Section 12: The Supreme Commander Inspects the Party Guards' Positions

  "Bowman suggested: 'My lord, facing north is the Imperial Army. We have inspected the National Defense Army, should we also...'"

  Li Deying readily agreed, and the carriage rattled on northward.

  An hour later, Blaine's car approached the Imperial Army campsite. Li De stood up from the car and stretched his numb limbs.

  The SS sentry, overjoyed and excited, carefully examined the documents, confirmed that the little Hitler squeezed in the back seat with a runny nose frozen like an icicle was the real deal, not a fake or counterfeit Führer, and became so agitated that he could hardly hold his gun.

  The SA troops' position was flying with flags and banners, one of which read: "Firm determination, no fear of sacrifice, eliminate difficulties, strive for victory". On the slanting wall a big-character poster read: "Strive to build the German Empire into a great world power." Li De felt a sense of familiarity.

  The SS battalion was stationed on an artificial incline sloping from west to east, where the hastily arriving battalion commanders lined up and gave tearful speeches: "The SS is a strong fortress against Bolshevism, the Führer's arrival is worth more than adding 100mm of steel plating to the fortress..."

  Right after inspecting the soldiers with 100mm steel plates, Li De saw that the SS soldiers were warmly dressed, well-equipped and well-supplied, each looking vigorous and spirited. From their facial expressions, a strong sense of disdain for all opponents could be seen. The biting cold wind blew across the faces of the soldiers, whose red faces were filled with smiles.

  Then there was an arrangement to watch the party guards' performances of palm-bricking and grappling, but due to a bomb falling on the ground yesterday, the ground was uneven, so the originally scheduled march was temporarily cancelled.

  After a lap on the flower-covered parade ground, I entered an iron gate with a lightning emblem of white letters on a black background and went down to the basement along the stairs, which was the headquarters of the SS battalion.

  The basement was warm as spring, with Hitler's quotes and Himmler's orders hanging on the walls. A huge photo of Hitler and Himmler shaking hands cordially occupied half of the wall. The SS First Assault Battalion Commander reported on recent work, Li De nodded repeatedly, Bormann recorded in his brick-like notebook, a beautiful SS female officer brought coffee to the Führer, but Adelheid didn't hold it tight, the coffee spilled onto the floor, and the shrill cries of the two women momentarily disrupted the solemn atmosphere.

  After listening to the report, Li Demao encouraged them and watched the learning garden on the wall. Bao Man looked at it with great interest and occasionally made some guiding comments.

  After the formalities, everyone entered a practical phase. On a table with a white tablecloth, there were plates that shone brightly in white, and next to them was a large bucket emitting hot air.

  A male chef came over and carefully ladled a spoonful of grayish-green mush into each plate. Li De poked at it with his fork, discovering that it was a pea salad. Next came a fruit salad, with pickled cucumber and marinated tomatoes. Finally, there were several slices of thinly cut ham, exactly one slice per person. Li De placed his own slice onto Miss Adelaida's plate, causing her to become excited for several minutes.

  The male chef came in with a tray, on which were placed several bottles of beer and lemonade. The first captain personally poured drinks for the party and state leaders: "This is real rice beer, mixed with lemonade, well, just like that."

  The sommelier raised his glass first: "A toast to our beloved leader!"

  The battalion commanders of the first, second and third levels, as well as the team leaders at all levels, vied with each other to toast the leader. Li De replaced wine with lemonade, drinking until his stomach was bloated, and even what's below his stomach became swollen.

  Borman welcomed all the toasters without exception, perhaps because of the "sea" character, the deputy naval officer had the largest capacity for liquor, and after drinking too much beer, he shouted that he wanted to drink vodka. Miss Adelheid was also forced to drink several large cups of vodka, her face as red as a peach blossom, and she coquettishly asked the Fuehrer: "When can I be your vibrating sieve again?"

  The charming female guard was almost sitting on Bowman's lap, pouring vodka into his mouth cup by cup. The two were cheek to cheek, their faces flushed with excitement, exchanging flirtatious glances. Bowman drank until he was tipsy, one hand resting on her shoulder and the other pinching her nose: "Little comrade, you're so cunning, always getting me drunk, why don't you drink?"

  Li De saw that the female SS guard was eyeing him with ulterior motives, and indeed, after Baum gave her another cup of wine, she whispered in his ear: "If you can get me transferred to Berlin, I'll drink with you every day."

  The commander of the first assault battalion was originally a percussionist in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. His superiors believed that someone who could skillfully play percussion instruments could also skillfully wield weapons, so they promoted him after the original commander died. He admired Mozart, the musician who wore glasses to sleep, and brought the artist's carefree spirit to the cruel battlefield, but soon suffered a great loss - the flags planted all over the campsite guided Soviet bombers to their target, becoming a disaster zone for the enemy army.

  A violent explosion, the lights went out, and mud rained down on the dinner table. The wine bottles clinked as they rolled to the ground. The battalion commander threw himself over the Führer's body, using his own body to protect him. Miss Ederleider flung herself into the Führer's arms seeking protection. Baurmann, who seemed drunk, sprang up and pushed a female SS guard to the ground before rushing out, running several steps before coming back to his senses and returning to protect the Führer.

  The deputy commander rushed out and came back in, shouting "The Russians are coming!"

  The first team leader shouted hoarsely: "Send the commander to the rear, the commander has a life or death situation, we can't survive."

  Li De was extremely surprised, the vanguard of the Soviet army was at least 20 kilometers away from here, how could they have come over and started fighting.

