Chapter 303: Occupation and Possession

The morning mist covered the sky, and the mist on the highway came with the roar of cars. From a very faint insect-like voice, it gradually converged into a huge rumbling. The highway trembled slightly. The long line of trucks passed through the fog, showing more and more clearly on the road, like a long snake, crawling on the winding road.

The brothers of Company E will arrive this afternoon in their designated area, the Ruhr mine in Germany. o Airborne divisions will be stationed on the west bank of the Rhine, where they will face the Düssellav region. The 2nd Battalion was to support Stulseberg in the north of the defense zone to Wollingen and other places in the south. To their right was the 8 Airborne Division, which was facing Cologne.

Captain Haliger arranged for the platoons to set up outposts along the Rhine, while the entire 2nd Battalion was scattered in houses in various nearby hamlets. This was the requirement of the division headquarters, in fact, the entire US army has always been like this after entering the German area. They often give German residents notice ten minutes before they want to requisition their houses. And often these German residents are caught off guard.

In these houses, they will invariably have hot and cold water, electric lights, comfortable washrooms and toilet paper, and coal for burning stoves. Webster once wrote about life during this period: "In the Army, it was a great thrill to be able to go back to your own home after being defenced. We open the gates, leaving the hostile darkness behind. The room was covered with anti-aircraft blackout curtains, and the lights flickered. We hung our rifles on coat racks and shook the water off our raincoats. The sound of leisurely chatting comes from the kitchen, making people feel warm and calm. There's a pot of coffee boiling on the stove, so you can drink it if you want. Reece is talking about his London mistress, Jennowick, Hickman, Collett, and Shorty playing blackjack. You can wash your hands in the sink, this is home, we belong here. A couple of good friends, a clean, bright house, a cup of coffee – it's a paradise. ”

The simple reason for this is that in Germany they enjoy material treatment that they do not enjoy in other countries, which makes their impression of Germans very different. Even Webster wondered if the brutality of the Germans, who preached the murder and mistreatment of the Jews, was deliberately exaggerated by the Conquest in order to provoke the anger of the people. However, when he was in the camp later, this impression was completely shattered, and the contrast was so great that he could hardly stand it.

At the same time that E Company was stationed in the defense area, the higher authorities issued an order not to make friendly relations with the citizens of the enemy country. Except on official business, the soldiers were not allowed to talk to any Germans, even children. This absurd command, which is clearly contrary to human nature, cannot be upheld.

And Luz and Paikanti were the ones who had a great grudge against this order. They always try to go to the German village to get some eggs and chickens and stuff like that, and then go back to the German house where they are stationed and cook delicious food, which is the strength of Paikanti. So he values eggs more, and Lutz is not good at this, he likes to talk to the girls in the German village.

But in order not to be seen by the officers that they had violated the anti-goodwill policy, they often left the defense zone miles away and then found a way to exchange material goods with them, or even take their eggs and things that looked valuable in a room where no one was around. The Germans did not show hatred for the American occupation soldiers, they showed their politeness and culture, and were always kind enough to talk to them. This also allows the exchange to go smoothly most of the time.

"Hey, come here, chickens, we have a harvest, and we don't have to exchange yet" In the utility room of a farmhouse, where there are chickens and eggs, Paikanti took off his steel helmet, and then kept taking out eggs from the chicken coop and putting them in, smiling at Lutz, "You catch the chickens, I'll take the eggs, we're doing a big deal now"

"All right, Frank," he said, reaching out to keep the hen, but the hen struggled so hard that he had to stretch his arm far away and put his hand around the hen's neck, "If it struggles again, I promise to shoot it."

While the two were talking, suddenly the clutter turned on, and when the light came in, a young German girl could be seen staring at them with wide eyes and some horror.

"Hi, hello" Lutz greeted the girl with a heaval grin, and then let go of his hand, and the hen fell to the ground and walked away without a trace.

"Damn, you lost our dinner," Paikanti looked at Ruz in annoyance.

The German girl looked flustered, apparently frightened by the two American GIs, and slowly retreated to the door, turned and ran

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," said Lutz, who could not show off his broken German, and hurried towards the girl. But the German girl turned around in horror and ran out of the house. Lutz refused to give up, and ran out of the utility room, leaving only Paikanti, who was filled with a helmet of eggs, and he yelled at Lutz, "George, what are you going to do?" Damn," he said, walking out with his helmet with the egg in his hand, following Luz in the direction he had run.

"Hey, wait a minute, I just want to talk to you" Lutz had chased him out, and then followed the girl to a cowshed, he looked at the girl looking at him with some horror, and took out chocolate from his pocket with a smile on his face, "Chocolate, do you like it?" ”

"Alright, George, don't bother her, let's go" Paikanti watched as Luz held out his hand to him, expressing his displeasure.

