The bumpy day whetted his appetite, and after dinner with the generals, he returned to the headquarters in good spirits. Hoffmann compiles the latest information, while Olge, François, and Guderian gather around the big map with Tatsutian to discuss the situation.

"The Cabinet has approved a loan of 50 million marks to Tsarist Russia, as well as 20 million marks of gratuitous military aid, and it seems that His Majesty the Emperor is determined to support the Agripleni regime!" There seemed to be some displeasure in Hoffman's tone, perhaps because the East Prussian regiment had fought Aglieni many times, and although there were many victories and defeats, many officers and men were still killed in those battles; Perhaps it was because Agrini used deception to defeat the Russian Revolutionary Forces.

"Are you worried that Aglini will bite us back when he gets stronger?" Chen Tian put down the pencil and ruler in his hand, and silently stared at the snow-white wall in front of him for a while, before turning to face Hoffman.

"Russia is like a rotten tree rotten to the roots, and it is difficult for Agrene to become truly powerful alone without completely changing the rotten system. The support of the Russian Revolutionary Party is a powerful double-edged sword, which can force Tsarist Russia to withdraw from the war and prevent Germany from fighting on two fronts for a long time, but it will also be threatened by their revolutionary system, and we in Germany will also be influenced by them to break out into revolution, so I never want to see the Russian Revolutionary Party control the whole of Russia. With Aglini, we can save a lot of trouble! But the Russian Revolutionary Party still has to survive, and we can use them to contain Agrini so that he doesn't develop too strong. ”

Hoffman looked thoughtful, "Then are we going to put Stalin back now?" ”

"Uh......" Chen Tian thought for a moment with his chin propped up, "I think it's better to let him read more of Marx's works with us!" In case this guy turns Russia upside down as soon as he goes back, it won't be fun to accidentally hang up Agliini! ”

"Oh? Is he really that good? In Hoffman's opinion, it is very inconceivable that such a figure as Aglini appeared in Russia, and that seemingly ordinary Stalin would be more powerful than him.

"I'm not sure, but it's better not to take the risk! It's better to deal with Aglini than against a vibrant Russia led by the revolutionary party! When the situation in Russia has stabilized, we will see an opportunity to put Stalin back. ”

Chen Tian said and turned back to the big map, and the current priority was to solve France.

"Is Xia Fei's main force still nowhere to be found? After all, it is a home game, and the geographical advantage is really amazing! François said gloomily.

Olg didn't take his eyes off the map, "Our reconnaissance over the past few days has only found small French troops, and the largest is only a division. The main force of the French army seems to have been hidden, just waiting for us to reveal the flaws in the advance, and then give us a blow to the head! ”

"I think the main thing is that the French plain has a large number of woods, hills, rivers and streams, which provides a good shelter for hundreds of thousands of French troops!" Guderian replied with a serious face.

"Hmmm! By the way, how many French troops are left near Lyon? Chen Tian turned his head again to look at Hoffman not far away.

"Uh...... According to our spy reports, there are less than 50,000 French troops left near Lyon, and most of the French troops that had been massed there have already gone to stop our left-wing group! ”

"Then the French army in Xia Fei's hands will not exceed 500,000 now, it seems that he intends to give us a surprise attack, so that it is possible to restore the decline of France, I think this is also the reason why we were almost not blocked by the French army when we crossed the Loire!"

For the reconnaissance conditions of this era, Chen Tian still feels too backward, and now even if most of the aerial reconnaissance forces are used, Xia Fei's main force still seems to have evaporated.

"If the cavalry conducts ground reconnaissance deep away from the main force, it is easy to be killed by the small force against it, and the results of such reconnaissance can easily interfere with our judgment. It's better to set fire to the forest! François's idea was pretty straightforward.

"There was too much rain in the fall, and we were aiming for a large area of wood!" Olg didn't approve of his approach at all, "Let's pray that the autumn wind will soon blow off all the leaves!" ”

"That's a very creative idea!" Chentian remembered the defoliant of later generations, and large-scale use could find out the enemy army that used the woods as concealment, but unfortunately there was no such technology yet.

"I propose to use the formation of some armored reconnaissance squads, so that a small number of French troops will not pose a threat to them at all, and if they encounter a large number of French troops, they will also have the opportunity to send information back by telegram!" Guderian was really good at finding new ways to do things mechanically.

"You can try! It's a pity that our tanks have a limited range, and if we take our tanks out, we will have to carry more fuel cans on the armored vehicles behind, or simply bring fuel supply trucks! The 'stones' have contributed a lot on the battlefield, but unfortunately their non-refueling trips and failure rates are really flattering! ”

Chen Tian thought about it, it seems that armored vehicles are not much better, but these two problems of tanks are more prominent, which makes most people not notice. In fact, in the more complete armored reconnaissance team, I am afraid that one or two cars of repairmen will be added.

"Actually, I think it is possible to let the airship stay in one place for a long time to observe, so that it will be difficult for those French soldiers who hide as soon as they hear the sound of the plane to be completely invisible!" Olge's proposal was very constructive, and now that most of the airships were in the hands of Hindenburg, it was not too troublesome to implement, and everyone expressed their approval.

