CHAPTER XX

"It's amazing indeed." Nickerson smiled, "Good luck then!" ”

When Parks said goodbye to Winster and returned to the barracks, several of the brothers in the barracks were sitting as if waiting for him, and when they saw him come in, they all looked at him.

"What's going on?" Parks sat down and glanced at his brother,

"Parks, we're leaving tomorrow!" Karber hesitated.

Parks smiled and looked at him, "Is there a problem?" It's no secret anymore, and we're going to walk to Atlanta tomorrow, and you're going to tell us this military secret secretly? Maybe I should have asked Captain Sauber to shoot some gendarmes and arrest you as a spy for the Germans. ”

If it is peaceful, this will obviously cause a burst of laughter from the brothers. But there is no movement today.

"Say, there must be something wrong with you." Parks held out his hands toward them, signaling surrender.

At this time, White stood up and turned to Parks: "Tomorrow's long march will be a great test for us, and God knows why Colonel Zink would come up with such an idea." And the second battalion was selected to complete this task. You know, even the brothers in the middle aren't very confident right now. “

"I know this! What's wrong? Parks shrugged his shoulders, "Is it because we complained about the difficulty, and then Colonel Zinke would have sensed the situation of the people and cancel this march on foot?" Don't be delusional, brothers, don't say I'm just a sergeant, not even Lieutenant Winster would have the idea of convincing Colonel Zink. That's definitely self-defeating. ”

White smiled a little embarrassedly: "Our brains are not broken, how can we let you do such a difficult thing?" Well, I'm just asking you to do me a favor, I heard that you helped Ellie get a massage today? ”

"Yes! So what's that? Parks gave them a strange look, "Unless you're punished by Sauber, don't even think about such a good thing!" ”

White became anxious when he heard this: "No, no, Parks, you know, we've been tired enough these days, and now the whole company knows that Avery has been a little stronger than before he was punished after your massage." ”

Damn Ellie! Parks suddenly felt that this time he was afraid that he had done something bad with good intentions. Looking at the few guys in the barracks, he could only smile bitterly: "Don't look at me, I can only say that I can't help this, gentlemen!" ”

"Oh, don't do that!" White screamed, and everyone else looked disappointed.

"However, I can teach you to massage each other, as long as you do what I ask, the effect should not be bad!" Parks glanced at them, "You can choose for yourself, either I'll go to sleep or you massage each other, there's always something going on." ”

"Okay!" White had to agree, and there was no opposition in the barracks, so it's better to do it than to do it at all!

This is just an episode before departure. Although there is massage, it can't solve the root problem after all, and they don't know much about acupuncture points, just a little bit of fatigue.

Early the next morning, at seven o'clock, the soldiers of the D, E, and F companies of the second battalion of the entire barracks set out with all their suits and weapons on their backs. The whole team marched forward in an orderly manner, with Company E, led by Captain Sauber and Lieutenant Winster, leading the way. They were the vanguard company, which even excited Sauber for a long time, and he thought that in the eyes of Colonel Zinke, he was undoubtedly the best.

By the time he set out, it had become colder, and he did not know what Major Horton was thinking, so he chose a country road, and as it rained and snowed lightly in the afternoon, the road began to become muddy.

"Damn, I feel like I'm out of breath!" Malaki was a mortar man, and the mortar barrel he was carrying was like a mountain, and while he was whispering and complaining, the soles of his feet slipped and fell to the side.

"Beware, Marachi!" A hand grabbed him firmly by the shoulder, then helped him to his feet. Parks was quick and helped him up in time.

"Thank you, Parks!" Malaki nodded gratefully, "When will the road this tell come to an end!" ”

"Stop complaining!" At this time, Gordon whispered from behind, "Watch out for Sauber, he is out of luck when he hears you!" Then fiddling with the heavy machine gun on his shoulder, "Look at me, I won't be lighter than you." ”

Just as a few people were whispering, they heard a "click", someone fell, it was Freud, and then Souber was heard shouting in his loud voice behind him: "Damn, Sergeant Freud Taybert, you coward, you are not the usual training distance now, and you have fallen." Get up, don't help him, let him get up on his own! ”

Tybert got up in a daze, his hands covered in dirt, but he didn't bother to wipe it off, so he hurried back to the group. Now in the team, everyone has a suppressed emotion.

