Chapter 48: King to King (1)
In June, the land of France is full of vitality. The stubborn weeds have a charming green on the vast field, and countless unknown wild flowers of different colors have begun to try to show their charm to the world. They form groups of patterns that only they can understand are spread on the green velvet cloth. As the breeze sways gently in the bright sunlight, the yellow land that was still desolate two months ago is now as radiant as a gorgeous Persian carpet.
Unfortunately, this pastoral scenery that should have been as beautiful and peaceful as the Garden of Eden was destroyed by some sudden things that should not exist there. The ugly artifacts and piles of steel wrecks added a discordant note to this peaceful pastoral poem. The twisted black steel skeleton pointed to the blue sky in a strange posture.
They are reminding people of the nightmarish battle that happened here not long ago. Many soldiers never left here again. The various types of helmets and broken rifles hanging on the top of the dense crosses next to the road showed everyone the most tragic ending of the people participating in this game.
This is the terrifying mark left by war on this land, but it is not an indelible mark. Time and the extremely powerful nature will wipe out these traces. In just over a dozen years, this land will restore its original scenery, and these foreign objects will also be included by endless natural power. They will become part of nature and part of the earth. All that will be left will be those legends and faint grief after being modified and distorted.
"About a month ago, a supply convoy of the 41st Panzer Army encountered an ambush from the British and French troops here. They fought very tenaciously, but there were too many enemies, and all the officers and soldiers remained here. However, they also let hundreds of enemies shed their last drop of blood. When the rescue troops of the 41st Panzer Army arrived, the entire convoy was shrouded in the burning flames, and the nearby fields were full of entangled corpses and broken weapons. Later, they found that the enemy had wanted to take away the bodies of their soldiers before leaving, but they failed." Captain Sethhausen, the liaison deputy of the Ceprus Army Command, explained to Xu Jun the origin of the pile of wreckage outside the car window in a deep tone.
"Why did they fail?" Randolph asked with a solemn expression he had never had before.
"Because the soldiers hugged each other too tightly, our rescue team had to break their fingers when they wanted to separate the tangled bodies. On some of the bodies we found traces of fingers that had been pulled hard, which showed that the enemy had also thought about separating them, but for some reason, they were unable to succeed."
"Oh..." Randolph nodded and said nothing again.
"This is our soldiers, whose firm fighting will and their unparalleled spirit of sacrifice will be eternally passed down by our descendants. I am proud of our great soldiers, and it is impossible to find a great warrior like them in the world." Daogen sighed.
"Maybe there is another army's combat belief that can be compared with them..." Xu Jun murmured with a deep look at the cross passing by the car window.
"What? Do you know which army has the fighting will to compare with the soldiers lying here? "Master Marshal." Daogen looked at Xu Jun in confusion.
"I know there is an army that is so tenacious, in my memory..." Xu Jun did not continue, and turned his face out the window.
Yes, Sethausen's description made him feel so familiar. In that time and space, that era, the ability of that army to create miracles on the battlefield and the spirit they showed were completely above all European counterparts. Perhaps in the near future, everyone will know this army and their reputation, but for Xu Jun now, he can only bury him as a precious memory in his heart, because he is too far away from home.
Seeing that Xu Jun was unwilling to continue talking, Daogen swallowed the question he was about to ask back to his stomach. He turned his head and looked out the window on his side. He always regarded himself as the most standard soldier and knew when and what questions should be asked. According to the current situation, a soldier's best behavior is to shut up.
"My Marshal, there are more than 30 kilometers away from the destination now. I think you can close your eyes a little and rest. You haven't closed your eyes for a night." Hans's words broke the solemn atmosphere in the car now.
Xu Jun turned his head and smiled at his loyal adjutant. He nodded and replied: "Okay, I suddenly feel a little tired now. I want to take a rest. Sethausen, please wake me up before you arrive."
"As for orders, Marshal."
Hans and Randolph quickly pulled up the thick curtains. The strong sunlight shone through the curtains into the car, showing a dull dark green color. Xu Jun leaned on his soft head and closed his eyes, while his adjutants also lowered their heads and closed their eyes to calm down.
They had been traveling all night and they had to block Hitler before he arrived at Lis. The intelligence showed that Hitler's convoy had begun to move. Although it was always slow, from the direction it was moving, the destination must be Lis. The German head of state was unswervingly approaching the headquarters of the Group A Army Group.
However, although that road was only more than 80 kilometers short, it was destroyed very thoroughly due to the battles in the previous period. The poor road surface would make the already slow convoy of the head of state more dull. According to Keitel's estimate, Hitler's speed of advancement may not be as fast as walking.