While people were talking about airships, Hoffman received reports of an attack on the airship from the 5th Army, and he walked quickly to the crowd.

"Gentlemen, one of our airships has just been attacked by French fighters, the battle lasted almost ten minutes, that airship was hit with fire and crashed, according to reports from other airships and fighter units rushing to reinforce them, the members of the airship have parachuted out. All four French fighters were then shot down by our fighters, and our fighters were also injured and wounded, and the pilot of the downed plane parachuted to escape. All this happened about 60 kilometers to the southwest of us! ”

"Oh?" Everyone's eyes widened.

"Because it's relatively close to our Army, the 5th Army wants us to send troops to rescue the crews and fighter pilots of those airships." Hoffman said as he handed the report to Tatsuten.

Chen Tian took a skimming look at it, Hoffman had already summarized the main content, and the rest were some descriptions of the battle process.

"The French seem to have mastered the Shooting Synchronisation Coordinator technique, and if nothing else, they will be putting the remaining planes into battle recently, which adds a little more weight to Xiafei's counterattack. It was too much work to fight the airship alone, so I suggested that some large airships be modified, with one or two fighters attached to the pods, and if they encountered an enemy, the planes would be lowered and the planes would return to the airfield on their own after the battle. General Hoffmann, please convey these suggestions of mine to General Hindenburg, in the hope that they will be of help to his airship troops! Colonel Guderian, this time let's assemble a few armored reconnaissance teams you mentioned to rescue the crew and pilots! ”

"Yes!" Hoffmann and Guderian then went their separate ways.

An hour later, an armoured reconnaissance team consisting of six tanks, six armoured combat vehicles, six armoured personnel carriers and four trucks specialized in the transportation of bridging tools, fuel and repair parts departed from the 8th Army garrison for a search and rescue mission 60 kilometres south-west. In addition, several reconnaissance teams of the same size will also set off one after another to carry out reconnaissance missions in different areas.

Lieutenant Lontilis's tank company was at the forefront of the armoured reconnaissance team, and he himself was the temporary commander of the reconnaissance team. Lontilis and his company have an illustrious history, they were the first tanks to cross the bridge at the Battle of the Leif River in Poland, and later Lontilis was promoted to lieutenant, and each tanker in the company was awarded an Iron Cross of the Second Degree. After the Eastern Campaign, Lontilis and his tank company were transferred to the newly formed Guderian Tank Division and joined the East Prussian Army in France. In the previous Battle of the Seine, Guderian's armored forces swept through the French positions, and the Lontilis Company also performed well.

This time, his company had the honor of being part of the first armored reconnaissance squad.

Lieutenant Lontilis's "mount" is still the "Stone II" tank, but the number on the body has been painted AG-107, and the Olg Panzer Army Gudry installed the 107th tank of the Panzer Division. At present, there are no specific rules for the numbering of tanks in Germany, and the number of tanks in each army group is different. The other three members of Longtilis' crew were also old faces: Corporal Kyle, the driver, Private Hellishi, who was responsible for loading the shells, and Private Lao, who was responsible for communications and machine gun control.

"Forward!" Rontilis's raised right hand was slowly pointing straight ahead, and he thought it was so handsome that he sometimes even dreamed at night.

Tanks and armored vehicles started one by one, and the rumbling sound of engines disturbed the good dreams of many soldiers nearby. On the winding road, these vehicles with their lights on are like beetles with lanterns crawling along the road. Sentinels on the road made way for Rontilis's armored reconnaissance team, and the sentinels watched them pass in a straight military stance.

Before leaving the German-controlled zone, the convoy was moving at the tank's maximum road speed of 25 km/h. When the convoy reached the last German outpost, Rontilis looked at his watch, and it was 12:01 a.m.

"Sir, please show your ID and passage documents!"

Since it was outside German control, the post was heavily guarded, with three tanks and four armoured vehicles parked next to it, in addition to the many soldiers and machine guns. The officer on duty at the checkpoint carefully checked the documents and passage papers handed to him by Longiris, and then gave a military salute and ordered him to be released.

"Good luck buddy! If you see the Frenchmen who are running faster than rabbits, greet them for us! The commander of a tank next to the checkpoint laughed and shouted at Lontilis, and his men laughed as well. The armored and aviation units of the East Prussian Regiment were non-traditional units, and most of their officers at all levels were promoted from recruits and cadet graduates, so the unsmiling culture of the traditional German army was not strong in them.

"We will definitely send your greetings, postage 10 marks, thank you!" The commander of a tank in the back responded in the same tone, and the soldiers' mood seemed to be much lighter.

After leaving the German-controlled area, the road conditions did not become terrible all at once, and the French soldiers did not have the time and interest to dig every stretch of French highway to the bottom, but they still carried forward the style of bombing if there is a bridge. Wherever there were streams and ditches, the reconnaissance convoys had to stop, either pass directly through the shallow and hard streams, or use the tools of the trucks behind them to temporarily build bridges, and then the only way to do this was to make a detour.

