Lynn and Tanze spent two days in this nondescript town after the Allies designated the Daring Kilometres around Nuremberg as a special alert zone, and traffic was largely at a standstill, and people could not move between towns at will, even if they had a car. In forty hours, Christmas Eve 1946 will come as scheduled, an important holiday throughout the Western world. Regardless of the mentality of the people on the other side of the border, across the Channel, and across the ocean, at least in Germany, in Bavaria in the south, the festive atmosphere is still stronger, every house is being cleaned inside and outside the house, and the Allied martial law and the news spread in the taverns do not seem to divert attention. However, it was obviously not enough to have the atmosphere and mood to spend the festival in peace, and in order to prevent the escaped war criminals from "colluding" with the local German residents to carry out an inventory in the towns and villages without success, the Allied command issued a "lockdown order." This means that local residents of Bavaria are not allowed to leave the town without permission. During this special period, the Allies will distribute bread, butter, and milk to the population on a per capita basis. If this order is carried out, the residents will not be able to go to the surrounding mountains and forests to cut down the fir trees used to decorate the Christmas tree, you must know that the modern Christmas tree originated in Germany and gradually became popular around the world, and Christmas without a Christmas tree is worse for them than for smokers to be forced to quit smoking and alcoholics to force them to quit drinking.

A custom that is gradually formed based on cultural beliefs and beautiful visions often has extraordinary spiritual significance in the minds of the people. The sheriff and the reciprocal officer of the town, the unofficial officials who assisted the Allied forces in the management of local affairs, approached Dammel at the checkpoint with the expectation of the people, hoping that the Allied occupation forces would allow them to organize the local population to cut down suitable fir trees nearby. Seeing the two elderly German officials leaving the inspection station with a sad face, Lynn suddenly had a flash of inspiration: the "lockdown" had a great impact on the normal life of the local residents, although it was only temporarily enforced in Bavaria, but it is believed that similar restrictions are common in the occupied areas of the allies, some of them have reduced the quality of life and some directly restrict people's freedom, and the political position of the two sides makes the German people must have dared to be angry at the beginning, and their resistance will be on the rise, It is not until the culmination of the reversal is reached, when people gradually become accustomed to this law, and acquiesce to the reality that cannot be changed, and the resistance gradually weakens until it returns to numb peace. Throughout history, the assimilation of the victorious country to the defeated country is also such a process, so that from the perspective of life change and growth, no nation cannot be conquered, and the key is time.

Fortunately, it has only been a little more than a year since Germany was occupied and partitioned by the Allies, and everything is still possible.

Looking for an opportunity to have no one else, Lynn told Danmore: "For war-torn families, a peaceful Christmas is more important than bread and butter. Sir, your family is also actively preparing for Christmas! ”

After talking to the local sheriff and the registrar, Danmer's face did not look good, and he replied coldly: "No way, since the saboteurs deliberately take advantage of the opportunity to relax our guard near Christmas, and this disappointing situation can only be attributed to their stupidity and conceit!" ”

In the past two days, although the Allied occupation forces have tried to prevent the spread of information, in this era when the means of communication are already very developed, whether or not there is a deliberate act behind it, it is much more difficult to completely cover up such a major event than to cut off the airborne transmission.

If Danmer was able to say that, he could at least see that he was not a man who was a thief.

"From ancient times to the present, ordinary people do not want to see war happen most of the time, but there is no century without war, there is no era without killing, do we have to judge that the people support war and incite war?" Lynn asked rhetorically in a soft tone.

The reason was easy to explain, and Danmer shook his head and said, "But I won't disobey the orders of my superiors because of mere sympathy!" This could have serious consequences, my friend. ”

Listen to Danmer call himself "my friend." Lynn knew that his performance in the past two days had achieved a certain effect, and he pretended to be seriously thinking, and then said with a fluttering eyebrow: "I think we should be able to come up with a way to make everyone have a good Christmas without disobeying the order." ”…,

"Oh? If there's such a perfect solution, I wouldn't mind giving it a try, but is there? Danmer looked at Lynn in disbelief, he hadn't thought about it before, and if it was so easy to think of it, he wouldn't be torn between reason and emotion.

Lynn walked to the door of the inspection station, and the snow had stopped for a while, and although the sky was still overcast, the field of vision had widened a lot.

"If we understand the town area as a place with houses and permanent habitation, the foot of the opposite hill should also belong to this range!"

After a few months in office, Danmer knew more about the German town than Lynn, and he could see at a cursory glance where Lynn was talking about. It is true that various terms have been defined in the development of human society, and towns are basically recognized as settlements between cities and villages in different countries, but no one can delimit its absolute scope with specific quantifiers, and Lynn uses this conceptual non-absolute limitation.

