The 5th Light Cavalry Division was part of the 10th Army Corps under the 2nd Army, which was located on the left flank of the entire army group and was responsible for the defense of the area from Sedang to Ardennes. Against the backdrop of a great situation, Charlemagne had a strong confidence that the Wehrmacht would never again be able to make a decent counterattack, let alone choose Sedang as the location of the counterattack. On the 7th of the month, three days before the Defence Army launched its attack, the commander of the group army, General Anzire, still did not take someone's worried exhortations seriously, and replied impatiently: "I do not think that the sharp-eared ghost beast is considering the possibility of launching an attack in the Sedang area." ”

Perhaps this general cannot represent the entire royal army, but his speech is definitely the voice of the vast majority of Charlemagne's army red deer.

The war is about to be won, isn't it? Although there are still some difficulties, the pointy-eared ghost animals have become lost dogs, don't you see that they don't even dare to fight back, and they are defeated all the way?

Since the form is so good, what reason is there for leaving the elite soldiers in the rear far from the front line? A place like Sedang, which can never become a battlefield, should be left to the old, weak, sick and disabled for rest and vacation, and the right should be used to the fullest.

Therefore, it is natural that the Second Army is weak.

By the time of the 10th of the Lunar Campaign, the army group had five divisions, two colonial divisions (the 3rd Moroccan Division, the 3rd Genoese Division), two second-rate infantry divisions (the 55th and 71st Infantry Divisions), and the 5th Hussar Division, the most effective of the group, was deployed on the far left flank, that is, the Ardennes-Sedi section.

This arrangement does not mean that Admiral Anzire has wavered in his heart and has scruples about the prophecy of a certain holy maiden, so he has made the following adjustments just in case. On the contrary, if you leave the unpopular troops far away, you can still use this to silence others, so why not?

The top boss has this attitude, and the people below are not much better. The commander of the 10th Army, Lieutenant General Piret Paul Charles Gransar, resonated with his immediate superiors. Originally, his two infantry divisions (the 3rd Genoese Division and the 55th Infantry Division) were either colonial troops maintaining law and order in the colonies, or the vast majority of soldiers were from the reserves, ranging in age from 14 to 56 years old in the second-rate infantry division. These people either lack the skills of conventional warfare, or they have long forgotten all the combat skills they learned in the service. Lieutenant General Gransar did the opposite, strictly prohibiting soldiers and junior officers from conducting training in private, and those who violated the order were to be locked up.

It is not known whether the Lieutenant General's intention in giving such orders was to show sympathy for the soldiers, or whether he was devoted to banquets, salons, and certain business. The consequences of this stupid order are known only - the entire 10th Army has long since returned its combat skills to the instructors of the boot camp, and the non-commissioned officers are of extremely poor quality, lacking neither the determination to obey orders nor the ability to carry them out.

In comparison, the 5th Light Cavalry Division, which was assigned in disguise and was still unrelenting in training, was particularly unusual.

Unlike his slacker colleagues, Colonel Lazarene was a purely military man. The main focus is on military affairs, such as training and combat, rather than being mired in factional struggles and money-making games like colleagues. So even after being kicked into the Ardennes Forest, he still devoted himself to the transformation training of the troops with full enthusiasm, and after a private meeting with the Holy Maiden, this enthusiasm turned into extremely serious anxiety, and the training of the troops and patrols in the area became more frequent.

Lazareth had already admired the holy maiden who had made many military exploits, and even privately declared that the heads of the royal army department and the general staff should be retired, and instead of letting them stay there to harm the country and the soldiers, it is better to let people who are really capable guide the country out of the predicament. These remarks of "arguing about the government in vain" and "committing crimes below" were included in the small books of the senior officials (interestingly, most of these people were experts who "went down" and "went alone"), and almost threw Colonel Lazareth to the overseas colonies. However, this is still "dead and unchanging", and the worship of the holy maiden not only does not fade, but is about to be sublimated into faith.

When the idol appeared in front of him, presenting all kinds of signs, speculations, and deductions in front of him one by one, the cavalry colonel, who had a deep understanding of mobile warfare, broke out in a cold sweat on the spot. After some discussion, the 5th Hussar Division took over the task of "blocking".

Now is the time to carry out this task.

"Ladies and gentlemen, by all indications, the enemy may have made a move. No, it's not possible, those guys have been waiting for impatience for a long time, and now it's like a spider that sees its prey fall into its nest, and can't wait to run towards it. ”

Standing under the majestic eagle banner, Colonel Lazareth's deep voice echoed through the open space, and in front of him, more than 2,000 light cavalry of the 5th Hussar Division and their horses listened to the division commander's announcement.

Dressed in a full cavalry uniform, with all the medals on it, the breasted hard jacket with gold trim on a red background and rich gold ornaments was only half worn, and the side of the dominant hand was not covered with a coat with leather armor-level protection, and the empty sleeves fluttered in the wind behind his back like a cloak.

The cavalrymen are about to take part in a grand ball, and in order to dance with the Grim Reaper on the dance floor filled with blood and fire, they don the most magnificent corpse clothes in the world.

The bravest of the scouts had faithfully accomplished their mission, and at the cost of their own lives, they had to keep the division headquarters informed of the unusual situation on the frontier, and had also won Colonel Lazarene a reason to move his troops—the patrols had disappeared, and there were signs of enemy activity—to which Admiral Anzige had to respond.

"The enemy force is an armored group of more than 100,000 troops, and there is also air power support at the level of the main fleet. To be honest, rich people are really enviable. ”

The subordinates laughed for a while, including fearless laughter, and the helplessness and bitterness could not be erased.

If we had the same thing -

Even if it's not the same, at least if you can color each other-

If the superiors weren't so incompetent and blind to the imminent danger -

"Envy is envy, what we don't have is not after all, we can only use other ways to make up for it. ”

The laughter stopped, and more than 2,000 cavalrymen, along with their non-speaking comrades, listened to the voice of the division commander.

"Listen, this is not a war, this is a death. The reconnaissance company has already taken the lead, and I believe that in a few hours, we will meet them on the other side. ”

Colonel Lazareth's heart welled up with guilt, and his eyes swept over familiar faces.

"This is an unauthorized action without a military order, it is my personal arbitrariness, and if I win, I will not get flowers and applause, and I will not be recognized by those senior officers of the General Staff after I die in battle, and my family will not get anything but a death notice, and I will even spend a long time with stigma. If anyone wants to quit, it's still too late. ”

Two thousand horsemen did not move, and their proud and determined faces were facing their division commander.

After a moment of silence, Colonel Lazareth smiled wryly.

"It looks like we're going to Hell for a military council...... So—"

Colonel Lazarene drew his saber, and his men drew their swords and saluted together, the dazzling reflection like the sparkling water in the sun, and the cold light illuminated the faces of young and half-old.

"Let those bastards who shout 'Empire win' all day long! We're going to let those guys know that we're not to be messed with! If they want to pass through the Ardennes Forest, they can step on our corpses, but they'll have to pay the price! We'll let those bastards go to hell with their dictator! Remember! Charlemagne will never perish! Even if we die today, Charlemagne will live forever!"

"Charlemagne will never perish!!! Long live !!"

The 5th Hussar Division let out a deafening roar together, and then the cavalry galloped along the forest road, led by their respective commanders.

In front of them, there was a small town called Libramon, and a heavily armored battalion armed with Tiger and Leopard tanks was setting off from Bastogne and rushing towards this town at full speed.