"Look, this is our Captain Sauber! Damn the fascists! White whispered through gritted teeth.

"Shh Parks let out a soft shush, and then Sauber's roar was heard again.

"Who? Who speaks in the ranks? Sauber looked around, but he couldn't see anything, everyone was silent, "I promise, if anyone speaks without permission, I'll let him go, he doesn't deserve the Silver Wing badge." ”

The rain was getting a little heavier, and the muddy path was getting harder and harder, even though there were occasional snowflakes falling and an icy cold wind, but the brothers were already soaking wet.

The march at night was more difficult than during the day. Soldiers continued to fall on the muddy road, even Captain Sauber fell several times, and his straight uniform was already covered with mud and did not look good. He didn't have the strength to tell if the soldiers were talking, or if they had fallen, and someone helped them up. If it weren't for the few times he was carried by someone, I was afraid that it would be difficult to get up from the muddy road.

The sweat-soaked clothes, blowing in the biting cold wind of the night, immediately made people shiver.

"It's hell!" Kaber's tone was a little unbearable.

"Hey, Karber, do you want to rebel? Then you're still muddy against Captain Sauber and Major Horton! I promise they'll let you take the train to Atlanta. Goneri joked beside him.

"Please, Mr. Gonorrhea. I promise it's something your heart wants to do! Parks was smiling in the back.

When Kaber heard this, he suddenly came to his senses, and said unconvinced to Guness: "Mr. gonorrhea, don't talk about throwing mud, you can only think about it, even if you complain loudly in the team, you don't have the courage." ”

"I only complain to Parks because he's my boss, I only complain to my boss, Kaber, just like you complain to me, who told me to be a sergeant now?" "I suppose Parks should complain to Second Lieutenant Compton Barker, and then Buck complains to Lieutenant Winster, and Lieutenant Winster complains to Captain Sauber. Then he paused, "I wish Captain Sober could be a man, and complain to Major Horton instead of being courteous." ”

Immediately, several people around laughed.

The appropriate joke eased the pain of the GIs who were on a difficult long journey. It was not until eleven o'clock in the evening that Major Horton ordered the camp to rest.

By this time, the battalion had marched 45 miles. But the place where Major Horton chose to camp was a small hill, where there were no big trees, no bushes, no shelter from the wind. The temperature dropped to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It was not even possible to use the marching pot, so that the cold and hungry GIs could not eat a hot meal.

"Can you eat something like this?" Malachi looked at the bread with a little butter, and lost his appetite, "I just want to sleep well now." Hey, Mook, help, let's put the tent up. ”

"Okay, but I'll have to wait until I'm done with my bread!" Warren Mook replied, "Malaqi, I think you'd better eat some, or tomorrow will be enough for you, and at this rate, we'll have to take it outside for two days." The most important thing is to conserve your strength! ”

"Okay, okay!" Malaki nibbled on two mouthfuls of bread, but rolled his eyes in choking.

The wind was stronger in the evening, and the snow, which had stopped for a while in the afternoon, suddenly became heavier at night. The temperature had dropped to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and despite the tents, it didn't work.

"Giggles!" White's teeth clanged, and he had wrapped the blanket tightly around him, revealing only a pair of nostrils. Parks shared a tent with him, and although he had a good physique, he was still a little unbearable in such cold weather. But he knew that this situation and the later days of suffering in Bastone were nothing. He didn't plan to help anyone, if the brothers of E Company couldn't even survive this level, how could they survive those difficult nights and nights in Buster in the future?

At 6 o'clock the next morning, the sharp whistle woke up the officers and men of the battalion, and then they found that everything in front of them was covered with a thick layer of frost.

"Damn, my boots and socks are frozen." White cursed, but he soon realized that there were people like him. The GIs had to untie their boots, otherwise their swollen feet would not be able to fit in. Rifles, mortars, and machine guns were all frozen together. And the two-person tent was full of tears, like peanut halva.

"Oh, I wish the weather was colder than this on the German devil's side!" Karber laughed, "Then we can not go to Europe and just freeze them to death!" The brothers laughed.

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