Out of an accurate judgment of the situation and an accurate grasp of the timing, the guerrilla advance force under the command of Weiss undoubtedly had an overall advantage in various encounters with the Normans. After taking the initiative to release the wounded from the Norman prisoners of war, they quickly received a positive reply from their opponents: the two sides could briefly cease fighting and discuss the exchange of prisoners of war.

At the end of the day, Weiss and Lieutenant Colonel Lear hesitated. They know very well that with the character of the federal military and political top brass who are accustomed to settling accounts after the autumn, if this vote is done, even if it gets the tacit approval or vague affirmation of the rear, they may be caught by them afterwards, and if they don't do it, they will experience a huge gap from a war hero to a traitor who collaborates with the enemy. Therefore, the two men had an open and frank talk, and they both felt that this matter must be done -- if it dragged on, once the rear could not solve their supply problem, the guerrilla advance force might fall into a predicament step by step, or even go to the other extreme, but the opinions of the rear would certainly not be bypassed. After discussion, they jointly sent a secret telegram to the rear, informing them that the Normans wanted to ransom the captured officers and soldiers, and asked the guerrilla warfare command to give clear instructions.

Considering that the secret telegram was likely to be intercepted by the Normans, they deliberately did not mention the issue of food supplies, but General Punk and his staff officers could judge the current situation of the combat supply of the guerrilla advance party with a little refreshment. But, as Weiss and Lieutenant Colonel Lear feared, the guerrilla warfare command was slow to reply to the telegram. They sent telegrams every six hours, both on common and standby frequencies, but after waiting for two days and two nights, there was still no news from the headquarters, as if the area where the guerrilla advance force was located was blocked by the enemy's signal -- but the Normans did not have such technical means at all, and the conventional radio jamming and blocking measures would have left clear traces, but this situation did not appear. To make matters worse, the Normans were "shown" to the Normans by the continuous transmission of the guerrilla advance forces, and through the increasingly sophisticated radiolocation technology, they were able to easily locate their targets and deploy their forces in a targeted manner......

Since the enemy's special painkillers were used, Weiss's "human radar" has not replied for a long time, and he has to understand the enemy's movements through the deployment of scouts on a large scale. The Normans twice sent troops to block their way during the day, and the guerrilla advance party jumped out of the danger zone by forced march at night, and although they were temporarily freed from the predicament, they lost a lot of supplies on the way, and several groups of Norman prisoners of war were able to escape. After all this tossing and tearing, they got closer and closer to the situation they feared, and the Normans passed on an ultimatum to open the negotiations.

In the midst of despair, the guerrilla warfare command finally sent a telegram from a distant place, which lacked practical affirmation and praise, and only gave the last sentence "If there is something to do, you can act on it."

Weiss and Lieutenant Colonel Lear sat facing each other for an hour, neither of them saying anything. They then had a Norman liaison team radio to agree to the negotiations, and made the meeting place in a small town northwest of Lorraine.

There were more than 1,000 Norman prisoners of war as "hostages", and Weiss was not worried about the Normans being cheating in the negotiations.

He sent Lieutenant Colonel Lear to another small secret camp used by the Lorraine guerrillas, and he took an officer and a communications soldier with him over the mountains with his Norman liaison to the remote town at the appointed time.

Arriving at the negotiating meeting arranged by the Normans, Weiss unceremoniously sat down and drank a large cup of hot tea, while he completely ignored the snacks prepared by the Normans. It was not a meal, but the Norman officers present had no intention of starting negotiations, causing Weiss to mutter inexplicably. After about half an hour, several people walked in outside the door, one of which was the "big man" he didn't expect - Admiral Alves Hawk Sedlintz. It can be seen that this young and ambitious general is not in a good mood, not only his face is gloomy, but there is also a sense of anger in his eyes. At first, Weiss felt that with his high position, he should not be depressed by the defeat suffered by the pursuit of the guerrilla advance force, but after thinking about it, one transport, two corvettes, and thousands of infantry were not such losses. If it weren't for this, why would he come to this little-known town in person?

After taking his seat on the opposite side, Alves said in a cold tone, "We really underestimated you, Mr. Clumber-Haysen Jr.!" You are like an extremely tenacious swamp worm that cannot die if you fall from a height of thousands of feet, and dare to return to the place where you were defeated and fight the same opponent again in the same way...... I'm curious about the mystery of the Clumber-Haytham family, where two warriors with unimaginable willpower can emerge in a generation. ”

Hearing the other party's words, Wei Si not only felt proud, but smelled a threat from this. If Zezhen had been killed in the Battle of Camp Vale, the old lord and his sister Bella, the members of the Clumber-Heyssen family who remained in Somsonas, would no longer have a reliable guarantee of their lives, and could even be taken hostage at any time. At this moment, Weiss suddenly felt a little regretful, Ze was so talented, and when he was under the fence, he still tried his best to protect his family. It's a pity that he chose self-interest and gave up righteousness, which cannot be forgiven and accepted no matter what.

