Chapter Fifteen Curry

  The British 4th Division was an Indian troop, with only the officers being British. The British were continuously defeated by the German army in Europe at the beginning of World War II. In the end, only over 200,000 British soldiers escaped back to their homeland from Dunkirk. Facing Hitler's multi-faceted offensive, the British were full of loopholes. Even the colonies were on the verge of collapse.

  The British army was barely enough to defend its homeland, let alone its colonies. But when Rommel in North Africa was about to make his move, the British could no longer sit still. If the Germans were to occupy Egypt, the Suez Canal would be completely finished. The minerals and food that came from the colonies all over the world had to take a detour via Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

  To know, detouring around the Cape of Good Hope is a journey of nearly 10,000 kilometers. Even warships have to run for months, let alone cargo ships full of goods. And along the way, the weather is unpredictable, plus the harassment of German submarines. I estimate that by the time we arrive, not even half of the things will be transported to Britain.

  Under duress, the British also hardened their hearts and selected a batch of troops from various colonies to be transported to Egypt. There were Indians, Irish, Canadians, Australians, and even Qataris. The empire that never set the sun first withstood Rommel's attack. Then, they continued to reinforce North Africa from various colonies. The Indian division was dispatched to North Africa in this way. The cultural level of Indian soldiers was generally low, and their combat effectiveness was extremely poor. If the British could not find anyone else, they would not have used Indian soldiers for battle.

  However, the gentle nature of Indian soldiers made their British officers very comfortable. The British told them to do whatever they wanted, and they never disobeyed. So all the dirty work was left to the Indian soldiers, such as mine clearance and storming enemy positions.

  This time the British concentrated an army of over 200,000 men, more than 1,400 tanks, and more than 2,300 artillery pieces. More than 1,500 aircraft were prepared to take down Rommel's German-Italian Africa Corps and avenge their past defeats. At first, they fought well and the offensive momentum was strong, but later they were blocked by the German army's heavy artillery and the dense minefields everywhere. It was at this time that the Indian troops played their role, as the Indians didn't care about the existence of mines and bravely led the way. This greatly boosted the morale of the British soldiers.

  But things will not go as smoothly as expected. In less than two days, the Indians refused to move forward and retreated from the front line in droves. The British were thrown into chaos, with groups of Indian soldiers turning around and walking back, even when the British tried to chase them down with guns. Not even shooting a few Indian soldiers worked. The British were baffled, wondering how the normally docile and obedient Indian soldiers could change so suddenly. After an investigation, it was discovered that the Indian soldiers had run out of curry.

  There is a saying in India that we Indians can go without food, but not without curry. In Indian legend, the Buddha taught people to use the fruit of the tree grass to make an elixir of immortality and named it "curry" after the place where he first preached, so the Buddha is considered the first person to make curry. However, some sources also suggest that the word "curry" comes from the Tamil language in southern India, meaning "many spices mixed together for cooking".

  All the Indian soldiers said, no curry, no work. They didn't resist, they just sat quietly. The British officers used all sorts of soft and hard tactics. But the Indians simply ignored them. Having no other choice, the British had to use some local spices from Egypt to make a curry. However, after tasting it, the Indian soldiers said something that made the British angry: "This is not authentic curry, we refuse to eat it."

  At that time almost didn't blow away the British army's nose.

  The British had no choice, after all, the time for combat was pressing, and the transportation of military supplies was still tight. If they weren't careful, they would forget the curry. But they couldn't sacrifice the precious lives of white people to tread on landmines either. That way, the Ministry of War would definitely be scolded to death. It might even implicate the current Prime Minister Churchill.

  Churchill ordered the British Royal Air Force stationed in India to urgently airlift a batch of authentic curry from mainland India to North Africa. However, due to the rain over the past few days, the plane could not approach the front line and had to be transported by car from Cairo. As a result, during the rest stop along the way, the truck transporting the emergency curry was hit by Liu Qi and his men.

  The attacking troops also stopped advancing for two days, and every day they just used artillery to bombard the German-Italian army's position. However, both armies' defense lines were too long, and the British artillery was not concentrated, so the effect was minimal.

  Liu Qi listened to this strange news in the history of world military affairs, and his heart almost laughed out loud. Liu Qi estimated that Hitler and Rommel would never have thought that the German-Italian allied forces in North Africa would be saved by curry.

  After listening to Beck's account, Liu Qi smiled and said, "Now this batch of curry is a lifesaver. Let's hurry up and send it to your commander."

  "Yes, the Fourth Division's commanders are getting anxious......" Beck suddenly came to his senses, "No, no way. You can't send curry over."

  "Oh, why can't I just send the curry over to your superiors?" Liu Qi said with a hint of teasing as he looked at Becker.

