"Why?"

At the dining table, Nikolai stared intently at the plausible profile face.

Siren unhurriedly tied his napkin, and his mouth was still in that indifferent tone: "The tolerance and creativity of the Norman Empire are incomparable to the Federation that flaunts freedom. Here, I can use my talents to the fullest, and I can be recognized and respected. ”

Nikolai glared and said: "It is too selfish to abandon the family for personal gain, and even ruin its century-old reputation!" ”

Si Ren smiled contemptuously, and said in a brisk and calm tone: "Obviously, a young talent like you, who was born in a famous family, has a prominent family background, and grew up in a privileged environment, can't understand how difficult it is for a small local family and a pseudonymous family like ours to survive and develop. For half a century, we have been trying to resist the squeezing and devouring of emerging industrial groups and conglomerates, but in the end we have been unable to do anything. I heard that you have a very good relationship with my brother, and I think he also confided in you about the current situation of the Clumber-Haysen family, the so-called century-old reputation, the rest is just a false name, and what I have done, the rewards I have received, for this down-and-out family, no matter how you look at it, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages! ”

"With your thorough view of the Federation, you should know what has changed in the Clumber-Haytham family in recent years! Your brother, my best friend at the Barston Military Academy, has almost single-handedly brought your family back to the world of firearms design and manufacturing. is also for the revitalization of the family, and his fair and upright approach is the right way to win the hearts of the people. ”

The mood of the Si man was still as calm as the surface of a windless lake, and he turned his head to look at Nikolai, his eyes were so deep that it was difficult to grasp his true mental activity.

"Yes, I've heard a little bit about that. I'm ashamed that Long was able to put his talents to good use, and that he was able to balance his personal development with his family business. However, with the current federal legal system and the laws of the market that are close to solidification, even if a small family like Clumber Haysen seizes a certain opportunity and achieves rapid development in a certain period of time, it will still fall in the competition with large groups and large conglomerates, and everything will return to the original point. Unless, unless, the family can be favored by fate, or more precisely, favored by the upper echelons. ”

Nikolai still wanted to argue, but Alves on the opposite side faked a cough: "Okay, two, if you talk about the old words, you will have a chance to talk about it later!" Now, I propose that everyone raise a glass to the ...... Uh, toast to the health of Emperor Hohenstaufen IV, to the early end of the war! ”

Except for Nikolai, the rest of the people raised their glasses.

When all eyes were on her, she said with her head held high: "Cheers to true peace, to true freedom!" ”

Alves and the two special guests were embarrassed and did not dare to respond. At this time, Prince Barras, who was sitting upright, laughed, and he raised the wine glass in his hand: "Okay, today, at the suggestion of the honored guests, we will toast to true peace and true freedom!" ”

After a toast, dinner officially begins. While Nicolas Lebold is in this chic restaurant, feeling tasteless in the face of fine food, Long Clumber Haisan is walking alone in the damp and gloomy city sewers. Coming from the south of the city, he encountered many federal officers and soldiers along the way, although among these stragglers were brave men who were still physically and mentally fit to fight, but he did not explain his whereabouts except for directions, let alone solicit volunteers to accompany him - unlike the previous stay in the city and use the sewers to fight guerrilla warfare with the Norman army, this time his company received an unmistakable retreat order before losing contact with his superiors. From the soldier's point of view, it was his personal act to take the survivors under his command out of the battlefield, which was considered to have fulfilled the instructions of his superiors, and returned to Aocheng to investigate Nikolai's whereabouts and wait for the opportunity to carry out the rescue, which was his personal behavior, and he should not and should not involve the robes. In this battlefield full of building ruins, acting alone, the flexibility is infinitely magnified, and even jumping out of the constraints of military identity, which can be said to have both advantages and disadvantages.

The closer you get to the heart of the city, the more frequent you are to encounter enemies in the sewers, and many of the forks are inconvenient with Norman soldiers stationed there. Now that it was nightfall, Weiss simply left the familiar underground world. On the ground in the city, with the special skill of "human radar", the night movement is indeed easy, not only can calmly avoid the enemy's patrols, but also find something in the ruins from time to time - this time the Norman army counterattacked, and it only took half a day to take most of the city reoccupied by the federal army, and their rapid advance, especially the interspersed attacks carried out by flying warships and armored combat vehicle assaults, trapped many federal troops who had not had time to retreat in the city, So much so that after nightfall, gunfire continued to sound throughout the city. Under these circumstances, many federal officers and soldiers who had lost their command or were unwilling to die in vain hid in the ruins of the building, waiting for an opportunity to break through and evacuate.

