Volume2, Chapter 17
“General, wake up, wake up." Xu Jun was shaken from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and saw Hans squatting in front of him, standing in front of a group of soldiers.
“Oh, early, Hans, what time is it?”
“Early, General, it’s seven o’clock in the morning. However, the British have begun to move, and everyone is waiting for your orders.”
“It is?!”
The morning sun shone on the trench walls. The several patches of gra.s.s that remain, scattered the golden light.
Xu Jun quickly climbed up from the ground, stretched his body, and took a deep breath of fresh air. Then walked briskly toward the front trenches.
When Xu Jun and Major Hans just left the field of view of the soldiers. They all scrambled to claim the General’s blanket.
[MD: Weird but understandable]
“That’s mine, I lent it to Major Hans.”
“Who said it was yours. What did you use then last night?”
“Hey, no touching”
“Tch, what kind of relationship do you have with the General? This is our General Reinhardt’s blanket. I would not give to an officer, not to mention a sergeant.”
[MD: Now it’s just weird]
“The general talked to me last night.”
“Hmph, so what? He patted my shoulder last night too.”
“The General slept next to me last night!”
Then the scene became chaotic and the sounds of fighting ensued.
Xu Jun, however, was still walking to the command center. Where the other officers were all waiting.
Xu Jun felt very embarra.s.sed arriving late. Hastening the greeting ceremony and expressed regret about the situation. The officers quickly returned to normal, as if this was unimportant.
Hans handed the telescope to Xu Jun. He took a look through the telescope towards the British entrenchments.
“General, we have arranged everything according to your plan." Muller leaned in and said in a low voice, “The 58th Engineer Battalion was busy all night. They finally have everything in order."
“Good, very good, are the other troops ready?” Xu Jun put down the telescope, turned and asked Muller.
“They are ready, everything is in your hands now.”
Xu Jun nodded his head, then muttered to Muller, “What about those arrogant vultures? Have they arrived?”
“Yes, according to your request. They are circling 20 kilometers to our east. Once the battle commences, they will be able to give the British a nasty surprise I’m sure. The Luftwaffe have guaranteed 24 hours of uninterrupted support. In order to ensure that they can accurately support, they sent someone and five sets of radios.” Muller answered back, but also pointed at the Luftwaffe officer standing in the corner. Because he was in the corner, Xu Jun did not notice him until now.
The Luftwaffe officer stepped forward a few steps. clicked his heels together, and loudly said: “Air Force Major Karl Schultz, I greet the Deputy Führer.”
Xu Jun quickly returned the ceremony. “Welcome Major, your arrival is much appreciated. I hope you can guide up to a more brilliant victory.”
Schultz loudly answered: “I and my team will serve you, for the glory of Germany! General!”
Xu Jun was very satisfied, smiled and nodded his head. Then he turned to Muller and said, “Now, we just have to wait for the British to attack. However, I believe that after their last defeat they may be a bit reluctant. I think we can implement what we discussed last night, it would surely work to stimulate them a little, correct Major Muller?”
Muller looked with a face filled with ecstasy. “Yes, General, I have it arranged.” Just as Muller was ready to turn away, Xu Jun stopped him. “Major Muller, remember, just a little bit to stimulate the enemy. Nothing too excessive, we must maintain the honor of Germany. Do you understand?”
“Understood, General.”
Xu Jun turned and picked back up the telescope to continue observing.
Colonel Glenn could not fall asleep the entire night long. So, he got up at night and went to the map room for the night. However, no matter how much he stared at the map he could not think a way out of this dilemma.
Yesterday, when he reported the result to the General Franklyn, he had expected another harsh scolding. However, Colonel Glenn did not expect that the General had a sudden change of heart. He only faintly blamed himself a few words, and then only ordered himself to continue to attack the Germans today. That was all.
The General was always proud, and so to cause such a change. Something must have happened. Out of concern, he also contacted the 13th Brigade. However, they also did not notice anything unusual.
Colonel Glenn, dragged his tired body along with several of the staff to inspect the soldiers. Glenn had a strong spirit and his expression relaxed as he gazed upon his soldiers. Sometimes smiling when he remembered the names of some.
Yesterday’s battle made him lose all of his Matilda II’s, killed nearly half his men. And of those that remained, about half lost combat effectiveness. Even worse, dozens of soldiers and several officers were captured by the Germans, severely damaging morale.
Glenn had no choice but to use his appearance to save the low morale. Patting the soldiers’ shoulders and giving a cordial smile for encouragement. Talking kindly with the nearby soldiers, and sometimes chatted with the officers. Slowly salvaging the morale until an acceptable rate.
Although Glenn tried to present himself as sunny, his heart was still very much cloudy. Yesterday’s losses were too heavy. Not only the soldiers but also a large number of weapons were lost. Many of the soldiers, after being smoked, abandoned their rifle, and simply ran back crazily. Right now, the number of firearms is not enough and the logistics supply has not arrived yet. Leaving some soldiers to using bayonets and shovels. How could they let these soldiers face German machine gun fire or artillery?
Now thinking of the artillery problem, Colonel Glenn started to have a headache. The 25lb artillery positions were targeted with the German heavy bombardment. It just so happened that the ammunition heap was. .h.i.t. Half the battalion was killed and most of the guns were destroyed. Now, all that is left are two 25lb howitzers and 20 rounds. How was this supposed to suppress the German artillery?
When he saw the German heavy artillery’s destruction… His heart trembled thinking of it. Then after reporting the situation to General Franklyn, that old guy actually ordered him to continue the attack.
How? What is the difference between attacking and complete annihilation? Now all that’s left of the tanks are the Matilda I’s. But those tanks are too slow and only equipped with 12.7mm machine guns. Use that to attack the Germans. Well, that would be suicide also.
Glenn was ready to use the rest of the tanks. If this failed then he would order a retreat. Even if General Franklyn brought himself to military court, he would have no choice.
General Glenn did not plan on inspecting the tank battalion. Instead went directly to see Major Frank. The coward that allowed the Germans to seize seven tanks with only smoke made from condiments.
Forgetting that he was also desperately calling for a retreat at the time.
Suddenly from the German positions was a sound of gunfire. Colonel Glenn rushed back to his position. Just as he entered, an officer ran over and gave a report.
“Colonel, the Germans are provoking to us. Come and look, this is simply an insult to the British Empire.”
Glenn went to the artillery entrenchments and looked at the German positions. He saw some burning flags and several laughing German soldiers shooting their guns in random directions. Then he saw several naked men, making a strange dance, trying to avoid being shot.
Glen is simply cannot believe his own eyes. Are the Germans crazy? He quickly wiped his eyes, and then took a closer look. Confirming it was real, his anger took the better of him.
The flames were burning British uniforms, and the fluttering flags were torn British flags. Appearing before the captured Matilda tanks. However, the most insulting part was that the naked men were the captured British officers. A German soldier was holding a pistol, shooting at their feet. So, in order to avoid losing their feet, they had to reluctantly dance that ridiculous dance.
Seeing this Colonel Glenn was immensely angered. Roaring to his men, “Everyone in positions! Prepare for attack! We must kill those despicable Germans! They have no humanity, they do not abide by the Geneva Convention. Go, enter your tanks! We’ll crush them. For the British Empire, for His Majesty the King, kill those d.a.m.n Germans! Attack!”
[Referring to the Geneva Protocol and/or Geneva Conventions of 1929 ]
The Chapters are getting longer and my time available is reducing. So I can’t guarantee daily chapters, especially for longer chapters. (3000+ characters)