Section 1: Recruits

The failure of Operation Market Garden meant that the war in Holland had become a scorching rotten battle—in the eyes of the soldiers, it was a little bit of advance, a little bit of gnawing at the enemy's troops and positions.

And that's what the war in the Netherlands is like now.

"The paratroopers should be on an airplane, suddenly appear in the area controlled by the enemy, and then use this thing in their hands to stab the Germans in the ass, and finally cooperate with the troops on the front line to encircle and suppress the enemy!" Ali danced in the trenches and said to the newcomers around him, "But look at us? We've been thrown here by stupid commanders now, and used like ordinary infantry - oh my God, those idiots are now using us as regular infantry trench warfare! It's like the war more than twenty years ago, in trench warfare! ”

A few of the recruits sitting in front of Ali agreed with each other, they were trained to parachute and fight, they had fantasized about heroically falling on the battlefield, they had fantasized about heroically beating the damned Germans on the battlefield, but they had never imagined the current situation:

Like my father's war, I crouched in the trenches, sighed at the heavy artillery fire every day, and was helpless to allow the artillery fire to plow every inch of the land - at best, to repel the German infantry attack, while elite detachments often attacked at night, reconnoitred the situation, and incidentally provided accurate artillery instructions for the invisible artillery.

But the latter has nothing to do with their group of newcomers, because when the elite detachment attacks, they never bring a newcomer, and even if the newcomers beg to join them, the veterans who have known each other for several days always ignore them - by the way, the veterans don't seem to want to know the names of the newcomers, and when they need their help, they always shout: "Hey, that private......"

Even if the newcomers repeated their names, the veterans could not remember them, as if their brains had been blown to the ground by a cannonball, but the veteran could easily repeat a task assigned to them.

Only Ali is different from those veterans, he likes to chat with these recruits, and despises the officers in the command headquarters in front of the recruits, because of this, the recruits always like to stay with Ali - however, the recruits are very puzzled, why does a person as good as Ali respect the veteran in the mouse cave so much?

Just like now, Ali's eyebrows fluttered, but the dirty sergeant got out of the mouse hole, and with a gesture Ali ended the personal spit meeting and followed.

"Jacob, those newcomers don't seem to like you." Ali said to Zheng Yingqi with a grin.

Zheng Yingqi replied indifferently: "That's the best - you know, we all hate to keep losing." ”

The constant loss of comrades is the main body of the war, and the quality of the recruits who came in later was far worse than the old birds who had been ravaged by Sobel since the beginning of the Tokoa training camp.

Friendships with new people often result in the loss of a frenzy of longing for something left behind – no one wants to experience that feeling all the time.

Ali sighed and said, "They are too young, you look at the new recruits this time - the vast majority of them are only 18 years old, and they are also the best among the many recruits, so they can enter the paratrooper unit." They joined the army with good intentions, entered the paratroopers, and we were too indifferent to them. ”

"To be young means to be vigorous, and only after they have gone through many bloody battles will they become indifferent old birds like us."

"A lot of people are going to die — it's tragic for them to be eighteen." Ali has some virgin feelings.

"This, you have to ask the old men sitting in the official office, you have to go to the big people who sent them to the battlefield." Zheng Yingqi's answer went straight to the heart of the question.

The veterans of the entire E Company, in fact, are lucky, although they have not experienced a single battle before June 6, and the only combat experience is probably small physical work such as everyone and group fighting, but they have gone through nearly two years of training, and they have also met a harsh company commander, and in two years, they have been trained to become qualified soldiers - and now they have experienced two battles, experienced two combat parachuting, and experienced dozens of battles, large and small.

But these recruits ......

They only completed the basic training and became qualified soldiers in the eyes of the instructors in the training camp, so they were thrown into the battlefield - those idiots, pretending not to know that these newcomers were still at least a year away from becoming qualified soldiers!

Ali continued to sigh, in the overwhelming propaganda and worship in the newspapers, he could not change a terrible, terrible fact, they were essentially a swarm of ants......

Section 2: Veterans

Zheng Yingqi shouted to Ali to leave the trenches because the inspection time was up - the defense area of the 2nd Battalion was very large, one battalion controlled a small island 5 kilometers wide, the island was a flat agricultural area, below sea level, with a seven-meter-high embankment, and E Company in the trenches stationed there, in addition to enduring artillery bombardment, it also had to constantly monitor a large area of the battle to prevent the Germans from secretly crossing the river.

