The cold north wind roared bitterly, and for days, there was always a white outside the camp. The whole world seemed to be left with only a single color. The wounded who could barely walk surrounded the stove to keep warm, but Eric and another young officer with a messy beard were lying on the bed. In the battle to raid the Soviet artillery positions a few days ago, Eric survived, but lost all the German volunteers he led. The huge loss of becoming a lonely man made him feel more painful than the pain on his body.

As for the so-called Medal of Courage and Medal of War Wounds awarded by the Allies, Eric threw them into the trash can without thinking about it after the medal officer left.[..com]

The loud noises made people think of various news related to large-scale counterattacks of the Soviet army. This time, the Soviet army invested heavily in one fell swoop, and the battlefield situation took a sharp turn. The main forces of the Allied forces on the southern front could not support it and retreated one after another. Some people said that the British armored corps that had won the battle in Western Ukraine before was severely damaged. The remaining troops rushed back to Western Ukraine. Some people said that the Soviet troops landed in Aosad had cut off the retreat of the Allied Southern Battle Group, and the tragedy a few months ago would be staged again. No matter how bad the development of the war situation was.

The field hospital, originally located behind the front, could faintly hear the sound of artillery in the distance since yesterday evening. Due to the harsh weather and severe restrictions on road transportation, only a few hundred wounded people were able to transport them to the rear in a day. The US and British wounded soldiers who were highly treated in medical conditions naturally enjoyed the priority of retreat. The situation of dozens of German wounded people in the edge of the tent was not much different from being forgotten. Medical staff would come in a few hours to check and serve two and a half-hot meals every day.

Compared with the last battle wounds suffered in 1945, Eyaoke's condition was not too bad this time. The wound on his head had stopped bleeding, and the bullets hitting his arms did not break his muscles and bones, and the shrapnel scratches on his legs were also "slight injuries" that were irrelevant to the overall situation. But he, who was always optimistic, could not mobilize any positive emotions this time. His future was like the wind and snow outside the camp was confused. The Soviet army's determination and impact ability to attack were undoubtedly. The Allied troops might be accelerating. Maybe in a few hours, the Soviet advance troops would arrive at this field hospital. They treated the enemy prisoners of war as always. German soldiers who defected to the Allied forces? The fate might be more tragic than pure Allied prisoners of war!

Suddenly, the wounded soldiers sitting around the stove had a commotion, and someone opened the curtain of the camp from inside. A cold wind that invaded the bone marrow suddenly surged in, mixed with the faint sound of German speaking. Eric's spirit was immediately revived. He lifted the quilt and got out of the bed without hesitation, kicked up his boots and walked out in meteorically. The young officer who had been lying diagonally like a sculpture for a long time also had the same reaction. In a moment, half of the wounded soldiers next to the stove also spontaneously walked out of the camp.

The speaker is indeed in German, but it is not a conversation but a quarrel. Various ugly dirty words reveal the anger of one of them, and the other is not to be outdone. His voice almost roars, and his words are threatened with a naked threat.

"Either refuse to obey orders, everyone is shot as deserters, or you can take the courage you are proud of and fight the Russians to the death!" Eric heard this clearly and walked forward a few steps. He finally saw the appearance of the quarrel. The roaring man was a burly middle-aged officer. He wore a short German military cap and a black leather coat outside. From the side, he could only vaguely see the red color at the collar, his words and deeds were harsh and full of momentum.

It's actually a German general...

Eric was very surprised, because in just a few words, he could guess that he was forcing the other party to obey the battle orders to the Allied rear or dangerous actions related to it. Without air cover, artillery support or even without the cooperation of friendly forces, such actions were indeed no different from the death. The officer standing opposite the general looked in his thirty years old. He was wearing a white American m1 steel helmet and wearing a white cold-proof suit. The two stood beside a Ford sedan with a tire and chassis stained with mud, while a marching column of about two hundred people was parked on the side of the road. Just looking at the white cold-proof suit and the weapons held by the soldiers, they could not confirm their identity, but judging from the quarrel between the two, this was obviously a combat unit composed of German volunteers.

Along with the fierce quarrel between the two of them, the injured person who walked out of the hospital tent to "watch" quickly gathered fifty or sixty people. In this strange atmosphere, the two officers with red faces finally realized the gaze from the bystanders. They closed their mouths and turned their heads to look at these compatriots who were not acquainted with each other.

In the cold weather, only the wind and snow were still howling.

When he became an Allied prisoner of war, Eric had already been appointed as a reserve officer of the Waffen SS. He had to pass the officer course and assessment of the reserve period to be officially promoted to a second lieutenant, and thus officially entered the ranks of officers. However, with the fall of the Third Reich and the end of the war, the process of promotion and assessment was completely interrupted. The reserve officer was still treated as a senior sergeant in the Allied prisoner of war camps, and was still the same after being released and transferred to the volunteer army. Eric had no right to interrupt the debate between the officers, and the young and middle-aged official in the same medical camp as him walked up to salute the general and began to inquire about the basic situation.

