"What!" In the headquarters of the 13th Belgian Division, Major General Lukaku looked at the operational staff officer in front of him who was reporting on the battle situation with a surprised expression: "You say it again? Salz is also lost?! ”

It's useless to say it a few times, saying that a loss is a loss, and the operational staff officer thought helplessly in his heart.

"Yes, Commander. Salz has confirmed the loss, Major Bauer, and they should be completely annihilated. The staff officer paused, and had to repeat the facts as Lukaku requested.

The fall of Salz once again made Lukaku feel the rapid pace of the German attack. He had abandoned the British 3rd Division, commanded by Major General Montgomery, who was supposed to wait for him to respond, and did his best to speed up the retreat.

But Lukaku now seems to be far from fast enough.

Salz was less than 15 kilometers away from the bulk of the 13th Division. A reinforced battalion stationed there was both Lukaku's broken rear force and his early warning unit.

Now that Salz has been lost, it means that the German vanguard and the Belgian 13th Division are less than 15 kilometers apart. This is a dangerous signal, a signal of destruction.

"Damn it!" Lukaku only felt a blow to his head, and he was groggy.

Because of the unauthorized retreat of the British 3rd Division, they had completely offended the Union. Now, the Germans were about to encounter them, and without reinforcements, Lukaku believed that his 13th Division would never win.

It's an absolute confidence, but alas, a belief in failure.

Belgium's own friendly forces can't be counted on, and now the Belgian troops in the encirclement, except for their 13th Division, still retain their structure and strength, and the rest of the troops are all remnants of the defeated generals, and their combat effectiveness is not even comparable to that of the 13th Division, let alone the rescue of the 13th Division.

And the British army, Lukaku is even more afraid to count on it. Not long ago, they refused to take the 3rd Division, which was the commander of the British division Montgomery, and now why should they ask someone else to come to the rescue of their Belgian troops.

The French boss's troops........ Forget it, I heard that they don't have much will to resist now, should they call them over and surrender together?

After thinking about it, Lukaku felt that resistance was already a dead end, and he couldn't insist on such stupidity.

Lukaku walked to the window of the building, which had been requisitioned as a temporary headquarters, and through the window he could see his soldiers, one by two, listless, squatting around the building to guard against the enemy. They say they are on guard, but they don't look like soldiers who are on guard duty at all, but more like a group of walking corpses who have lost their souls.

The reinforced battalion in Salz was already the only unit under Lukaku's command that barely had a low morale. Their demise completely deprived the entire Belgian 13th Division of the last force that could be used.

"Commander, we must get out of here immediately." Lukaku's adjutant said anxiously: "The Germans may come over at any time, and if we don't transfer, maybe we will run into the Germans!" With all due respect, you can see the current state of the troops, and it doesn't look like it can fight at all. If we fight, I'm afraid that one regiment of German troops will be able to completely crush us! ”

Lukaku's mind was racing through various ways to deal with it. However, he quickly rejected his unrealistic proposals.

No matter how you think about it, even from the most optimistic point of view, this time they may already be doomed. The best result is only to leave a large number of people behind, and he will lead the rest of the people to continue to retreat.

But where can you retreat? The German encirclement was shrinking, leaving less and less room for them to dodge. Even if they can escape to the end and abandon batch after batch of broken troops, what role can they play?

"What the hell should I do?!" A cold sweat has broken out on Lukaku's forehead. The general, who led the Belgian 13th Division to dodge all the way to today, finally reached the point of desperation.

"Divisional commander! Hurry up and transfer, it's really too late if you don't leave! The adjutant desperately urged: "Maybe the Germans are already on their way to attack us." Now we will immediately evacuate with the command center and the large troops, and leave one more regiment to take advantage of the advantageous terrain in this area to defend and block, and we can still buy time for evacuation........"

"No, there's no need to retreat." Lukaku shook his head and vetoed the adjutant's opinion: "I'm tired of hiding in Tibet. ”

"Since we are doomed to failure, then we should face all this calmly." Lukaku raised his head and said with a straight face: "Send a report to the army headquarters, just say that the 13th Division has run out of ammunition and food and is powerless to resist." It is not easy to persist to this day. Now, as the military commander of the 13th, Major General Lukaku had no choice but to lead his troops to hand over their weapons to the Germans to protect the lives of his subordinates and avoid unnecessary sacrifices. ”

In fact, Lukaku himself was relieved to say the decision to surrender. He'd been scared for too long, and he felt like he was about to lose his life at any moment these days. Especially after he abandoned the 3rd Division of the British Expeditionary Force, withdrew his troops without authorization, and even escaped without authorization, his heart became even more worried.

Even if the Coalition wins in the end, a military commander like him who deserts his post and abandons friendly forces will probably not end well.

Since there will be no good end if you win, it is better to ........

A shameless thought suddenly popped into Lukaku's mind, and it was out of control at the first moment. Anyway, his desertion has betrayed the Allies, so it is better to further contribute to the defeat of the Allies. When the Allies were all defeated, as one of the hundreds of surrendered officers, Lukaku would not be too miserable.

"Yes, sir." In fact, his adjutant had long lost his fighting spirit and had the idea of surrendering: "I'll go and send a report." ”

"Wait!" As the adjutant turned to leave, Lukaku's voice suddenly sounded again: "Remember to prepare the white flag immediately and find a high position to hang the ........"

With the surrender of the 13th led by Lukaku, the Belgian army lost its last backbone, and the defense line suddenly became precarious and faced collapse at any time.

Immediately after that, King Leopold III of Belgium held a showdown meeting that included the Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to discuss the future of the Belgian kingdom.

At the end of the meeting, Leopold III decided that the victory of the Triple Alliance was hopeless, and in order not to surrender helplessly after a complete defeat, he decided to surrender before the allies, just to win a little favor from the Germans.