Episode 72 First Contact

Beautiful Aachen! Quaint Aachen!

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiuqiu galloped in the forest outside Aachen City, the only one who couldn't ride a horse here was Xiang Xiaoqiang, he held the horse's belly tightly, lowered his head, hugged the horse's neck desperately, his heart was about to jump out, only more than 30 kilometers per hour, he felt like a gallop. Qiuqiu was accompanied by the reins, laughing so hard that he couldn't straighten his waist.

Military schools in this era all had equestrian lessons. Qiuqiu even in the Naval Academy, he took it out of interest. Now I can finally show off in front of my lover.

In the early spring of April, the outside of the ancient city of Aachen is particularly beautiful. Behind you are steeped churches and old castles, and in the distance are surrounded by mountains. The large forest stretches up to the hillside, and the meadows in the forest are dotted with wildflowers, as if someone has sprinkled a handful of pearls on a green blanket. The wildflowers are tall, and the horse's legs are hidden in them.

Qiuqiu grabbed the reins, the horse neighed, and the two front hooves were lifted high and stepped on the ground. The horse under Xiang Xiaoqiang's crotch also listened, nodded and leaned over, and the two horses came together, grinding their ears and temples.

She took a deep breath of the scent of the earthy scent of the forest, and felt like her whole body was melting.

"I said Qiuqiu......" Xiang Xiaoqiang moaned palely, "Let's stop playing like this, okay......"

"Hmm."

Qiu Yun happily walked across the horse, stretched out his arms around Xiang Xiaoqiang's neck, and kissed him lightly on the face. Then, as if he suddenly remembered, he glanced behind him shyly.

The two guards in the back were very interested, not only kept a distance of dozens of meters, but also turned the horse's head, looked in other directions, and pretended to smoke and talk.

……

They arrived in Cologne at six o'clock last evening, and then took another two-hour shuttle bus ride from Cologne to the ancient mountain city of Aachen. The group stayed at the best hotel in Aachen, the Duke of Golf Spa Hotel. It is an eighteenth-century building built directly on the remains of the thermal baths of Ancient Rome and retains much of the style of the Roman period. Aachen is written aachen in German, and according to legend, the name evolved from the Frankish word aa. Hot springs are to Aachen what cigars are to Havana and wine to Bordeaux.

That night, all members of Xiang Xiaoqiang's delegation enjoyed the prestigious Aachen Hot Springs. In the hot spring pools between the marble columns, the sulphurous water is rusty yellow, steaming with a slightly pungent smell. The body was soaked in, only the head was exposed, and at that moment, almost all the joints and meridians of the whole body were relaxed, and the wonderful feeling was indescribable, and I wanted to make people shout loudly.

On a marble pedestal in the center of the bath, a large bronze fish is spewing water from the spring. The marble lions around the bath also open their mouths and spit steaming spring water into the pool. Xiang Xiaoqiang leaned under the lion's mouth and let the spring water pour down from the top of his head, which was very happy.

Aki also enjoyed the wonderful taste of the hot spring in the small bath next door for ladies.

After a tiring day's journey, both of them slept early at night. After soaking in the hot springs, the blood vessels all over the body seem to be smooth, and the quality of sleep is very good. Usually such marble buildings would be cold, but there is a fireplace in every room, and the high-quality charcoal in it burns all night, completely driving away the gloomy coldness of the stone building.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang rode on the horse, and gradually became familiar with it, Qiu Yu taught him some skills to control the horse, and Xiang Xiaoqiang now found that once the tension was eliminated, he could also make the horse obedient according to his wishes.

In the morning, all kinds of birds in the forest are chirping, which is very pleasant. I can't say that the air is good.

This is the westernmost point of Germany, only a kilometre or two from the border between France and Belgium. What makes Xiang Xiaoqiang very relieved is that there are not many traces of Nazis in Aachen. Except for the town hall, there is no large blood red hanging there? Word flags. In Bremen, such flags can be seen everywhere.

Except, of course, the usual sign everywhere that says "Juden .com".

Xiang Xiaoqiang did not like the Nazis, which may not be so fashionable in later generations. It wasn't that he hated aggression, or that he sympathized with the Jews, but that he knew deep down what the Nazi regime was all about. On the surface, it's cool and exciting, but in essence, the Nazi regime and the Soviet regime, the Manchu regime, and decades later, the Khmer Rouge, the Taliban, and so on, are all the same thing.

"What do you think?"

Qiu Yun looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang as if he was contemplative, and couldn't help but smile and ask.

"Germany is so beautiful...... Xiang Xiaoqiang took a deep breath and said with a smile, "Germans are also an excellent nation. ”

"Hey," Qiu Yu smiled, "how do you look like a Nazi!" ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled:

"Nazis are not Nazis, Germans are a very good nation."

