The next day, the First Battalion boarded a train bound for Tunisia.

The train was tossed by the French in order to connect the three French colonies in North Africa and to better manage the ...... Of course, there was also a military aspect to this management, that is, if there was a colonial dispute or rebellion, the French could quickly send troops and supplies there to suppress it.

He was accompanied by a French battalion.

Qin Chuan did not approve of this, because the training of the French battalion had not yet been completed, and they should stay in Algeria to complete the training.

But Colonel Slein put it this way: "Tunisia needs manpower, they can train while building fortifications on the front line!" ”

"What if I don't finish training before the enemy comes?" Qin Chuan asked.

Colonel Slein replied without thinking, "Then let them train while fighting!" ”

It can be seen that Colonel Slein did not care about the life and death of these French soldiers, or it can be said that after the establishment of the Algiers regime in Darlan, the role of the French battalion was not so great.

"Lieutenant!" On the rickety train, Vignette walked up to Qin Chuan and said, "They want me to talk to you!" ”

"Them?"

"Yes!" Winette raised her eyebrows: "They want to know if they have been sent into battle!" ”

Qin Chuan looked back at the French soldiers in the carriage and saw their pale faces, only then did he realize that this was their first time on the battlefield.

Qin Chuan put away the rifle he was probing, handed it to Werner casually, and then stood up and said to the French soldiers: "Yes, you guessed it right, we are going to battle!" ”

"But we're not ready!" A French soldier said: "You told us that there are two months of training!" ”

"We've got a month left on the battlefield!" Qin Chuan replied: "The enemy will not enter Tunisia until a month later, of course, it may be earlier, you must understand that no one can say for sure about the battlefield!" ”

The French soldiers were so uneasy that many of them even began to vomit.

"Lieutenant!" Someone said, "You should give us more time to say goodbye to our families!" ”

"They thought we were still in training camp!"

……

Qin Chuan quietly listened to these complaints and excuses, and then asked, "Are there any other requirements?" ”

The French soldiers fell silent.

"Do you want to inform us of our battle plan so that your family can meet you in Tunisia?"

No one in the French soldiers dared to answer.

"This is the army, this is the war, we are the warriors!" As he spoke, Qin Chuan pulled up a German soldier from his side and said, "Look, our family is in Germany, but we are fighting in North Africa, do we have to complain to our superiors?" ”

There was silence in the carriage, except for the rhythmic clanging of the rails.

"You have to remember one thing!" Qin Chuan continued: "When you put on your military uniform and go to the battlefield, no one will treat you as French, the enemy will not, we will not, you have only one identity like us...... Soldier, got it? ”

"Understood, Lieutenant!"

"Yes, Lieutenant!"

……

When Qin Chuan sat back in his place, the state of the French soldiers was much better.

Qin Chuan can understand what these French soldiers are thinking, they have a double pressure: on the one hand, the pressure of the battlefield, on the other hand, the pressure of identity, they are worried that because they are French, the German army will send them to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

Therefore, Qin Chuan's words were clearly reprimanding them, but secretly telling them that the German soldiers were harder than them and would treat them the same on the battlefield.

But in fact, even Qin Chuan was not sure if this could be achieved.

The train runs all the way to Gafsa...... The distance in a straight line is more than 200 kilometers, and the plane only takes half an hour, but the train runs for a whole day. Of course, this also has something to do with the slow speed of the train at this time.

Gafsa is a city in the central and western part of Tunisia, which can be said to be an important transportation hub, with roads and railways extending in all directions...... This has to do with the fact that Gafsa is a trading station, and the area is rich in fruits such as furs, dates, grapes, olives, citrus, etc., as well as chemical factories and handicrafts such as carpet weaving and felt making. Tunisia's largest apatite mine was also nearby, and merchants needed to transport it to the major ports to sell abroad, so it was natural that there were roads, and railways were built by French colonists to make it easier to plunder Tunisian supplies.

A large part of the Gabes defensive line built by Major General Neumann was to hold the key point of transportation in Gafsa.

Dozens of cars of the 200th Division were waiting outside the railway station, and the soldiers of the First Infantry Corps got into the cars in a very orderly manner as a platoon, and the car soldiers drove south as soon as they stepped on the accelerator.

The car that Qin Chuan was riding in was inserted into three soldiers of the 200th Division who hitched a ride.

A second lieutenant with a scar on his face glanced at the French soldier in the car with some surprise and asked in German: "Which unit are you from?" ”

"They're French!" Qin Chuan replied: "But they can understand English!" ”

"Oh, Frenchman!" The second lieutenant laughed: "I didn't know they were joining our team!" ”

"So now you know!" Qin Chuan's attitude towards the second lieutenant was a little uncomfortable.

The second lieutenant handed Qin Chuan a cigarette and said, "You must be very embarrassed, lieutenant!" ”

"What?" Qin Chuan didn't understand what the second lieutenant said.

"I mean......" The second lieutenant took out a lighter and lit a cigarette for Qin Chuan, and raised his head at the French soldiers: "Teach them to get rid of the habit of surrendering!" ”

A few German soldiers laughed as they spoke.

Qin Chuan didn't laugh, he just replied: "They are my subordinates, second lieutenants, and also your comrades-in-arms!" ”

Several German soldiers quickly suppressed their smiles, then nodded and said, "Sorry, lieutenant!" ”

When the troops reached the high ground, Qin Chuan realized that this was not an isolated phenomenon...... This was not only because the Germans of this era were influenced by Hitler to think that they were better than others, but also because of the poor performance of France in World War II, especially the Maginot Line, which was known as the disgrace.

So when the French battalion walked up to the heights, the German soldiers of the 200th Division all threw strange glances at the French battalion, and some soldiers even whistled at the female soldiers of Vignette.

Vignette was not a master to be messed with, and unceremoniously raised her middle finger at those German soldiers, which provoked a burst of coaxing from the German soldiers.

One of the bold German soldiers chased after him and shouted to Vignette in an indecent gesture: "Hey, ma'am, do you need me to teach you how to shoot?" ”