"And what do you want?" Matthew asked with extreme indifference and contempt.

"I don't want to embarrass you, so return to Königsberg and be a loyal subject of the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor!" Thomas's face was still as cold as ice, and that was his usual expression.

"That's impossible! What His Highness has given me, I will complete it even if I work hard! It's not like some people who actually serve a mediocre guy! Matthew tilted his face to one side dismissively.

Thomas suddenly stopped talking, but looked directly at the battleship ramp behind Matthew, and at this moment the captain tried to let Lisa and the others quietly get on the ship, but Thomas's cold gaze made them stop moving.

"General, please don't let them act rashly! I don't want to see someone die! Thomas returned his gaze to Matthew's face, the two were so close in height that they only had to look at each other when they spoke. Both sides have been trying to overwhelm each other with their eyes and momentum, but they are so familiar that no one will suddenly have a fear of a friend who has been together for more than a decade.

Matthew glanced back, and then said in a consultative tone: "It's cold outside, let Lisa and them go back to the carriage first, so it's okay!" ”

Thomas glanced at the group of people standing near the gangway, and Lisa's face was indeed starting to turn red from the cold.

"Alright! But you'd better not try to play tricks, my sniper doesn't recognize anyone! ”

Matthew gave Thomas a cold look, then turned around and walked over to Lisa to say a few words to Zach Jr. and the captain, and they immediately sent Lisa and the two children back to the carriage. There is a distance of twenty or thirty meters from the gangway to the place where the bullets can be dodged on the battleship, and Matthew knows the awesomeness of the snipers of the Thornbird Legion, this distance is enough for each of them to fire two shots, and there is almost no possibility of 10 snipers missing at the same time, and what is worse is that now he has no idea where the enemy is hiding.

In order to ensure the safety of Lisa and the others, Matthew did not let the captain risk turning off the searchlights.

After this, Matthew walked back to Thomas, and Lisa looked blankly through the glass of the carriage at the two best friends and comrades-in-arms of Chentian, this rather simple woman did not understand the politics and war between men, she was hardly prepared for these things, and Chen Tian did not tell her in advance to avoid this kind wife and mother from worrying too much about this matter.

"Even if we're working for different people!" Matthew pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and put one in his mouth, "It seems that things between us shouldn't involve women and children!" What kind of men are we otherwise? What kind of Imperial soldier? Well? ”

After saying that, Matthew habitually handed the cigarette case to Thomas. Thomas did not refuse, but skillfully took the cigarette from Matthew, and it was indeed a cruel thing for such a close friend and comrade-in-arms to go-for-tat in such a situation.

After lighting their cigarettes, the two of them calmed down a little. After all, Thomas was not wrong in what he said, he was only loyal to the German Empire and Wilhelm II, and not to the shameful traitor.

"We are all soldiers, and it is our duty to defend our country and obey orders!" Thomas's expression was no longer as indifferent as it had been at the beginning, and his white face finally showed a hint of helplessness.

"We are soldiers, and we are generals who have tens of millions of lives in our hands, and we need our own thoughts, not just obey like ordinary privates!" Probably has a relationship with Chentian for more than ten years, Matthew, Ollie and Olg have all developed a character that dares to question, in fact, they can become generals at this age does not completely rely on Chentian's relationship, Ollie is good at tactics, Olge's command quality is comprehensive and calm, Matthew has a very good battlefield reaction ability, and Thomas is a very professional intelligence chief.

"Alas...... Sometimes I envy you that you have chosen the right path after graduating from military school. Since the first day I entered the intelligence room of the General Staff, I am no longer the Thomas I used to be! I'm sorry for hiding it from you, but in fact I obeyed the emperor directly and swore allegiance to him alone! Thomas glanced at the carriage where Lisa and the others were, at least at this time, the situation on this dock was still very stable, and the soldiers brought by Matthew and the officers and men on the cruiser were silently watching this strange scene. Due to the uncertainty of the situation, everyone, including the captain, did not make any further moves, and they stood silently at the port of the gangway to admire the white snowflakes flying in the sky.

"We are all rebels, so are you going to correct us on the spot?" Matthew didn't appreciate Thomas's confessional words, and he asked rhetorically in a sarcastic tone.