As they moved farther and farther away from the German-controlled zone, the spirits of the German officers and men, including Longtilis, began to tense. The world was so calm and terrible that even the moon had hidden in the clouds, all the lights of the convoy had been extinguished, the speed of movement had slowed down cautiously, and the only sound on the road was the wheezing of engines and the rumbling of tank tracks on the ground.

The six tanks in the reconnaissance convoy are four in the front and two in the back, sandwiching the other vehicles in the center of the queue, and the muzzles of the first four tanks are pointed on both sides of the road, one left and one right, and they will unceremoniously bombard those uninvited guests if there is any trouble. The soldiers on the armored car did not dare to breathe, their guns and eyes were cautiously staring at the wilderness and woods on both sides of the road, thinking that there might be a large group of French soldiers watching them not far away, and the soldiers couldn't help but clench the weapons in their hands.

At four o'clock in the morning, the team of Lontilis stopped at a broken bridge, the banks of the river looked more than twenty meters wide, and in front of the road was originally a steel bridge, and most of the bridge was already lying in the cool water. While the soldiers went to investigate the river, Lontilis slipped into an armored car behind him and studied the map with the officers inside.

"We started here, we went through here, here and here, and now we're here, yes!" By the light of the flashlight, Rontilis slowly moved his finger across the map.

"It seems that this river is called the Boer River, and it doesn't seem to be famous, I don't know if we can pass it smoothly from below, anyway, it is impossible to build such a long bridge with the tools in our hands." The officer in the armored car said from the side.

"Uh-huh! We're still ...... from where the airship crashed," Rontilis searched for the red cross, and soon found it a short distance on the other side of the river.

"On the opposite bank of the upper river, up to 10 kilometers from here!" The officer next to him prompted.

"Well, looks like we can get there before dawn! Hopefully, our airship pilots and that poor pilot will be able to evade the search of the nearby French before dawn, and it will be much easier for the French to find them after dawn! Rontilis was more optimistic, and he felt that if the French had taken those men away, the operation would be difficult to succeed.

"Lieutenant!" The soldiers who went to inspect the river also got into the armored car, "We have just probed, this section of the river is too narrow, the river is deep and fast, we are afraid to find a more suitable place to cross the river!" ”

Rontilis frowned, the map in his hand did not indicate where the river was deep and where it was shallow.

"I had to go upstream along this river, hoping to find a suitable place to cross the river or build a bridge near the place where the airship had an accident!"

Soon, the armored reconnaissance squad began to move forward again. One by one, they turned off the road and into the wilderness, following the river upstream.

At this time, in a dense wood, Dirk and the others were cordially received by a French general, and they also met the downed German pilot.

"Gentlemen, it is a great honor to meet you here!" The Frenchman said in a slightly smug tone.

The German crew and pilot stood in front of the French general with their chests straight, except for poor Dirk who had to sit on a stretcher. Before entering the general's tent, Dirk carefully observed the surroundings, and in this leafy oak forest hid a large number of French troops, these French tents were covered with oak leaves, or directly used some cloth similar to the environment to build tents, although it was popular, but there was not a trace of cooking smoke rising, and a small number of artillery and horses were properly covered, all of which made it difficult for German aerial reconnaissance to detect them.

"I'm sorry, but we can't entertain you with hot tea or coffee in order not to be discovered by your military planes and airships!" The French general had a cigar in his mouth, an unlit cigar.

After the French translator translated his words into German, the crowd stood there silently.

The French general looked at the men carefully, and then said to Dirk:

"Ensign, you seem to be the highest commander in this group!"

Dirk glanced at the Frenchman, then at the German pilot, and nodded slightly.

"We are an aviation unit attached to the German Army, and we can tell you our rank and name, but I advise you not to try to extract any information about our army from our mouth!"

"No, no, no, second lieutenant, I think you misunderstood me!" The French general stood up, then walked up to Dirk.

"You are now fighting on French soil, and your every move is in our eyes, and I should know more and more details than you do! But there's one thing I don't have......"

Dirk was startled at first, then turned to contempt and disdain, and although he had just graduated from military school, he knew very well what the French meant.

"Since you have a transmitter on your airship, I think you will have a codebook too, am I right?" The French general looked at Dirk with a sinister smile.

"You must have searched the wreckage of the airship! The codebook is already in ashes along with the airship! Dirk replied coldly.

The French looked disappointed, "Oh? What a shame that is! In that case, you will probably have to spend some time in silence in a French prisoner of war camp. Maybe we'll accidentally forget about you, forget to deliver food, forget to deliver water, or even forget how long you should stay! ”

"If you France can last that long!" Dirk replied very calmly.

"Alright! Guards, bring this group down. Lieutenant, if you're too hungry to stand it, or if you're so thirsty that you can't bear it, maybe you'll remember something! We French treat prisoners of war very kindly, don't worry! ”

The very gentlemanly smile on the face of the French general made every German present feel sick, and it was really difficult for them to associate such a French general with the invincible French army of the Napoleonic era.

After a while, a French soldier walked up to the general and whispered a few words. The general was stunned for a moment, and then showed that very gentlemanly smile.

"It's wonderful! Let's put our new weapons to the test! ”