Imperial Firmament

Under the bright sun, the small town of Dogo in northeastern Spain is surrounded by nature, tranquility and tranquility. The fierce battle that took place here eight years ago is hard to find here, and the fields are full of bustling scenes of harvest, and men, women and children have joyful smiles on their faces.

Two beeps of a car horn weren't enough to break the good times here, and on a country dirt road, a black Volkswagen Beetle kicked up clouds of dust. This German car from the late 30s became a "star" with its low price and good xìng, and was not only sought after in Germany itself, but also in other European countries, where middle-class and niche families did not want to get one. As a strategic partner of Germany, Spain provided Germany with a lot of basic resources before and during the war, and also became an important transit point for Germany to exchange foreign currency, at the same time, a large number of German goods were exported to Spain as bargain materials, so that the market in this southwestern European country was once flooded with German goods, this situation did not change until the middle and late stages of the war, but after the final defeat and surrender of Germany, the situation was abnormally reversed, because a large number of German equipment arrived in Spain through various channels at the end of the war, After the opening of the new plant, German products made in Spain continued to occupy the main market share, and even some that were rarely seen before, such as optical products from Zeiss, electrical equipment from Siemens, high-end cars from Daimler-Benz, etc・・・・・・

The unexpected black sè beetle stopped in front of the largest tavern in town, and two young men wearing white sè short-sleeved shirts and light gray sè long kù got out of the car and entered the tavern, one of them carrying a small leather travel bag, which was like a salesman's home, but no salesman of any company could match a driver and an assistant. The driver in sunglasses quickly circled the car to the alley next to the tavern and parked it, and then sat in the car despite the heat and sun.

Because it was broad daylight, the tavern was full of people, and although the business sign had been scraped, the two waiters were still cleaning inside. The two young men, dressed in rather formal attire, sat down in a corner by the window, and when the beautiful young hostess came to ask them what they wanted in Spanish, the young man with the bag replied in German: "Two glasses of dark beer in the taste of Herringen!" ”

This wine was not on the list, and the hostess smiled and changed to German: "Sorry, we only have locally brewed oat beer here, white wine and gin are our specialties, and ice whisky is also good, maybe you two ......"

The young man looked up at the innocent hostess, and said in an unquestioning voice, "Then please ask your boss to come over!" ”

The hostess explained embarrassedly: "But we really don't have the kind of dark beer you want." ”

"That's-just-please-your-old-board-come-one-trip!" The young man repeated what he had just said word for word, and it could be seen that he was very dissatisfied with the attitude of the hostess. The brown curly hair and the handkerchief who was casually tied with a handkerchief had eight points of appearance and seven points of figure, and it was estimated that she had never been targeted like this in this man-like tavern, so she said "sorry" very aggrievedly, turned around and walked through the bar and walked inside, leaving two young waiters in charge of cleaning to glance at the young man with curious and unkind eyes.

After a while, a middle-aged man with a goatee walked out of the room, only to see him come to the table of two young men, bow his head and say in German, "Guys, is there anything I can help with?" ”

The young man with the bag didn't see the arrogance just now, and he said calmly: "I heard that you used to travel with us, I don't know why you didn't wash your hands, we didn't come today to ask you for anything, just to ask for your help."

Goatee looked at the young man in front of him again in surprise, and he whispered, "I'm afraid you're looking for the wrong person, although I'm from Germany, I've always been a serious businessman, and the description of washing your hands is used on me......"

"Then I'll just ask you one question." The young man softly interrupted the explanation, and then asked solemnly: "Do you still have a sincere heart for Germany?" ”

The surprise in the goatee's eyes turned into a kind of vigilance, he got up and took a half step back, looked up at the window, and bent down again: "People can change their nationality, they can change their lifestyle, they can even change their beliefs, but they can't change the blood flowing in their bodies. Gentlemen, who does not love their homeland? ”…,

"Then please do us a favor out of love for Germany!" The young man reached out and opened the bag, and with a gentle movement, he took out something from it, it was like a leaf of a ginkgo tree in his hand, and the part that leaked out of his fingers reflected the golden light in the sun, and he stretched out his hand in front of the goatee, and when he unfolded his fingers, the pupils of the goatee dilated instantly, and then in a thought, he quickly grabbed it with his middle hand, as if he had grasped a priceless treasure, lest others take another look.

"Are you crazy?" Goatee asked in a muffled voice in German.

"If we hadn't loved Germany to the point of madness, we wouldn't be here!" The young man replied with a smile that his white face looked like an angel's face in the sun.