  Li De's blood was boiling and he immediately picked up a German MP40 submachine gun, shouting: "Don't panic, it's probably just a small group of enemies, follow me!"

  "The Commander is in danger." Bowman shouted, and grabbed a Luger P-08 pistol to rush out of the bunker. The owner of the gun chased after him, shouting: "Sir, that gun doesn't have a magazine!"

  Everyone rushed to the ground, outside the sound of gunfire was loud, through the faint smoke, dozens of Soviet Red Army soldiers were seen rushing towards this side, and a T26 light tank appeared, some Soviet soldiers frantically removing the giant parachute from the tank.

  This is a group of paratroopers, and everyone's first thought was that they had come to kidnap the head of state.

  "What's going on? Who leaked the Supreme Leader's itinerary, I'll find out and eat him." Bao Man also woke up with a start, staring with bloodshot eyes, as if he wanted to swallow the First Squadron Commander in one gulp.

  The first battalion commander didn't wait for him to finish cursing, saluted, raised his gun and shouted loudly, leading the soldiers to charge at the Soviet army.

  "Ah——" "Charge——" The SS soldiers sprayed flames, charging towards the enemy army with abandon. The Soviet paratroopers held their PPShs and came forward without hesitation. The two bloodthirsty troops clashed fiercely, with those in front falling down one after another, while those behind trampled over their companions' corpses to continue advancing. When they got close enough, they threw away their guns, pounced on each other, and rolled around on the ground, using bayonets, knives, entrenching tools, and even teeth to fight. Curses, screams of agony, the thudding sound of shovels digging into flesh, the cracking sound of broken bones, and other miscellaneous noises intertwined together.

  Lee De was surrounded by Bowman and the guards, unable to exert his strength, anxiously turning around in circles. Later, he finally got what he wanted: a Soviet paratrooper with both eyes gouged out stumbled towards them, Lee De stretched out his gun from under Bowman's crotch and fired a shot, the paratrooper jumped up and fell down, accompanied by a puff of light smoke rising from under his pants, Bowman also jumped up, then heavily sat on the Führer's head.

  On the battlefield, only that thin-skinned tank was left, spinning around like a bull with its tail on fire. A brave soldier threw a blanket over the front of the vehicle, and the T26 became blind, flipped over onto its side in a crater, its tracks still rotating. A tanker crawled out from the bottom emergency exit, raised his hands as soon as he saw the German soldiers, but slipped underfoot and fell onto the tracks, being dragged into the mechanism and ground into mincemeat before everyone's eyes.

  Several prisoners were brought over, and at some point Miss Adelheid joined the fight as well. She pointed her gun at the prisoners, but her eyes gleamed with pride as she looked at the Führer. After showing off to him, she tucked the gun into her waistband and ran towards the Führer.

  Li De praised her, she said in a low voice: "I don't want a medal, I just want you to enjoy this sieve."

  Li De couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement and longing, wishing for the sun to set as soon as possible.

  First was a parachute major, Bowman eagerly interrogated in person: "Tell me honestly, who revealed our itinerary to you?"

  The other man eyed him and said, "Originally we were going to go south of Suzhiniichi to meet with the guerrilla troops in the forest. The navigation instrument on our transport plane broke down, so we had no choice but to land here. By the way, who are you? Are you the flag captain of the Imperial Army?"

  The director of the Imperial Office is also considered a first-class leader of the party and state, now being regarded as a small group cadre, Bao Man's nose was crooked with anger.

  The captive did not know why he had rushed at the "flag captain" in front of him and was too afraid to raise his head. Li De asked in extremely fluent Russian, "If I'm not mistaken, you're going to launch a large-scale attack within two days, aren't you?"

  The commander of the Soviet paratroopers, a major, was brought over. After seeing that all was lost, he shot himself with his pistol, but happened to hit a stink bomb and was captured alive by SS soldiers. When he heard the noise, he raised his head, and this one raise made him so startled that he fell to the ground, pointing at Li De and stuttering: "H... Hitler... Hitler's substitute..."

  "You——" Bowman pulled out the unfired Luger pistol and pressed it against his temple. Li De let him take away the gun, and the major hesitated to say: "If you are really the person with a cross on our country's newspaper, not a substitute, I will tell you everything I know."

  Bormann couldn't help but kick him: "What substitute, you're not allowed to insult the Fuehrer."

  "A Waffen-SS squad leader came forward to report: 'My Führer, the SS Obersturmbannführer has fallen.'"

  "Indeed it is..." Colonel Su's hand shot up, and the guards tensed up, but he was saluting: "I really can't believe it. The Hitler we curse every day, the leader of Germany, is actually fighting shoulder to shoulder with soldiers on the front line. Just for this, I admire him."

  He paused for a moment, as if he had made up his mind: "Tomorrow, the Guards Cavalry Corps and the 50th Army will attack here, along with the 1st Heavy Tank Brigade. They have already assembled."

  Everyone was shocked, and Li De hastily asked: "How did our scouts not discover your gathering?"

  The lieutenant colonel of the paratroopers showed a few points of pride: "We hide during the day and come out at night, and you guys are always hiding in your bunkers and don't come out, so of course you wouldn't know."

  The corpse of the former Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's drummer, an SS Obersturmführer, was carried over, bloodied and mutilated. Even the Führer could not stop the fury of the SS men: several daggers simultaneously pierced the hearts of the few prisoners - including the major who had defected just a few minutes before.