"Long live the Führer!" two Wehrmacht soldiers saluted with MP-44 rifles. With a wave of his hand, Student walked into the room between the two.

In the center of the large and bright hall, Keitel, the commander of Army Group B, was waiting, and he was ordered to promote Student to lieutenant general of the German Airborne Forces and to grant Student the right to meet with the Führer directly. Liszt, the original commander of Army Group B, was transferred to the Eastern Front during the Battle of Poland, where he commanded Army Group D. Now Liszt was the deputy commander-in-chief of the German forces on the Eastern Front, and the commander-in-chief was General Kluger, a good old man who listened to the words of Führer Accardo.

When Student saw Keitel, the expression on his face was angry. He stood upright in front of Keitel and stretched out his right hand: "Long live the Führer!"

"Long live the Führer!" Keitel replied with a straight salute, and then handed over the epaulettes and collar badges symbolizing the rank of lieutenant general to Student, as well as the identity letter from the Supreme Command of the Empire and the letter of appointment: "Congratulations! General Student, your troops are remarkable in the Netherlands, and Army Group B was able to sweep through the Netherlands with your cooperation." ”

"Thank you. Student stretched out his hand and shook Admiral Keitel's hand: "Your 11th Panzer Division arrived in a very timely manner, if you arrive a day late, the consequences will be unimaginable." ”

"You fought very bravely...... I heard that a lot of paratrooper units lost two-thirds of their soldiers. I am very saddened by the news...... "Keitel said as he walked back with Studenter, "but you and I have to admit that the Führer's new tactics have been very successful in the Netherlands. ”

"This success is built on great sacrifices. Student sighed and said, "Do you know why I'm in such a bad mood? I see that there is no news from some units with an entire company of soldiers until now. ”

"We are soldiers, General Student. Keitel folded his hands and said as he walked forward: "You should understand better than I do that you have become a general because you can send the Führer's airborne troops wherever the Führer wants them to go." Loss...... Although huge. But compared to the results, it was worth it. ”

"Worth it?" asked Student for a moment, then glanced at Keitel.

"It's worth it!" replied Keitel, "to have my troops encircle Rotterdam in four days, and to seal the passage of the Anglo-French army from Belgium to Holland in the southwest, it is worth it!"

"With more than 2,700 lives, it's really not cheap to call this evaluation. Student said self-deprecatingly, "I stuffed them into the JU-52 transport plane, and then transported them to hell and kicked them off the plane." ”

"Two thousand seven hundred, counting my army, we lost about 6,100 soldiers in four days......" Keitel stopped and looked at Student, "Do you think that only paratroopers are fighting?"

"I'm sorry! That's not what I meant. Student apologized with some embarrassment.

"It's not your fault, we all love our subordinates, and that's a good sign. Keitel smiled and said to Studentt, "But do you know how long it took us to walk through the muddy land of Holland in the First World War, and how much we sacrificed?"

"These are all victories brought to us by the Führer's pioneering spirit. "Stud mentions Accardo with reverence.

"You're wrong again, General Studenter. Keitel laughed: "It was you who brought victory to Germany, and the Führer brought paratroopers to Germany." ”

When Student was promoted to lieutenant general, the Wehrmacht General Headquarters ordered the expansion of the German paratroopers from 3 divisions to 12, and although the plan was very long, the presence of paratroopers in the Netherlands made the generals want to have more paratroopers to fight. These Wehrmacht generals are still obsessed with the rapid advance of the airborne forces to support the armored forces - they hope that one day the German infantry will be able to match the speed of the paratroopers.

As a result of this program, the more than 10,000 paratroopers who are still on Dutch soil have been promoted: all soldiers have been promoted to the rank of first class, and most of the soldiers who have achieved combat or are good commanders have been promoted.

"I heard you're going back to Stone Castle?" Keitel handed Stuart a glass of good wine he found in Holland, "So anxious to go back?"

"I had to rush back and report the losses of the paratroopers to the Führer. At least I don't think the German paratroopers can afford to engage in the next war on such a large scale. Rather than using several divisions of paratroopers in one go, I think it is more in line with the characteristics of paratroopers to use divisional units alone for airdrop attacks. Student took a sip of his wine and said sincerely.

