"Sir, I think you've seen enough, and the soldiers are very grateful that you have personally come to comfort them, sir. There is no need to go any further, the forward positions have not been cleared, and it is not safe there now. ”

Dogen followed closely behind Xu Jun, and while he desperately gave Wei Erle a look at the side of him, he whispered to dissuade Xu Jun from continuing this unbearable battlefield patrol.

Seeing Doggan's hint, Wierle shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, indicating that there was nothing he could do about it.

"Dogen."

Xu Jun kept smiling and saluting the group of soldiers in front of him who were standing in the trenches waving steel helmets and rifles at him, and said in a deep voice: "Don't persuade me, I know what I'm doing." I have to go there and see all of this, I have caused all this, and I have to see for myself how terrible this lesson is. ”

After speaking, Xu Jun walked slowly along the edge of the trench towards the forward position.

"Sir......

Looking at Xu Jun's back, Daogen lowered his head.

"Commander of the 55th Infantry Regiment of the Guards Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Feng. Chatrimans, on behalf of the officers and men of the regiment, salutes His Excellency the Führer! ”

An army lieutenant colonel quickly ran forward and nodded neatly after standing still in front of Xu Jun.

"The 55 th Regiment performed very well in this campaign, and I am very satisfied with the courage and bravery of the officers and men of the regiment in this campaign."

Xu Jun raised his hand and saluted the lieutenant colonel with a standard military salute.

"Good fight, Lieutenant Colonel."

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency. All for Germany. ”

Feng. Chatrimans hurriedly returned the salute respectfully.

"Come with me and tell me about the battle."

"Yes, Your Excellency. However, the forward positions have not been cleared yet, and now there ......"

Speaking of which, Feng. Chatrimans noticed that the Führer's face had become gloomy.

"Your will is your command, please go this way, Your Excellency."

The quick-witted lieutenant colonel immediately wisely chose to compromise.

"If hell really exists in the world, I've booked a room for myself at the bottom."

Xu Jun looked at the miserable battlefield in front of him and muttered.

Although the body wrapped in the ornate marshal's uniform was still quite straight, if one looked closely, one would see that the German ruler was now trembling slightly.

"Sir. I don't think it's a wise decision for you to come here...... Your Excellency, your loyal warriors are now watching you......"

Weierle's deliberately suppressed voice sounded behind Xu Jun.

The calm and wise chief of staff noticed that Xu Jun was strange now, and he immediately reminded the young ducái in a tactful and respectful way that this was not a place where he could freely express his personal feelings.

"Oh...... I see, thank you, Wehrle. ”

Xu Jun took a deep breath, then turned his head and nodded slightly to Weierle.

"It's okay, my Führer."

The Chief of Staff replied in a respectful whisper.

The front-line positions of the German army in front of them looked like a collapsed hell.

Although Xu Jun was fully mentally prepared, everything in front of him made him feel that his preparation was far from enough.

He had seen the battlefield and he had seen death, but what he saw before him made him feel that the bloody scenes he had witnessed before were nothing at all.

Xu Jun tried hard to suppress the feeling that he wanted to vomit, and walked forward with a pale face.

They had entered the center of the battle, Xu Jun's steps became heavier and heavier, he didn't want to know what was sticking to his shiny military boots, and he didn't want to know what the mud under his feet was caused by, the strong smell of blood in the air had already told him all the answers.

"That's the three-row position, and it was from here that the French Foreign Legion first broke through our front-line position. But that's all they could do, and they couldn't go any further in the rest of the battle. ”

Dogen said in a heavy tone behind Xu Jun.

"There are simply too many frontal enemies. The machine guns in the third platoon had run out of spare barrels and could no longer fire, and we found that the two machine guns were still piping hot after the battle.

We're only one step away from saving all of this, and that's one step away...... When we arrived, it was full of French infantry, and then I knew that the third platoon was over...... It's just five minutes away......"

Feng. Chatrimans whispered, with a deep sadness and self-reproach.

"It's not your fault, Lieutenant Colonel. It's not your responsibility. Xu Jun said in a deep voice.

"Lieutenant colonel, I remember that a 20-mm machine gun should be equipped on the three-row position, why did this gun not work, under the cover of the 20-mm machine gun, the three rows should easily hold this position, even if there are many enemies, it is impossible to easily approach the forward trenches."

At this time, one followed Feng. The young army officer behind Chatrimans asked suspiciously.

Xu Jun turned his head to find that it was Wolfland, who had recently been transferred from the 4th Panzer Division. Feng. Major Liszt. In front of Xu Jun, Weierle gave this young officer, who was only twenty-four years old, very high esteem, and appointed him as the second-class operational staff officer of the General Headquarters of the Führer's Guards Corps.