A few blocks away from the ruined hill formed by the Grumman Building, there are a few unremarkable-looking "hills" that were once the grandiose buildings of the bustling central city, some of which were destroyed by artillery fire before the Norman army first stormed the city, or some of which were destroyed in the heat of street fighting. Due to the structural nature of the buildings, they are not filled ruins, and there are quite a few hollow ones that can be used as battle bunkers or temporary shelters. Upon opening his special vision, Weiss discovered that there were more than a dozen federal officers and soldiers in one of the ruins, and judging by their battle readings, most of them were in good physical and mental condition. Based on the changes in the battlefield situation, it is unlikely that the Federal Army will be able to invest heavily in the city in the short term, and after the complete occupation of the Olympic City, the Norman army will soon start a sweep of all corners of the city. In order to obtain information and guide the way, Weiss followed a narrow and secret passage to the hiding place of this group of federal officers and soldiers, and the soldiers were very surprised by his appearance, and after a simple communication, they all felt unbelievable - the young captain officer in front of them actually came here from the south of the city alone, and confidently said that he could take them out safely.

In order to dispel the doubts of the officers and soldiers, Weiss vaguely revealed that his eyes have special night vision and can detect the enemy's whereabouts in advance.

This group of indomitable federal officers and soldiers, led by a burly lieutenant officer, who called himself "Lieutenant Neomis", with a belt slung cross-body and four pineapple bullets, gave people the impression of bravery.

"Well, Mr. Captain, you are willing to risk your life to help us, and we should do what we can to help you. In fact, we didn't see the parachutist you just talked about, but about two hours ago, just as it was getting dark, we saw the Normans set up an open-air prisoner of war camp in the open area north of the Alfred artificial river, in the area of old Grumman Square, and held thousands of people, and there seemed to be some people dressed more similarly to what you described, and maybe the people you were looking for were among them. ”

This was undoubtedly a very valuable piece of information for Weiss, who felt that it might really be "a nowhere to be found in the iron shoes, and it took no effort to get it". So they hurriedly asked Lieutenant Nomis where they had observed this.

Lieutenant Normis led him into a crack in the ruins, and walked in the dark, drilling and climbing, until he finally came to the north side of the ruins, where it was impossible to get out, but there was a gap overlooking the center of the city.

The lieutenant handed him a pair of binoculars and said, "After dark, the Normans lit some bonfires in that open area and set up searchlights nearby, and our men were held in the open by them. Without a blanket, such a night is hard. ”

What Weiss could see through the telescope was exactly what Lieutenant Neomiss had described, but that didn't give an accurate judgment. So, he opened a special vision and found that the prisoner of war camp in the open air was indeed held by federal officers and soldiers who had laid down their weapons. Many were injured, and some were even dying.

Seeing Weiss squinting for a long time, Lieutenant Normis asked, "Can you find the very important pilot you mentioned?" ”

Weiss shook his head. Although Nikolai's combat readings are very distinctive, they are not a fixed set of data, and changes in training, exercise, and physical condition will cause changes, and it is really not feasible to screen them among the thousands of federal officers and soldiers. Moreover, around the prisoner of war camp, there did not seem to be many Norman soldiers in charge of guarding, but in the nearby ruins, hundreds or thousands of Normans were arranged, and a little farther away, there were groups of armored combat vehicles, which seemed to be a trap deliberately arranged by the Normans.

After pondering for a moment, Weiss said to Lieutenant Normis, "Let everyone pack up and prepare to go, and try to travel as lightly as possible." If it drags on any longer, I fear that the Normans will block all the nearby passages. ”

"Come with us!" Lieutenant Normis said.

"Of course, I'll show you the way until you enter the sewers." Weiss replied, "You also have a map of the sewers in Aocheng, right?" Come, I'll show you the way to go. ”

Lieutenant Normis shook his head: "The follow-up reinforcements of the troops in the city do not seem to have been distributed with the distribution map you mentioned. For us, this kind of drawing may no longer make sense. ”

Weiss had no comment, silently took out the frayed distribution map from the bag he was carrying, copied the parts that needed to be used by the light of the flashlight, and then handed the hand-drawn paper to Lieutenant Normis.

The lieutenant looked at him very puzzled: "I can see, captain, you are a determined person, but with your own strength, you can't save your friend no matter what, just like our team, there is no way to force a breakthrough in the enemy's heavy encirclement, so we can only find another way to withdraw." ”

"Thanks for the reminder!" Weiss carefully put his sewer map back into his bag, "Don't worry, I'm not going to be reckless, but I don't think there are some things that can't be done according to conventional thinking, and when necessary, you need to use unconventional means." ”

Lieutenant Normis nodded, "Captain, you're right, it's hard to get things done by following the rules, anyway, good luck!" ”

Weiss shook hands with him and said, "Good luck to all of you!" ”

The two sides wished each other good luck, but it didn't really bring them good luck. Everyone packed up their weapons and equipment, and Weiss walked in the front as usual, but just as he was about to go out to see if there were any enemies around, he was met by the muzzle of the black hole and the broken Ulster language of the Normans: "Don't move! Disarm or kill! ”