The Norman raid on secret camp No. 4 was an unprecedented blow to the "Lorraine guerrillas": nearly 100 combatants were lost, and 269 non-combatants were killed and missing, including Béla Clumberg-Haisen.

The civilians who lived in Camp 4 and participated in the production did not know the situation of this camp, the location of the other camps, and the operation and contact methods of the Resistance Group, and they fell into the hands of the Normans, although the situation was terrible, but it did not threaten the safety of the other camps and the entire Resistance Group. However, Bella played an important role in the logistical production system of the "Lorraine guerrillas", and there were several fighters in the team who were transferred with her who knew where the various camps were located, and if the Normans plucked key information out of their mouths, the resistance could be wiped out. In light of this, the first thing Weiss did after evacuating from Camp 4 was not to find out where Bella and the other missing people were, but to decisively set in motion a plan for the entire Resistance to carry out a strategic shift - all personnel would go out day and night, moving from the existing camp to the backup camp. Most of these spare camps are located in treacherous mountains and rivers, the conditions are poor, and they even lack the necessary drinking water sources, they need to be supplied with fresh water in the way of carrying horses and horses, and the food reserves are not enough to sustain the long-term use of the brigade, the only valuable thing is that their existence is rarely known!

The organization has been devastated, relatives and friends have not been heard from, and the way out is becoming more and more elusive, and there is a lot of mourning in the new camp. These days, Weiss has been thinking about Bella's life and death while running around the camps, trying to calm everyone's emotions by all means. Although his heart was heavy, he did not feel the slightest timidity, because he knew that this was a real guerrilla war, and that it was not only necessary to fight against a strong enemy with extraordinary courage and wisdom, but also to be ready to lose his comrades and even sacrifice himself, so that he could cross this thorny road and reach the glorious end of victory......

On the abandoned saltpeter mine where Camp 4 is located, the Norman army spent almost a week cleaning the battlefield and clearing the booty, and they seem to have emptied the equipment and supplies in the camp, and then completely turned the abandoned mine into an abandoned land by blasting. After the Norman army left, the Resistance cautiously entered the area, exhuming more than a dozen bodies from the collapsed tunnels and finding more than forty victims in burial places without tombstones, so that more than 200 people were still missing—they should have been captured and taken away by the Norman army.

After several days of searching with little success, Weiss withdrew his men from the area where Camp 4 was located, and instead focused on delivering supplies from the old camp to the new camp. During this difficult period of transition, in order to avoid provoking the Norman army, the Resistance suspended all attacks and only carried out covert reconnaissance and surveillance of the Normans, only to find that the Norman army had established a special prisoner of war camp in the city of Somsonas, where most of the people were held in civilian clothing. This important discovery made Weiss not happy at all, because he connected the main points before and after the incident, and came to a terrible conclusion: his opponent was using all kinds of powerful means to reverse the advantage of the resistance organization "the right time, place and people", and pushed himself step by step into the abyss of despair.

The special prisoner of war camp set up by the Normans in Somsonas had sheltered from the wind and rain as well as a place to let off steam, and the situation of the captured resistors did not look too bad. Weiss did not act rashly, but chose to wait and see. As he expected, the Norman army then raided the Resistance's old camp one after another, and thanks to the strategy of the strong man's broken wrist, the Resistance lost only equipment and supplies, and there were basically no more casualties and captures in personnel. After some time, a member of the Resistance who had disappeared during the battle of Camp 4 made a strange appearance in the mountains near the old camp, and after a careful surveillance by the guerrilla scouts, he was taken to a new cordoned out.

Hearing that someone had brought Bella, Weiss hurried to the cordoned out. After meeting with him, he learned that the Normans released him in order to let him "bring a message for the Imperial Army": war is a military affair, and has nothing to do with civilians, as long as the Lorrainians give up armed resistance and accept the reality of the Norman army's occupation of Lorraine, the current strict control measures will be lifted, and the people of Lorraine will not only be fed and clothed, but also enjoy the political freedom that they have not really obtained in the Free Federation of Ulster, and even form their own independent state......

After listening to the message brought by this person, Weiss was silent for a long time, retreated from "irrelevant people", and then asked: "Have you seen his face?" Do you know who he is? ”

The talker, Valeka, looked at Weiss with a strange look and replied in a deep tone, "Yes, I have seen and known, and the Somsonas of some age basically know him...... He is a man who has returned from hell and may have lost his soul, but there is one thing that cannot be changed - he is your brother, the pride of the Clumber-Heyssen family......"

