Chapter 480: Song of Germany (First update, please subscribe)

The base camp was bombed!

After this news came out, the shock it brought to the Prussian soldiers was unimaginable. While they were thankful that the king, prime minister and others were safe, their fear of airships and even South China deepened once again.

When people were talking about the bombing of the base camp, they would look up at the sky. Once upon a time, the blue sky and the ever-changing clouds could make them relax, but now they brought them death and fear!

And all this was brought by Nanhua!

Nanhua!

The South China Army must be defeated!

This is the largest room in the manor. Despite its large size, everything seems a bit messy. The "ticking" sound of the telegraph echoes in the air. Telegraph operators are running around with long telegrams from time to time, and officers in blue uniforms are discussing issues in their ears from time to time.

There were documents piled up on the tables. In the center of the room was a large sand table filled with small flags. The red flags represented the South China Army, and the blue flags represented the Prussian Army. The two sides formed a crescent-shaped formation outside the city of Rouen.

The map racks around were filled with military maps. Although all the windows in the room were open, the atmosphere was still tense, making people feel anxious and stuffy.

An officer sat behind a large table, his collar open, sweat on his forehead and even on the tip of his nose. He was Count Moltke, the commander of the Prussian Fourth Army. At this moment, he had completely lost his aristocratic demeanor and his former military appearance. His sunken eye sockets were dark blue, and although he looked exhausted, he still stared at the map intently.

It’s been five days!

Over the past five days, outside Rouen, his Fourth Corps had launched attack after attack on the Nanhua Army, but their attacks had been repelled and even their artillery had suffered heavy losses.

"Now we are repeating the tragedy of the French!"

In his telegram to the Chief of Staff, Count Moltke described the gap between the two sides in this way.

Their rifles were far inferior to those of Nanhua, and even the Prussian army's trump card, the Krupp cannon, was inferior to their cannons.

tragedy!

"We enjoyed beating the French as much as we did before, and now they enjoy beating us as much as we do now!"

But it doesn’t matter!

The important thing is that Prussia needs a victory and needs to use victory to prove that the South China Army is not invincible!

With a frown on his face, Count Moltke stared at the situation of both sides on the map, thought for a while, and gave the order.

"The 15th Army, attack them from the front tonight..."

"Order the Thirteenth Army to detour from the right wing to the rear of the Nanhua Army tonight and launch an attack on their rear!"

The issuance of orders one after another means that the war is becoming increasingly intense.

For those Prussians who went to the battlefield inspired by patriotism, perhaps the enemy they faced was powerful, but they believed that Prussia would definitely win.

For the unification of Germany!

Stein was an engineer. Before the war, he worked in a shipyard in England. After the war, like many Germans working in England, he returned to Hamburg by ship and joined the army. There were many people like him in the army. Among them were farmers, scholars, shoemakers, engineers, young people, and old people. But they were all Germans.

"Germany, Germany, above all, above all things in the world; brothers always stand together to protect and defend at all times. From Maas to Memmer, from Esch to Belt..."

The sound of hymns was heard from the trenches. He knew that it was the "German Song" recited by Backhaus. This poem, published in 1841, was deeply loved by people in Germany as soon as it was published. At the gatherings of expatriates in Britain, they had sung this hymn again and again. The tune of this hymn was the "Emperor Quartet" written by Haydn. In 1809, when Napoleon's French army was besieging Vienna, during the days of constant artillery fire, Haydn often played this song on the piano with deep affection in his dying moments, hoping to get spiritual comfort from it.

Similarly, this song "Song of Germany" has also been a place for Germans to express their national feelings and find spiritual comfort in the past 20 years. Of course, it is also their desire. For the Germans who have been divided for a long time, they long for Germany to become a country and long for unity!

This song is the voice of all of them!

"...Unity, justice and freedom for the German Fatherland; let us strive for this goal together, united as brothers, with our hands and our hearts..."

In the twilight, the singing in the trenches merged into one. Soldiers from all over the North German Federation sang this German hymn. Under the light of the stars and the moon, and under the German pointed helmets, their expressions were firm and resolute.

"For Germany!"

"For unity!"

"For justice!"

"For Germany!"

They encouraged each other and looked at each other. At that moment, no matter they came from the east, south, west or north, whether they were from Maas, Mermer, Esch, or Belt, they were all Germans and brothers.

The officers drew their revolvers and as they were about to step out of the trenches, they looked back at the soldiers in the trenches and said.

"For the unification of Germany!"

"For the unification of Germany!"

In the cover of night, tens of thousands of Prussian soldiers walked out of the trenches. They stepped onto the battlefield with resolute and calm expressions. As the infantry set off, the gunners carried ox shoulder straps and dragged the Feldkanone C/64 field gun, which weighed only 650 kilograms. The Prussian gunners had dragged it to the front line countless times, accompanied the infantry attacks, and blasted open the enemy's defenses with shrapnel.

Under the cover of night, Stein and his brothers, holding rifles, approached the South China Army's defense line in a scattered line of soldiers.

After their rear gunners pushed the cannon into the proper position, they immediately stuffed 3.8 kg shrapnel into the cannon. This type of shell was loaded with 48 50-gram lead bullets and was quite powerful.

While the gunners were preparing, tens of thousands of Prussian soldiers stepped onto the battlefield. While marching, Stein looked up at the night sky. Looking at the stars in the sky, his mood was calm and there was no ripples at all.

"For the unification of Germany!"

Their belief was firm. Just as Xuan Taiyin and the German brothers from all directions walked towards the South China Army's defense line in the cover of night, in the trenches of the South China Army, the soldiers lay down in the shooting position under the supervision of the company and platoon leaders.

"The Prussians are coming!"

Li Ping said softly while holding the rifle.

"Everyone, get ready. Keep the bullets handy. Also, keep the grenades. Unscrew the caps..."

The soldiers wearing steel helmets lay on the edge of the trenches, aiming their rifles into the distance. The visibility was very poor at night, and at most they could only vaguely sense some movement in the wilderness shrouded in darkness.

“They’re coming up!”

Suddenly, when the sharp-eyed soldier saw a figure, he shouted and gunshots rang out. For a moment, the trench was filled with gunshots!

(End of this chapter)