The Third Reich of Struggle

  Harold boasted that this human conveyor belt had employed 50,000 prisoners of war, soldiers and Russian laborers, transporting a ton of supplies per day from this small railway station to the UPA River, forty kilometers away.

  Bao Man hadn't reacted yet and said: "Since there are so many people, isn't it the same for everyone to shoulder and carry?"

  Harold said, "Uncle, that's not the same. Carrying things on your back for forty kilometers will exhaust you. The advantage of this method is that people can stand still and only use their hands to transport goods, saving physical strength."

  Bao Man was so angry he wanted to slap himself: such a simple truth is not understood, losing face in front of people, and still a high-ranking leader of the party.

  Weisenberger, the military commander, introduced that Harrold's method has been promoted throughout the army. Recently, Speer came here for inspection and was very appreciative, saying that he would promote it to the whole army when he returned.

  "Let's see about going tomorrow," Li De said.

  The truck continued south, but didn't go far before it was stopped in a line of cars on the highway. Ahead, gendarmes wearing "dog tags" were stopping and checking each vehicle, with others patrolling around.

  "What's going on?" The driver stuck his head out of the cab and asked a driver standing by the roadside smoking.

  The driver took a deep drag on his cigarette and said impatiently, "Check."

  "What's the check?" asked the non-smoking driver to the smoking driver.

  The driver under the car threw away the cigarette butt with great impatience, and inadvertently glanced at the car door, finding that it was from the same group. His attitude eased a bit: "They check everything: Russian spies, their own deserters, smuggled sausages, and profiteering military supplies. Hmm, just now they caught an upper sergeant who stole several brand new P38s from the train station to resell."

  "Sell out to the guerrillas and come back to attack us? This guy should really die." The man on the vehicle gritted his teeth, saying to the one below.

  Several gendarmes approached, and the leader shouted: "What's loaded on the vehicle?"

  The driver didn't say a word. Asked again, still the same, the driver knew that the car was carrying big shots, not things, those people got on the bus mysteriously, like there was a general. Since it's a big shot, he can be fearless now.

  "Is this guy mute?"

  "No, maybe he's deaf."

  "Deaf and dumb."

  "Maybe his brain was stimulated."

  The gendarmes grumbled and walked towards the back of the train. They heard them knocking on the carriage: "Open the compartment, the gendarmerie is inspecting."

  The lively and spirited military police suddenly came from behind, muttering softly: "I thought the general was an imposter, but it turned out to be real. How could they ride in such a truck?" As they passed by the driver's cab, they glanced at the driver, who smiled and playfully waved goodbye, saying "Gute Nacht" (German for "good night", usually said before going to bed).

  "I told you so, your brain has been stimulated." The voice faded away gradually.

  ……

  Here is the confluence of the Upa and Zuza rivers twenty kilometers south of Chekalino in Tula Oblast. This is the position of 2nd Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 478th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, 53rd Army. The platoon leader is Harold.

  This summer, Harrold and the SS did a job in the Byelorussian forest, after which Goebbels had him study defensive engineering for a month in Italy before coming here in late October.

  Soon, the superior required the construction of winter fortifications, and at that time, there were only a dozen or so men under the command of this newly appointed battalion commander. As with the White Russians, he selected more than 100 relatively strong prisoners of war from the endless stream of captives, recruited an equal number of ordinary people - mainly women and old people, and worked day and night along the river to build winter fortifications.

  The defensive area assigned to the 2nd Company is at least one kilometer wide and five kilometers deep. Due to downsizing, each company now has only a hundred men. Behind the 2nd Company's fortifications, several kilometers away, are mortar batteries and a heavy artillery squad with an 88mm cannon. Fifteen kilometers behind the defensive line is the 3rd Battalion headquarters.

  The construction work was a familiar task for Harrold. He ordered his men to widen the anti-tank trenches dug by the Russians, transforming them into underground tunnels like spider webs, with each squad building an underground shelter covered with steel rails and logs, topped with 2-3 meters of mud, making it a fully enclosed fortification.

  Later, from Belyov north to Chekalin, the 478th Regiment's fortifications, the entire division and army also followed suit. Even the Imperial Army's defensive zone north of Chekalin sent people to observe the "Harold-style" underground fortifications.

  Now even the prime minister has visited his underground works. The next morning, he arrived at Harrod's position in the snow to inspect.

  The General today implemented the President's instructions, went to the 167th Infantry Division to deploy combat operations, accompanied by the Commander of the 45th Infantry Division, and the Chief of Staff of the 478th Infantry Regiment, Colonel Brown, followed closely behind.

  Soft snow covered the ground with a layer of silver, only the Ussuri River was black. The river water flowed through Erlian and turned a bend, the Erlian fortifications built along the river were in the shape of the character "pin". Harrold introduced that the Erlian position was just like a crab, one row on the left claw, three rows on the right claw, two rows and the company headquarters located at the body of the crab, with its mouth wide open waiting for the Russians.

