This time, the 506th Regiment was not pulled to the front line and fought on the front line with more than 300,000 German troops encircled in the Ruhr industrial area, but was assigned to a mining area in the Ruhr, where the thickness of the encirclement was strengthened, and by the way the necessary flank cover for other troops.

All in all, it was an easy front-line mission, so much so that the paratroopers thought that they had fought all the battles they had to fight before, and now it was their turn to rush the crowd as spectators.

In a flash, April 12 was a memorable date for Americans.

On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was voted the best president many times in later generations, died on this day, but because of the news, the paratroopers on this day did not hear the bad news from the other side of the ocean, and still performed their duties as usual.

At night, the 2 platoon patrol patrolled the banks of the Rhine.

Reese, who likes to go to German villages to change eggs, is being ridiculed by his comrades.

"Reese, your time to change eggs today is much shorter than yesterday, and the eggs you changed are not as many as yesterday's, is it because the girls are not satisfied with you, so you get fewer eggs?" Wei Ling teased Reese.

Wei Ling was not a paratrooper two months ago, he was wounded at the beginning of the Ardennes campaign and was thrown into the hospital, after being discharged from the hospital, this guy felt the unreliability of the ordinary army and decided to be an airborne soldier - during his paratrooper training, he had qualified parachute jumps five times a day, and finally got his wish and was assigned to the 2nd platoon of E Company.

Reece snorted and pointed at O'Keefe and said, "It's all his fault, he urged me outside, the girl was not happy, and hurriedly exchanged eggs with me and left, the nostalgic story didn't happen." ”

"That's not a girl," O'Keeffe, who was only 18 years old, said stupidly, "she's obviously an aunt." ”

The patrol almost died of laughter, and Reese said angrily, "You know what a! I'll tell you......"

This thing wanted to promote his theory, although there were more than 5,000 words of theoretical knowledge, but it was obvious that such content was impossible, so a gloomy voice sounded from the side: "What are you talking about?" Say it and listen to it together. ”

"Sir!"

The patrol instantly stood up and greeted Velsh who came out of the darkness one by one.

Welsh snorted coldly and said, "You'd better not forget the military orders emphasized above—I don't want to see radical officers pull you out." ”

The military order in Welsh's mouth refers to a "matter of dealing with the Germans" specially issued on it after entering Germany, which roughly means that soldiers are not allowed to talk to any Germans, including the elderly and children, except for official business.

Well, I don't know what genius gave such an order, but the vast majority of people were reluctant to obey it anyway - some radical officers were very obedient to this, but whenever they saw soldiers who were kind to the Germans, they would pull them out.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of it." Wei Ling and the others agreed, but Welsh said to Reese, "Especially you, don't be caught by them with pigtails, I don't want to be sprayed by other officers." ”

"Hey sir, I'm here to avenge the persecution of the Germans." Reece quibbled, Zheng Yingqi on the side was overwhelmed, talent, this kid is definitely a silver talent!

"It's very reasonable, just say this to you, I think you have enough cultural literacy," Velsh sneered: "Then you will find me tomorrow, and I will assign you some things suitable for cultural people to do." ”

Reese was excited, immediately admitted his mistake, patted his chest and said that he would never mess around, Welsh let him go, and continued to patrol with Zheng Yingqi.

"These guys, if you don't clean up for three days, you will be lawless," Wersh complained to Zheng Yingqi: "They are all old fritters, and the ability to fight has not risen much, but the ability to talk nonsense has risen gradually." ”

"Don't you think it's a good atmosphere?" Zheng Yingqi didn't care, he led the troops to be greatly influenced by Gao Cheng, and he didn't care about joking with his subordinates in his daily life, and even sometimes he didn't care if he was big or small, the only thing he cared about was obedience and being able to fight, at this point, E Company basically never disappointed.

Although the 2nd row is a bit of a small antecedent.

"You can see it."

"Actually, they're pretty good, like we just heard, guys like Reece know about equivalent exchange, and it's much better than the Japanese and Germans." Zheng Yingqi never had much confidence in the military discipline of the American soldiers, but E Company did not disappoint him, and there was no bad incident that he hated the most.

