He Laoliu limped into the command post, grabbed a staff officer by the collar and asked, "What's going on?"
"Master Lin directly issued an order to us, asking us to withdraw from our current position."
He Laoliu stretched his neck and looked out from the edge of the command post, then sighed.
"Even if we want to withdraw, we need permission from the Germans."
After the old man finished speaking, all the staff officers and officers in the command post had wry smiles on their faces. The Germans tried to sneak attack the Aztec Division's position before dawn, and their engineers had already dug the offensive trenches to within reach of the Chinese Army's line.
At a distance of 100 meters, both sides suffered a lot of casualties just from fighting each other.
The Germans successfully refreshed He Laoliu and other old Nanyang Army backbones' impressions of "foreign masters' young soldiers". The entire division, no matter veterans or recruits, will no longer underestimate the enemy's combat effectiveness.
Some educated officers began to call the Germans "Qin soldiers", quoting the sentence "Kuang Fu Qin soldiers endured hard battles" in Du Fu's "Military Chariots", which also showed from one aspect how brave and good the German soldiers were.
Now the German army has broken into some trenches, and the two sides are engaged in extremely fierce close combat on the position, while other areas are also facing the pressure of the German offensive. It is impossible to retreat at this time, and the result of the retreat will inevitably be that the troops fall into complete chaos.
The German troops suffered huge losses in their pursuit.
"Even if we want to withdraw, we still have to keep people behind." He Laoliu came to the rough diagram of the position structure in front of the command post, "But... almost all of our troops have engaged the Germans..."
"Yes," said a staff officer. "The only ones that can leave immediately are the teams directly under the division headquarters and the field hospital."
"Then let them leave immediately!" He Laoliu waved his hand and then turned to the confidential officer, "The headquarters didn't say why we need to retreat?"
The confidential officer shook his head.
At this moment, an Indian second lieutenant rushed into the command post with a gun and said in blunt English: "Report to the commander, the French army position on the west side of the river bend has just flown the German flag, and the Germans are coming from there.
Use light artillery to attack the ships at the ferry!"
At this time, the faces of the entire command post became serious - most of the staff members knew English. Only He Laoliu needed to be translated.
"So that's it." He Laoliu looked at the French representative de Gaulle who has been fighting with the Chinese team these days, "It seems that the French can't stand it anymore..."
The expression on De Gaulle's face was a little embarrassed, but he immediately said: "You can retreat now. My soldiers and I will cut off the rear for you."
He Laoliu didn't wait for the translator to finish what he said, and waved his hand: "It's useless to say this now, unless we can regain control of the protruding part of the river bend. Otherwise, the ferry will not be usable at all, and no one can leave. But we have to take it back.
That protrusion is easier said than done..."
The old man glanced at the people in the small bunker, waiting for someone to raise objections. But no one spoke, because everyone knew that there were no extra troops to call upon at this time, unless they allowed the wounded to return to the battlefield with weapons to participate in the attack.
"Send a report to the headquarters, briefly describe the situation we are facing, and ask for Mr. Lin's instructions."
After the contact from the Aztec Division came, Lin Youde stood in front of the map and remained silent.
A staff officer saluted Lin Youde and said: "Aerial reconnaissance report. The roads northwest and northeast of Paris are crowded with retreating French troops."
"I know." Lin Youde said.
Josephine stood beside him: "It seems that even if Foch can get troops from the French general, there is no way to respond to the Aztec division. Now to evacuate them, the only way is to use the air fleet.
"
"That's a division." Lin Youde interrupted his wife, "How many times do we have to go to transport them all out? Moreover, the German artillery fire has controlled the Marne River. We don't even have a place to land. Our airships
It was originally designed for use in areas with seas and other large bodies of water, and there is no way to land on land."
In fact, except for the German flying battleships, there are really not many large flying ships in the world that can land on land. Those who can land on land are little guys, and Lin Youde's special task force expedition fleet
Yes, but it is even more impossible to transport a division with those little guys.
"They are trapped in the enemy's formation." Lin Youde stared at the map for a long time before saying in a tired voice. "I should have asked them to start retreating earlier."
Josephine hugged Lin Youde from behind, not caring about the looks of everyone in the staff department at this time.
"It's not your fault. No one expected that the French army would collapse so quickly." Josephine's words contained a hint of hatred for steel. "We all believed that the German army was at the end of its war effort, but we forgot about the French army."
Same thing."
"yes."
At this time, Foch's voice came from behind the two of them: "No, we can't count on those losers. They deployed newly formed reserve divisions to several positions today. As a result, all those divisions are now blocked."
