Marshal Kesselring recounted what happened during the parade of the captives: some of the British prisoners who participated in the parade could not only understand but also speak Italian, and they were not angry that they were handed over to the Italians, believing that the other side was all their own defeated men, and that if it were not for the Germans and Guderian, the Italian troops would have been wiped out by the 8th Army. After listening to Mussolini's boastful propaganda, they unanimously agreed to make a fool of him, and everyone pretended not to know Italian, but when the reporter went to the prisoner camp to interview the scene, they suddenly threw off the interpreter and told the whole truth in Italian, and then satirized the leader for deception. By the time the gendarmes reacted and dragged them away, everything that had to be said had already been said, and most of the reporters had heard it, and the atmosphere at the scene was extremely embarrassing. In order to settle the matter, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mussolini's son-in-law, Count Ziano, issued a temporary gag order, strictly ordering no newspaper to publish the truth, and that night all the journalists involved in the event were each given a Swiss gold watch to tell them not to disclose the matter......

"I wasn't there, I was told by our ambassador to Italy, who said he got a piece of it." Kesselring spoke in a serious tone at first, but later he couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahaha! It's really funny to me, Mussolini is a ...... "It turns out that the Italians have started playing the "Gold Watch Incident" so early, Hoffmann was overjoyed, and the rest of the people laughed, "How to say it, it's so interesting, it's a pity that he doesn't go to be a clown...... Alas. Count Ziano is really, why did he poke him in a good manner, he should have been allowed to continue to explain and refute the rumors in front of reporters the next day. Let's see what he can say differently this time. ”

"Italians are so happy, not only do they have a good leader, but they also come with actor skills for free, so I really want to sign him."

"Don't worry, Bauman, in three days there will be a Serbian conference, and the Italian leader and Count Ziano will come in person. You have the opportunity to see what they are capable of. ”

"I hope Comrade Ribbentrop will have a more appreciative eye than I do."

The ceremony soon began, and Hoffman gave a speech in which he praised the Air Force's rapid removal from the bad influence of the "treasonous group". His recent contribution to the Army's operations and the fight against British and American air raids affirmed the importance of the Battle of El Alamein, and then Marshal Kesselring introduced the winners to him one by one.

The first recipient was the African Star Marseilleu. Hoffman personally hung the Knight's Cross of the Knight's Cross with diamond oak leaves glittering in the light on his neckline, and then patted the other man on the head affectionately. He liked this handsome and outstanding young man very much. Sending him a plane changed history and saved his life - of course, Marseilleu would never have known about it.

"How about it, have you read all the love letters that General Jeshunek handed over to you?" Hoffman quipped, "Picky, huh?" It's too late to change your mind. ”

"This ......," the young man scratched his head in embarrassment, "my fiancée, Harrylis, took care of it for me, and we agreed to have a wedding this Christmas." ”

"What a pity! Lad! You've given up an entire forest for a tree! Hoffman teased him, "But it's good that you didn't knock over the vinegar bottle, and invite me to your wedding?" ”

"Very. Very honored! …… Führer, you will be the most distinguished guest. But......" the young man retorted slightly, as if remembering something, "you must promise to bring a female companion." ”

Now it was Hoffmann's turn, and Marseilleu, a clever man, immediately changed the subject and asked: "Führer, I see that you and all the leaders are smiling very well, can you let us know?" ”

"Uh......" Hoffman thought about it and decided not to make Mussolini's ugliness outside, and the Italian leader's face still had to be maintained, so he smiled, "We all thought of a joke about the Italian leader and made a few jokes. ”

The young man took out a gold Omega pocket watch from his bosom with a trick, exactly like the one mentioned by Marshal Kesselring just now, and asked mischievously: "You mean this?" ”

"Given to you by Count Ziano?"

Marseilleu nodded: "I went to Rome before returning home, and the leader gave me a medal. Führer, I was also present on the day of the reporter's interview, and I know exactly what happened! ”

"This is top secret, and we must pay attention to secrecy to prevent the British from eavesdropping." Hoffman said seriously.

"Yes!" The young man himself couldn't help but laugh.

"Honorable Führer, special thanks to you for the plane you gave me, I can't find any other gift that I can give you, only this one." Marseilleu brought a delicate leather case from the side, "This is a gift for you. ”

"What's inside?" Not only Hoffman, but also the curiosity of others was hooked.

