As a diplomat, Lynn made many friends in the Dutch military community in Amsterdam, and although he rarely showed even the slightest military professionalism, he still became speculative friends with some of them with his very sophisticated eye and growing communication skills, and later strengthened his relations through tennis, hunting, and even drag racing. Flipping through his private address book, Lynn easily found the names of the Dutch Royal Guard officers, and it was the weekend when he picked up Sara from Alkmaar, and he visited several Dutch officers of his age in succession, and learned from them about the number of troops stationed in Alkmaar Barracks at this time, equipment structure, etc. Different from the previous troops that undertook the royal honor guard and review, this Royal Guard is a mechanized corps formed by two veteran army units, which belongs to the specifications of a reinforced regiment, because it is equipped with all American-made medium tanks, new self-propelled guns and armored vehicles, and is highly expected by the Dutch high-level, and even called it "the most powerful marine corps in the history of the Netherlands".

Information obtained from outsiders, even outsiders with superficial close relationships, Lynn will carefully screen them. The distance from the Alkmaar barracks to the city of Amsterdam, the size of Amsterdam's central square, and the surrounding traffic suggest that Lynn believed that there was a high probability that the Allied European Command would directly review the troops in the barracks, that the pragmatic Dutch might not hold another parade in Amsterdam, and that the possibility of Allied generals arriving in the Netherlands by train from Poland would be minimized.

In order to get as much information as possible, Lynn went to all the banquets that could be touched, whether official or private, and sometimes it was not surprising that she could catch up with two in a day. Obviously, the high-level visit of the Allied forces to the Netherlands is not a completely independent act; in recent years, not only the United States, Britain, France, and other major allies, but also Sweden, Switzerland, and other major allies, as well as representatives of arms companies, have also been particularly active, and they obviously look at the Dutch people's wallets -- the war of armaments means a surge in the demand for ordnance and equipment, and after all, the United States and Britain have only provided a part of it free of charge, and although the Dutch government's armaments budget has not yet been announced, various versions of the news have already been flying all over the sky, regardless of whether the final result is 200 million or 500 million dollars. All of this contains coveted profits.

The pursuit of profit is not always the goal of businessmen, and the government will also choose the appropriate official behavior for its own considerations. Soon, Germany, which had recently joined the Allied bloc, also sent a special delegation, which was led by the head of the Ordnance Production Division of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Forces, accompanied by commercial representatives and technical experts of famous arms companies such as Krupp and Mauser.

On the day of the delegation's arrival, the German Embassy in the Netherlands naturally hosted a grand dinner for them. Baron Mayne put Lynn in charge of the distribution of invitations and transportation to Amsterdam, so Lynn was not able to meet with the delegation members in the first place. It wasn't until all the important guests arrived at the banquet that Lynn was finally relieved, but when he walked into the banquet hall, he was quickly attracted by a familiar face, the other party had obviously met before, but there was no familiar name on the list, he was ......

The moment they looked at each other, Lynn suddenly remembered that he was not the staff officer Felix he had met in Berlin's Sixth Defense District. Karman? At that time, he led the night soldiers down the sewers through the battle line and returned to his own area, and handed over the captured Soviet colonel to the headquarters of the 6th Defense District, where the colonel was later rescued by the Soviet attacking forces, and Lynn captured the unlucky guy for the second time on the way to rescue his comrades. …,

After more than two years of meeting his colleague back then, Lynn should have been full of emotion, but at this moment he did not forget his current identity, so when the other party pointed his index finger at him in surprise, he stepped forward with the rhythm of an infantry assault and said: "Ha, old man, I didn't expect us to meet again!" Why don't you remember me? I'm Hugo. Horst! We met in Berlin! Is it too long? ”

Lynn winked at the other party as she spoke, her words were so hurried that she completely prevented Carman from speaking, and the sound of her voice only attracted the slightly curious glances of a few people nearby.

"Oh......" Karman shook Lynn's hand in understanding, "I remember, of course I do, how could I forget!" I didn't expect to see you here, what a surprise! ”

"yes, the world is so small! Shouldn't we have a few drinks after a long absence? With that, Lynn led Carman to a place with fewer guests and held up a glass of champagne to cover up: "I'm so sorry, old man, I have no choice but to ...... You know what they did with the SS people at the time, so ......"

Carman and Lynn clinked glasses lightly and whispered, "I can understand that although some people in SS are too extreme, there are also admirable soldiers like you, brother, and I am still your trusted friend." ”

Taking a sip of champagne, Lynn said "thank you" twice, and then he took a good look at Carman, from the embarrassment and tiredness on the battlefield to the current neat military appearance, this Wehrmacht officer showed his dignified appearance and extraordinary bearing, and there was also an extra embellishment on the epaulettes, which meant that he not only transferred from a prisoner of war back to the status of a regular soldier, but also bucked the trend and was promoted to a higher level.