"I don't know what's going on. But I think the anti-aircraft artillery on this position has made their last effort, and the anti-aircraft gunners who died were armed with rifles and sapper shovels.

As artillerymen they had the right to choose to retreat, but they did not do so. Those brave young men fought the enemy at the last moment of their lives, and now those warriors are lying there, and if you want to know the truth, you can ask them personally.

And I remind you that no one has the right to blame those who died in battle, so watch your words! Feng. Major Liszt! ”

Feng. Chatrimans's face was gloomy, and his stern tone did not leave the slightest face for the illustrious young member of the Liszt family, and judging from his current look, if it weren't for Xu Jun and Weierle's presence, he would have scolded his mother directly, and as a result, the young major was blushing and embarrassed and speechless.

"Lieutenant Colonel, don't do this. I apologize for the inappropriate language used by my subordinates. Wolfland, you are also too careless, you must pay attention in the future. ”

Weierle hurriedly relieved his men from the sidelines.

"Oh, Your Excellency Chief of Staff, don't be so polite, I'm just a little excited at the thought of those soldiers who died in battle, it's so rude."

Xu Jun didn't pay attention to the conversation of his subordinates at all, he raised his head slightly in the face of the battlefield, and breathed deeply in the air that was still filled with a strong smell of sulfur and blood.

"Let's go......"

Xu Jun turned his head and said lightly, and then walked towards the forward position by himself, and the officers hurriedly stopped their discussions and hurriedly followed.

In one corner of the battlefield, a group of soldiers were carrying the bodies of the dead, and the soldiers solemnly separated the entangled soldiers, and then carried the bodies of the German soldiers onto the carriage parked on the side.

The gray military carriage was filled with the corpses of soldiers in gray military uniforms stained with blood, blood continued to flow down from the cracks in the carriage fence, and the ruts of the carriage were already full of blood like two red streams, and a non-commissioned officer stood against the wheel with his face covered.

Xu Jun led the officers slowly towards the carriage, and the group of soldiers had already spotted the officers who came over, but when they saw the face of the officer at the front, they were all stunned. The soldiers couldn't believe that this person would appear here, and everyone immediately put down their work in their hands and stood in place excitedly, and saluted the leader they admired.

Xu Jun raised his hand to the soldiers and saluted, and then walked directly to the sergeant who was leaning against the wheel of the carriage.

"Sergeant...... Sergeant ......"

The soldier on the side whispered a reminder, but the sergeant did not react, he leaned on the wheels with his hands on his face, his shoulders were still shaking, he was crying silently.

"Sergeant, who are you crying for?" Xu Jun asked softly.

"Go away and leave me alone......," the sergeant replied with a whimper.

"It's so presumptuous, you don't know who you're talking to! Attention! Look at you still like an Waffen-SS soldier! Dougan shouted loudly from the sidelines.

"Huh? Yes! Your Excellency, the Führer! ”

The sergeant was startled by Dogan's roar, rubbing his red and swollen eyes and looking up, he jumped like a spring.

"Your Excellency...... Sergeant...... Sergeant Holrent salutes you! ”

The sergeant puffed up his chest and choked out loud.

"Rest, sergeant, who are you crying for."

Xu Jun raised his hand to stop Dogen who wanted to continue to reprimand, and then asked the sergeant softly.

"My comrade-in-arms, Your Excellency. They were all dead, all of them ...... Now I'm the only one left. As he spoke, tears welled up in Holrent's eyes.

"They were all heroes, and they fought valiantly until the last moment for the sake of Germany. Now they are gone, but their will is still there, their spirit is immortal, and it will be inherited by us. This is the mission that those of us who survived must shoulder. ”

Xu Jun bent down and picked up the steel helmet that the sergeant had thrown aside, handed it to him, and then gently patted the soldier's shoulder.

"For the sake of your dead comrades, be strong and continue their unfinished business. Only on the day of victory will those of us have the right to cry! Do you understand? Sergeant Hollent. ”

"Understood, Your Excellency."

Holrent took the helmet and rubbed the blood-stained dirt with his sleeve, then wiped away his tears and put the helmet on his head.

"Sir, please don't blame yourself too much, it's not your fault." Weierle said as he brought Xu Jun a cup of coffee.

"Yes, my Führer, although our losses are great, but after all, we have won the final victory, and without your plan, we may suffer even greater losses, so please stop blaming yourself, you are unfair to yourself like this." Dogen continued.

"Sir, you've done a great job, better than any of us. You will also lead us to continue our great work, so please don't be depressed about this matter, none of us want to see you like this, Germany still needs you to rebuild, everyone is looking forward to you to lead Germany to prosperity. ”

Hans stood straight behind Xu Jun and said loudly.

"This time it was totally my mistake. I will take all the responsibility. Xu Jun pushed away the coffee cup on the table, stood up violently and shouted loudly.