"General, you are all meritorious soldiers, as long as you stop here, I don't think the matter will involve you! All His Majesty the Emperor has to do is to eliminate the threat to the throne from His Royal Highness Gigi! Thomas's tone suddenly became kind.

"Can you bear to watch His Highness Jiji, who has made immortal achievements for the empire, be executed because of his merits and identity that threaten the emperor? Would you like to watch that waste prince ascend to the throne of Germany in the near future? Thomas, where is your wisdom? Fools can see who is more suitable to lead us, Your Highness or that waste! That waste will only lead the empire to its downfall! ”

"Shut up!" Thomas abruptly interrupted Matthew's impassioned words, which were not loud but drifted far away in the wind on the empty docks.

The two fell silent for a while, what Matthew said was an indisputable fact, even a miracle doctor could not change Prince's bad character, to be honest, he and Wilhelm II were very mediocre people, they were much worse than the first monarch of the empire.

It took a while for Thomas to speak first, "We are soldiers, and soldiers should not get involved in politics!" ”

"We are soldiers, and we cannot watch the empire fall!" Matthew showed no signs of weakness.

"Joke, the empire is in a good situation now, where did it come from!" Thomas raised his voice.

"If it goes on like this, it will!" Matthew brought his face closer to a dozen centimeters away from Thomas, and the two were even able to see every look in each other's eyes. Matthew's eyes widened, those hazel eyes bloodshot with anger; Thomas's eyes were calm, but there were many things hidden in his blue eyes that were impossible to see.

Thomas did not shy away from Matthew's compelling eyes, "Don't forget the duty of a soldier......

"To hell with those bluffing duties! We will fight for justice! Matthew expressed his excitement with both hands and mouths, and every time he thought of what Chentian had told him about the emperor and the conspiracy, he felt extremely indignant in his heart.

Matthew was a man of integrity, and Thomas used to be.

This time Thomas didn't interrupt Matthew again, which was indeed something that had bothered him for a long time.

"I think Your Majesty the Emperor is also for the stability of the empire!"

"Stability of the Empire? Hum! We won this war for him, and of course the empire is stable! But Thomas, think about it, if it weren't for His Highness's advice, there would have been no Pascalflo air raids; Without the command of His Highness and Yingming, it would have been difficult for the East Prussian Army to annihilate 2 Russian armies so easily, and it is not something you can do to lead a lone army into Poland to fight and achieve a brilliant victory! Thinking about the days when the Legion was trapped in Bialystok, how sure could we have been that defeat if our commander had been the incompetent General of the Prit Maintenance, or the casual general? Once we lose on the Eastern Front, will we still be able to defeat France on the Western Front? Matthew became more and more agitated the more he spoke, and by this time Thomas had become a pure listener, and after all, Thomas was not bad, he was just trapped in that damn oath.

"Well, if the Emperor gets rid of the people who won the war for him in order to keep his throne, and our empire gets so-called stability because of it, then what about the next war?" Matthew said as he took the last puff and tossed the cigarette butt on the ground.

"But having defeated Russia, France, and England, the empire is now invincible! I suppose that in the future there will only be a skirmish war for the colonies, General, and your words seem to be a bit alarmist! Thomas's words were not sufficient, as the head of intelligence in East Prussia and the Bat Legion, he knew even better than Matthew the situation in this world.

France and England could no longer pose a threat to Germany for a long time, but the environment around Germany was not absolutely safe, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself was politically unstable, and after the annexation of Italy, the aging empire was likely to be plagued by civil strife or even civil war; Relations between Russia and Germany were not very stable at the moment, and Russia had suffered a certain amount of damage in the war, but they had an extremely powerful monarch, and it was not impossible for Agligni to start another great war in the future; Earlier, according to Chentian's instructions, Thomas had sent a considerable number of spies to the United States to investigate and infiltrate, and at this time they already had a relatively objective understanding of the economic and industrial strength of the United States, and there was probably only a unified Europe that could confront the United States in the future; As for Japan in the East, its military ambitions were terrible, and according to the German-Japanese agreement, Japan was given priority to attack the British colonies in Southeast Asia, and the country's strength would explode in the next twenty years.