  Li De stood on the top of the fortifications, looking down at the German front-line positions on the opposite bank of the river. The main force had already entered the underground fortifications under his feet. Behind him was a second line of underground fortifications composed of four rows, as well as a small number of battalion and regimental reserve troops, which were barely enough to meet the needs of the more than 10-kilometer-long defensive line.

  Harold led the commander through a small hidden door at the back into the dimly lit bunker, to the left of the entrance was the kitchen, where he heard the laughter of young women, he turned right towards the riverbank bunker, two rows of black-clad soldiers were expanding the space, and on the right was the company headquarters. Li De took a look around, peeking through the gun sight at some people digging traps in the distance on the opposite bank. As he turned around, he rubbed his nose, and a hot air filled with meat fragrance floated over from the tunnel.

  Li De said to Bao Man: "Go and take a look at what kind of food the soldiers are having."

  A small group of people rushed to the source of the fragrance, only to see a large pot borrowed from the collective farm cooking mutton. Li De was savoring the enticing aroma: Can't eat meat, but smelling the fragrance is okay.

  Li De saw Bao Man constantly swallowing saliva, and half-jokingly said: "Bao Man, you represent the party to taste the food of the soldiers, it's also a concern for the military from the party."

  Braun eagerly picked up the spoon and took a sip of the soup, scalding his tongue so that it protruded: "Ah, not bad, the chef must be Austrian." He was flattering the emperor, who was an Austrian, although he lived just across from Germany.

  The squad leader dragged the cook out of the corner, and the cook bowed to everyone non-stop. Harold said this was a professional chef recruited from Ukraine.

  "Ukrainians?" Bowman thumped his chest and spat on the ground, as if he feared that the soup he had just drunk was poisoned.

  The squad leader boasted that she had made a delicious Ukrainian dish called salo, and it was ready for the commander to taste.

  Bao Man no longer spat saliva but swallowed it instead. It was hard for him to even produce saliva.

  The instructor glared at the team leader: "Don't you know the leader doesn't eat meat?"

  Bulang slapped his own forehead and smiled apologetically at Yuan Shou.

  Li De waved his hand magnanimously and asked Shilang, "Salo, have you eaten?"

  "Salted pork slices. Thinly sliced white pork belly that has been salt-cured, mixed with a few strips of golden-red lean meat, the color is enticing, the aroma is overflowing, making one's mouth water, and it's something you never get tired of eating."

  A chorus of gulps echoed through the room. Bowman's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he continued to struggle with his saliva.

  In the underground tunnel, people were rhythmically shouting "Führer, Führer". The narrow kitchen door was surrounded by curious soldiers, and the soldiers in the back were pushing forward, occasionally pushing the soldiers in front into the kitchen. The soldiers of the Führer's flag team also occasionally pushed the soldiers who had fallen into the kitchen outwards, but there were too many people outside, and the guards kept retreating backwards, almost to the stove in the kitchen.

  Major General Burroughs patiently explained for half a day, but the soldiers still slowly surged forward. Borman raised his hands and said: "Comrades of the Imperial Guard, I am the Director of the Imperial Office, please return to your posts, after the Führer finishes eating, he will definitely visit each of your workplaces, please disperse as soon as possible, for the safety of the Führer, please return to your posts as soon as possible."

  The last sentence worked and everyone dispersed.

  The squad leader set up a table in the middle of the kitchen with ammunition boxes, and placed onions and vodka on it. The Ukrainian female chef made pickled pork slices into lard, which was spread on black bread mixed with salt and garlic. The strong flavor of the pork and the refreshing aroma of the black bread blended together, leaving a lasting aftertaste.

  Salo is best paired with onions and vodka, the alcohol and meat fragrance are strong and pungent, a perfect match for fine cuisine; however, as the Führer of the Third Reich, Hitler only had to swallow the sour water that surged up his throat repeatedly, while his subordinates enjoyed the delicious food.

  It turned out that Shilong had gone too far, and he spread some lard on the black bread for Yuan to eat: "Anyway, this is not meat, what do you say?"

  Seeing everyone eating and nodding busily, Li De greedily finished his food in a few mouthfuls and casually left some pickled pork scraps when the teacher applied lard.

  The food was gone in the blink of an eye, and Bowman patted his belly contentedly, belched loudly, and said to the Ukrainian chef who was still hiding in the corner: "Not bad, your salad is better than what I had before. What's your name? Where do you live?"

  The chef replied timidly: "I am Kalyna, I live nearby."

  Li De swallowed the black bread given by his superior and said, "This is Russian territory. After the war ends, you can go back to Ukraine."

  The chef raised his head: "Are you really the German leader?"

  Bao Man asked strangely: "Why are you asking such a strange question?"

  The chef said, "Nothing, I just didn't expect the German leader to be so easy-going, really unexpected." She raised her head and smiled, turned around and searched for something in a cloth bag, and finally found a white flower-patterned fabric.

  "Hand-woven tablecloth." Bowman and Liddell said in unison, Liddell involuntarily turned to look at the stewardess of the special plane, she stretched out four fingers and whispered: "This one, four marks."

  Only Li De understood her words.