Early in the morning of September 14, 1944, Alderbourne Barracks.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle broke the silence of the morning light, and the misty sky was suddenly awakened as if it had been suddenly awakened, and a cacophony of voices came out. Gradually, the sound of whistles and passwords converged in Alderbourne Barracks, sweeping the sky over the barracks, and at this time, the clouds on the horizon seemed to struggle, revealing a glimmer of light.

"E-company, assemble!" The voice of the password came, "Front of the line, hurry up guys!" Pars pulled out a small bottle from his side, took a sip of it, and shouted at the GIs.

"This is the nineteenth time!" Miller muttered quietly. He has now lost his initial excitement, and every time he goes back and forth from the airport, it can completely kill a person's passion. There are many more times, but the task is given, and there is no departure at all.

"yes, what's the problem?" Maraki beside him gave him a strange look.

Miller shook his head and said, "No problem, sergeant!" ”

Malachi didn't speak to him again, and began to silently follow the procession. On a road outside the Alderbourne barracks, there was a long bus waiting for it.

"Is this time real?" White, who was sitting next to Parks, asked. He took the initiative to change his position and came to Parks' side just to find out about the operation.

"I'm afraid it's true!" Parks nodded, "This is a big operation, we have to be fully prepared. After Parks finished speaking, he looked at White again and said, "Are you scared?" ”

White smiled: "No, when we used to go on missions together, maybe a little, now I don't think about being afraid, but how we can survive the coming difficult day." ”

"yes, but someone has to get through it!" Parks nodded, then glanced out the window, where the trees on the side of the road shook and sped away. And all this in the morning, with a wind blowing in, made people breathe a little hard, and he suddenly said, "White, we are going to suffer more difficult times than ever, no matter what, don't lose your courage." He didn't look back, just looked out the window.

White looked at Parks, nodded, "I see, so do you!" ”

A winding convoy speeding down the road. The car loaded with airborne troops gradually left the Alderbon barracks. They are like birds that have left the forest, about to fly across the strait, and the sky is full of beautiful umbrella flowers. Then, this is destined again, how gorgeous and tragic will those beautiful umbrella flowers be?

How many of the GIs sitting in the bus will not be able to return here and will be buried forever in a foreign land?

Later in the evening, the car drove into the Montberry assembly area. The barracks of Company E were not far from the Montberry airport, and they could see that planes were constantly taking off and landing from here, and more C-47 transport planes were constantly landing in the air.

The next day, the brothers of each company were briefed by the officers.

"This operation is called Operation Market Garden. It was a larger-scale airborne operation than the Normandy airborne, with a total of three divisions of airborne troops, and this was an airborne landing, unlike the Normandy airborne, and this time we would be completely surprised by the Germans. The first landing will be made only by light anti-aircraft guns, and we will not meet ground resistance! "The goal of the Allies is to occupy the road between Eindhoven and Arnhem so that the two British armoured divisions can move toward Arnhem." Our mission is to liberate Eindhoven and stay there and wait for the tanks to come. ”

"We will go deep into the Netherlands, and intelligence shows that most of the German troops in the Netherlands are old people and children. And we will be surprised, in short, we can say goodbye to the UK. This time, I don't think they're going to cancel the action. "At the time of the briefing, Nickerson made a supplement to the mission.

"The offensive throughout Europe was stopped, and resources were allocated for this operation, which was the plan of General Montgomery, with the support of Eisenhower, and we would be under the command of the British!" Nickerson continued.

"Oh, that's bad news!" Suddenly, there was a wail in the barracks. Obviously, the brothers are not optimistic about fighting against the British [***] team, they always think that they are the best.

Nickerson smiled and said, "The good news is that if this operation is successful, then our tanks will cross the Rhine and enter Germany, which will end the war very quickly, and we will be able to go home before Christmas." ”

"I like it!" Maraki nodded, with a happy face, and said to Goneri, "That's the point!" ”

"Who's to say it isn't?" Goneri smiled as well.

After the briefing was over, the non-commissioned officers dispersed, leaving only a few officers in the company tent, while Winters was still exchanging views with Nickerson and talking quietly.