Matthew didn't go any further into this topic, "No matter what, I must send my wife and children away today!" If this can't be done, I won't have the shame to live to see His Highness! ”

Thomas also finished his cigarette, and he threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stepped on it with his foot, "I don't really understand, now that His Highness's war in Britain is going very well, why do you have to send your wife and children away?" ”

Matthew gave Thomas a surprised look, then leaned in to him and whispered, "Thomas, you're not kidding me!" You can come here to stop us, and you don't know why the lady and the child are leaving? ”

"General, I have the honor to tell you that, due to the very stealthy nature of your movements, I only learned an hour ago that you had picked up your lady and child, and I guessed that you would be here, and luckily I guessed right! I don't know why you're leaving, but my duty tells me not to let them aboard! "Don't talk about Thomas, the shadow No. 2, even Matthew doesn't know about Chentian's assassination plan, and the telegram Chentian sent to him just asks him to send Lisa and the children away according to the pre-agreed route. For Chentian, it is of course risky to send Rennie alone to carry out the assassination mission, but due to the existence of Thomas, Chentian has no way to mobilize more people to participate in this operation in order to keep it secret.

Thomas didn't even know that Prince had woken up at the moment, in fact, except for the emperor, empress, crown princess and a very small number of attendants, everyone else thought that Prince was still that useless vegetative person.

Matthew put his hands in his pockets, he straightened his chest and began to talk to Thomas in his usual posture, both faces under the brim of their hats were so young and handsome, the posture and demeanor that used to fascinate the women around them when they got together to chat.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know! However, I believe that His Highness must have a reason for doing so! ”

Matthew thought as he spoke, that is, as long as he killed Thomas and the snipers he brought, then Lisa and the others would still be able to get out of here safely. He glanced up at Thomas, who had been standing in front of him, it was easy to kill this guy, but when he thought of the 10 snipers hiding in the shadows, he had to dismiss this idea.

Perhaps because the two of them were talking too loudly, little Sasha in the carriage suddenly woke up, her little head pressed against the window to watch the snow outside, and soon she found Matthew and Thomas standing outside.

"That's Uncle Thomas!"

Lisa didn't pay attention, and little Sasha twisted the car door and jumped out of the carriage, and the soldiers outside were at a loss for a moment.

"Sasha is coming back!" Lisa shouts from behind, but Sasha runs all the way to Matthew and Thomas.

Out of habit, Thomas naturally squatted down and opened his arms, Xiao Sasha, who didn't know and wouldn't understand what was happening now, threw herself into Thomas's arms without hesitation, because Thomas and Matthew appeared in Chentian's house very frequently, she and Andres were very familiar with these two sturdy handsome guys. Andres seems to prefer to let Matthew hug, while Sasha Jr.'s aesthetic seems to appreciate Thomas more.

"Beautiful little princess, did you wake up?" In front of Xiao Sasha, Thomas, who is usually extremely cold, actually showed a childlike smile.

Sasha giggled, and Matthew stood silently watching them, and Lisa walked over from the carriage.

"Where's the little ladies?" Sasha asked, touching Thomas's slick chin.

"They're all sleeping at home! If Sasha is well-behaved, will I bring them next time? It was probably only in front of the children that Thomas spoke in such a gentle tone.

"Hmmm! Well! Little Sasha rubbed her eyes and then yawned, and these movements can be said to be the cutest for a 4-year-old child.

Lisa walked over to Thomas and stopped, she looked at Thomas in confusion, although he hadn't done anything violent before, the meaning of those words was obvious. Even at this time, Lisa did not feel that Thomas was an abomination.

Seeing Lisa coming, Thomas gently lowered Sasha to the ground and squatted in front of her, "Okay, go back to the carriage with Mommy?" ”

"Hmmm! Uncle's beard doesn't prick people, Dad's beard pierces people! Little Sasha muttered, then took Lisa's hand and walked to the carriage.

Lisa glanced back at Matthew and Thomas, and she didn't say anything, just a sad look in her eyes.

When Lisa and Little Sasha walked into the carriage, Thomas said lightly, "I haven't had time to report this matter to the emperor yet!" ”

"So...... "Matthew was worried at first that Thomas had reported the matter to the Emperor, and that if the Emperor sent a naval ship to intercept it, the matter would become troublesome, and from now on, it seems that Thomas had intended to deal with this incident through his own efforts.

