Dunkirk, for whom did you cry? (1)?

  Rommel and Siegfried Westphal pored over the map, carefully analyzing the defenses of the British 3rd Infantry Division.

  Theodore Eike frowned and said: "The British position is very strong, how can we break through their front defense?" Rommel also frowned heavily. He turned his head to ask the commander of the 7th Mechanized Brigade Graf: "Have you investigated the number, commander, weapon configuration, and defensive depth zone of the British garrison opposite us?"

  Graf said: "Opposite us are troops of the British 3rd Infantry Division, their commander is a certain Major General Bernard Law Montgomery. Their other intelligence we have not yet clarified, because they took over the positions of the French Fifth Infantry Division, which was battered by us, only a few hours ago."

  Theodore Ak asked, "You can't open a breakthrough on the front line, have you tried to find a gap in the joint with the friendly forces on both wings?" Graf smiled bitterly and said, "I've tried, but it's no use. The defense at the joint with the friendly forces on both wings is also very strong. I used many methods, but they just wouldn't fall for it. Moreover, they buried a large number of landmines there and had people guarding them. Our engineers couldn't get close." "Then have you tried using heavy artillery to clear that area?" Theodore Ak asked further. "No use," Graf replied, "there are many swamps there, the killing power of the shells is low, and tanks can't move easily either. The British have blocked all the passes."

  Romel's brow furrowed even more after listening to Guderian's report, neither the front nor the flank had a good way to break through. Moreover, many of the enemy's deployment situations were unknown, how could this battle be fought? No, we have to think of a way to reconnoiter the British defense situation clearly, but what method can be used to reconnoiter the British army's situation?

  Romel rubbed his forehead vigorously with both hands. Suddenly he raised an eyebrow, turned around and asked Graf, the commander of the 7th Mechanized Brigade: "You go and inquire within the entire division how many people in our division can speak English. Remember, I want people who can speak relatively fluent English, not fools who only know a few words. Also, don't let them look too much like us Germans. And you prepare some British military uniforms and weapons, find things that won't make the British suspicious, absolutely do not let the British discover any flaws."

  The commander of the 7th Machine Gun Battalion, Graf von Schwerin, turned away. "What are you doing, Rommel?" asked Theodor Eicke in puzzlement. "Do you want to send someone over the British lines?" "Exactly," replied Rommel. "I want to reconnoitre the British defensive positions and find their artillery emplacements. These British are quite skilled at playing with guns and we can't do anything about it, so I'll organize a reconnaissance unit to sneak past."

  "But how do you plan to get our reconnaissance troops over there?" "Hehe, didn't we capture a large number of British and French people? We can totally use them to send our men past the British defense line. Then I said a few words to Theodore Eckhardt."

  "TMD, Erwin, you TMD are a real genius. You will definitely be promoted to Field Marshal in the future."

  "Haha, let's not think about that for now, let's carefully plan out the details of this assault team instead" Rommel replied with a smile.

  After a while, the battalion commander of the British 3rd Infantry Division's defensive position, Major Brough, discovered that there was great confusion on the German position in front. Many German soldiers began to leave their forward positions and run back under the command of their officers. Listening carefully, the sound of dense gunfire could be heard from that direction, with occasional explosions of hand grenades. His men also heard it and started to get up. Major Brough called over a runner to inform several company commanders to come to his command post. Then he ran along the communication trench to his own command post.

  "John, listen to the German position on the opposite side. What's that sound? It sounds like gunfire and hand grenade explosions. Your ears are sharp, go take a listen at what's going on," said one corporal to another sergeant.

  "Sir, I've figured it out. Apart from the damned German MP38 and their Mauser 98K and MG34 machine guns, it seems like there's also the muzzle sound of our Lee-Enfield rifles. And that's the distinctive sound of our ZB26 machine gun. The Germans must be engaging our troops."

  In the command post, several battalion commanders gathered together. A lieutenant colonel wearing a captain's insignia said to Colonel Berlaud: "Colonel, I've been listening for a while, and it seems that one of the parties in the German gunfire is indeed our own people. Doesn't that sound like the muzzle report of our Lee-Enfield rifles? They must have been surrounded by the Germans. The gunfire has started to die down. Colonel, let my battalion launch a counterattack and rescue our comrades! We can't just sit back and watch the Germans annihilate our men!"

  "Are you sure he's one of us? Is there still one of our own behind the German lines?" Colonel Berlaud asked suspiciously.

  "Weren't we the ones who broke through the German lines just yesterday? Now there must be many of our scattered troops still behind the Germans, Battalion Commander, can you hear that the gunfire has subsided a bit now, can we just sit here and do nothing?" The lieutenant colonel shouted excitedly.

  At that moment, Brigadier Broad's heart was also racing. In fact, he had already figured out that the gunfire was indeed the sound of British Army standard infantry equipment firing bullets. However, he was also worried that this might be a German trick to lure his troops out of their positions and then use pre-buried troops to massacre the British infantry who left their defensive positions. If possible, they could even follow the retreating British soldiers and break through their defenses. He knew very well that due to the surrender of the Belgian army, there was a huge gap in the defense line of the British Expeditionary Force and the French First Army Group. If it weren't for his division commander Montgomery's brilliant command of the 3rd Infantry Brigade breaking out of the German encirclement and rushing to the defensive position, Dunkirk might have already been occupied by the Germans. Moreover, a more important question was whether there were still troops behind the German lines? Those scattered troops were either annihilated or captured by the Germans. But what if they were really their own people? If he just watched them being eliminated by the Germans, not to mention that he would definitely be court-martialed later, his conscience wouldn't allow it.

