After leaving the City Defense Headquarters, Lynn drove with the soldiers to the defense zone of the "Nordic" Division, not to search for anyone, but to have Tanker undergo surgery by the military doctor. In the intense and brutal battlefield, removing shrapnel and stitching bullet holes were considered simple procedures, completed smoothly in less than half an hour. Because the injury did not affect tendons, bones, or arteries, the military doctor assured that Tanker's wound only required proper rest and would not leave any lasting effects under normal circumstances. Additionally, the dedicated military doctor also treated Lynn's abrasions caused by shrapnel fragments.
By the time Lynn and his companions returned to the Army Library located in the northern part of the city, it was already daylight.
Standing by the window with only bullet holes left, Lynn finally saw Berlin again, a city that had almost turned into a vast ruin. Across the Spree River, black-gray smoke rose everywhere, with constant booming explosions and gunfire echoing, as if in an endless downpour. The boundaries between buildings and streets in the distant urban areas had blurred, becoming truly "out of reach."
Assigning Brühl to the first watch, Lynn instructed the other soldiers to rest first, but he himself couldn't sleep due to concerns about Wolf and Noah's safety. Silently descending the stairs, he got into the military bucket car and drove along the Bodhi Tree Avenue towards the Spree River Bridge. By now, the Soviet artillery units advancing to the eastern outskirts of Berlin had begun frequent bombardments on the city center, making every step of the journey nerve-wracking. The whistling heavy shells were enough to demolish entire buildings upon impact or create large instant kill zones on the streets. To avoid these indirect artillery barrages, Lynn had to once again engage in a "urban off-road race," maneuvering the car perilously through the streets and ruins, displaying driving skills as impressive as his language mastery. Finally reaching the western bank of the Spree River Bridge, the scene before him weighed heavily on his heart. Despite the City Defense Headquarters dispatching reserve troops to the east of the city before dawn, the vigorous assault of the Soviet forces could not be stopped. He witnessed batches of German soldiers retreating across the bridge in a sorry state, with several "Tiger" and "Panther" tanks also withdrawing to the east side. Under the guidance of infantrymen using field telephones to communicate with the front lines, these tanks raised their barrels and fired shells into the distance.
Anxiously scanning the retreating soldiers for familiar faces, time passed quickly, and all he saw were the weathered and forlorn faces of strangers. Most of these soldiers belonged to the SS units, while regular army soldiers were only in small groups or scattered individuals. Many of them were wounded, some exceeding half of the group. Some officers wanted to use Lynn's car to transport severely wounded soldiers, but at this moment, an effective means of transportation was more precious than firearms or supplies, so Lynn had to politely refuse, citing exhaustion of fuel and a special mission on hand. Hungry and exhausted, he endured until after eleven o'clock, finally seeing Noah holding the "tank killer" rocket launcher and Wolf covered in blood.
"Hey, brothers, I'm here! Here!" Lynn shouted in relief. When the two saw him, the despair on their faces vanished, but their shaky steps couldn't hide their exhaustion. Seeing the bandage on Lynn's head and iodine solution applied to his cheek for the abrasion, they refrained from complaining.
Lynn hugged them one by one, relieved to see that Wolf only suffered superficial injuries, while Noah was unharmed. He showed a bitter yet relieved smile and quickly ushered them into the car.
"Marcus and Karl are back too. Marcus took a bullet in the leg, but it's nothing serious," Lynn excitedly informed his tough comrades who returned against all odds, "Let's head to the 'Nordic' Division for treatment. Their troops haven't entered combat yet, so the medics shouldn't be too busy!"
"My injury is nothing!" Wolf insisted, though mentioning the wound on his head made him grit his teeth in pain.
Seeing Wolf's expression in the rearview mirror, Lynn found nothing amusing about it. At this moment, Noah asked, "How's Corporal Brück?"
At these words, Lynn's mood instantly cooled, shaking his head with disappointment, "Another brave warrior has escaped the chaos of war and reported to the kingdom of compassion and love!"
"Someday..." Wolf sighed, looking up, "we will find liberation too!"
Lynn didn't respond, focusing on steering the wheel, as they passed by a crumbling building. Returning this time might be encountering the Soviet artillery having lunch, as there were no shells falling even on the Bodhi Tree Avenue, which was about to end. However, Lynn's mood was not light; he occasionally glanced at the fuel gauge. The needle had already reached empty, and he had no experience to say how far it could go in this situation—considering the power and weight of the VW82 bucket car, a few liters of gasoline would be good enough for forty or fifty kilometers at best.
"Whoosh..." Upon hearing the sharp and urgent "car horn," Lynn didn't even look at the rearview mirror, but saw a street corner ahead and immediately turned the steering wheel to the right. The military bucket car, painted in yellow-green camouflage, swiftly turned into the alley—being flanked by tall buildings, it was an ideal place to avoid Soviet artillery fire, but the falling rocks and cement from the buildings made it difficult for ordinary wheeled vehicles to pass.
The situation didn't allow Lynn to be selective. Soviet artillery shells were falling like meteorites, causing the ground and surrounding buildings to tremble. Lynn had no choice but to step on the accelerator. The military bucket car roared like a charging warhorse, rushing headlong into the alley.
The wheels bounced violently as they hit a piece of cement larger than a fist. Lynn, gripping the steering wheel, was fine, but Wolf and Noah almost got thrown out. They had to hold onto the handles beside them, and Noah's anti-tank rocket launcher placed next to him even jumped high—fortunately, without a rocket, otherwise, there would be a worry about it "firing" unexpectedly.
Leaving the deafening explosion behind in the alley, Lynn couldn't afford to relax. The subsequent whistling and massive explosions made the ground tremble, and the high-speed flying shrapnel created countless debris in the air. The alley was instantly filled with smoke and dust, with debris falling everywhere. The agile and convenient VW82 bucket car seemed to jump forward dangerously, while the armored soldiers along the way seemed to fly into their tanks and assault guns like birds.
Driving until about fifty or sixty meters from the alley mouth, Lynn finally slowed down and stopped the car next to a Panther tank. In a face-to-face firefight, this would undoubtedly be the most dangerous position. But the current situation was different. If the buildings nearby suddenly collapsed or there was a large-scale wall collapse, then the tall and sturdy body of the Panther tank would provide more survival chances for the small military car parked next to it.
Although the tremors and debris in the depths of the alley were much milder than outside, as a precaution, the armored soldiers also entered their tanks and closed the hatches one by one. Just as the last one was about to climb into the turret hatch, he paused for a moment, probably seeing that there was only a low-ranking SS soldier and two soldiers sitting in the car, he didn't have the intention to greet them, just gave a cold glance, then retracted into the turret and slammed the hatch shut—Lynn observed all this and suddenly felt a sense of being looked down upon. This was extremely rare and the other party didn't express anything verbally, so Lynn didn't say much. He couldn't help but think of the Wehrmacht lieutenant in East Prussia who looked like "Junker" and the staff officer in the Berlin underground works who made things difficult for him. He suddenly felt that the hierarchical concept in the real world was sometimes scarier than facing enemies face to face. As long as one was at the bottom, they would never receive the respect and recognition of the majority. Now, the turning point of the era had come. If one didn't seize the opportunity, they wouldn't even have the basic right to survival guaranteed!