"Hey, Frank, leave me alone, you wait for me outside, I'll come out, you know?" Lutz held up a finger at Paikanti, then made a gesture to go out, and then slowly walked towards the German girl who was a little flustered and couldn't help retreating, "Don't like it? What about cigarettes? Love cigarettes? The German girl cautiously snatched Lutz's chocolate from behind her. This suddenly made him even more energetic, and he couldn't help but pull out more things from his pocket, including the allotted pens and chewing gum, and barely handed over the grenades and pistols.

"You idiot, don't think I'll give you an egg" Paikanti looked at Lutz, reluctantly loosened his shoulders, and walked out, in his opinion, it was all stupid. Because it was not the first time that Lutz had done this, he had been talking to every girl he had seen since he entered Germany, whether it was a young girl or a young woman, as long as it was a woman, there was no distinction between beauty, ugliness, fat and thinness, he would take the initiative to talk, but none of them succeeded, but he kept sending out the food and supplies he was rationed. Apparently in the eyes of Paikanti it was a foolish act.

Paikanti walked slowly towards the way back alone, counting the eggs in his helmet and muttering dissatisfied. This time there was nothing to gain. And he looked at the cowshed again, and couldn't help shaking his head, "Wait and see, in five minutes, that fool will come out."

He was right, and in less than five minutes, Lutz walked out of the cowshed in frustration, and suddenly there was a faint red mark on his five fingers on his face, which made him look very depressed, and he touched his cheek and said to Pacondy: "Let's go back, today is enough, the German girl is really spicy"

"It's your own doing" Paikanti glanced at him, a little gloating.

"No, no, don't you see? She's really good-looking. Luz smiled and touched his cheek again, "Hey, man, she's such a baby." Because of this, it's not a piece of chocolate and a pack of chewing gum that can do the trick. ”

"Are you going to come back to her tomorrow?" Paikanti looked at Luz in surprise.

Lutz smiled hesitantly: "Since it's difficult to get it, why don't I shift the target?" Man, she's not the only German girl here? We'll go to another village tomorrow and maybe we'll get something out of it."

"Don't be delusional," Paikanti looked at Luz disdainfully, and the two of them walked towards the camping house. In fact, there are not a few GIs like them, many of them are doing this, and the soldiers collect all kinds of materials in the village when they are not at home, including eggs and chickens. In the town, the officers often occupied the houses of some well-off Germans, and then looted all the valuable things they had not had time to take with them.

Captain Spiel is one of them, and his hobby is to collect all the shiny looking guys. They are then packaged and mailed back home. This includes things like some silverware and crafts. Even Major Winters and Captain Wales are not exempt, this is the general climate of the US military, as long as they do not burn, kill, loot, and do not commit rape and plunder, no one will hold them accountable. It's just that they are much more elegant when they collect things, and they usually give them to the orderlies to pick them up when they see them, and rarely do it themselves.

"Here's for you, silver knife, it seems that the Germans are very good at living." Captain Wales walked into the room, which had been set up as a battalion headquarters, and in the upstairs living room, Major Parks was playing blackjack with Captain Nickerson and Captain Halig and Captain Compton. Wales carried a package in his hand, and he had a silver knife in his hand, and threw it at Parks.

"Oh God, you want to kill me?" Parks took it, then looked at the knife and couldn't help but smile at Wales, who was busy opening it, "It seems that you have gained a lot?" ”

"Yes, do you know where I am today? The home of a German colonel, I saw his picture, even though the woman wanted to keep it, hehe, so she gave me a set of silver cutlery, to be honest, it was very beautiful, I was stunned by these beautiful babies" said including loosening, a bang, a crisp sound, attracting several people at the gaming table to look at him, including the shiny silver cutlery, some with delicate patterns, really very beautiful. This made Captain Spiel can't help but tapped his mouth, looked at Captain Wales and said, "Which one?" Tell us where it is? The Nazi Germans looted I don't know how many of these things, but you can't let them go, Harry, tell us."

Wales smiled and said: "Don't even think about it, whoever finds it is who's, and that home is my first." Don't beat it," said Wales, wrapping the package again and walking towards Satomi's bedroom.

Captain Spiel couldn't help but look over at Major Parks. Parks shrugged his shoulders, then played with the silver knife and said, "Don't look at me like that, Spierre, I can't help it, it's the rule, I can't break it" said that the knife in his hand reflected the light coming in from the window, and there was a cold glow.

The difference between the victor and the loser is that the victor can enjoy the obedience of the losers and take possession of their goods, and can enjoy all the wealth they create. This is war. And now, Parks, they are the victors on German soil