"From the very beginning, I was on adventures, Arras was like that, Dunkerk was like that, and Poland, in Norway, I was taking risks all the time. I have achieved success, and I have achieved remarkable feats that no ordinary person can achieve. But I didn't see what the risks were behind this success. What kind of situation I would have pushed me and my men into if those plans had gone awry, I shudder when I look back on it now. ”

Xu Jun shook his head and continued: "I was really carried away by the previous victories, I was so proud, I took those victories for granted, and I really regarded myself as an invincible genius. I didn't think hard about how much adventure was in my victories, how much luck was in them. I'm not a military genius, I'm just a stupid adventurer.

Now that I had finally drunk the bitter wine I had brewed, I had almost lost myself and my entire legion, and if it weren't for the fact that the French had run out of gas, we might not even have the chance to sit here and drink coffee. That's why I have to seriously examine this stupid habit of myself, and I must not make the same mistake again, especially when I am still carrying the fate of a country.

The thought of the commander's stupidity, which had to be compensated for with the blood of his own men, makes me feel immensely ashamed and remorseful."

"You're not right, at least not entirely, my Führer."

Weirle glanced at the stunned officers.

"Your previous victories do have a lot of adventure in them, but that doesn't mean you're not a great military genius.

At least I know that there will never be a second person in the entire German Army who can come up with your brilliant plan.

You need not deny that your plans are more detailed than we can imagine, and I don't think I can come up with anything in my life that can compare to those of yours.

As a leader, you can't be discouraged by a momentary failure, especially now that we have won. You don't have to feel guilty for the soldiers who died in battle, they died for the revival of Germany, I think they will go to heaven with a smile, they have no regrets.

As you said earlier, those of us who survive must shoulder their expectations in order to meet these warriors who died in battle. ”

Wehrle put down his coffee and continued: "You have more on your shoulders than any of us, and you carry the ideals of all of us.

No one wants to see you like this, you shouldn't be the kind of person who is knocked down by a momentary setback, and this time it can't be said to be a setback, it can only be said to be a lesson for all of us.

It allows us to remind ourselves that every mistake we make as officers costs the lives of our brave soldiers.

When it comes to responsibility, it's not your responsibility alone, and there's no reason for you to take it alone.

The order for General Guderian to lead the tank forces from both flanks to the rear of the French army was an order that I still consider to be the right order, and we all agreed at the time.

It is also understandable to mobilize the paratrooper battalion and the mountain battalion to cooperate with the tank troops, and it is common sense that the tank units cannot attack alone, not to mention that the troops of the two battalions are good at attacking, and there is nothing wrong with transferring them over.

If you are the guide, then we, the staff who did not disagree at the time, should bear the corresponding responsibility, and the main responsibility. ”

"But......" Xu Jun raised his head to tell the difference, but Daogen on the side interjected.

"My Führer, Your Excellency the Chief of Staff, is right. The absence of those two battalions of defense cannot be said to be the main reason for the heavy losses we suffered this time.

The key problem is that this tactic used by the French was indeed not foreseen by all of us, and no one expected that they would use such a barbaric tactic.

In addition, a series of mistakes made by our forward troops, coupled with serious mistakes in the coordination of various units, are the main reasons for our losses.

I think it's time for you to look further, you're not acting like yourself anymore, and your edge won't be wiped out by this small mistake. Now you should be thinking about the higher level, my Führer.

All of us are willing to give our lives for you, for Germany, please take heart, for the sake of Germany, and for those of us who owe allegiance to you, all of us expect from you alone. ”

With the words of encouragement and expectation from his subordinates, Xu Jun's expression slowly freed himself from his frustration, and his body was filled with the same fighting spirit as before.

Wheeler felt the familiar light in Xu Jun's eyes again, and he knew that the young Führer had already overcome that difficulty, at least temporarily.

A leader needs to have the courage to face failure, which may be innate, but more often it needs to be slowly tempered and cultivated, watching the young German savior slowly grow up in front of his eyes, Weierle couldn't help but feel an inexplicable emotion in his heart.

"Your Excellency, the Battle of Dusk has been fully launched, and now it seems that there is nothing more for us to do. What's next for you? ”

Weierle asked respectfully.

"What's next...... Let's go to Paris! ”

Xu Jun tilted his head and thought for a while before replying.

"Paris?"

"Yes, our battle isn't over yet."

After speaking, Xu Jun picked up the cup of coffee from the table and greeted Weierle.

"Our battle has only just begun, Your Excellency my Chief of Staff."

The author informs that I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I'm almost cured now, and although the doctor said that I still need to recuperate, I don't think there's much of a problem with me, so I'll continue writing tomorrow. Tomorrow evening to resume the update, thank you all for your support. 2005/5/18