The cruiser, which fell from the sky, rested on the ground next to the wreckage of the armored ship "Kash". Dozens of crew members emerged from the bow and side hatches and went straight into the wreckage of the friendly ship. After a few moments, they found several square boxes the size of ammunition boxes with blackened surfaces from the wreckage of the battleship, and carefully carried them back to the cruiser. During the process, the crew had no communication with their Army counterparts standing nearby.

A short time later, a flying captain in a black fur coat came from the cruiser to the officers and men of the Basston Student Corps, he had a small goatee, looked to be in his thirties, put his hands behind his back, held his head high, and said: "Who is the commander here?" ”

Weiss subconsciously looked around and found that the other party was undoubtedly referring to him, so he stepped forward and saluted: "It's me, sir!" ”

The captain-officer, who wore a flat-capped short-brimmed military cap, looked at Weiss and returned the salute unhurriedly: "2nd Patrol Detachment of the Munster Garrison, Captain of the 'Mountain Chasseur Karent', Mike Jolwich." ”

Weiss responded with a dignified response: "Basston Student Corps, Long Clumber Haisen." ”

"Cadet Acting Officer?"

"Yes, sir." Weiss replied.

The captain smiled slightly: "The future is limitless!" ”

Weiss was a little surprised, and just as he hesitated whether to be modest or to thank him calmly, the other party directly skipped Weiss's reaction and asked, "Were there any surviving crew members of this battleship when it landed?" ”

"Yes! We contained 66 people, and some more friendly forces in the adjacent defense area, but the exact number is unknown. ”

Before Weiss could finish speaking, the Captain Jorwich had already frowned, and showed a look of displeasure - it seemed to be very resistant to Weiss's wording, but the fleet had just encountered a fierce battle, and the wreckage of the damaged friendly ships and the fallen crew was in front of him, but no one with some bearing would be mad at such a small matter that had nothing to do with the overall situation.

After a moment of silence, the flight captain said in a low tone, "Thank you Army brothers for helping us when we were in trouble." Now that we've taken the ship's most important power box, we're going to pick up all the surviving crew. As for the rest, I'll leave it to you! ”

Weiss didn't know what the "rest of the matter" he meant by burying the bodies of the dead, gathering available equipment, or anything else, so he didn't give an affirmative answer in person. Before the flight captain left, he asked tentatively, "Yesterday's battle...... It must have been a terrible fight, right? ”

Captain Jolwich was stunned for a moment, and then sighed: "It's terrible! ”

"The enemy used a new weapon?" Weiss asked again.

The captain glared at him, a little angry: "These don't seem to have anything to do with you!" ”

Weiss's complicated mood at the moment was completely understandable, and he was relieved: "I'm sorry! Sir, I don't mean to poke you in the sore spots, or question your ability to fight, but I'm worried that we'll soon be on the front lines here. ”

Captain Jolvich silently took off his military cap, flicked the ash on it with his fingers, and whispered: "Your worries may soon become a terrible reality." You guys...... Are you ready to go head-to-head with the Normans? ”

Weiss took a deep breath and replied calmly: "We have been mentally prepared for a long time, and we know it. Once we engage an enemy, many will be wounded, many will be killed, and whatever the outcome of the battle, we will have to suffer the loss of our comrades, or our lives will come to an end before the battle is over. ”

Everyone understands the truth, but actually getting involved in it is another matter entirely. Presumably with this in mind, the captain snorted and said somewhat perfunctorily: "Good luck, then, Mr. Clumber-Haysen!" ”

"Good luck to you too!" Weiss responded, "If you are not there, the battle will be very difficult, so sir, you must not lose your faith, let alone your courage!" ”

The captain immediately raised his voice: "What a joke! Our flying unit is the pride of the Federation, the enemy can defeat us, but don't try to break our fighting spirit! ”

As he spoke, a crew member came from the cruiser's side, deliberately avoiding Weiss, and reporting to Captain Jorwich alone. I saw that the captain's face changed suddenly, he pondered for a moment, and then turned his head to Weiss and said: "The battle situation is urgent, we must rush to the battlefield immediately, the crew of the 'Cash', we can't take it away now and place it in the rear, it is better to let them stay with you for the time being." We'll send a telegram to the command ship and ask them to send another transport. ”

"Rest assured, we will take care of them." Weissdau.

The captain nodded, and before he could say anything to Weistowe, he quickly returned to the ship with the crew.

Seeing the Federation Cruiser take off in a hurry as it came, Weiss couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. At this time, the fog that covered the earth dissipated a little, and the visual distance increased from 100 feet to 1,000 feet, but standing in the open area, it still seemed to be drifting in the depths of the vast sea, not knowing the direction and not knowing where to go......

An hour later, Weiss and his companions of the 2nd Company returned to the station with the equipment and supplies they had gathered, and before leaving, they ran into the men and horses of the 139th Reserve Division, they should have come with the same purpose, but after Weiss and their search, they were afraid that they would not have much to gain.

