The War of Resistance: My Expedition, My Country

Chapter 341: The Empire State Building's Final Song (1)

After the surrender agreement was signed, Jodl, on behalf of the German High Command, issued a surrender order to all the troops and people of the German Third Reich, ordering all arriving forces to lay down their arms and surrender to the Allies.

However, mainly the SS, some Wehrmacht fanatics also joined in. They refused to accept unconditional surrender and gathered in the center of Berlin, with the Reichstag as the core, vowing to make a final fight for the Nazi Empire!

The Sino-American coalition forces finally encountered strong resistance from the Germans. Meanwhile, the attacks into the city center from the west and south were led by General Patton of the US Fifth Army and General Lin of the Expeditionary Force's Eighth Army, respectively. After the two armies merged, Lin, in accordance with the wishes of the Communist Party headquarters, handed over unified command to Patton. Taking advantage of the SS's retreat toward the city center, Lin preemptively seized key blocks on the eastern front, intentionally or unintentionally hindering the Soviet advance. Finally, thanks to Zhukov's intervention, he surrendered some blocks.

Soon, British troops arrived. Faced with these fanatics who refused to surrender and vowed to resist to the bitter end, Zhukov consulted with the Allied front commanders and decided to form a four-nation coalition to launch a final assault on the Empire State Building, the symbol of the fascist empire.

On the Flower Planting side, Peng assigned the mission of leading the final offensive on behalf of the expeditionary force to the hastily arrived 6th Corps of the 200th Group Army. When the commanders of the 8th Group Army expressed confusion, Peng calmly stated, "This is a decision made by the Flower Planting Party. As the army representing the Flower Planting Party's rise from defeat, the 200th Corps deserves to participate in this final, symbolic battle!"

The current commander of the 200th Army is none other than Lieutenant Colonel Wu Bairen, former Chief of Staff of the 200th Regiment of the 600th Division of the Expeditionary Force. Having been promoted to the rank of General, he serves as Deputy Commander of the 6th Group Army and Commander of the 200th Army. He personally led the 600th Regiment of the 6th Division of the 200th Army of the 117th Group Army, carrying on the 600th Regiment's designation, with the express purpose of using this historic designation to capture the Empire State Building and mark the most significant milestone for the Expeditionary Force.

At this point, the 600th Regiment was effectively the Sixth Army's training regiment, and could even be considered the cradle of many of the expeditionary force's frontline commanders. Upon receiving the news, Huang Wei, Kuang Zhengqi, Yang Hong, and others also rushed over. All of them donned the original uniforms of the expeditionary force, clutched their weapons, and awaited the order to attack.

At this point, there was no longer any distinction between the primary and secondary forces. The US Army also sent the 1st Cavalry Division, the Soviet Army sent the 1st Guards Division, and the British Army also sent the Household Cavalry Regiment. Everyone encouraged themselves to win glory for their country in this final battle.

As the signal flares were fired, the four-nation coalition launched its assault on the Reichstag from four directions. The defenses of the Reichstag and surrounding areas were primarily composed of SS Foreign Legion troops: the Totenkopf Division, the Reichsdivision, and the remnants of the 1st and 2nd Wiking Divisions. Most of these troops were non-Germans, members of the so-called Freikorps. Unwilling to accept defeat, they were prepared to die with the fascists.

As the Allied forces attacked from four directions with a force dozens of times greater than their own, these remaining fascists were compressed into the remaining buildings such as the Reichstag and the Chancellery, as well as the surrounding bunkers and shelters. They no longer had equipment such as tanks and heavy artillery, but relying on the geographical advantages and rich combat experience, they effectively resisted the Allied attacks.

Einjohns Tanding was a SS-Sturmbannführer. This Norwegian-born Nazi had been in the SS for over seven years, having joined the unit in 1939. As a member of the Reich Division, he had participated in all the fascist invasions since the invasion of Poland. He was well aware that his chances of survival were slim, and neither side would forgive him for the sins he had committed during the war.

Like other non-German soldiers, Tandin hoped to die on the battlefield rather than surrender and be shamefully executed. This is a true reflection of the inner thoughts of these fanatical fighters who fought to the end.

At this moment, he and his team of 23 people were on the second floor of an abandoned building not far from the Empire State Building, using the weapons in their hands to frantically resist the Soviet attack for many days.

Early this morning, the enemy strangely stopped their attacks. Except for the loudspeakers that continued to broadcast Germany's declaration of unconditional surrender and the German commander-in-chief's order to surrender weapons, the enemy was strangely silent, and even the harassing artillery fire stopped.

Just when Tandin was puzzled, a sharp-eyed soldier suddenly saw clearly that the flag on the opposite side had changed. It was no longer the Soviet flag, but the flag of the Flower Growers.

Tandin's heart sank. "The enemy has changed. It's the Flower Planting Expeditionary Force." He knew full well that this enemy, unlike the Soviets, would exploit the flesh and blood of their soldiers to gain offensive advantage. This meant his squad would no longer have the opportunity to inflict massive casualties. The battle would enter a low-intensity, high-tech phase. He suddenly had a premonition that his life was coming to an end.

Sure enough, more than half an hour later, the Flower Planting Army, which had accepted the attack, dispersed with the strength of a company and attacked in small groups in a tense and orderly manner.

The enemy did not advance with disorderly artillery fire like the Soviet army, but used targeted mortars, grenade launchers and other light firepower to clear the way and cover the soldiers' advance.

The enemy's artillery fire was highly targeted, pounding windows of old buildings, suspected firing points, and other locations where SS troops were hiding. Grenade launchers unleashed short-range covering fire, covering the soldiers' advancing front 15 to 30 meters with a combination of high-explosive and smoke bombs. After a short burst of artillery fire, the enemy group quickly approached the blast zone and ambushed them. Another short burst of artillery followed, and the enemy group leaped forward in time with the bombardment...

Soon, they were less than 30 meters away from the old building. Several heavy machine guns began to rain bullets, and several soldiers bravely moved forward.

Tandin watched the calm, orderly, decisive, and skilled enemy on the ground below, and he secretly admired them. However, these well-trained and experienced soldiers were facing the elite who had emerged from the sea of ​​blood and corpses on the battlefield. All their actions were in vain.

At Tandin's signal, the squad's hidden artillery opened fire. In less than a minute, the German MP-42 submachine guns fired a series of rapid "thumps," and the advancing soldiers collapsed in a pool of blood. The enemy following them also decisively stopped immediately, not even paying attention to the screams of their wounded comrades, but rushing forward to rescue them.

At such a distance, Tandin and others could actually kill the enemy with one blow. They deliberately injured the enemy in order to make the enemy come to rescue at all costs, so as to inflict greater damage to the enemy.