The paratroopers, who often secretly crossed the river, were also quite worried that the Germans would cross the river quietly, and Arlie did not know how the other platoons did it, but Velsh entrusted this section of the position to Jacob, and Jacob never took it lightly.

The two inspected the position of nearly 800 meters back and forth, and when they turned back, they saw a few people in the first platoon coming out of a village not far away with large bags and small bags - this village was originally inhabited by hundreds of Dutch peasants who lived a stable life, but after the outbreak of the war, they were urgently evacuated.

Well, to be precise, it should be "treasure hunting".

There was a regiment of British troops stationed here before, and they had already searched the village, but later E Company, still in groups of three or five to go treasure hunting, the Dutch who moved in a hurry, although they hid a lot of things very hidden, but under the continuous search of these paratroopers, the hidden things were finally discovered little by little.

After Gordon saw Zheng Yingqi, he waved the things in his hand excitedly: "Hey, Jacob, look what I found!" ”

This time, Gordon did not loot the belongings, but coffee, and the others did not loot the belongings this time, or they found the belongings, but between the belongings and the vegetables, the vegetables were uniformly chosen.

"It's time for us to improve our food today – finally we don't have to put up with the British 14-in-1!" Gordon was full of resentment towards the British military rations - in fact, the recruits of Company E hated the current supplies that the British were responsible for, just as much as the veterans, and the so-called fourteen-in-one refers to the fact that the British provided the army with daily standard military rations, a total of 14 varieties, so it was called the fourteen-in-one.

But the paratroopers would only throw ten things into the cauldron, add all kinds of vegetables, and eat a pot of unpalatable smorgasbord - this is the same choice for recruits and veterans, the only difference is that veterans have more freedom than recruits, they can go to the village and try to improve their food, and make some windfall by the way, while recruits, except for trenches and underground fortifications, they have little freedom.

Zheng Yingqi has never understood the disgust of these comrades-in-arms with British supplies, nor can he understand their anger at K-level dry food, he has suffered in the plot of Bright Sword, and he is very envious of the rations of these foreign armies at the same time, but these foreigners are so disgusted with these things - he dares to guarantee that if these British military rations are put on the Chinese battlefield, the Chinese and Japanese troops will definitely be excited to death, but in the eyes of these paratroopers, the British military rations are simply shit!

Aside from the good rum, anything else? It's all shit!

The beef is too greasy, the oxtail soup has bones and is just as greasy, and even the black tea guys hate not being as good as coffee.

In addition to this, they also dislike British cigarettes, and unanimously believe that British tobacco is just a handful of inferior tobacco leaves and a pile of unpleasant smelling grass.

Zheng Yingqi was not interested in what Gordon thought could improve the food, it would be good for him to be able to fill his stomach, not to mention that the British also guaranteed that they had meat every day, and even tea was distributed daily in order to supplement vitamins, but he was dissatisfied with the banditry behavior of these guys, and said with mockery:

"I always thought that only the Germans, Soviets, and British liked to break into the house, rummage through the cabinets, and steal chickens and dogs, but now it seems that the Americans are not far behind."

"Hey. Jacob, I know you have a problem with our actions, but you know, we don't have enough confidence that we can survive, so we have to do something exciting to make our lives better. ”

"But that's not your reason to be robbers!"

"Well, I can't say you, you should really go to work in the gendarmerie - I'm sure you must be a good gendarmerie if you go there." Gordon mocked, but it was only limited to ridicule, he knew that he would be fine with mocking Zheng Yingqi like this, just like he knew that Zheng Yingqi was dissatisfied with his actions, but after going to the battlefield, Jacob would never abandon himself.

Seeing that Zheng Yingqi was disgusted by their actions, Starrow on the side immediately pushed the stiff-mouthed Gordon aside, and said with a smile: "Jacob, I promise this is the last time - don't worry, we won't go back to that village." ”

A group of veterans laughed, of course they weren't going back, after all, it was really empty now.

