know how I got in, right? Unfortunately, I can't perform that again, but maybe I can show you something else," Shen Yi said, taking off his Kevlar vest.
He threw the vest on the ground and took out a small pistol, "Watch closely."
He aimed the pistol at the vest and fired three shots. His movements were slow but clear, leaving no room for misunderstanding by the SS soldiers.
The major-general's eyes widened in shock.
The Kevlar vest showed three small holes, but the bullets clearly did not penetrate the ground, stopping within the vest.
"I think you know what this means, right?" Shen Yi said, beaming.
"An astonishing invention, I've never seen anything like it before," the major-general said in a dry tone.
"Exactly." Shen Yi moved the gun away from the major-general's head.
He casually threw a bottle of intermediate recovery potion to the major-general, "Drink this, and your wounds will heal."
Then, tossing his gun back into his badge, Shen Yi's weapon disappeared, leaving the onlookers stunned.
Raising his hands slowly, Shen Yi declared, "I surrender!"