They were extremely exhausted. The shortage of field supplies left one-third of them hungry, and most of them did not have winter clothes. In the not-too-cold French winter, they were all so frozen that they could hardly hold their hands.
The gun was fired. But the Germans were excited. They were about to see Paris. In their eyes, that meant the end of all suffering.
This excitement and optimism supported them and became the strongest driving force for them to move forward. In many areas, the German troops were simply mixed with the retreating French army, but there was no exchange of fire at all. The French did not have the courage to fight.
The Germans were too tired to shoot. Everyone was heading towards Paris.
But General Bulow, the commander of the Second Army who was responsible for the main offensive task, was not happy.
"Why can't this damn ferry be captured?" Bülow roared at everyone in the headquarters, "The Germans have almost lost their face to you!"
After yelling, Biro began to pace back and forth in the headquarters. After walking back and forth for five times, he issued a new order: "Put the two reserve divisions just sent from the headquarters into the attack on the ferry, no matter the cost."
Take this ferry for me!"
Bülow's order made the staff look at each other, and one of them couldn't help but suggest: "General, we should invest these two divisions in the direction of Paris. The troops on the front line are exhausted, and reserve troops are needed to open up the situation, and now the
Under the circumstances, it no longer matters whether the ferry is in our hands..."
"The French are retreating! There is no situation left to open!" Billo interrupted the staff officer, "And we have to capture this ferry. This will make the supply route to the front line smoother."
"But……"
"There's nothing wrong with it. I said we must capture this ferry. Do you understand? No matter how much it costs, we must capture it!"
France, Marseille.
Chen Haihui's first words after stepping on French soil were: "Where is the train?"
The mayor of Marseille who came to greet him looked troubled: "Sir, the railway system is now operating at full capacity, and there is really no trains available. Moreover, even if there are trains, we can't count on the railway going north to Paris... Everything is in chaos now,
Including the railway dispatching system..."
Chen Haihui took a strong puff of the cigarette in his hand. Then he threw the remaining part on the ground and stamped it out.
"Then we'll walk north."
"Sir," the young adjutant said with some doubts. "The troops are very tired now. I think it would be better to rest on the shore for one or two days before setting off..."
In order to rush for time, the advance troops of the 1st Marine Division did not stop much along the way except to replenish fuel in Alexandria. The troops never even got off the ship, and they just drifted on the sea until now. A long life.
Being in a small space and suffering from endless seasickness and vomiting made everyone look disgusting.
But Chen Haihui was completely unmoved.
"Don't you know what's going on on the front line? If we don't hurry up, the war might be lost. Inform the troops to sort out their equipment, bring only light weapons and a basic amount of ammunition, compress dry food, and leave everything else behind. We will leave today
Set off."
Lin Juemin woke up from a coma and was surprised to find that he was not injured.
He pushed open the cockpit hatch, climbed out of the twisted and blackened body, and rolled into the trench.
In the past few days, Lin Juemin has long been familiar with the situation of the position: at first, the size of the position allowed the VF to take off and return to the ship to replenish ammunition every night. When the position shrank to the point where there was not enough open space for the VF to take off, Lin Juemin and
They dropped directly to the position and shared the joys and sorrows with the infantry.
Lin Juemin took off the submachine gun and ammunition from the corpse in the trench. After arming himself, he turned around and saluted the battered fighter plane, and then moved quickly along the trench with his waist bent.
First of all, he had to figure out the progress of the battle when he was unconscious. Lin Juemin remembered that before he was hit by the guided cannon, the German army should be violently attacking this position, but now the entire position was too quiet. There were neither Germans nor federal troops.
.
Lin Juemin decided to go to the division headquarters first to ask for clarification.
But not long after Lin Juemin started taking action, German artillery fire fell.
Lin Juemin hid in a cat's ear hole nearby.
Since German artillery fire will still fall on this position, it means that the Germans believe that this area is still controlled by the Federal Army. The Federal Army must have reduced its defense in order to make better use of the remaining forces after repelling the Germans.
line, they voluntarily gave up this position.
Lin Juemin waited in the Maoer Cave until the German artillery fire began to extend backwards, and then started to take action again.
As long as we reach the main position...
Lin Juemin thought like this, poked his head out of the trench a little, and glanced in the direction of the German positions.
The German skirmishers were advancing.
He had to hurry up. Lin Juemin retracted his head and couldn't help but speed up his pace.
When arriving at the main position, Lin Juemin found that the situation was worse than he expected.
He saw a machine gunner in a machine gun position. The machine gunner had lost his legs. He tied himself to a stretcher, and one end of the stretcher was trapped with the machine gun's tripod. He had a calm expression and expertly adjusted the scale of the machine gun.