In fact, in general, it is because the Germans and Americans do not have an unforgettable hatred, and the casualties in the war can be seen as soldiers, after all, the essence of war is that you die and I die - but the Germans did not harm the United States, so most of the American troops did not treat the German people with too much hatred and hatred.

But the Russians and Germans are full of hatred, since the invasion of Germany proper, the Russian army in Germany proper, all kinds of revenge, in fact, is also human nature, of course, the Russians can't control the Americans' mouths and pens, those revenge rotten things, naturally become one of the reasons why the American soldiers despise them.

Sure enough, as long as there is a foil, the military discipline of the U.S. military can also be called excellent~

The two continued to patrol, but at this moment, the sound of gunfire suddenly came from behind, and Velsh changed color and said, "Is it Wei Ling and them?" ”

"I'll take a look, you go command the troops, watch out for the German sneak attack." Zheng Yingqi turned his head and ran back as he spoke, and about two hundred meters away, the five members of the patrol team were constantly pouring ammunition on the Rhine.

Zheng Yingqi rushed over and shouted and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

"I heard a stroke, it must be the German reconnaissance detachment trying to sneak in!" Wei Ling replied as he shot.

"Well done, the water here is just right for the Germans to be buried." Zheng Yingqi praised Wei Ling, and Wei Ling said playfully: "Yes, I think so too." ”

The gunfire lasted only three minutes, and after three minutes, there was no looming object visible on the river.

"The only way they have to be buried in the water – I don't think I'll be thinking about eating fish from the Rhine for months to come." Wei Ling signaled that everyone could end the shooting, and by the way, he said to Zheng Yingqi with a hippie smile: "Sergeant Major, see, we have killed a German reconnaissance detachment, I think you should give us credit." ”

"That's what Welsh should be worried about, well, we need to be on guard here, and beware of the Germans repeating their old ways."

It was a very ordinary small battle encountered on patrol, so small that Welsh just threw a simple report to the company, but two days later, when the news of President Roosevelt's death spread throughout the army, several American corpses were fished out downstream and identified from the identification tags.

It was a group led by Major Li Qi, head of the intelligence unit of the 506th Regiment.

A total of three bodies were fished out, and after identification, all of them died at the guns of their own people - the higher authorities were furious when they learned about it, and began a thorough investigation.

The 2nd Platoon of E Company was at the time remembering the deceased president.

Although the president is unusually far away from them, for the 2nd platoon, the president still owes them a congressional medal to their sergeant major, plus they are all enthusiastic young people who have been called by the country to join the army, so it is natural to express the memory of the death of this giant through a ceremony.

Just when it was about to end, the investigators of the regiment headquarters broke into the 2nd platoon, yes, they broke in, and they broke in murderously, and in the eyes of everyone, they directly found Wei Ling.

"Sergeant Weling, between 10 and 1 p.m. on April 12, you led people on patrol on the banks of the Rhine?"

"It's me."

"Did anything unusual happen during your patrol?"

"Yes, there are German scouts who tried to cross the river to investigate, and we found that they were killed directly, our platoon commander should have submitted a report to the company headquarters, right?"

"German scouts?" The corners of the questioning major's mouth twitched, and then he asked seriously: "Are you sure?" ”

"Of course we are sure, we didn't receive any information about the actions of our army that night," Wei Ling, who replied in the affirmative, was already a little panicked at this time, but the reason why the old birds were old birds was because they knew how to protect themselves very well, so they only heard him continue: "Since there is no information about the actions of our people, it can only be the Germans." ”

The interrogating major sighed and said, "Although what you said is very reasonable, in fact, it was not the Germans you killed that night, but our own people, Major Li Qi, the head of the intelligence unit. Sergeant, I think you're going to have to come with us. ”

"Wait," Zheng Yingqi, who had stopped for a long time, stood up and said with a frown: "Sir, I'm pretty sure that on the night of April 12, we didn't receive any notification of our army's movements!" ”

Although Zheng Yingqi is not responsible for this kind of work, he is very worried about this, and he will check all kinds of reports passed down from it every day, for fear of unpredictable oolongs, he remembers very well that there was indeed no report on the actions of friendly forces that night.

