Chapter 160 You Are Free
“Da da da!”
…
An Avro swooped down from the rain with a whistling sound, and machine gun bullets created two lines of water in the paddy field heading straight for the road. At the intersection, it raised the blood of several German soldiers and quickly climbed up.
It seemed that it had miscalculated its timing, and the strafing only caused a small ripple in the German ranks.
The German artillerymen jumped out of their vehicles, shouting, and raised their rifles to the sky and pulled the triggers, trying to cover the convoy's retreat in this way, but the sparse bursts of bullets had almost no effect on the planes.
It is very difficult for a rifle to hit a target flying quickly in three-dimensional space, and even if it hits, the damage it can cause is extremely limited, unless it happens to hit the pilot or the engine.
Soon, another plane dived down. It seemed to have learned from its previous experience and adjusted its angle in mid-air and dived along the road.
“Da da da!”
…
Wherever the bullets passed, there was a splash of blood, and in an instant there was chaos with horses neighing and people shouting. In particular, a carriage in the front lost balance because the horse was hit by a bullet and ran around. After it overturned, the cannon lay across the road, blocking everyone's way.
This forced the convoy, which was originally able to move, to stop where it was. Colonel Miller, who had hoped to escape from this "death zone", looked back helplessly at another plane swooping down. The helpless expression on his face seemed to indicate that he had accepted the fate.
…
Khalil received word that the artillery had come under attack from enemy aircraft.
Wolfe seemed to believe Khalil's guess at this time, and every step the enemy took seemed to be moving in the direction Khalil said.
Wolfe swallowed hard and suggested: "Colonel, ask the general for permission to retreat. If the general realizes this, I believe..."
Khalil shook his head helplessly. "It's no use, Wolfe. It's too late!"
"What?" Wolf looked at Khalil in surprise: "No, we still have time!"
Khalil stood up and showed the map on the table to Wolfe. His voice was filled with despair. "We are infantry, Wolfe. We are all deployed on the front line, about 13 kilometers from the rear. We will fight and retreat at the same time. How long do you think it will take to break out of the encirclement?"
The retreat of the troops is not a trip that can be done at a whim. They need to organize themselves and cover each other and retreat in turns.
Even if there was a troop left behind, it would still take more than two hours to cover the thirteen kilometers, and that was with light equipment.
What they will face then will be enemy tanks, sidecars, and machine guns. What can they do even if their numbers are several times greater than theirs?
Breakout? Stop dreaming!
The moment the artillery was blocked on the road by enemy aircraft, Khalil knew it was impossible.
It would be a senseless massacre!
Wolfe was still unwilling to give up: "We can attack the enemy from both sides. If General Waldeck sends reinforcements from the other side..."
"Wolf!" Khalil interrupted him, pointed at the position of the defense line on the map, and reminded: "All our troops are on the defense line. There are no troops in the rear, not even one!"
Wolfe was stunned.
Khalil was right. In the process of "running to the sea", both the enemy and our side had put all their forces into defending the defense line stretching more than 300 kilometers, and even sent untrained recruits to the front line.
At this time, the area of more than ten kilometers behind the defense line was full of warehouses, hospitals, wounded soldiers, and supply convoys... Even if General Waldeck agreed to the two-pronged attack plan, he had no troops to deploy!
So, what else can they do?
…
Arlonie is a small town in France with a population of more than 500 households. It is surrounded by flat land and has never been considered a strategic location.
But today is different. Its location is right behind the La Fox area. As long as we occupy this place, we can complete the encirclement of the La Fox area.
It was afternoon, it was raining and planes were roaring past. From time to time, artillery and gunshots were heard from the western front. Residents could only stay in their houses or even hide in the basement.
Some brave ones couldn't help but come out to get some fresh air. They opened the windows and greeted each other across the road:
"Everything all right, Mr. Samuel?"
"Very good, Mr. Langnusi!" Samuel replied politely.
But this was not true. Samuel sighed and fell silent.
Several Germans broke into his house last night, and they learned from someone that he was the mayor of the town.
"If you were the mayor, things would be much simpler!" A German second lieutenant looked at Samuel elegantly with a kind face: "You know, the soldiers on the front line are fighting to protect the town. They are short of supplies. I hope you can be responsible for some of the supplies!"
The face of the German second lieutenant reappeared in Samuel's mind. He looked harmless, as if he was talking to his own people, but his right hand was on the gun box, ready to pull out the pistol and pull the trigger at Samuel at any time.
Samuel couldn't help but curse: "These bastards, they occupied our land and asked us to give them food!"
But what can he do?
Samuel didn't know how to tell the townspeople about this. They would think he was a German spy and even burn down his house!
Just when I was worrying, a few sidecars appeared in the rain at the other end of the road, and the sound of their engines could be heard faintly.
Samuel's heart tightened, he thought it was the Germans coming to urge him to hand over the food.
"Damn Germans! They should be hanged, these shameful invaders!" Samuel cursed while thinking about what excuse to use to deal with it.
The sidecar was getting closer and closer, and the red color on the military cap and trousers became more and more obvious. Samuel rubbed his eyes hard but still couldn't believe it.
French Army?
A French soldier on a sidecar came speeding over and waved to him in fluent French:
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Nice to see you, you're free!"
"This is France again!"
…
Samuel slowly opened the door and walked outside, even though it was raining.
Then he saw French soldiers, a lot of French soldiers. They drove past him in groups on sidecars. There was even a monster-like steel vehicle. Its tracks made a "clacking" noise, and on it sat a bunch of French soldiers waving at him.
Samuel asked stupidly, "Hey, are you the French army?"
The soldiers burst into laughter:
"Can't you recognize it?"
"Who else do you think we are?"
"We are Ciel's army. Have you heard of him? Ciel!"
…
Samuel finally reacted, and he shouted excitedly: "I know him, Charles, he saved France!"
"Yes, that's him!" the soldiers responded loudly.
Samuel ran, knocking on the door as he ran: "It's us, our army, Charles is leading them! We are free, we are free!"
The residents were awakened, men, women, young and old, they came out of their houses, cheering and welcoming the arrival of the soldiers. Some people even came forward to hold umbrellas for the soldiers who were soaked, although this was completely unnecessary.
(End of this chapter)
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