Lynn grinned happily, "It's time to call you Colonel Kaman, where is it?" ”

Kaman will also smile heartily: "The General Staff of the German Defense Forces is still the old profession of a staff officer. So what should you, Mr. Horst, call now? ”

"Second Counsellor of the Provisional Government of Germany at the Embassy of the Netherlands, or simply Mr. Counsellor." Lynn replied.

"So, Mr. Counselor, we've been apart for 28 months, and you look a lot more mature. That's right, Feng. General Notstiz, remember! The commander of the 6th Defense Zone at that time met in an anti-aircraft bunker! Kaman gestured with one hand.

"Uh-huh! I remember, the war situation was urgent, and the general didn't have time to deal with me at all, so he handed over my affairs directly to you to deal with, haha, it feels like something that happened yesterday. Feng. General Notztics ...... "Speaking of this, Lynn suddenly remembered that the first member of the delegation was von Notztiz. Notstiz, it's just that it was a quick glance back then, and now I can't remember it just by looking at the name.

"He is now the chief of ordnance of the General Staff of the Defense Forces, and the leader of the delegation." Carman proudly introduced, then turned his head and searched the crowd.

Lynn knew what he was trying to do, so he stopped, "Well, Colonel, now may not be a good time to talk to the general, and it's best if you explain it to him privately first, lest we encounter the embarrassment we just had." ”

Kaman thought for a moment: "It's okay. ”

"How are you doing? Busy rebuilding the army? Lynn put aside her personal feelings for a moment and asked the insider about the Wehrmacht from the position of the Reich.

"Yes, it's like rebuilding a house in the ruins, there are a lot of things to do, and I didn't even have a clue at the beginning, but now I feel like I lack everything, and the psychological pressure is really great!" Kaman said this like a complaining woman, there is no need for Lynn to ask in detail, he immediately followed by a bamboo tube pouring beans and lamented that although the current size of the German Wehrmacht has expanded to more than one million, only one-third of them are really placed under the command of the German General Staff, and most of them are still auxiliary and supporting forces for the Allies, and they are basically all infantry corps, no tanks, no assault guns, and even a pitiful number of armored vehicles, which are simply cannon fodder in positional attacks. Although the Allied command approved the equipment plan proposed by the German Wehrmacht, it always reasoned that there were too many newly formed American troops, and they themselves were desperately short of equipment. In fact, a year ago, the armament warehouses of the United States and Britain were still full of war materials, but they were generously given to the Soviets during the rout in Eastern Europe, and now at least one-third of the equipment of the Soviet army is captured and repaired Allied goods, and a special assembly line for spare parts has been opened in Siberia. …,

"How's the Air Force?" Lynn asked.

"Several production lines were rebuilt, but materials, funds and energy were tight, at the beginning we could build 20 new planes a month, mainly the D12 type of FW-190, they did not allow us to re-produce jet aircraft, and we did not have ready-made technical equipment, and the other is to recycle and repair the old aircraft of the Allies, Mustang, Lightning, Spitfire, Hurricane or something, because of the lack of maintenance parts, the situation is not satisfactory!" Kaman shook his head helplessly.

"I heard that the situation in the Navy is also bad?"

"Not even a decent warship!" Kaman could only smile wryly, "What about you?" How is life a diplomat? ”

"Eat, drink, dance, sleep." Lynn smiled self-deprecatingly, "It feels depraved!" ”

"Wouldn't it be more depraved to fight a former enemy?" Kaman laughed at himself, and the two clinked glasses again, and then Carman asked, "Do you have any thoughts of going back to the army?" ”

To say no, that must be false. Just listening to Carman talk about everything in the army, how could Lynn not recall the eventful years of the year, he has not forgotten, his childhood dream is to be a general who dominates the field and swallows mountains and rivers. In the past two years, I have been fighting on a new battlefield, but I can't find the feeling I used to have. After hesitating for a long time, Lynn finally shook his head: he hadn't thought of a reason to return to the army.

"Then let's keep in touch from today! Maybe one day we get tired of the work in the staff and apply to be transferred to the diplomatic department as a low-level military attaché, and we will become comrades-in-arms and comrades again. Carman said generously.

"Although we haven't seen each other for more than two years, we have always been comrades-in-arms and comrades with the same dream!" Lynn is looking at Kaman, a soldier who has also withstood the test of war in the most brutal battles, and it is not difficult to understand the deep meaning of "the same dream". But revival was a bloodthirsty adventure for Lynn, and a remnant of thought that could only be buried in the bottom of Kaman's heart—he smiled helplessly, turning his head and sighing sadly.

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