Lynn wasted no time in admonishing: "We can mobilize the people, not every household should have a Christmas tree, but a family or a voluntary neighborhood as a unit, so that only about 50 to 80 fir trees will be needed, all of which will be as small as possible, and a dozen adults with logging experience can do it in a day, and we can transport it by truck for two or three lays, and we will be able to see a beautiful and peaceful town by this time tomorrow." Everyone will be mentally satisfied and emotionally stable, don't you think? ”

"Your idea is reasonable, but I don't have the manpower to look after the lumberjacks all the time - the situation doesn't allow me to take soldiers from important positions." Dimmer faltered a little, and the tone of the latter sentence was clearly for Lynn to find some way to make the idea perfect.

Lynn smiled slyly and said, "I vaguely remember that when I arrived here from the direction of Nuremberg, I passed a sentry post, and there were many small fir trees two or three meters high within a hundred meters around, and there was also a wooden house next to the stream. ”

"It's been abandoned for a long time, and since we've been stationed, it's been a patrol post and a resting place for soldiers." Dimmer argued weakly.

Lynn restrained her smile slightly, so as not to cause disgust to the other party, and at the same time hit the nail on the head: "Then it should be regarded as an area within the town!" ”

Dimmer confronted Lynn and stared at each other: "Sometimes you don't look like a Red Cross worker, like a loving evangelist, or maybe you are a careerist who has accumulated political capital for yourself, and one day we won't be on the opposite side, right?" ”

"There are many similarities between the Red Cross and the church, as for careerists." Lynn completely put away her smile, showed the vicissitudes of the world and worried about the country and the people, and generously stated: "Since the moment I witnessed the devastation of the war, I no longer have any illusions about politics and the military.

In fact, whether it is a soldier or a politician, to put it bluntly, it is for the benefit of one group at the expense of another, and sometimes this sacrifice is tens of thousands of lives. ”

"I don't entirely agree with you." "There is no good or evil in every force, the key is that it is in the hands of the righteous or the evil, and a democratic system can preserve justice and reject evil to the greatest extent." ”

Lynn nodded, "Today is not the time to talk about it, if you allow it, I want to convey this good news to everyone in the town, and let them select a group of reliable lumberjacks as soon as possible." ”

At this point, Danmer no longer disagreed, but added: "Singles or those who have served in the German army are not included." ”

"If we can't get a truck, can you spare one?" Lynn asked as she walked.

"It depends! I can't guarantee it! Dimmer grinned, naturally revealing his sharp little tiger teeth.

In Lynn's impression, people with tiger teeth are often emotional, straightforward, and stubborn. Up to now, the feeling that Dimmer has given him can basically be summed up in these three points. After striking the sheriff and the registrar, they were both surprised and delighted by the news that Lynn had brought. The town was already small and had little time left, so they each gathered the residents to deliberate, and soon decided on a minimum amount of Christmas tree materials and who would cut them, and 17 relatively sturdy adult men would bring back 48 fir trees for the residents, which was quite close to the number Lynn had expected. …,

As a self-styled British officer, Danmer did not break his promise, and he personally waited for the German loggers at the outpost, while Lynn and two unofficial officials were present to help. The number of Allied officers and men stationed at the outpost, most of them British, was at least twice as high as Lynn's initial arrival, but their efforts in spite of the cold were apparently in vain, and after nearly four days, the slowest task force was probably more than a hundred kilometers from Nuremberg. As Christmas was approaching, some of them were still marching in the vast mountains and forests, and some of them had temporarily taken refuge in secret hiding places, and no matter how many troops the Allies had, they could only deploy hundreds of thousands of second-line troops to impose martial law and inventory in southern Germany. Taking advantage of the huge home field advantage, the Imperial Task Force and the personnel they rescued were simply invisible ghosts, and as long as they were not actively exposed, it would be difficult for the Allies to find them out, which was a key consideration for Lynn not to rush into wartime adjustments and deployments.

Lynn's carefully weighed plan of action is subtle, but there is a saying that "a wise man must make a mistake in a thousand thoughts." At this time, on a country farm north of Munich, Reichsal Hermann Goering resembled a raging lion in a zoo, where he was bound not by a cold iron cage, but by a basement that was not only cold but also saw the light of day. The farm's early history is unknown, but in the early twenties it was purchased by a wealthy Jewish businessman who, after the rise of Hitler's regime, was imprisoned and confiscated, and soon became the private property of an SS district captain. The fertile and remote farm was bought by the Reich intelligence services for the purpose of housing and liaison services, and a secret basement was expanded on the basis of the original storage cellar and wine cellar, which was enough to accommodate dozens of people for a long time.