"Alright, let's stop talking nonsense - let's get lunch ready. That's right," Zheng Yingqi added, "It's better for those rookies." ”

"Got it, great good man."

A group of veterans smiled and agreed, but if you want them to really accept those rookies, unless those rookies become a qualified old bird in the death elimination again and again, and can still be trusted by them.

Just as Stroo quietly ran out of the hospital in a hurry with the three-month deadline - he knew that in the familiar collective of E Company, he was the safest on the battlefield, even if he was seriously wounded, he believed that someone would save him, and went to other units, if he could not integrate into the group before the battle, if he was wounded by the Germans, those "strangers" might not be willing to risk their own death to save themselves.

So Stroh returned to Company E with an injury, and during the operation in the Market Garden, he repeatedly emphasized that his injury would not drag everyone down.

Section 3: Germans raised as pigs by the British

Company E landed on the island on 2 October, which was garrisoned by a regiment of British troops until the 2nd Battalion took over, but in the hands of the paratroopers it became a defensive area for a battalion.

"Thank goodness you're finally here!" Zheng Yingqi remembers very well that when he was in front of a huge crater, he was hugged excitedly by a British soldier, and the other party choked up and said:

"God, you're finally here! We can finally get out of this bloody land! ”

"Is it a terrible fight here?" Zheng Yingqi looked around, there were many craters around, which were masterpieces left by 105 caliber and 88 caliber cannons, but the positions controlled by the British did not suffer much loss, and there were not even traces of fierce infantry fighting.

"They bombard us with artillery all the time, and they want to bomb us 25 hours a day! Every day when we went up to patrol the embankment, we always reminded the fearful, for fear that the Germans who were moving around to dig trenches along the railroad to the east would attack us! The British infantry said with palpitations.

Zheng Yingqi had a black question mark on his face, and it took a long time to ask: "Can you see Germans on the embankment?" ”

"Yes."

"You don't beat them?"

"As soon as we hit them, they will shoot back!"

Zheng Yingqi was messy, he never believed that he could hear this from a soldier in the war, and even thought that this British soldier was talking nonsense to himself.

But soon Zheng Yingqi knew that this British soldier had absolutely no nonsense!

They...... Spoil the Germans!

It was the first time I had patrolled the embankment, and the seven-meter-high flood control embankment was completely a two-lane configuration, and Ali said at the time: "This embankment is a great airstrip - if I were the commander, I would have deployed hundreds of planes here in the future, and then took off from the embankment to bomb the Germans!" ”

"So you're not the commander."

"If I were the commander, I would first send each of us a beautiful girl, Jacob, and I would send you two beautiful French girls! When the war is over, you can take two or more children and go to the president to ask for your medal of honor! Ali continued to talk nonsense, these words made everyone laugh wildly, but Henry, who was at the head, made a hidden gesture at this time, don't look at these guys talking nonsense very wantonly, but they all paid attention to the gestures of the sharp soldiers, and after seeing Henry's gestures, seven or eight people immediately hid on the slope of the embankment.

"Guys, do you know what I saw? Come and see! Henry shouted in shock, and the people hiding on the slope of the embankment showed their heads one after another, and looked in the direction that Henry pointed, and vaguely saw the figure of the Germans, who advanced more than two hundred meters below the embankment, and then climbed behind the slope of the embankment to take a closer look, and were dumbfounded.

Across the river, about a hundred Germans were working in full swing on a large area, seemingly digging trenches - they were less than a hundred meters away from the Germans in a straight line.

"These Germans are so bold!" Ali couldn't help but wonder, are these Germans stupid? It's only a little distance from the embankment, and they dare to dig trenches so swaggeringly? Looking at the appearance of the Germans, there was no defense at all.

Not to mention machine guns, with carbines and submachine guns in their hands, one shot can bring down at least a dozen Germans!

"I suspect a conspiracy of the Germans! Beware of deception! Henry thought that there must be a demon when things went wrong, so he concentrated on searching for it with his sniper rifle, but soon he was dismayed to find that he didn't seem to be able to find any evidence of the Germans' fraud, so he could only say to Zheng Yingqi:

"Jacob, look and see what the Germans are conspiring against!"

Zheng Yingqi shook his head and said, "I remembered something I heard some time ago. Everyone looked at Zheng Yingqi curiously, not knowing what Zheng Yingqi was selling.