There was a burst of laughter in the distance, accompanied by the singing of a chorus. The two followed the prestige, and on the hillside below, a group of young men and girls climbed up. They were all about sixteen or seventeen years old, laughing and singing, the boys in beige shirts and black shorts, the girls in white shirts and blue skirts, all wearing heavy military boots and carrying heavy bags, their faces and arms were red and panting, and they rushed up in a hurry.

As they passed by, the boys and girls looked curiously at the Asian men and women on horseback, and several of the boys shouted at them in German. When they could not hear an answer, they laughed and continued their journey up the mountain.

Qiu Yun was very curious and asked Xiang Xiaoqiang:

"Xiaoqiang, what are these children doing? It doesn't look like a student, it doesn't look like an army. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang watched them, listened to the fluttering singing, and said with a smile:

"They were members of the Hitler Youth and came out to camp and train."

This was Xiang Xiaoqiang's first close encounter with the Hitler Youth. He felt that these members of the Hitler Youth were not the image of the evil teenagers in later films. In fact, the Hitler Youth is a kind of organization that all young people must join, just like the Young Pioneers and the Komsomol in later generations. It's just a group of ordinary boys and girls.

Nazi Germany was very successful in educating and training the younger generation. Far more successful than Britain and France. A few years later, it was common to see scenes on the Western Front: on the road, German troops and British and French prisoners of war were marching in opposite directions. The former has a dark complexion, a straight posture, full of sunlight, and adequate nutrition; The latter's chest is collapsed, his shoulders are slanted, his face is pale, and his teeth are rotten.

……

The sound of horses' hooves gradually came, and the two looked back, dozens of meters away in the woods, two horses galloped over quickly, and the two knights on it lowered their heads and clamped the horse's belly.

The two guards on one side quickly rode over and guarded in front of Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiuqiu, staring at the two horses whistling by.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiuqiu praised at the same time.

Qiu Yu shouted "good", and shouted "good" to Xiaoqiang.

Probably hearing this Anglo-German "good", one of the knights had already run out of a few dozen meters and looked back. He immediately pulled the reins, and the horse under his crotch neighed, and stood tall. He shouted to his companion in the distance, then turned around and rode his horse towards Xiaoqiang, ran closer, and shouted with a smile:

"Hello! Toward! ”

This sentence, Xiang Xiaoqiang, Qiu Yun, and the two guards all recognized it, this person is Alfred Krupp!

Seeing an old acquaintance, Qiu Yu first greeted him excitedly, waved his hand and smiled:

"Hello! Alfred! ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang's face was also full of smiles, but what he thought in his heart was: Why is it so coincidental? He's also in Aachen? This eighty percent is another well-arranged "coincidence".

The German authorities finally used him for their first contact.

At this moment, Alfred's companion, who had already run away, galloped back on horseback. Both men were dressed in canvas hunting suits, carrying double-barreled shotguns on their shoulders, and carrying canvas bags, water bottles, and some well-known hunting equipment on their horses' buttocks.

"Mr. Xiang, Mrs. Xiang, I have come to introduce you," Alfred smiled and pointed to his companion as the guard translated, "This is my friend, Reinhard. Reinhard, this is what I often tell you about, General Xiang Xiaoqiang, and this is Mrs. Xiang. ”

This Reinhard was also very young, he looked to be twenty** years old, with a slender figure, a handsome face, a high nose, a thin chin, and blond hair under the canvas hat. He looked very educated, owed a debt on the horse, smiled politely, stretched out his hand and shook hands with Xiang Xiaoqiang, and then when he shook hands with Qiu Yun, he held up the back of her hand, bent down, and kissed gently.

"Lord and Madame," Reinhard smiled, not calling Xiang Xiaoqiang a general, but rather a knighthood, "it is one of the greatest privileges of my life to be acquainted with you. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang listened to the translation, smiled, and was about to be modest, Reinhard continued to smile and said:

"At the same time, allow me to say on behalf of Germany: it is also one of the greatest honors of the Third Reich to get acquainted with the Ming Dynasty."

He smiled and waited for the guard to finish translating, then continued:

"Therefore, Lord and Madame, forget the occasional unpleasantness that came upon you when you first set foot on this land. I assure you, that is by no means the hospitality that has always been present in this land. That's just because of a handful of extremely stupid people doing extremely stupid things. If this has affected the mood of the Earl and the Lady, I apologize to you on behalf of the land. ”

Reinhard said, leaning deeply on his horse again.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and Qiuqiu both looked at him a little blankly. Qiu Yu seemed to be captured by his chic and elegant demeanor. And Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at his face: a high straight nose, a long face, and deep-set eye sockets, how he looked like a Jew.

Little Krupp was with a Jew and called him a friend?

In Germany now, there are still such awesome Jews? Apologize nonchalantly on behalf of Germany, and dare to call those Gestapo on the train "a handful of extremely stupid people"? Now in Germany, even pure-blooded Aryans would not dare to say that about the Gestapo, let alone a Jew?

What is this Jew doing?