At this time, Spears broke in in a hurry, he saw the truth of the matter clearly, and when he came in, he took Zheng Yingqi's words and said: "Sir, Major Li Qi did not notify anyone before the action. There is nothing wrong with my people in this matter. ”

All river crossing operations need to be notified to the grassroots level, even if it is not said in advance for the sake of secrecy, but the grassroots troops will definitely be informed after the operation, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings - everyone's nerves on the battlefield are tense, and when they encounter the slightest wind and grass, they will dump a bunch of bullets without money, and if their own people are not notified in advance, who is to blame for being beaten?

"No matter what, I'll have to bring the people to the regiment, Captain Spears, and I'm sure the regiment will do justice to your people."

Hearing this, Wei Ling's face fell, he didn't think that he could get any kind of justice as a small non-commissioned officer, and he was really panicked, he thought he had killed the Germans, but he didn't expect to do such a "big fish"......

The paratroopers who were watching around were also aggrieved by Wei Ling's rush, and some even thought of the unlucky Heilig before, Heilig was injured by his own people because he didn't answer the order, he was lucky not to see God directly, but even so, the unlucky ghost who injured Heilig was also removed from the 2nd platoon to other companies.

Wait a minute......

The one who injured Heilig was also in the 2nd row?

The veterans have strange faces, what is going on in the 2nd row? How did you become a "killer of your own officers"?

"I'll go with him," Spears said, seeing the other man's resolute attitude, and after a little thought, "there is nothing wrong with my man, and I don't think he deserves any injustice." ”

"Okay." The major from the regimental headquarters did not object, but Wei Ling on the side couldn't help but glance at Spears gratefully, his heart was full of gratitude and excitement.

Spears's reaction also made other people in the company change their senses about him - there are many people in E Company who like Spears, because he is brave in battle, not afraid of hardships, and always with them, and they can accept Spears' command with confidence, but there are still many people who hate and fear Spears, especially the newcomers who have just entered E Company, and after hearing about Spears' deeds of killing Germans and killing his own people, they are afraid of this man in their hearts.

But at this moment, Spears' responsibility changed the minds of those who feared and hated him.

[No one doesn't like an officer who protects his subordinates. 】

……

Major Li Qi, the head of the regimental intelligence unit, did not receive a medal for living before hanging up the rank of major, and in many glamorous activities, his chest was always bare, compared to the rest of the officers of the 506th regiment, his bare chest was very pale.

He was promoted to major and was ridiculed by many - his lack of combat experience was simply a stain that he could not wash off.

Obviously, Major Richie had had enough of this sarcasm, and was determined to do something great to show those who mocked him, in order to prove that Commander Zink was definitely not an unknown person, and that he was worthy of the rank he had attained.

"So, he crossed the river with people and personally went to the German positions to reconnoitre?" Zheng Yingqi listened to Nixon's explanation of the reason with a strange face, and finally couldn't help but ask rhetorically.

Nixon took a sip of his wine, shrugged his shoulders helplessly and said, "Yes, I have to admit his bravery, at least I can't do it—even if I do, I think, I'll have to pull you." ”

"That idiot," although it was immoral to scold a dead man like this, Zheng Yingqi couldn't help but give the other party the title of idiot, and he said with annoyance: "Didn't he know to report it?" ”

"You know, he didn't really go through the line. Sitting in the position of the head of the intelligence unit of the regiment headquarters, the intelligence will come up like a stream, who cares how the information is obtained? Nixon snorted, he didn't like to stay in that position anyway, but he didn't expect the luck of his successor to be so weak......

Zheng Yingqi was speechless, he really wouldn't die if he didn't die, he really didn't know how to evaluate the major who had scourged Wei Ling - Wei Ling was currently adamant that he had discovered the movement and ordered the patrol group to open fire, anyway, he would pick up all the others, and he would carry all the things he should have carried by himself.