"When Britain and Germany confronted each other across the strait, a German navy was responsible for laying mines, and after they laid mines that day, the next day the British demining team cleared the mines laid by the Germans in this sea area, and after a period of time, the two sides reached a tacit understanding, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the Germans are responsible for arranging the land and water, and on 246, the British are responsible for demining, and Sunday is their rest day."

"Well, when I was in England, I think I heard - Jacob, what are you talking about?"

"Later," Zheng Yingqi continued, "the British demining team was delayed for a day because of a mission, but they forgot to inform the Germans, and when the Germans went to lay mines as usual on the third day, they were blown up by the mines they left behind, and many people died, so the Germans questioned the British, and the British apologized, and agreed that if anything happened in the future, they would notify the Germans in advance." ”

Ali finally reacted, and he said, "Jacob, you mean...... Did the Germans reach a tacit agreement with the British, who had previously been stationed here? ”

Henry said: "When the British left, they must have forgotten to inform the Germans, who thought that the English were still stationed here?" ”

The other paratroopers were excited, and Zhente Niang thanked the soldiers of the empire on which the sun never sets, leaving them such a "precious" wealth!

"What do you think we should do? Continuing to promote the 'good' style of the English? Or ......" Zheng Yingqi asked with a smile, and before he finished speaking, everyone said firmly: "Of course it's to beat them!" ”

Definitely hit them!

They are E Company, they are paratroopers! It is the trump card in the Howling Eagle, since it is a hostile relationship with the Germans, so in addition to reaching a tacit understanding to evacuate the wounded, why engage in other tacit understandings?

So, a fierce gunshot rang out, and the Germans who were digging the trenches really didn't expect that there would be a time when the tacit understanding was broken - after a violent rain of bullets, more than a dozen German corpses appeared on the battlefield, and by the time the Germans began to counterattack, Zheng Yingqi and they had already run away.

It was the most enjoyable battle that Company E had fought since D-Day, with at least a dozen Germans killed with zero casualties – probably even more!

"Guys, I just knocked down at least three Germans!"

"I've also knocked down at least two!"

The paratroopers knew that defeating the enemy on the battlefield did not necessarily mean death, in fact, in every battle, the wound was always greater than the death. Therefore, when they brag, they all use "knock down" in a realistic manner, rather than killing them.

"I'm sure I killed three." Henry, the sniper, interjected and interrupted the rest of the people to boast, how do riflemen and snipers compare?

Zheng Yingqi was not as excited as the rest, but said with a sly smile: "Guys, I have a bold idea!" ”

"What thoughts?"

"Do you think the Germans will have other positions like the ones being built here?"

"There must be—Jacob, you mean ......"

"That's right, while the Germans now think that there is still this tacit understanding, let's make a profit first!"

"!"

So in the next four hours, the gunfire rang out from time to time, and the patrol belonging to Company E even ran to the defense area of the two companies of D and F, taking advantage of a large wave - two hours later, the Germans finally had enough of the losses, and no longer dared to swagger to dig trenches in front of the embankment.

But at this time, the patrol team has already "made a fortune".

According to Zheng Yingqi, in two hours, they fought a total of five times, knocking down at least 80 Germans.

The continuous gunfire alarmed the battalion headquarters, and when the battalion headquarters sent people to investigate clearly, they were also dumbfounded by the results -- Nixon, the intelligence staff officer in charge of the investigation, would not have believed that he could have achieved such a result if he had not come out of E Company and killed him.

But he was embarrassed - he didn't believe it very much, how could he explain it to the above?

Fortunately, the Germans solved his troubles, and a German liaison officer crossed the river with a white flag and came to the battalion headquarters to accuse the Allies of breaking the tacit understanding between the two sides, resulting in the loss of 99 men and 76 wounded.

That's right, the patrol's deliberate attack resulted in more deaths than wounds!

Of course, Strayer would not punish the patrol for this, and even took credit for the patrol - the 2nd Battalion was commended by the 101st Division for the patrol's self-inflicted attack, and on the day of the commendation, there was only one voice in the entire 2nd Battalion:

Thank you so much to the British!

And the members of the patrol also received a "Cross of the Medal for Field Service".