Volume 2: Before the War Chapter 20: Before the War (4)

  Xu Yang's bed was arranged next to the window in the carriage, and he was assigned to the same compartment as a lieutenant from the armored division. Compared to the ordinary soldiers who slept on the swaying and very uncomfortable hammocks, they were able to sleep on a small, hard wooden plank bed, which was already a blessing.

  At this time, Xu Yang was intently reading a newspaper with the headline of Hitler's speech. It was a wonderful and peaceful soul-stirring melody, just like the sound of a train rumbling along, fully loaded with weapons and soldiers on their way to reclaim honor, so intoxicating.

  Xu Yang put down the newspaper and picked it up again. The newspaper was in French, with a photo of the Third Republic of France's military parade on it. The tall hat on top of the soldiers' heads seemed to be able to touch the sky. The cavalrymen wore their uniforms proudly, holding their sabers in front of their chests, their legs tightly gripping the horse's belly.

  "Hey! Not bad for a Gallic rooster. What's written on it?"

  Xu Yang continued to watch.

  The speaker is Rick; talkative Rick, popular Rick, Xu Yang's assistant Rick. He had no idea that Xu Yang understood French, in his impression; Stark's hobby was writing theories, saying some strange words, very popular among the Supreme Command and the high-level Nazi Party. The only downside is that he doesn't like to joke around, a typical arrogant nobleman of the Kont Empire.

  "The Declaration of the Third Republic...” Xu Yang's gaze didn't leave the newspaper, “They tell the world with a military parade; France loves peace but is strong. Just like us, we will soon tell people with action that we also love peace. The rifles and cannons fire cotton balls, not deadly shells.”

  Rick smiled wryly and looked outside. In fact, he didn't know what was outside the car, only knowing that it was said, peace? Peace does not belong to Germany.

  "Can you help me take down my backpack?" Xu Yang suddenly missed his companions who were on the border of Poland.

  Ruike didn't hand the backpack to Xuyang, but instead held it in his hands and opened it, asking: "Literary man, what do you want? Oh heaven... cigars! Mexican cigars! It seems that class still has its privileges, aren't you a non-smoker?" Without the owner's consent, he took out a box of cigars and tossed them one by one to the other officers.

  Xu Yang frowned and said, "Rick, your American habits are very bad. Americans always share other people's things without the owner's permission. Now, hand me the letter box inside."

  Rick lit a cigar, puffing out smoke with an air of great enjoyment. After the war, he was put on inactive duty by the Defense Forces for being unable to explain how he had escaped from the Far East. He went to America and worked secretly for four years before responding to the "Call to All Germans" and returning to Germany, where he was reactivated.

  The stereotypical German military tradition made Rick destined to not get much attention, he was like a stone being kicked around. Two years ago, no one knew why Xu Yang chose him, only knowing that the sloppy Rick did quite well under Starg's command.

  What did Xu Yang see in him? Perhaps even Xu Yang himself didn't know. Rick wasn't a good combat leader, but he was a good hand at intelligence analysis. Under his sloppy exterior was a military enthusiast's heart that jumped with excitement, and beneath the expression of contemptuous smile was a tight brain.

  "Someone who can escape from the Far East to Spain and then use various means to evade domestically is absolutely not an idiot. Maybe one day I'll make use of him." Xu Yang's thoughts were as simple as that.

  ……

  November 11, 1918 is the day that the Allies consider most worthy of commemoration. In the Compiègne Forest in France, German commander Erzberger signed the armistice agreement. The four-year First World War came to an end.

  This is the moment France has been waiting for.

  For 100 years since the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire, France and Germany, two great nations, have been through countless struggles, but France has long been at a disadvantage. Today, its 'arch-enemy' is finally defeated. The French not only got huge reparations from the Germans, but also recovered their own land, how can this not be exciting?

  France's victory in World War I was to some extent due to excellent intelligence work. During the war, the Deuxième Bureau organized a network of spies from the Rhine to deep within Russia that played a significant role in collecting enemy military intelligence and conducting sabotage operations behind enemy lines. At the time, the Deuxième Bureau almost became synonymous with "French spy" and made its mark on the world stage of espionage.

  France, although a victorious country in World War I, also suffered huge losses. 1.3 million people died in the war and the national economy was on the verge of collapse due to years of war. Perhaps it was because the people yearned for a peaceful and stable life, which led to a relaxation of vigilance against their old enemy Germany and the rise of pacifist thought.

  In this context, the tense nerves of French intelligence agencies also relaxed. At that time, books, newspapers, plays and films depicting espionage heroes during World War I emerged one after another, and some Deuxième Bureau agents also wrote books and gave lectures. However, behind these phenomena lurked extremely dangerous reefs, exposing some French agents and state secrets to the public, causing a batch of long-term undercover agents abroad to flee back home, seriously affecting France's foreign intelligence gathering capabilities, especially its espionage activities against Germany.

  When history entered the 1920s and 1930s, when the intelligence and counterintelligence work of various countries around the world developed rapidly, the French intelligence department was unable to keep up with the development of the times and develop itself. The once-mighty French Deuxième Bureau (intelligence agency) had become a third-rate actor.

  Is the world really at peace after the smoke of war has cleared?

  Foch, Marshal of France, once pointed to the Treaty of Versailles and said: This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years... In fact, all periods of peace are merely armistices...

  Germany was not willing to sit idly by and watch the victorious powers redivide their spheres of influence at the Paris Peace Conference after World War I. The hand that waited for revenge signed on the humiliating Treaty of Versailles, and the harsh terms of the treaty kept Germany ready to reignite the flames of war at any moment.

  In 1932, after Hitler ascended to the throne of the Empire Chancellor, with the support and connivance of Junkers, financiers and the military, he accelerated his pace of expansion and war preparation.

  In the first few years of his rule, Hitler used slogans such as "shattering the chains of the Treaty of Versailles, restoring the honor and freedom of the German people", "defending Germany's borders" and "maintaining peace" to deceive the people, incite public hatred for the Treaty of Versailles, and serve his aggressive expansion. Externally, he made speeches calling for peace, claiming that Germany did not want war, but only sought a peaceful understanding on a fair basis for all, in order to lull France, Britain, and the United States into a false sense of security, so that they would be caught off guard when he struck.

  Hitler's peace propaganda has indeed produced an effect, and some prominent figures in the French military and political circles are also singing Hitler's praises, believing that this speech is a sincere and carefully considered statement from the heart. They bluntly declare: No war on the Western Front!

  Will things really go as they wish? No, it's definitely not that good!

  ……

  A military train loaded with tanks and infantry stopped at a secret military railway station on the outskirts of the Ruhr industrial area. This was a secretly constructed clandestine railway station, very simple in facilities, without any civilian workers inside, soldiers wearing national defense army uniforms clearing debris along the tracks, special tracked unloading machinery arrived, waiting for an order to unload Type I tanks and Type II tanks from the train cars, these tanks would be placed and camouflaged at industrial bases on the outskirts of Ruhr.

  Those light armored vehicles, military trucks and motorcycles would be parked directly in the empty space next to the train station, waiting for the soldiers of the Seventh Division to get off the train. They would immediately board the vehicles and depart to hide in the Kassel forest area on the east bank of the Rhine River.

  "Now, Leeb could let the soldiers know the purpose of coming here. He didn't make the soldiers line up and wait for a declaration, but instead used the train station's broadcast to say a short sentence: "The time has come when we use our lives and weapons to maintain the rights and interests of German compatriots! Brave soldiers, lift your heads high and proudly set off towards our Rhine!"

  Our Rhine...

  It's ours!!!!!