Before the transport arrived, Weiss had plenty of time to ask the surviving crew of the "Cash" about the previous night's battle. Of course, the crews came from a variety of positions, and what they saw and heard was not enough to summarize the whole battle, but it was certain that last night's battle was an encounter, and the Munston garrison was unexpectedly encountered by a Norman fleet on the way to the designated place ahead. Since it was a narrow encounter, its own strength was superior, and it was in the airspace controlled by its own side, the Munster fleet took the initiative to attack, but the enemy fleet had several warships equipped with new weapons, and in the close-range hand-to-hand combat at night, the "devil's bomb" that made the Ulster-Wessex coalition aviation unit smell the color once again exerted an astonishing destructive power, and the "Cash" armored ship was almost knocked out by the opponent with one blow. With a number of battleships badly damaged, the Munston garrison had to retreat in disarray.

In the afternoon of the same day, a light transport ship arrived at the border defense line and picked up more than 100 surviving crew members who had been rescued by the Baston Student Regiment and the 139th Reserve Division. After the transport ship left, the border defense area returned to calm, and the sky was empty of white puffy clouds and only the occasional eagle sparrow flying. Until nightfall, the Munster garrison did not reappear.

After nightfall, because he was always worried that something would happen, Weiss stayed in the battalion headquarters for a long time, and went around the defense area, and only at midnight did he lie down on the camp headquarters on the marching bed and his clothes, and was sleeping in a daze, when he was suddenly awakened by a faint roar, so he jumped up, put on his boots, and walked outside the camp headquarters bunker to observe the situation. And when he looked far away, there were signs of lightning.

It turned out to be a thunderstorm......

The two looked at each other, wanted to laugh but couldn't, shook their heads helplessly, and turned their heads back.

A drifting heavy rain, from more than three in the morning to seven in the morning, the rain gradually weakened. Looking out through the observation hole in the battalion bunker, the ground had been pitted by the Norman fleet fire and seemed to have been restored to its original appearance overnight, but the wreckage of the ancient beast-like battleship in the distance was a wordless reminder that the war was no longer far away.

Weiss stretched and looked at the improvised dining table at the battalion headquarters. On such a rainy day, the pure white hot milk and the browned fried egg were appetizing, but before he could sit down and start breakfast, the battalion headquarters phone rang, and John Greens, a third-year cadet who served as a staff officer, quickly answered the phone, his expression suddenly frozen, like a strong cold snap, which made the atmosphere in the bunker suddenly drop to near freezing.

I saw the Basston cadet turn his head slowly and heavily, look at Weiss with frightened and confused eyes, and say, "The Normans are coming!" ”

Weiss couldn't help but clench the knife and fork in his hand.

The Normans are coming after all, but I didn't expect it to be so fast!

There was no sound on the other side of the phone, but Greens still grabbed the microphone and didn't put it down.

"What's going on?" Battalion Inspector – Inspector Dieter Maximom from Batton Military Academy asked.

Grimes replied tremblingly: "The regimental headquarters said that a few hours ago, the Norman army carried out a landing operation in our rear, and the 133rd Reserve Division and the 157th Reserve Division reported earlier that their defense area was attacked by the Normans. Now, the command has temporarily lost contact with the 157th Reserve Division. The regimental headquarters prepared us for marching battles. ”

The unit that had previously taken over the defence from the Basston Student Corps was attached to the 157th Reserve Division, which was composed mainly of the two states in the western part of the Union, Neuchâtel and Lorraine.

All the bad premonitions have become reality one by one in this cruel war......

Maximom hesitated for a moment, and said in a loud voice: "Don't go and report to Major Salget!" ”

Grimes hurriedly dropped the phone and staggered out of the camp bunker.

Weiss slowly lowered his knife and fork and stood up from the seat where the ammunition box was stacked. After the initial shock, he had come to terms mentally and psychologically with the bad news. After inflicting heavy losses on the Munster garrison, the most elite mobile fleet of the Union Flying Force, the Normans launched a leap attack in the most daring and adventurous way, this jump crossed the Ulster-Wessex border and jumped directly into the Union border, how decisive and swift! Just imagine, if the Norman army can quickly seize the Ulster-Wessex border area and trap the two elite corps of the Federal Army and a considerable number of second- and third-line troops in Wessex, it will be enough to fundamentally reverse the situation on the battlefield in Wessex, and it will also greatly shake the morale of the Federation and destroy the strategic layout of the Federation.

In the early days of the last war, the Commonwealth, despite repeated defeats and the loss of a large number of territories and important cities, was supported by the Kingdom of Wessex, and the northern frontier was not only not safe, but also an important channel for military assistance, and the Union army always only needed to concentrate its forces against the land in front of them. This time, if the Wessex front collapsed, the Union army would have to fight against the brave Norman army on both the western and northern fronts, and the Normans would be able to do twice the result with half the effort, whether they adopted a strategy of attacking on two fronts and attacking on both sides, or gathering heavy troops on the northern front and going straight through the Nasha prairies into the heart of the Union.