The attendant opened it quickly, and everyone came forward to see that the golden velvet was lined up with compasses of different shapes, colors, and sizes, and strangely did not look like new.

"What is this?" Marshal Kesselring recognized it and exclaimed, "It's all the compass on the plane, and it's all the same." ”

"This is the compass of all the downed enemy planes I can find, one for each type of aircraft." "You see, this is a Spitfire, this is a Hurricane, this is an American P-40, this is a P-38, and this is a British handsome soldier......"

"Very good! I like it very much! Hoffman laughed and accepted the ingenious gift, gesturing to a circle of bigwigs around him, "Next time, remember to give one to the other leaders." ”

Marseilleu nodded confidently: "I see, please give me another year." ”

In second place is Hermann Graff, who is one year younger than Marseilleu, who has just been transferred from the combat wing to the Air Force headquarters as a senior staff officer. After Marshal Kesselring had read his exploits, Hoffmann ceremoniously awarded him the Knight's Iron Cross with Diamond and Oak Leaves and shook hands with him.

The young man, who was also handsome, looked very embarrassed, for Marseilleu had carefully prepared a gift for the Führer, and he had not, although he had also received a plane from the Führer. He was very remorseful, why didn't he think of preparing some special commemorative gifts for the Führer before leaving?

Hoffman was unfazed by this, but smiled and said, "I heard that you are a very talented football player? Love football? ”

"Yes, Führer. Before the war I played for FC Horn and later enlisted as a pilot. When talking about football, Hermann Graff's train of thought was opened, and the inhibitions he had just made disappeared. Hermann Graf formed a soccer team called the "Roten-Jaeger" between the war, many of whom were members of the German national team (including Sepp-Helberg, Fritz ******, etc.), who served as goalkeeper and toured to promote the Air Force. He used his special status to build momentum for this team, taking a bunch of soccer players with him wherever he went.

"The Italians won the last World Cup (1938), and the Italian leader was beaming in front of me, and I had planned to take revenge this year, but unfortunately I didn't have a chance because of the war." Hoffman smiled at the Air Force hero and goalkeeper and asked, "How's it going?" Do you have the confidence to play Italy again and prove who is the best football team in the world? ”

"Of course, we are the best, and last time it was just a fluke for the Italians. Whether it's planes or football, we're better than the Italians. When Hermann Graff heard this, he almost cried out with excitement, "Führer, what do you say?" ”

"Simple, the Italian leader is coming in two days, I'll ask him to bring the football team, you just have to play a game." "The Italians have lost face on the battlefield and probably want to get it back on the pitch." ”

"Don't even think about it! They can't fight at war, they still can't do it on the court! Hermann-Graff was overjoyed, "Then I'll go and gather the team to prepare, and we can donate the ticket proceeds to the disabled soldiers." ”

"After the game, remember to sign the match ball and give it to me as a souvenir." Hoffman smiled and cleared the goalkeeper.

Subsequent medals were awarded to their respective objects.

Last in the crowd was Captain Rank, who had just been promoted to major three days earlier, and then was awarded the Knight's Iron Cross, although there was still a long way to go from the honor of Marseilleu and others, but considering that he was the only representative of the African Army Group to be honored, the High Command carefully considered that his award was also placed in this ceremony, and let him receive the medals of the rest of the African Army on his behalf. Today he felt as if everything was in a dream, and his excited heart was about to jump out as he watched everyone in front of him receive medals one after another. He had just received a long list of medals, and only the last one was his own.

"I heard that you led the assault team to destroy the artillery positions of 2 regiments of the enemy, opening the passage for the smooth transfer of the whole army?"

"Ah, no, no, no!" Ranke looked flustered, and it took a long time before he said, "Honorable Führer, this is someone else's command, I just led the way." ”

Fearing that Hoffmann would be angry, Field Marshal Kesselring immediately gave him a supplementary introduction, not only recounting Ranke's special historical origins, but also praising him: "This is the best logistics officer in our African army, and there is no one. This time, he volunteered to sign up for the commando team, pretending to be a British lieutenant colonel to deceive the enemy, and made great contributions to finally breaking through the enemy's two armored divisions and smoothly transferring to Tobruk. Führer, don't look at him and he can't drive any tanks, just by virtue of his performance this time, he is worth an armored battalion. ”

After hearing this, Hoffman suddenly fell silent, and the atmosphere fell into a terrible silence...... (To be continued.) )