"I do think that if the Führer insists on using paratroopers in this way, then you might as well listen to his thoughts. Keitel smiled and said, "Compared with other German leaders, the Führer knows about military affairs." This is very unfortunate and fortunate for us. ”

He sighed and said: "Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, the halo of the first person in the German military will not fall on our heads." But we are very fortunate that the Führer has helped us to do so many things and made our actions so easy. ”

"You're right! I'm sure the Führer will always be right!" Student lowered his glass: "It's getting late, I'm going to catch a plane." He said hello to Keitel and rushed to Valhavin Airport in his car.

The car stopped at the edge of the airport, and Student got out of the car and watched as the paratroopers waited to board the plane on the yellow lawn of the airport and snow. He walked over with the guards and stopped next to a paratrooper who was smoking.

"Where are you fighting?" said Student with a smile.

"Long live the Führer!" replied the paratrooper with a salute, "I am fighting near a village southwest of Williams Bridge. ”

"Oh?" Student, who had asked casually, suddenly became interested, knowing that there was a platoon of soldiers there who held their ground, and did not take a step back in the face of ten times his own strength.

"You were brave and did not take a step back in the face of the French tanks. Student patted the soldier on the shoulder and encouraged.

"How can we not retreat?" the soldier scratched his head embarrassedly, "Isn't it stupid not to run? we must retreat, trick them into our ambush, and fire from all sides." ”

Student was embarrassed, and if he talked about front-line combat experience, he estimated that he would definitely not be the opponent of these soldiers. So he stretched out his hand, shook hands with the soldier, and said sincerely, "I can't compare to you in battle." ”

He swept his gaze over his soldiers, looked at their young faces with smiles, and nodded in satisfaction. But soon he saw a sight that saddened him: one paratrooper had bandages on his face, and another soldier had bandages on his arms. Only then did he realize that if this unit was a squad, there were obviously many more people, but if it was judged by a platoon, it was not enough.

"What about your commander?" asked Studenter.

"Hey, Platoon Commander, General is looking for you!" the soldier who shook the general's hand shouted back, and he seemed to like his boss very much, at least he called the platoon commander in a much higher tone than he shouted Long live the Führer.

A young man with an MP-44 assault rifle on his shoulder, a steel helmet covered with camouflage nets, looked a little old. He still has some scratches on his neck and face, and it looks like he's been having a very good time these days.

The young man walked up to Student, stood upright, stretched out his right hand and saluted: "Long live the Führer! Borol, second lieutenant of the 1st Company, 1st Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Regiment of the 1st Parachute Division, salutes you." ”

Studen replied with a salute before he spoke: "You have a three-day vacation when you go back, and then you will be replenished with new soldiers, and I hope you can pass on your valuable combat experience to your new men." ”

"General, there is a man who sues me that we have come here thousands of miles away, struggling in the sea of fire, surviving under bullets, not for revenge, not for the sake of expanding the territory, nor for any kind of Führer...... You know it's hard to say that. Borol sniffled and continued: "He told me that we were just ordered to come here and try to survive. ”

"He has a pockmarked face, and he doesn't look good at all. But I now understand what he meant. Borol smiled lightly: "I will live as long as I can." ”

Nodding, Stud took out a beautifully made lighter from his pocket and handed it to Borrore: "Smoke less, it's not good for your health...... I hope you can live and live well. ”

Then he left with some wolf bèi, as if to hide from something. But Borol stopped him: "General, I have a request. ”

"I'll try to be satisfied. Student paused, turned around and immediately agreed.

"Can you show the Führer the badges of the fallen soldiers?" Borol's eyes were full of expectation: "They fought for the Führer, gave their lives for their oath - but most of them have not yet met their Führer." ”

Student was stunned for a moment, then pursed the corners of his mouth and nodded vigorously. He called his lieutenant and whispered something in the major's ear, and the major ran off to the plane in the distance. The wounded were being transported home, and there was a whole bag of identification tags piled up on the plane.

"I'll bring them to the Führer. Steudent said to Borrol: "This is the glory they deserve. ”

Glory, yes, poor lowly glory...... Borol looked up and watched as the Ju-52 transport plane in which the general was flying into the sky, converging the four FW-190D fighters escorting under the white clouds in the distance, disappearing into the sky.

He dragged his not too heavy luggage, followed the soldiers in front step by step, climbed into the familiar Ju-52 transport plane, leaned against the cabin wall and fell asleep.