Just as their quarrels were suspended, another hiking team came from the rear, and the soldiers in the team were uneven in size, and the equipment was also the same. Some people wore Soviet 1940 helmets and painted white Polish eagle badges on the front, others wore British flat-top helmets, and some wore French and Polish armies shared by the old equipment Adrian helmets, and they painted red Polish eagles on the front. Like helmets, the uniforms and weapons of these Polish soldiers were also diverse, which was sufficient.

The difficult and tortuous and complex reconstruction process of the Polish army was revealed. After the Soviet and German countries defeated and divided Poland in 1939, some Polish soldiers fled to the West. They formed exiled troops with the help of the French and British governments. Those who became prisoners of war in Soviet and survived until the outbreak of the Soviet-German war also regained their freedom and formed troops with the help of the Soviet army. However, the Soviet Union was only responsible for their supplies, and combat equipment was provided by the United Kingdom. Only those Polish soldiers who were directly commanded by the Soviet army were able to equip Soviet weapons.

At the beginning, this Polish army seemed tired and lost. Marching north means reinforcement of defense and acting as a guard for the main forces of the Allied forces. When some of them recognized the traditional "German Eagle" without ten thousand characters on the helmet of the German Volunteer Army, the situation quickly changed, and the morale of the entire team was magically excited. Under the leadership of the officers, the soldiers and soldiers sang "Poland Is Never Destruction", a war song that had a history of nearly 150 years, inspiring generations of Polish soldiers to fight for survival, freedom and faith, and was designated as the Polish national anthem in 1926.

Faced with the raging wind and snow, the soldiers of the Polish army held their heads high and stretched their necks, and walked by the German volunteer troops parked on the roadside in a military parade. After singing the songs one after another, they continued to sing them. The song "Poland will never perish" also became one of the most familiar songs in Europe with the tortuous process of the defeat, reconstruction, defeat and reconstruction of the country of Poland.

The other party's actions of provocation were not more provocative than provocation, which made the German volunteers, who were originally confused, look surprised. They may not understand the hatred of these Poles for the Soviet Union (this is not just a neighbor stabbing in the back, but a long-term bullying of the weak and participated in the division of Poland many times. In the 1939 operation to occupy eastern Poland, the Soviet army's bad behavior of massacring prisoners of war was notorious before the end of World War II), but the humiliating career in the prisoner-of-war camp allowed the Germans to understand the vigorous fighting spirit of growing in this dilemma.

By the time the Polish army walked past, their leader had already hidden in the vast snow and snow. After a while, the three German officials who were standing there finally came to their senses, especially the two officers who were still quarreling, and the three of them whispered to each other for a few minutes. Before the low temperature caused secondary damage to the wounded, the officer wearing the lieutenant colonel's seal turned around and returned to the infantry column. The young officer who had not recovered also turned around and shouted to the wounded around them: "Although this is not our war, the opposite is our enemy. There are only two roads left for us, stand up and fight or sit by the fireside waiting for death. Everyone! Instead of waiting for the Alliance team to withdraw us in a torture, it is better to fight this glorious and proud rearguard battle with our companions and comrades. How about it?"

The last sentence "How" did everything possible to raise the volume, so that the tail sound was a bit broken, but in the wind and snow, this subtle flaw was irrelevant. Just now, when Polish soldiers sang the national anthem to go to the battlefield, the German volunteers present were all excited, and what the German official said was solid to their hearts--unless the transportation capacity was enough to withdraw all the wounded soldiers from the field hospital, the Allies would definitely give priority to the evacuation of the US, British and French wounded soldiers. In such a battle of rapid retreat, the defeated side left many wounded soldiers without time to withdraw.

Some of the wounded yelled "Okay." Looking in the voice, he saw a big wounded man who had been leaning on crutches all day and took a step forward. Dayi said with a stern voice: "Including me, although these legs are inconvenient to walk, you can still beat the Russians when you get on the position!"

"It's me too!" said another wounded man with gauze wrapped around his neck and left arm, "I'm fine with my legs and feet, and I can transport ammunition to my brothers with one hand."

Humans are animals that are easily infected by the atmosphere of the group. With companions, a large circle of wounded soldiers scrambled to sign up for the war. In this situation, the German officer who had quarreled with his superiors stood silently in front of the team. The German general who came in Ford also turned to the wounded soldiers on the spot and saluted them a traditional military salute in a solemn manner.

The wounded all gave the same military salutes, and the young officers turned around and bent their arms to salute. Before Hitler completely controlled the army, most defense army officers and soldiers still chose traditional military salutes on weekdays. Compared with the raised hand salutes full of personality cultism, this is the soul of the strong soul of the Virtue Team.