  Borodino hesitated for a moment and finally decided to send troops to the Germans, otherwise he would not be able to clear his conscience.

  He said to the excited company commander, "Captain Jade, take your troops over there and take a look. If you find anything unusual, withdraw immediately and don't get caught up in the fight. Everyone else hold their positions and do not launch an attack without orders."

  Several company commanders stood up at attention and answered loudly: "Yes, sir!"

  Borodin stood in the observation post, watching the attacking battalion through binoculars, his heart pounding fiercely.

  In the telescope, only German troops were seen, and after seeing British troops killing them, they presented a very panicked appearance, resisting slightly before fleeing in all directions, looking very disheveled. The regiment took advantage of their victory to penetrate deep into the German positions. But the German ambush troops he had expected did not appear.

  Borodin thought in his mind, could it be that I guessed wrong just now? Could it really be that there are British troops scattered ahead of us who were surrounded by the Germans?

  As he was thinking, the German position suddenly erupted in gunfire, especially the Enfield rifle's muzzle sound, which was particularly clear. The Germans' MP38 and Mauser 98K, MG34 machine guns seemed to be suppressed, and the gunfire began to subside. Before long, soldiers from his own company came running back to their position, supporting British soldiers whose uniforms were now tattered and bloody.

  He grabbed one of the soldiers by the collar and asked urgently: "Where is your company commander?"

  The soldier replied: "He led 2 rows behind us to cover us. Look, hasn't he already come over?"

  Braude's middle school hurriedly looked up and found that Jade was holding a ZB26 light machine gun in his hand, suppressing the German soldiers who were chasing behind. The German soldiers also used their own machine guns to cover themselves, relying on the terrain and objects to alternately cover each other and chase after the British tail. In the crossfire, soldiers from both sides fell down from time to time, but more of them were British soldiers.

  Borodino Middle School saw the German soldiers' skilled and accurate tactical movements, and in his heart he couldn't help but exclaim "good"!

  He turned his head and roared at the soldiers on the battlefield: "What the hell are you all standing there for, why aren't you opening fire to cover your comrades!"

  The British position suddenly erupted in gunfire, and the pursuing German soldiers, after being hit four or five times, found that they could not break through the British firepower network, so they alternated between covering each other and dragging the bodies of their fallen comrades back to their own positions.

  After his own troops were safely back, Colonel Brough rode up to Captain Jade and asked: "What are your casualties? What are theirs?"

  "Those damned Germans have got a lot of firepower, we lost two as soon as we poked our heads out," Jaded replied in a loud voice. "If it weren't for these rescued brothers fighting to the death to save us, I don't know if we would've made it back. We had eight killed by the Germans, four seriously injured and ten lightly wounded."

  Just then, a man who looked like an officer walked back towards them, saluted Broadbent with a British Army salute and said in English with a slight Birmingham accent: "Reporting to the officer, I am Captain Rip. Joseph of the 8th Battalion, 3rd Company, 4th Platoon, 22nd Brigade, Royal British Army. My unit was scattered by the Germans, I don't know what happened to my battalion commander and brigade commander. There are still 45 men in my unit, including a few Frenchmen we picked up on the way."

  "How did you find your way here?" Colonel Broad continued to ask.

  "We were fighting our way through the breakout when we encountered German troops, and when we saw large numbers of Germans marching in this direction, we guessed that there must be some of our own troops ahead. So we followed quietly behind them, and an hour ago we heard intense gunfire here, so we thought we could infiltrate through a weak point in the German lines. But unfortunately, we were discovered by the Germans. They brought up large numbers of troops to fight us, trying to wipe us out. My third platoon was covering our retreat, but they were heavily surrounded by the Germans. We launched several charges but couldn't link up with them. In the end, we almost got surrounded ourselves, those damned Germans! My third platoon was made up of the best soldiers I had trained, and we thought we would be reuniting with you soon... but now they'll never see the sun over Great Britain again... and among them were my closest friends..." Joseph's voice trailed off as he began to sob uncontrollably, his eyes streaming with tears.

  "Steady, Joseph, steady; you're an officer in the glorious British Army now. Show some manhood and don't blubber like a woman. The dead men aren't looking to see you cry over them, they're looking to see how you'll smash the Germans and avenge them."

  "Commander, I must avenge my brothers. Please let me join you. I want to thrash the Germans soundly." Joseph slowly wiped away his tears and a resolute expression appeared on his face.

  "You must be tired from your long journey, and I'm sure you're running low on ammunition. Why don't you and your men go to the rear with mine to rest, tend to your wounds, replenish your supplies, and serve as my reserve? I'll use you at a critical moment." Colonel Boro said to Yan.

  "Yes, sir!" Joseph snapped to attention. Colonel Brodhead waved off the salute: "Don't give me any of that military nonsense, watch out for German snipers."

  Joseph led his squad and Lieutenant Jade away from the front lines, turning a corner before a sly smile crept onto Joseph's face.

  In the forward observation post of the 7th Panzer Division, Rommel and Theodor Eicke as well as Guderian were anxiously observing the British positions with binoculars. It wasn't until they saw a beam of light trace three circles that their faces relaxed. Guderian picked up the phone to start issuing orders.

  Behind the German lines, some soldiers wearing British and French uniforms got up from the ground, still holding British and French standard-issue firearms. Their bodies were stained with blood. They began to cheer together with the German soldiers on the other side who wore M35 helmets.