Although this is the case, Xu Jun does not have much time left. According to the plan, he must stop the man before he enters the Lis garrison line, and also resolve the battle in the shortest time, evacuate at the fastest speed, and do everything as if he was attacked by the enemy's hidden remnants, which would be a very arduous test for Xu Jun.
In terms of combat effectiveness, confidentiality and loyalty, Xu Jun decided to select a unit from the 6th Motorized Infantry Regiment he directly affiliated to complete the work. Now this Motorized Infantry Regiment has not only achieved complete mechanization, but also some second-line armored units have been strengthened. Of course, it is impossible for heavy equipment such as tanks, which are basically just light armored vehicles, but this has made his firepower far superior to other German Army teams of the same level.
Since this operation required maintaining speed, it was impossible to bring all the regiment with me. Xu Jun only selected infantry from almost one battalion and armored reconnaissance vehicles from a company to participate in the operation. However, even if it was a battalion, Xu Jun had enough confidence to deal with all the guards of that person. The Sixth Infantry Regiment followed him through countless bloody battles. These soldiers were elite soldiers trained from the battlefield through repeated battles, and were definitely not something that Hitler's rookie guard who had not participated in a battle.
Now the soldiers of this battalion are sitting on their respective 251 armored personnel carriers or Mercedes-Benz two-ton off-road trucks and are advancing at a speed of fifty kilometers per hour. There are six Macchirus versions of the 231 six-wheeled armored reconnaissance vehicles in front and behind the convoy, which are responsible for escorting the two ends and flanks of the convoy.
The 20mm machine guns on these armored vehicles can solve any infantry unit without armored troops without heavy firepower. Hitler's current guards are exactly such troops. They only brought two light 37mm anti-tank guns, and the rest are just some light weapons. Xu Jun has expected that this battle will be a chaotic encounter. In this operation, these armored vehicles will become the main force of the offensive. Although the armor is a little thinner, it can use its speed advantage to make up for the lack of protection, and the dense firepower it has will become a nightmare for all the soldiers in the head of state guards who dare to stop it.
The infantrymen of the Sixth Infantry Regiment will cooperate with these armored vehicles to attack the opponent. In addition to covering the armored vehicles, they will also take on the task of encircling and suppressing the remaining enemies. They will follow these armored vehicles to launch the final impact and clean up on Hitler's convoy.
All the soldiers knew what they were going to do this time, and they all understood that their guns were aimed at the person they had vowed to be loyal to. But none of the soldiers showed any hesitation, because they now had people who were more worthy of loyalty. For their great commander, even if they were facing the sacred God, they would kill them without hesitation.
A terrible murderous aura permeated the convoy, and the soldiers were excited by the coming battle. But no matter how excited they were, they would not show it from their appearance. They were veterans of war, and unless they were in front of their most beloved commander, they would not reveal any of their true emotions to outsiders. At any time and anywhere, they would act as serious and ruthless as a hard rock.
Except for looking at the hands and machine gunners, all the soldiers sat silently in their seats and looked ahead. All they saw were the same firm pupils of their comrades sitting opposite them.
"Marson, we're almost here." Sethausen opened the curtains between the front and rear seats.
"Oh...is it? Where are we now?" Xu Jun opened his eyes and asked with his waist stretched.
"It's almost time to Betina."
"Okay, we should have arrived at the front of that person now. When we reach the intersection of the highway, we will make the final allocation arrangement. Let the soldiers prepare for the battle. From there, we may encounter that convoy at any time. I hope to end the battle smoothly as planned." Xu Jun said as he pulled open the curtain on his side and looked at the field outside the window.
"What are those things?"
Xu Jun found that strange-shaped fine wooden stakes or things that looked like wooden stakes in the field not far from the highway were erected, because some of the twisted shapes of the wooden stakes did not seem to be formed naturally.
These things aroused Xu Jun's curiosity, because he had never seen the same scene before. These wooden stakes were lined up, each of which was about five or six meters apart, and were divided into several rows. It looked like they were of some kind of formation. From the outside, Xu Jun couldn't guess what it was for.
"Ah, are you talking about those stakes?" asked Sethausen.
"Yes, what's that for."
"Oh, those are the remains of the last war. Behind those wooden stakes are the trench positions built by the French in the last war, and those wooden stakes are the stakes that hung with barbed wire in the past." Sethausen looked emotional.
"Is that so? I have never seen such a scene before. It seems that the French put a lot of effort back then." Xu Jun did not expect to see the battlefield ruins during World War I. Looking at the wooden stakes, he imagined in his mind the scene of young German soldiers stumbled and charged towards the dense wire mesh with rifles more than 20 years ago with rifles. It was simply a tragic suicide.