After saluting, the young officer turned around and said to the wounded: "Everyone's courage is unquestionable, but the battlefield is the battlefield after all. I personally recommend that the minor wounded who are convenient to move join the combat team on the principle of voluntary, and hand over the registration card to me. Later, General Leoudmann was asked to transfer it to the Allied Command to prove that we did not escape but followed the troops to the front line. As for the seriously injured, General Leoudmann will also try his best to contact the transport vehicles and strive to give everyone the same priority of retreat as the French and Polish troops."

Both Poland and France were undisputedly defeated by the German army, and their incompetence in war strategies became a model of negative historical textbooks. Now the former winners can only desire the same priority as the losers, and the German volunteers felt sad for no reason.

The slightly wounded men with flexible hands and feet took off the registration card hanging around their necks one by one. Its function is roughly the same as the soldier's identity card. The difference is that the metal card carried by German volunteers has more information written in order to allow allied personnel to view and closely supervise these former Third Emperor personnel who are not so "safe". The seriously injured men are not lacking in fighting will, but they also know that war is not a joke. Forcibly following the army will only drag their companions back. They stay alone and helplessly at the door of the camp. Those who are inconvenient to move even sit in the camp and look out through the curtains chatting with their companions.

When the wounded soldiers handed over the registration card and walked towards the marching column, General Leoudman, who felt unreasonable in the previous quarrel, shook hands with them one by one.

During this process, Eric stood there in a daze. He was neither timid nor hesitant, but was thinking hard about whether this behavior was brave or ignorant. When the last few wounded men handed over the registration card to the young officer one by one, he quickly walked forward and straight to the general.

"During the war period, I was a sergeant in the SS's 'vampire, Night Fighting Commando." Eric told himself that he had first. Ordinary officers and soldiers could not know about this night Fighting Commando that is not inferior to Brandenburg's troops, but the generals should have heard of it. Maybe their troops had received support from this special forces in their troubles.

General Leoudman didn't know what the other party wanted to express, so he just nodded slightly: "Good to know!"

"Sir, please be honest, soldiers are responsible for the sacred duty of defending their country. We come here to perform this duty indirectly, but I don't think it's worth it if they fight to the death of the Allied troops! Their strategic failure should bear the consequences themselves, rather than letting us non-combat troops who originally only undertake auxiliary tasks organize the defense line. If our strength is lost in this hopeless battle, can we expect the top leaders of the Allied countries to think about our actions and release more prisoners of war and give better treatment to German civilians?" When saying these rebuttal words, Eric chose a faster speech speed and a low tone to avoid causing the extremely inconsistent quarrel between the two sides.

The general was not angry this time, but replied very calmly: "Yes, we can only expect that this sacrifice will allow the Allies to change their attitude towards Germany, constantly reduce their garrisons, relax controls, until the country's sovereignty is returned to us."

Eric's eyes widened, his face with deep incredibility.

"When we fight with free will, every combat operation of our operations has direct meaning, but now our situation is completely different. We are not only fighting for personal survival, but also fighting for Germany's minimum freedom. Look at this army of Lieutenant Colonel Achilles, who paved bridges and opened minefields along the way, obedient than hunting dogs and respectful than slaves. Why do we abandon dignity? Sergeants, hundreds of thousands of Germans are working for the same hopes, and we are not qualified to say it is worth it or not. It is certainly heartbreaking to let everyone fight on the back line, but what else can we do?" General Leoudman said this heavily, his face full of sorrow.

Eric was speechless for a moment. On the battlefield, he was the best night hunter, and among his companions, he was a trustworthy big brother, but at the strategic height of the country and nation, he was just a small ordinary soldier, and his destiny could not be controlled. How could he say that he could grasp the course of the great era?

The sound of cannons in the distance approached faintly, and the general stood motionless in the wind and snow. In a moment, Eric took off the registration card with a look of decisive expression. The general cooperated to raise his right hand and took the inconspicuous metal card. It was a humiliating symbol of the identity of a prisoner of war and an invisible sustenance of precious life...

"All people pay attention... to move forward in line!" The officer stood in the front of the column and issued a loud slogan. The team had become longer than when he stopped before. Most of the faces still wrote about fatigue, but the components of loss and despair were significantly reduced.

The sound of cannons was right in front of them, and the howling north wind made people shrink their necks in a chill. The rugged mountain road made people take heavier steps. These brave soldiers had only ordinary weapons and insufficient ammunition, but they had to face an extremely fierce enemy, but they were not afraid or panic. They sang "Germany is above everything" - the German officers and soldiers sang this song when they marched into Paris through the Ardennes Forest in 1940, and sang this song when they marched into Moscow through the Soviet Russian fields in 1941. Even when Berlin was about to fall in 1945, its tune was also heard in the ruins of the ruins. Compared with the Poles' struggle against fate, the German national anthem was full of unity, strength, and loyal national pride, which deeply reflected people's belief in victory.
Chapter completed!