"The forward garrison is wiped out?!" Major General Lukaku, who got the news, frowned, and asked the operational staff officer who reported the news in a low tone.

Although Lukaku's forward troops were annihilated by the Germans, there was only one battalion in total. This level of losses was completely bearable for the Belgian 13th Infantry Division, which had previously fought against the Germans. However, what really worried Lukaku was not how many troops he had lost, but the news that the Germans were near the Belgian 13th Division.

Since the appearance of the German army in the Ardennes Forest and the breakthrough of the city of Sedan by a surprise attack, the Allied High Command began to withdraw troops on a large scale in order to preserve its strength.

Everyone can see that this battle is already inevitable for the German army. From the moment the Ardennes area was broken through, where the coalition forces did not deploy the main force to garrison, the three-nation coalition army had already declared defeat. A heavy German attack in an unprepared direction was, in any case, a major military mistake by the Allied High Command.

In the course of this defeat, the only bit of good fortune that Major General Lukaku and his Belgian 13th Division had was that they were positioned relatively far from the front-line theater. This is the biggest reason why Lukaku has been able to keep his troops alive today.

However, in order to cope with the orders of the Allied command to answer the main forces, Lukaku had to advance the front of his troops 13 kilometers in the direction of the German attack, setting up a forward position on a river.

This position was only used by Lukaku from the beginning, and the deployment of troops was not strong, and it was a purely isolated position. Lukaku also did this because he needed to advance the position of the 13th Division closer to the retreating British and French forces, so that he could explain to the Allied High Command.

However, what he didn't expect was this. The forward positions were met by the Germans so quickly, and they quickly fell. Although intelligence showed that it was only German paratroopers that conquered their forward positions, not the feared German Panzer Divisions.

However, since the German paratroopers had already conquered the forward position of the Three Bridges on the bank of the river, it was not long before the German army appeared. From this point of view, the 13th Division's current position, which seems to be at the back, is not so safe. There is a possibility that the Germans will come to the door at any time.

"Commander, this news is true. And I heard that the two French infantry divisions that we were supposed to receive have also been wiped out by the Germans who pursued them. It is estimated that it will not be long before the main forces of our army will encounter this German unit that annihilated 2 French divisions! The combat staff officer said extremely nervously.

Not to mention such a combat staff officer, even their division commander, Major General Lukaku, was on the battlefield for the first time. Since even the French troops, which claim to be the strongest army in the world, could not stop the Germans with two divisions. It is simply a fool's dream that their second-rate Belgian infantry division wants to stop the German army!

"Going to encounter the Germans?!" Hearing the news, most of the officers present were all frightened, and many of them turned pale, and everyone exploded one by one, and began to talk about it.

"Even the French can't beat them, what if we do?!"

"The forward troops have been wiped out, which shows that the Germans are not far from us, and now it's time to prepare!"

"There's no one to support us, so we can't handle it on our own, right?"

When he spoke, everyone's voice trembled a little because of excessive fear.

A month ago, they naively thought that the world's most powerful army belonged to the Belgian allies and to France. But now, that idea has been shattered. Once the first, surpassed by the new enemy, by the German troops who were at war with them.

They don't know if the German army will necessarily replace the French army and become the new strongest army in the world today. But they knew that the French allies, on whom they depended, at least were no longer opponents of the Third Reich.

They also knew that the Belgian army could not even reach half the strength of the French army, let alone compete with the German army, which could not even be defeated by the French army!

"We must retreat." Lukaku lowered his head a little lonely and said: "Although we are very unwilling, we are completely unable to resist the German offensive. If we insist on resisting, we will not be able to achieve a favorable outcome in the battle, and we will only increase casualties. ”

When Lukaku finished speaking, he clearly heard a sigh of relief from within the command. Knowing that there was no need to go to death, every officer breathed a sigh of relief. Although no one spoke of this shameful cowardly thought, the unanimous exhalation of everyone had betrayed their inner thoughts.

"But........" Lukaku's adjutant reminded tremblingly, "how should the coalition high command explain it?" They will never allow our division to retreat. ”

The adjutant also did not want to face the wolf-like German army, nor did he want to lead his troops to a doomed battle. However, he also knew that the Allied High Command would not let this Belgian cannon fodder division slip away. Even if they could buy an extra minute for the British and French troops who fled for their lives, the Allied High Command would not hesitate to sacrifice them, the Belgian second-rate infantry division.

Just to allow the British and French troops to exist for a second longer, the commander-in-chief of the French coalition forces, Gammelin, would have abandoned the Belgian 13th Division, even if it did not serve the overall situation.

The Belgian soldiers had long found out about this.

"Our Belgian army has already paid too much for the benefit of the coalition." Lukaku raised his head again and said word by word: "The Allied High Command has wasted our sacrifices, and it is my responsibility to ensure that the last unit of the Belgian Army does not continue to be consumed meaninglessly." ”

Lukaku looked around, sweeping his gaze over everyone's face.

"This is a war at the level of a world war, our division, which is too important for the Kingdom of Belgium. As Belgium's last formed army, we should have a more important mission to accomplish in the future, rather than throwing our lives here as cannon fodder. ”

Lukaku said this with a cold sweat in his hands.

He was not ready to retreat because he wanted to retain strength for the Kingdom of Belgium, the real reason for his disobedience to the command of the coalition forces was actually very simple, he was afraid of death! I'm also afraid of the hard days of going to a prisoner of war camp!

Lukaku is used to being the commander of a second-rate division, and he also uses his power to do some illegal smuggling transactions on weekdays to make some money and live happily. To be honest, he was not interested in war, in honor.

However, it was he who became the last general in the Belgian Army, leading the last force of Belgium. He doesn't want to fight, and he doesn't want to take on any bullshit responsibilities. Still, the war found him.

Of course, thanks to his passive avoidance of battle, the Belgian 13th Division has not been wiped out until now, and has been at the rear of the battle line.

"As the last Belgian division commander, I can't watch the kingdom's army go to annihilation, and I can't let our division become cannon fodder abandoned by the coalition forces!" The clever Lukaku finally found a high-sounding excuse for himself: "In front of the Germans, the French Admiral Gammelin made a wrong judgment, and I, Lukaku, will lead you out of this trap!" ”