The approaching German skirmisher line was within the range of the machine gun, waiting for them to enter the optimal killing zone.
Lin Juemin walked past the machine gunner, found a good position in a nearby trench, lay down, and began to inspect the weapons.
At this time, an officer with a bandage on his head came over and patted his shoulder.
"Are you a pilot?"
"Yes." Lin Juemin nodded.
"Go to the division headquarters. All the radio operators in the division headquarters are dead. We need someone who can play with those machines. You pilots should be able to play with those things?"
Lin Juemin nodded again.
So the officer pulled him up, stretched out his hand and pointed towards the depths of the trench: "Go straight along the trench, turn when you encounter the turn to the left, and keep walking until you reach the division headquarters."
At this time, the leg-broken machine gunner behind Lin Juemin began to fire, and the sound of gunfire tore through the silence that had dominated the entire battlefield until just now.
"Hurry up!" The officer grabbed Lin Juemin's shoulders and pushed him hard. "Leave this place to us! Go to the division headquarters!"
Lin Juemin stepped forward and ran along the trench. As he ran, he looked back at the machine gunner, watching him fire strings of bullets at the enemy out of Lin Juemin's sight, and finally watched him being shot through the head by a bullet.
.
When Lin Juemin arrived at the division headquarters, the entire position was already like a boiling pot, with gunshots and shouts of death everywhere. When the division commander He Laoliu saw Lin Juemin coming in, he first shouted: "If you don't win, hurry up!"
Go to the front line! Wait, you..."
The old man grabbed Lin Juemin's flight jacket with his left hand that could still move.
"Are you a pilot?"
"yes!"
Lin Juemin's answer made He Laoliu's expression light up. He pulled Lin Juemin to the radio in the corner of the command post that was half stained red with blood.
"You know how to play with this thing? Quickly, contact the headquarters and tell the headquarters that we are still holding on to our position and we need artillery reinforcements! Nainai, we lost contact with the headquarters yesterday, and today there is no artillery fire..."
Lin Juemin pulled out the chair in front of the radio, sat down on it, and began to fiddle with the equipment in front of him, but he soon discovered that the machine was no longer usable.
Lin Juemin picked up the gun and said to He Laoliu: "This machine can no longer be used. I will go to the position to walk around. Maybe there are other radios that can still be used. I will bring it back."
He Laoliu thought for a while and nodded: "Okay. But if you find it, you don't need to take it back. After the war is over, everything on the position will be the same. Just stay where you found the radio and direct the artillery fire."
alright."
"Yes!" Lin Juemin was about to leave, but he remembered something. He turned back, took out the folded letter paper from his flight jacket, and handed it to He Laoliu. That was exactly what he wrote before participating in the first combat operation that year.
"A Letter to My Wife", whenever he participated in combat operations in the past two years, he would definitely take it with him.
The old man took the letter and handed it back to Lin Juemin.
"Keep it for yourself. Now, we're not sure who can get out alive." The old man said and showed a fearless smile to Lin Juemin. "In case you get out alive and return to Helang Yabo, remember to visit my house for me."
Little granddaughter."
Lin Juemin nodded, saluted the old man, turned around and walked out of the command post.
"Contacted with the Aztec Division!"
The communications soldier shouted, and Lin Youde, who had been waiting in the communications room, immediately rushed over and grabbed the earphones and microphone.
"This is the expeditionary force headquarters. How is the situation there? How is the situation?"
Lin Youde's answer was a static noise.
"I'm Lin Youde!" Lin Youde couldn't help but raise his voice, "What's the situation like there? Report your situation!"
This time, a vague and hoarse voice came from the static noise: "Report to the headquarters, we are... zizi... we are still holding on, we are still holding on... zizi... we are still holding on..."
"They are still holding on." Lin Youde raised his head and smiled at Ba and Josephine. Then he lowered his head and said into the microphone, "The advance team of the 1st Marine Division is marching towards you! They will be unexpected by the Germans.
Launch an attack in this direction, and hold on for one more day! Hold on for one more day!"
"...understand...we need artillery fire..."
"No problem! We have gathered all the remaining long-range artillery of the French army. You must provide firing coordinates and comparisons. Repeat, please provide firing coordinates and comparisons."
There was another rustling sound in Lin Youde's headphones. Lin Youde waited patiently. Just when his patience was about to run out, the hoarse voice cut through the static noise.
"There are no coordinates...and no one can provide any guidance..."
In an instant, Lin Youde's expression sank, and the communication room was shrouded in deathly silence.