"You can rest assured, Captain Zink is a reasonable person, this matter is not your fault, he will not be held responsible, to blame, you can only blame Li Qi for being stupid." Nixon saw Zheng Yingqi's concern, and pushed a glass of wine over with a smile, but Zheng Yingqi refused without hesitation, he smiled disapprovingly, and continued to drink beautifully, before saying:

"What you have to do now is to cooperate with Versh to manage the 2nd platoon, and believe me, he will be fine."

"People's hearts are floating, ......" Zheng Yingqi shrugged, not only the 2nd row, the whole company is very concerned about this matter now, if the above can't handle it fairly, it will inevitably be tied up in the future.

……

In fact, not only E Company, but also the soldiers of all companies have similar worries, accidental injuries in the war are inevitable, although some accidental injuries are intentional, but the vast majority of accidental injuries are unintentional, because the strings collapse too tightly.

And the accidental injury incident that occurred in E Company, in essence, has no responsibility for the shooter - the patrol detachment is responsible for the reconnaissance force responsible for striking the Germans at the first time, is it necessary to take a bullhorn to ask the other party if it is his own person after discovering the movement?

So, the paratroopers are waiting for the outcome of this matter.

The "case", which was obviously easily broken, dragged on for three days without any result.

Spears couldn't sit still, went to the regiment headquarters again, and said to Commander Zinke: "Sir, I'm here to apply for equipment, my people need to be equipped with a horn when patrolling, I also plan to prepare a searchlight for each patrol group, once there is any movement, first take a searchlight to look at it, and then use the loudspeaker to communicate with the other party to confirm the identity of the other party, by the way, in order to avoid the other party shouting we can't hear it, we also have to prepare ......"

"That's enough." Zink interrupted Spears' chatter and said helplessly, "Can you talk well?" ”

"Sir, I'm talking well."

"Okay, are you okay? If it's okay......"

"Something, I just want to ask, when can I take Wei Ling back?" Spears asked the Nth time he said this.

Zink took a puff of his pipe helplessly, and didn't know what to say - the regimental headquarters also had disagreements on Wei Ling's handling, of course, no one thought that Wei Ling needed to be sentenced heavily, but some officers thought that Wei Ling should be punished, after all, Wei Ling killed his own people, and it was not one, although they focused on Li Qi.

But there are still some officers who think that Wei Ling has no responsibility in this matter, and Wei Ling has fulfilled the responsibility of the front-line patrol - if due diligence needs to be punished, then everyone should wash and sleep and fight a bullshit battle.

The two points of view are obviously the difference between the regimental officers and the front-line officers, and Zinke is also embarrassed, although he thinks that Wei Ling is not guilty, but after all, a major and a few of his own people died, so easily let go, does it seem that the officer is worthless?

"Sir, you should know that Wei Ling only did the right thing dutifully, if he did the right thing and needed to be punished, who of our soldiers would dare to do the right thing?" Spears bitterly repeated what he had said countless times, "Wei Ling has been imprisoned for three days, you should make the right decision!" All the paratroopers in the regiment are waiting for your decision! ”

Zink glanced at Spears, and slowly made a decision in his heart, but this matter could not be delayed.

"Eric, take Spears to pick up the guy locked up."

When he shouted this sentence, Zink was relieved, and then smiled bitterly in his heart, he, he was thinking more and more, since it was right, what were he hesitating about?

Spears instantly became overjoyed, and couldn't help but pat himself on the back and say, "Commander, this is really the most correct decision!" ”

"Stop talking nonsense, go and bring the people back," Spears turned around and left with a happy face, but Zink shouted wait, and said to Spears, "Tell that young man that since he has done nothing wrong, don't be burdened, well, and tell him that he is a good non-commissioned officer." ”

After being detained for three days, Wei Ling swaggered in Spears' car and reappeared in E Company, and when he and Spears got out of the car together, all the paratroopers of E Company present applauded in tacit understanding, and applause came after wave.

Wei Ling was flattered, but slowly found that those applauding comrades-in-arms were looking at their company commander with an extremely eager gaze.

Zheng Yingqi was also among them, watching Spears wave his hand to signal to disperse quickly and gather here, he suddenly thought:

If Winters and Spears were to compete together for the commander of E Company, who would they choose?