"Oh, there are a lot less here now. Since many piles are made of metal, the French government has recycled those metal piles. Now only those wooden piles are left. Although there are still some metal piles, it is also because the texture has been burned out by artillery fire, so it is left."
After speaking, Sethausen pointed to the car window on the other side and said, "There are the same stakes over there, but there are the positions we built in the last war. The most cutting-edge positions on both sides are less than a kilometer apart. What a arduous war our predecessors fought."
"Yeah?"
Xu Jun quickly turned his head and looked out the window on the other side. Indeed, there were also rows of wooden stakes erected at about the same distance from the highway. It seemed that the highway was passing through the middle of the positions on both sides.
Xu Jun turned around and looked at the battlefield ruins not far away. He had finally identified some fortifications in the positions. Since those places are now covered with green grass and wild flowers, if you don’t look carefully, you will really not be able to see the military fortifications that once cost countless people their lives. Most people may think that they are just a few natural small slopes or irrigation canals.
Suddenly, Xu Jun vaguely saw a few figures shaking on the French position site in front of him, and then a small highlight flashed suddenly on a small slope. Xu Jun felt a trembling heart, and an ominous premonition filled his whole body.
"Something is wrong, there..." Xu Jun pointed in that direction and shouted.
But before he could finish his words, a fierce gunshot sounded from outside the window, and strings of bright tracer bullets swept towards the convoy as densely as it rained.
"ambush!"
Hans rushed towards Xu Jun, and he pressed Xu Jun under his seat with force, and then used his body to cover his marshal.
The dense machine gun bullets hit the bulletproof body of the luxury Mercedes-Benz and made a series of "booming" sounds that made people's scalp numb, and the bulletproof glass of the car window was also covered with snowflake-like bullet marks.
"Protect the Marshal!"
"Prepare for the fight!"
“Stop quickly!”
Xu Jun's adjutants all shrank to the floor of the car to avoid the windows that could be pierced at any time, and they shouted loudly.
"Don't stop! Rush over."
The last sound was shouted by Xu Jun. He finally struggled to break free from Hans's suppression. Stopping on a premeditated ambush position at a glance is simply seeking death. The only way to get rid of the crisis is to rush out of the enemy's ambush circle at the highest speed.
The fierce gunfire was still ringing. A Mercedes-Benz personnel carrier in front of the car did not have any bulletproof ability. It was immediately hit into a sieve by dense bullets. The soldiers on the car were also hit in an instant, just like the truck. They were killed in their seats before they could react. The driver of the truck could not escape the same fate. The truck lost control and rushed towards the side of the road. It straddled the entire rear of the car in the middle of the road.
When Xu Jun's driver saw that the situation was not good, he quickly stepped on the brakes. The car stopped almost two meters away from the truck. The huge inertia caused the officers in the car to get out of the car.
But the disaster did not pass. A 232 armored communication vehicle following Xu Jun's car did not have time to brake. It suddenly hit Xu Jun's car from behind. That's not all, because the driver of the armored vehicle was nervous and wanted to avoid it, he turned the steering wheel to the right. As a result, it not only hit Xu Jun's car, but also knocked the luxury car out of the shoulder of the road and slid down the slope on the roadside into the drainage ditch on the side of the road, and it leaned against the side of the roadside.
The vehicles in the front team stopped quickly when they saw what happened behind, and the vehicles behind were in chaos due to this sudden situation. However, there was no unlucky collision like Xu Jun again. The ambushers finally achieved their first goal and successfully stopped the convoy. However, from the fact that they are still shooting wildly at the convoy, their purpose is very clear, that is, to completely annihilate the convoy.
After the vehicle stopped, the uninjured soldiers jumped out of their respective vehicles at a rapid speed. They rushed towards the roadside with locust-like bullets. The experience of many battles made them not panic about this emergencies. The soldiers jumped out of the drainage ditch on the side of the road. They used the ditch as a temporary trenches to raise their weapons and fight back at the enemies in the distance who were shooting at them frantically.
The armored vehicles also reacted from a moment of panic. They turned their turrets and began to pour 20mm high-explosive shells at the ambushers. Due to the fierce firepower of these armored vehicles, the opponent's shooting was suppressed in an instant, and the convoy finally stabilized their position.
Everyone's heart was now pressed on a big stone, and several officers ran down the ditch desperately towards the car leaning beside the ditch.
The soldiers prayed in their hearts that their commanders would be safe and sound. They turned this anxiety into anger towards the attackers. They all secretly swore that no matter whether the commanders were in trouble or not, just for those comrades who had sacrificed their lives, they would let those guys taste the consequences of doing so and make those guys regret coming to this world.
;
Chapter completed!