"No, I will not betray my oath, I said that I will only be loyal to the Empire and His Majesty the Emperor!" Thomas's fierce eyes had dimmed a lot. Matthew just nodded slightly, of course he knew what the oath meant to a man, especially a German soldier, and that was even more important than their lives.

"Just now I was wondering why His Highness would send his wife and children away for no reason! Now I finally understand that family is very, very important to him, and no one can hurt him! In order to fundamentally protect his family, he had to do that! Thomas stared at Matthew's eyes, "Only by living can we better protect our family and give them happiness, so he decided to let it go!" If I'm not mistaken, the problem is with the vegetative person! ”

"Rumor has it that a mysterious Oriental doctor is treating Prince?"

"No, that's not a rumor, it's true!" Thomas sighed softly, his expression was flat, and he was actually engaged in a very fierce battle of ideas in his heart.

"Are you saying that if Prince wakes up, then according to the emperor's previous declaration, His Royal Highness's acting crown prince will be naturally abolished, and with Prince as the crown prince, the emperor will be as ruthless as before?" Matthew suddenly came to his senses, and this is actually a very simple truth.

The father and husband who are also in charge, Thomas and Matthew understand Chentian's mood very well at this time.

"I can't break my oath!"

Thomas muttered softly, his expression dark.

Matthew turned his gaze to the darkness behind Thomas, where the warehouse area on the docks was a perfect place to hide snipers, but even during the day, it was extremely difficult to eliminate the threat of snipers.

"Matthew!" For the first time since coming here, Thomas has called Matthew so affectionately, as he has been calling for the past decade or so.

Matthew stared intently at the familiar face, an expression he had never seen before.

"Take care of my family for me!" After Thomas said this, he suddenly looked relieved.

"You ......" Matthew's eyes widened as he saw Thomas slowly pull his pistol out of his pouch.

Matthew's soldiers and officers on board the ship turned their guns on Thomas again, but Matthew raised his right hand to signal them not to shoot.

"Please tell Your Highness that I am extremely honored to have been with him like a brother and sister for so long! Do me one last favor, and don't let our sweet little princess see me like this! Thomas reluctantly looked at the carriage on the other side, and little Sasha's face was looking through the window.

Matthew nodded, then walked over to the carriage and whispered a few words to Lisa, and used his burly body to cover the window of the carriage, while Lisa in the carriage hugged Sasha and Andres tightly.

With that, Thomas turned around and made a strange gesture into the depths of the darkness, and after a few seconds, he did it again, and it was still calm.

After making sure that the snipers had evacuated, Thomas slowly raised his right hand and aimed his gun at his temple, he turned his back to Matthew and the others, no one knew what his expression looked like at the last moment, maybe it was a smile on the corner of his mouth, or maybe it was a tear of affection.

Syllable......

The crisp sound of gunfire echoed across the empty docks, and Thomas shook a few times before falling to the ground, the bright red blood staining a large field of snow, he had not broken his oath, and he could finally atone for his sins.

Lisa and the others quickly boarded the cruiser surrounded by soldiers, while Matthew silently took off his military hat. He stood there for a long time, the first classmate he had lost since the outbreak of the war, and the only one during the war, which he had never imagined.

Towards midnight, the cruiser slowly sailed out of the port of Königsberg for Sweden with Chentian's family and Matthew's family, and a small yacht would arrive to meet them off the coast of Sweden.

After seeing off Lisa and the others, Matthew returned to Königsberg and arranged for Thomas's family to travel abroad through other channels, while secretly gathering the two elite infantry divisions of the East Prussian cluster near Königsberg, and everyone was ready to board the bus at any time.

In the same evening, armed with an approval order from the War Office, the German Expeditionary Force led by Ollie left Turkey by train and returned to Germany. According to the War Department's arrangement, the 8,000 soldiers will go directly to Berlin for a review and then take a half-month leave. Later historians have many different opinions about the arrangement of the War Office, some believe that it was a coincidence, others that it was deliberately arranged, and that the arrival of this unit in Berlin was just the right time, regardless of the reason.

After the end of the war, the new emperor of the German Empire posthumously awarded Thomas a blue Max medal and inscribed a sentence on his tombstone:

This man is loyal to the country and to his soul!