Chapter 62 - The Mannerheim Line Welcomes You (1/2)

Chapter 62: The Mannerheim Line Welcomes You IV

Breakfast. That was it. Putting on the backpack, Zhang Heng randomly chose a direction and headed towards it. From where he lived, numerous war enthusiasts were extremely knowledgeable about World War II. They had an in-depth understanding of various war and deployment tactics and regularly debated the multiple strategies of famed generals.

As for Zhang Heng, he had zero knowledge about warfare. Unless the spirit of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim or Kliment Voros.h.i.+lov himself possessed him, there wasn’t much he could do to improve his current predicament.

There are eventually no heroes in war, said an inconvenient truth. Whether it was a person who achieved great feats or a soldier with masterful shooting skills, a stray could take away their lives within a matter of seconds. To increase his chances of survival, Zhang Heng set a principle for himself, and that was to stay as far away as possible from any crossfire. Places like Vyborg, Summa Village, and Kael were a no-no, and he had to refrain from going there. As for the replica Ouvrage Schoenenbourg – Mannerheim, that would be the last place on earth that Zhang Heng would go.

His biggest problem was that he didn’t know where the h.e.l.l he was right now. Though he wanted to make sure to stay far away from the heat of battle, he had no idea where the safe zone was either. After traveling on foot for about half a day, Zhang Heng came across a platoon of Soviet soldiers. Thankfully, he spotted them first and quickly went into hiding. It seemed like the soldiers were in a rush, huffing their way while dragging a couple of cannons behind them. Amid the confusion, none of them realized Zhang Heng’s presence, although he was right under their noses. It was so close a call, a deep chill ran up his spine.

The trees in the forest were the perfect spot to conceal himself from the enemy. Protection, on the one hand, the trees also blocked him from seeing what was in front of him. Being in a situation out of his control made him extremely uncomfortable. After all, no one in this world was always lucky. It would be impossible that Zhang Heng would spot his enemies first before they spotted him every single time.

In all honesty, he was on the disadvantageous side during this quest. There were few skills he possessed that could help him to survive in the wild. Playing the piano, modifying cars, and racing was basically useless in these circ.u.mstances.

As for his Level 2 archery skills, it turned out to be more practical than the gun that he was holding right now. Sadly though, he had still not found the right bark to carve out his bowstring. Besides, using cold, pa.s.sive weapons against hot firearms was definitely a bad idea.

After experiencing the frosty winter in Finland, Zhang Heng started to doubt if he might even wake from his sleep the next time. It had only been three days since his arrival, with a grueling 137 days to go.

Zhang Heng felt despair sinking in, and it hit him hard.

He knew that he wouldn’t survive much longer if he kept this up. He could choose to side with Finland’s troops or the Soviet Union’s troops, but he had no idea what they would do to him. In the end, Zhang Heng still could not make up his mind. Until the morning of the fourth day, Zhang Heng heard gunshots once again. And this time, the thunderous sound of cannons resounded in the forest as well. Sensing imminent danger, Zhang Heng decided that he would head in a different direction.

It seemed as if he had used up the last bits of his luck this time. After paying so much attention to the sound of gunfire, he completely forgot to notice t what was in front of him. This time, he encountered a scout team! There were only 11 well-equipped soldiers in the group and should be returning to the base since they heard the gunfire. The encounter with Zhang Heng was totally a coincidence to them. Clearly, n.o.body expected this to happen.

Unfortunately, Zhang Heng did not have his Shadow Moment at hand, as he wanted to avoid triggering it while he traveled. He also did not expect to encounter enemies from such a close distance. He initially thought he would have a little time to search for the statue that was located in the pocket of his coat. The scout team stood by with their guns loaded. If they wanted to, they could open fire at Zhang Heng anytime now.

In the end, Zhang Heng owed his life to the military coat. Obviously, they would never shoot somebody wearing their own colors. However, they soon realized that Zhang Heng’s attire was way different as compared to what they were wearing. They also noticed that he was of Asian descent.