Seeing that Weiss was calm and silent, Alves snorted in a nasal voice and continued to speak in a cold tone: "Since this is not the first time we have dealt with each other, let's get straight to the point!" In previous battles, you captured many of our soldiers, many of whom were wounded in battle. Since your troops are on guerrilla warfare missions, it is impossible to establish prisoner of war camps and therefore to provide conditions of detention in accordance with international conventions, and we have some of your prisoners. Therefore, in the spirit of military demeanor and honor, our side proposed an equal exchange of prisoners of war, and during the exchange of prisoners of war, the two sides temporarily ceased fighting. ”

Getting to the point, Weiss pricked up his ears and tried to capture every word and its meaning of the other party. After more than two years of study and practice, his Norman language has basically reached the level of communication barriers, but Alves not only maintains that arrogant tone when speaking, but also uses some words that are rarely used on weekdays, which makes him a little disgusted, depressed and incomprehensible - at the negotiation table, the scrutiny and negotiation of every condition are related to the fate of many people, and there is no room for the slightest carelessness. In order to clarify the other party's intentions, ponder and scrutinize its bottom line, Weiss tirelessly asks about the details, which feels like an aunt picking and bargaining in the vegetable market.

Alves held the shelf, all the details were negotiated by the Norman officer next to him, and only when it came to the key issues that needed to be decided, he would simply say a few words, sometimes even just a look or expression, and the rest of the time he was drinking tea, and observing his opponent while drinking tea. There were a few times when Weiss was stared at by his complex and changeable eyes, as if there was a tiger squatting opposite, and his arrival always made Weiss feel that things were not so simple. After losing a battle, it is not a proud thing to talk about exchanging prisoners of war with your opponent, right?

Negotiations between military personnel have never been as ridiculous as politicians. After more than an hour of consultations, the two sides basically reached an agreement in principle on the form and conditions for the exchange of prisoners of war: the two sides would have an armistice for a week, the Norman army would not deploy mobile forces and combat ships northwest of Lorraine, and the guerrilla advance force would not take any action against the Norman garrison in this area; During the armistice, the guerrilla advance team exchanged 1,200 Norman prisoners of war for 800 federal prisoners of war, 200 captured armed resisters and a certain amount of supplies, and the remaining Norman prisoners of war were to be released at the end of the armistice between the two sides. In addition, Weiss tentatively offered the Confederates to send a transport ship to bring the necessary medicines and equipment to the partisan advance party and evacuate their wounded, but the Normans decisively rejected this proposal - they said that they could not tolerate enemy ships swaggering through their controlled areas, and that no one could guarantee that the transport ship would only carry out the transport mission and not take the opportunity to reconnoiter the Norman army's defensive deployments.

Except for the issue of the Federation sending transport ships, the progress of the negotiations was quite smooth, and Weiss should be happy, but looking at Alves's uncertain expression, he always felt uneasy, maybe this guy would not hesitate to kill the thief and capture the king first, forcibly detain himself, and even wipe out the guerrilla advance team and those captured Norman soldiers by extreme means. If that's the case, the thinking and conduct of this "tiger" are also brutal!

Before and after the negotiations, Alves was in a bad mood, but he did not show anything out of the ordinary. Finally, he looked at Weiss with an arrogant eye: "I have been authorized to make a decision on the outcome of our negotiations today, what about you?" ”

Weiss is tempted to tell the other party that he is also authorized to "act as an opportunistic", but the trick to negotiation often lies in snooping on his opponent's cards while hiding his bottom line as much as possible. He feigned embarrassment, and then tentatively asked, "We have brought a radio, can we give us a quiet room and let us ask our superiors for instructions." ”

Alves looked at him with pity: "How long?" ”

"I'm not sure." Weiss replied.

Alves seemed to have expected it, and he said angrily: "If, by tomorrow morning, at the latest, you do not give an affirmative answer, we will assume that you disdain the generous concessions we have made, and the two sides will continue to fight brutally until one of them is completely defeated." ”

Weiss did bring a messenger and a transmitter with him, but for security reasons, the messenger did not carry a codebook, but copied the common passwords separately on the inner layer of clothing. In fact, in the absence of an emergency, Weiss did not expect General Punk's guerrilla warfare command to give a quick and unequivocal answer to the outcome of the negotiations, and the real contact was made with the guerrilla advance detachment marching through the mountains and forests—they did not really need a coded telegram between them, and the situation could be indicated in the agreed cipherland.

Being in the enemy camp, there will be trouble after a long time, Weiss touched his nose: "Okay! In any case, I will give you an accurate answer tomorrow morning. ”

"Yes!" Alves replied lukewarmly, without being greasy, and then turned around and walked out without looking back, and most of the Norman officers in the room came out one after another, leaving only the two young officers in charge of the reception.

Weiss turned his head and said to the two companions who were accompanying him, "I've dealt with this guy before, don't worry, at least we'll be safe tonight." ”

The soldiers of the guerrilla advance team were very convinced of Weiss's judgment, but they were down-to-earth, but Weiss himself had been wondering what kind of medicine was sold in that guy's gourd.