  Beck looked at Liu Qi with a bit of incredulity and said, "You are a Standartenführer in the SS, our two countries are still at war. How could you have curry sent to us on the front lines?"

  "How can it be impossible? Look at Major Becker, Indian soldiers are already starving without curry. This is the lives of tens of thousands of people. As a child of God, I absolutely cannot see this happen." Liu Qi said with great passion and fervor.

  Baker stared at Liu Qi foolishly, but quickly reacted and realized that Liu Qi was teasing him. He said helplessly, "Colonel sir, don't joke with me. Even if you want to send curry to the front line, the road will pass through several of our British military defense lines and checkpoints. How could you possibly...". Baker stopped here and looked at Liu Qi with his eyes, saying "You can't be thinking of having me take you past them, are you?"

  "Heh heh," Liu Qi dryly chuckled twice before opening his mouth to say, "Major Beck seems like a straightforward person, so I'll be honest with you too. This time, if you honestly bring us into your division, I'll spare your life. But if you try to play tricks on me, don't blame me for being impolite."

  "You, you can't do this. We are all soldiers, you can't do something that insults the military. I won't agree to it. Absolutely not." Beike's eyes widened in anger, and he jumped up, ready to fight Liu Qi to the death.

  Several soldiers nearby rushed over to hold down Beck, followed by a flurry of punches and kicks. Liu Qi couldn't help but frown and said, "Who told you to use force?" The soldiers immediately stopped. Beck also looked at Liu Qi with gratitude. Liu Qi continued, "Even if you hit him, don't hit his face, I still have use for it." The soldiers immediately resumed beating Beck.

  Major Beck's face immediately turned green when Liu Qi said this. He hastily waved his hand at Liu Qi and said, "Colonel, stop hitting me! I'm willing to do it, please don't hit me again!"

  Liu Qi also walked up to Baik and slapped his face hard, saying "You're giving your face away for nothing, you're being shameless."

  "Yes, yes, I was wrong. Don't mind me, Captain Liu." Beck said with a flattering face to Liu Qi. Now Beck has truly recognized the situation in front of him and made a wise choice.

  Liu Qi said to Ketch and the doctor, "You go get a hand grenade for Mr. Beck and put it in his underwear, then tie a sturdy rope to the safety pin on the grenade. If Mr. Beck makes any small movement, pull the safety pin."

  "Yes, Colonel." Katch replied and went out, not long after he came back with a British military standard hand grenade. With a wave of his hand, the doctor and several Italian soldiers pressed down on Major Beck, quickly stripping off his clothes, leaving him without even underwear.

  Major Beck immediately thought of some scenes that were not suitable for children. Loudly shouting, but being pressed by several strong soldiers and unable to move. The doctor tightly tied the grenade to Major Beck's thigh with a rope, and even wrapped it around with tape. Then, he passed a steel wire through the insurance on the grenade and put it in Major Beck's pants, measuring the length of the wire outside his pants. Finally, he made a beautiful U-shaped knot and held it in his hand to try it out. Nodding satisfactorily, "Hmm, just like the procedure for fixing a hip fracture." Indeed, if you look from a distance, you can't see anything wrong.

  Liu Qi said to Beck, "You can try it out and see if there's anything inconvenient. However, be careful, or else the insurance will be worn off by you, and your little brother will probably be the first to get blown away."

  Beck got up, his face a picture of grief. The man probably couldn't bear the pain of his little brother being blown away. Beck carefully stood up and slowly took two steps forward.

  The doctor comforted him, saying "Don't worry, my skills are top-notch. As long as you don't make any sudden moves, I guarantee you'll be fine. Just keep pace with me and whatever you do, don't run off and leave me behind. You know how it is, years of surgical work have left our bodies quite fragile. Remember that."

  Liu Qi secretly laughed to himself on one side, "Marago, you little rascal, have you ever seen what a real operation looks like? You've been doing surgery for years. In my opinion, it's probably just practicing on corpses! However, Liu Qi didn't expose the doctor's tricks either."

  "Yes, yes, I'll be careful." Major Beck replied hastily.

  Just then, several SS officers rushed in and saluted Liu Qi, saying "Colonel, the soldiers have all changed into British uniforms, but there are only over 30 British rifles and two Browning light machine guns. Not enough for everyone to be equipped with."

  "It doesn't matter, Major Beck will help us. It's not a big deal whether we take the guns or not. Let them load all the weapons we brought onto the truck and hide them well. Then tie up all the British and lock them in the barracks. Make sure they're tied up tightly." Liu Qi said. Liu Qi didn't have time to deal with these remaining captives either, so he just temporarily tied them up.

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  God, Buddha, Allah, and the girl who cried out in front of my building's internet cafe door last night. Thanks for giving me a sleepless night. Also seeking recommendation votes.