"I'm sorry!" Parks walked over and said to Winters, "Dick, is this our plan?" ”

Winters looked at Parks, then nodded, "Yes, Lacey." I'm sorry, I've already suggested it to the battalion headquarters, Major Horton appreciates your idea, but he still insists on carrying out the Allied plan. ”

"Dick, you've done your best!" Nickerson also said apologetically to Parks, "We know what you think. But you have to know that our advice will not be taken seriously unless you can produce sufficient evidence that the Germans did have the extraordinary courage and determination to resist the Allies, as you say. ”

"I don't have evidence right now, but we can't always think about winning every time we fight, we have to think about defeat. What happens to us if we fail? What kind of losses would we have suffered if the Germans had been able to resist stubbornly, as I said, have those bureaucrats at the Allied command thought about it? Parks' tone was a little rushed, but he was also a little angry. Now perhaps the entire Allied forces were full of optimism, including those who were about to enter the war. What a tempting and beautiful lie to end the war before Christmas. But it is absolutely possible that the entire Airborne Forces will never recover.

"This leapfrogging attack of the airborne troops, once they are counterattacked by the Germans, will leave them in a situation of isolation, and the losses suffered are absolutely immeasurable, Dick!" Parks is still trying to convince Winters. But he knew what he could do if he convinced Winters. His proposal has already been rejected by the battalion headquarters.

Winters obviously agreed with Parks, but there was nothing he could do. He just looked at Nexen. Nickerson shrugged his shoulders at him and spread his hands out to show helplessness.

Parks sighed helplessly and said: "The 101st Division is the closest division to the British 30th Army, our pressure will be much less than the other two divisions, the British First Airborne Division is the farthest from the 30th Army, they are at the end of this attack, they will capture the Arnhem Bridge, which is the final passage of the Allies and into Germany, but once attacked, they will also be the most stressed." The losses are absolutely immeasurable. I'm doing this out of public interest, no matter how I look at it, I'm not optimistic about this battle! ”

Winters was stunned for a long time before he said to Parks, "I know, I know." Then he muttered for a moment and said, "Well, Parks, write your ideas and write a complete plan, and then give them to me!" ”

"Hasn't the battalion already dismissed it?" Parks couldn't help but ask.

Winters patted his arm and smiled, "I'll find another way!" Major Horton was too rigid in his work. But Colonel Zinke is different, he can at least listen to opinions, and if he's lucky, he might think! ”

Nickerson looked at Winters in surprise and couldn't help but say, "Dick, are you sure you want to do this?" Aren't you afraid that Major Horton will be upset? Even if the plan works, Colonel Zinke will still have an opinion on you. ”

"I know how to do it! Nick! Winters smiled at Nickerson, "I'm measured, don't worry!" ”

Parks nodded, although he knew that Winters's overstepping of the level of reporting might pose some risks, but the risk was worth it, Operation Market Garden, even if the 101st Division was closest to the 30th Army and was under the least pressure, but it also suffered heavy losses. Although Company E suffered relatively small losses, it also suffered dozens of casualties.

"Okay, I'll write a report as soon as possible, and I'll give it to you tonight!" Parks nodded, then saluted Winters. Winters hurriedly returned the salute and watched as Parks turned to leave. I was stunned for a while.

"Are you really going to do that?" Nickerson asked again as he watched Parks leave. He's starting to worry a little about his old friend now, which isn't a good thing after all.

"Yes, it has to be done!" Winters nodded, "Even if things don't go as Parks expected, I'll have to." He is right when he says that we should not think about the consequences of victory, but about the consequences of defeat. ”

"So. Are you going to hand over Parks' plan directly to Colonel Zinke? ”

Winters looked at Nickerson and smiled, "Do you have a better way?" ”

"Nope!" Nickerson shook his head, "But that's not the best way to do it!" ”

"I know, but it's the only way we can think of right now!" Winters nodded, a little helpless but determined.

"I hope you don't do what Parks says!" Winters sighed, then cast his eyes on a large map hanging in the tent in front of him, staring intently, but no longer speaking.

Parks walked out of the tent, and by this time the brothers of Company E had already understood their mission. They, like all the Allied people, were optimistic about the operation. Especially some veterans, after all, ending the war early is a huge temptation for them.

And just like that, on this day, almost everyone seemed excited. And there was no entertainment in the assembly area, and the most they did was start gambling.

On this day, recruit Private Cecil? Pace emerged as the biggest winner. He won about a thousand dollars. This is a huge amount of money, you know, it is worth two years' salaries of the airborne troops. This made the veterans look frustrated, because there were several veterans who had lost all their pockets.

"Well, now let's go and occupy Germany, I'm going to capture more loot to make up for my losses!" After losing the last banknote, Paikanti gritted his teeth and said a cruel word.

(To be continued)