The speculation that had been long held was finally confirmed, and Weiss closed his eyes in despair. It is undoubtedly an extremely painful thing to be the enemy of your loved ones on the battlefield, even if you don't have to fight to the death, you can't escape all kinds of troubles and sorrows, and even be suspected and blamed for it—at least your reputation will be damaged, and at worst your previous achievements will be lost.

"As you know, I'm not a person who fears death, I just don't want to bother my relatives, who have been living in Somsonas, who have neither joined the resistance nor defected to the Normans, they are just ordinary civilians...... When he gave an order, he could kill them, or he could let them be safe and sound. So, I accepted his offer and sent this message on his behalf. I know that he sent someone to follow me to find out your whereabouts from me, and I didn't let him do so, so this is my last contribution to the Resistance! ”

Weiss nodded: "I can understand you, Valeka, thank you!" ”

Si Ren sighed: "In addition, he also asked me to give you a sentence, which must be said to you in person and can only be told to you...... Although Bella was a little injured, she was fine, now she is safe, there is no need to worry about it all day, if you want to take Bella away, you only need to go to the military governor's palace in Somnas, at any time, he guarantees your absolute safety. ”

Weiss didn't answer, but calmed down and pondered. Bella is his sister and Ze's sister, and even if he takes a different position, he won't attack her - that's normal logic, but if he's at the mercy of others and doesn't really control the life and death of those who resist captively, the situation is not so rosy. Now, he asked people to send a message, whether he wanted to find an opportunity to persuade him to surrender so that the resistance in Lorraine could be put down as soon as possible, or did he deliberately let himself take Bella away so that his sister would not encounter accidents? If it is the former, returning to Somsonas is tantamount to throwing himself into a net, and Ze will not let himself leave again nine times out of ten, but if it is the latter, then he should rush back to Somsonas as soon as possible and try to rescue Bella.

Now that the speaker had already taken a stand, Weiss thought hard to no avail, so he asked him: "What was his expression when he said this?" What do you think he means? ”

He hesitated for a moment, then replied, "I can't tell if he is happy or sad, sincere or hypocritical, and he is like the Ze Clumber Haysen I remember." He's probably been through a lot over the years, so a lot has changed. Although you are brothers, in this situation, I think you must be cautious and not blindly believe in the feelings of the past. ”

Such an answer did not help to solve Weiss's doubts, but through the description of the speaker, he faintly felt that Ze's heart was tormented and hesitant, but this emotional factor may not be able to defeat rational thinking and the desire for power, glory, and victory. After much deliberation, he decided to ask the speaker to bring back his own message—an appointment, but not in the city of Somsonas, but on the lake near the castle of Clumberg-Haissen.

The appointment was set for midnight three days later.

Three days is not enough for the speaker to go back and forth, that is, this is a one-way invitation. No matter what the other party chooses, Weiss will be at the agreed place at that point.

Over the course of three days, Weiss had scouts keep an eye on enemy movements in Somsonas while members of the Resistance disassembled and concealed aircraft parts to assemble a two-seater seaplane. Although there are no major rivers in the Lorraine Mountains, there are many lakes and ponds, and when the flat meadows everywhere have been spied on and even damaged by the Normans, the modification of seaplanes and the take-off and landing in the waters have become a new countermeasure for the resistance groups to dig out the hollow.

Three nights later, Weiss rode to a forest lake more than thirty miles from the new camp, sat in the open cockpit of the biplane, and waved goodbye to his companions with a determined face. The roar of the plane's engine broke the silence of the forest, and under the pilotship of the Federal Army, it quickly rose into the night sky, and flew in the direction of Somsonas under the guidance of the stars. After half an hour of flying, there was a strange sight of stars twinkling up and down, and the mountain lake adjacent to the Château Klumber-Heisen was like a sapphire quietly placed on a black flannel cloth, reflecting a dark and mysterious luster.

In this era when there is no radar, taking off and landing planes at night is not only a test of the pilot's skills, but also must have a proper ground response, otherwise it is easy to destroy the plane and kill people. Weiss's message to the receiver did not reveal how he would come, but when the pontoon-equipped plane approached the castle of Clumberg-Heissen, two searchlights suddenly lit up in the darkness, but they did not shoot directly into the sky as usual, but projected onto the surface of the lake. Two near-parallel beams of light mark a landing strip.

Seeing this, the pilot hurriedly asked Weiss: "Colonel, do we still want to go down?" ”

Weiss gritted his teeth: "Land as originally planned, after docking, don't turn off the fire, and be ready to evacuate at any time!" ”

At the end, he told again: "If I can't get out in time, you can evacuate yourself!" If the plane is damaged and cannot take off, activate the bomb timer and dive away! ”