As if he had finally made up his mind, Goatee stuffed the thing in his pocket, turned his head and motioned for one of the male waiters to go to the door to star, and then asked in a low voice, "Do you want me to grow seeds?" ”

"Tonight, please gather the German soldiers here, and if you can't tell the difference, bring in German men over 20 and under 50 who can behave reliably, we need a space where they can be undisturbed, and the wine cellar doesn't hurt." The young man said unhurriedly, as if he were giving a task to his subordinates in his office.

Goatee hesitated: "In the name of your motherland, this is by no means a danger to capture us!" ”

"Yes!" The young man did so without thinking, and then joked in turn: "Do you think the two of us plus the driver of the car can arrest so many of you?" If you don't feel at ease, you can send people around the town and bring daggers to us. ”

Goatee put his hand in his pocket, which seemed to be just a man's habit, but his hand was in the pocket where the thing was just placed, as if he was making a weighing that had nothing to do with value.

The young man with his bag turned his head to look out the window and said to his companion: "Behold, what a beautiful scenery this place is, and I miss my hometown infinitely...... I was born in Brüswick, and my father was born in Lorraine – and Lorraine was still flying the German flag! ”

The other young man smiled kindly and did not speak.

"Okay, I'm going to inform everyone, how about the 9 p.m. gathering?" Goatee asked.

"Yes, we'll have a whole night waiting here, from now on, to be exact." "If you don't mind," said the young man with the bag, "please bring us two simple dinners and two beers, a dark beer from Herringen." ”

Perhaps because the other party's emotion resonated, or perhaps moved by this humorous persistence, Goatee gave in: "Well, Heringen's stout is a priceless limited supply that only Germans can enjoy, up to one drink a day!" ”

From this time until the sun went down, the two young men sat quietly in that position for more than two hours, during which they just looked out the window intently except for drinking some mineral water, and the fields at the end of summer were full of natural charm, and the mountains, streams, and wheat fields together formed a beautiful landscape. At dusk, the people returned to the town after a hard day's work, and the men of Europe, regardless of nationality or nationality, had a few sips, and the tavern gradually became lively. Some people speak Spanish, some speak German unscrupulously, and there is no third language. During this time, Goatee did not wander around the tavern, but the two waitresses, in their twenties, whispered to the crowd to the people at the table of men or threes, and they spoke to people who looked like farmers, car drivers and workers, some well-dressed, some scruffy and unkempt, whether they spoke mildly or rudely, and only nodded silently at the words of the young hostess. After that, looking at their watches, looking at their pocket watches, and asking the bar hosts for the time, it was almost 9 o'clock when the people got up one after another, either to pay the bill or to hang the bill, and then staggered out of the main entrance. Two minutes later, a young waitress walked up to the table of two young men and whispered in German, "Please follow me." ”

Under the guidance of this young man, the two young people walked through the bar into the inner room, and walked along a small corridor for more than ten meters, with a steep staircase on the side, and the sound of adults stepping on the stairs can be clearly heard. As they ascended the stairs, someone came up from behind, apparently through the back door of the tavern. …,

After going upstairs, the two were taken to a large room with electric lights on, where more than 20 people were already seated, and the smell of tobacco and alcohol was in the air.

The room seemed to be used to store all sorts of miscellaneous items, barrels, crates, two-legged ladders—the people sat on their own things, burping and talking in low voices, until two young men came in, some of them indifferent, some of them just curious, apparently not knowing what had been called on this time.

After a while, the goatee came in, closed the door with his own hands, and beckoned to the window to pull down the curtains, so that the room was suddenly much hotter.

"I've been entrusted with summoning you." Goatee said, "These two have something to say to everyone." ”

The young man with the bag looked around and said, "I'm Karl from the Imperial Base Camp stationed in the Ministry of Intelligence in Western Europe. Steve, this is my colleague Walls. Enke, we're here on a secret mission, ...... you."

Everyone was surprised by such an opening introduction, and Goatee was a little mentally prepared, but he still felt incredible. With the help of their companions, the young man carrying the bag quickly distributed the small items in the bag to everyone present, and many people felt like they were overcharged when they saw the logo that they once knew and admired.

"Now I would like to know which of you were in the SS, which of you were in the Wehrmacht, which of you were in the Wehrmacht, which of you were in the Reich intelligence, law and order, and, most importantly, ...... Who loves Germany and is willing to give their lives for it! After saying this, the young man with his bag raised his chin and waited for everyone's answer with a haughty gaze, and at this moment, the room was extremely quiet, and almost only the heavy breathing and powerful heartbeat of the people could be heard.