"The Führer is still alive, the Führer is still alive, he must urgently need me, we are unwavering comrades-in-arms, we know each other and trust each other, we are close comrades, he must urgently need me and cannot wait for a moment!"

Dressed in the uniform of an Imperial Marshal found by the intelligence services out of nowhere, Goering paced back and forth in the basement with his stomach puffed, muttering words and occasionally raising his voice confidently and fully. At first, Keitel, Yodel and the others, who were in the same underground shelter, were surprised and excited by the news that the task force had accidentally revealed, but after a while, they were not so excited, except that Goering was extremely excited as if he had been drugged. In fact, after being taken into custody by the Allies, this guy has been gradually weaning from his dependence on ** under the supervision of Allied medical personnel, but this does not seem to improve his irritability, nervousness, and irritable bad temper.

When the task force outside came down in civilian clothes, Goering began to rebuke in a condescending tone: "What about your commander? Let him run to meet me! I can't stay in this dark and cold place any longer, the cause of the empire needs my strength, and the Führer needs my help, and you should escort me to join the Führer as soon as possible. Where is the Führer? Don't be stupid and answer my questions! ”

As always, the task force members could only reply with reluctance to say things like "I'm sorry, we don't know" and "The Allies are under lockdown everywhere, please be patient for your safety", but these prevarications only made Goering even more annoyed, and on several occasions he had already knocked over the food on the table, not only did he not eat himself, but also greatly affected the appetite of others.

"Nervous tension releases collapse disorder." Keitel sarcastically defined his symptoms, and of course his audience was the only yodel, since the rest of his fellow travelers were apparently closer to Goering.

Barely eating, Goering waved his thick arms and danced in the middle of the basement to give a "speech":

"Uprising! Uprising! Only a national uprising can drive out the Yankees, the British, and the French, and we must stand up without hesitation and lead the German people in a nationwide uprising, while they are fighting the Soviets in Eastern Europe, this is the best time for us to revive the Greater German Empire, and if we miss it, we will always be trampled under their feet! ”…,

The speeches were listened to several times along the way, and finally there were doubts among the senior officials of the former Third Reich: "Even if the main forces of the Allies are concentrated on the front lines of the battlefield, and the people stationed in Germany are only second-rate goods, but they have machine guns, artillery, tanks, and planes, and our people are stabbing their hands, where can we get enough weapons?" ”

"We don't have to worry about this, the Allies are fighting in Eastern Europe, Germany has become their rear, as long as we use the uprising to disturb the situation, their army will be finished! The wise and great Führer must have stockpiled a lot of weapons, and an elite combat force assembled on standby, ah, my air force, my air force should have hundreds of planes at its disposal, and we can destroy the Allied airfields from the air, from the ground, and let our imagination run wild. Ah, the Führer may still be worried about how to resist the Soviets after stabbing the Allies in the back, yes, it must be so, hey? Why didn't Achim join us on the team? He must have known how high the chances of us being able to work with the Soviets again were that they needed us to keep the Allies at bay, they were afraid of the Allied air forces, and we had the sharp daggers to cut through the arrows of the Allies. Behold, folks, I will say that the Führer needs me, that I need this head of infinite wisdom! ”

Keitel and Jodel looked at each other with a look of disdain in their eyes, as if to say, "Hope for German revival resting on a fragile cooperative relationship with the Soviets?" Silly! ”

Taking advantage of the reich marshal's breath, Frick whispered to his companion next to him, "Tomorrow is Christmas!" ”

"yes, I thought it was a Christmas with no hope, thank God for giving us hope again." "Hopefully next Christmas we can spend comfortably with our families." ”

At this moment, Goering's spirits were in a state of high spirits, and his hearing was not lost, and he suddenly turned and walked up to Saukel, startling the head of labor in the Third Reich, who was caricatured as a "slave owner".

"No, we should not thank God, but the Führer, whose wisdom and sparkle had preserved the spiritual spark for Germany, and whose return the people all looked forward to." Göring said with a glare.

"That's for sure, there's no doubt about it!" Schuckel hurriedly responded.

After a fuss, Goering finally got tired, and when his fat body sat on the tightrope bed, the screak made others very worried that he would crush the bed directly.

The Reich Marshal lay down in hatred, opened his eyes and muttered: "The Führer needs me, the Führer needs me more than ever, and he did not take my advice to cooperate unilaterally with the Allies, and in retrospect it was indeed the only way to preserve the German political system and military power to the maximum." The situation has changed, the Western Allies have occupied all of Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania, and the Soviets can only turn to us for help, and we need their military assistance......"