On the way to the front line. The new commander-in-chief Nivel has ordered the abandonment of positions north and west of Paris, and uses all forces to maintain the defense lines around Paris and the Verdun Fortress that is completely prominent in the German front."
"That's it," Lin Youde looked at Foch, "I still want to thank you."
Lin Youde stared at the solitary blue area on the map between the red crosses. After pondering for a moment, he took a deep breath.
"We can't give up on them." Lin Youde said, "Tell He Laoliu that if they hold on until the last soldier, we will airdrop weapons and ammunition to them and provide artillery support as much as possible. We also tell them their location.
It hits the German army's Achilles' heel. The German army is at the end of its siege! As long as they persist, they will definitely be able to escape from the encirclement."
After saying this, Lin Youde's eyes were already red. He knew that after this order was issued, the lives of many soldiers would disappear on that ferry. This would definitely become the most bloody episode in the glorious history of naval warfare. If possible.
, how much he wanted to go to that position, how he wanted to use this method to let the soldiers know that he had not given up on them. But it was impossible for him to do this, even if he issued such an order, his wife, his staff
And other officers will definitely not execute it.
A personal expedition is a beautiful fairy tale. Even Napoleon only went to the front line to boost morale when safety was absolutely guaranteed. Most of the time, he sat in a safe place on the battlefield, holding his telescope.
However, Lin Youde wished there was a way to express his feelings to the soldiers who were trapped in the siege...
At this time, someone shouted from the direction of the headquarters door: "Report!"
Lin Youde took a look and saw that he was the commander of his own special assault force.
"All members of ecoas. Request to go to reinforce the Aztec Division!"
"No!" Lin Youde refused without hesitation, "That division will be surrounded by the Germans soon, and they can only fight alone behind enemy lines..."
"Reporting to you, sir! We at Ecoas have been trained to fight alone behind enemy lines from the very beginning!" The commander held his head high, "We were born to be trapped in a tight siege!"
The sudden appearance of the classic lines from "Band of Brothers" made Lin Youde stunned for a moment. At this time, someone at the door shouted "Report" again.
"Major Pan Dawei of the 1st Army Division Task Force, on behalf of the troops, requested to join the war to reinforce friendly forces!"
Lin Youde glanced at the major, and then found that the chief of the Aztec mercenary group was standing behind him. He was obviously here to ask for a fight, but he didn't speak because he didn't speak Chinese well.
Lin Youde thought for a while and said, "You gather your troops, I have something to say."
The huge courtyard of Xiafei Mansion was filled with soldiers from the Chinese Federation.
Lin Youde stood on the terrace on the second floor of the mansion, overlooking his army. The eighteen-star flag of the Nanyang Army was fluttering in the wind behind him.
The dense sound of artillery in the distance added a sense of chill to the whole scene, which perfectly complemented the serious faces of the soldiers.
"Soldiers!" Lin Youde's voice spread throughout the courtyard through the loudspeaker. "I am very touched that you asked me to fight. But I must tell you. The place you are going to is a desperate situation comparable to purgatory. There, among you,
Most people will die and will never see the familiar fields of their hometown, nor will they ever see their wives, children, and parents!
"Furthermore, I want to tell you that in a battle of this huge scale, your little reinforcements will be of little help and will probably not be able to change the direction of the war. Your lives will most likely be sacrificed in vain on a foreign land!
Therefore, there is absolutely no need for you to sacrifice yourself like this. No one will blame you if you choose to stay! No one!
"Even so, do you still want to take the initiative to help those comrades who are trapped in the enemy's territory?"
What responded to Lin Youde was silence, with only the sound of cannons still ringing in the distance.
In fact, this is the normal state of a swearing-in meeting that has not been rehearsed in advance. Lin Youde thought that for a moment, he was too naive to imagine that he could get a thundering battle cry after shouting loudly.
Lin Youde neither expressed disappointment nor anger. He just turned around silently...
At this moment, someone in the queue of an unknown unit began to sing "We Will Be Found Under the Ruins", a military song copied by Lin Youde from the world a hundred years later.
"When the remains of the house were lifted up by hands, the roaring cannons seemed to be mourning us.
"Immediately there will be a snowflake of telegrams, informing relatives of the bad news.
"Their son is not coming back, not coming back."
The next moment, all the soldiers in the square began to sing in unison following the original sound.
"The old mother was crying in the corner, the old father looked wasted,
"The lover will not know the fate of the brave warrior, nor will he know that he was buried under the ruins
"On the dusty bookshelf, there are yellowed photos, showing his heroic smile."
Lin Youde turned around again and looked at the soldiers singing a military song with a slow tempo that sounded like mournful music. His eyes were filled with tears.
At the end of the song, an officer shouted: "If we don't go, how will we face the families of our abandoned comrades in the future?"