558 Small Towns in Germany

A car with a license plate of the Berlin Garrison Headquarters was speeding on the road, and its black painted body reflected brilliant light in the sun. This kind of car is a special reception car for the generals of the German Wehrmacht. It does not belong to a certain person, but is responsible for receiving the generals who return to Berlin.

However, this car is not driving on the streets near Berlin now, it is at least 100 kilometers away from Berlin. But this morning the people in the car were ordered to go to a small town near Berlin.

"Car?" A German civilian put down the tools in his hand, raised his head, wiped his sweat, and looked at the car belonging to the German Wehrmacht with puzzled eyes. The civilians here don't have a good impression of the military's cars. The reason is related to the last large-scale military expansion.

This small town has a large population, and it can be considered a large-scale town. The last time the German Wehrmacht expanded its army, a full 14,000 recruits were taken away from here in one breath, so the people in the town are instinctively sensitive to the Wehrmacht's military vehicles.

"Why are you here again?" The woman next to me who was putting the nearby bundled hay into the car also had a bitter expression on her face: "They recruited almost all the young people in the town when they came last time, and up to now there is not a single one. People were approved to come back from leave."

"Fighting for the country is something that should be done, don't be a mother-in-law anymore." The man repairing the car scolded his wife in a stern tone: "Have you seen the monument erected at the entrance of the town?"

After hearing the scolding, his wife closed her mouth with a resentful expression. Their eldest child, who is only 21 years old, is already a veteran who has fought for more than half a year. Now serving in North Africa, the photo sent back shows that he is already a sergeant squad leader, and he looks a lot darker.

The car stopped in the square of the town, and a major general waited for his assistant to open the door before getting out of his car decently. The weather at this time no longer required the overcoats issued by the German generals. He only wore the general's uniform, with the major general's star on his shoulders shining brightly.

He walked around the car and looked at the stone monument erected in the center of the town, his face seemed to be full of reverence. After staring at it for a long time, he finally got out of his mind, and nodded apologetically to his assistant.

"Go in..." The major general looked around at the common people who looked at him with uneasy eyes, and felt that standing here could easily cause misunderstanding. He said to his assistant: "Go to the mayor's office!"

His assistant nodded and followed the general with his briefcase in his hands. Two young German soldiers stood at the entrance of the administrative hall in the town center. When the two saw the general walking towards them, they were obviously excited: "Stand at attention! Long live the head of state, Arcador Rudolf!"

"Long live the head of state!" The general motioned lightly after the salute, and continued to move forward.

Since the beginning of the war, German administrative units have been stationed in some light infantry responsible for security work. These soldiers are freshly trained recruits and are often replaced. Almost all newly recruited soldiers need to train for one month, and then take charge of guards and other work for one month before being sent to the front line to participate in combat.

Of course, this rule is not well implemented now. The front line is waiting for more soldiers to make up for the losses, so most of the soldiers are sent to the front line after training for 3 weeks and then resting for a week.

"General! If you need anything, just call our national defense force headquarters. How can you trouble your master to come here in person?" The mayor sat in the office and did not stand up to greet him. After all, the two belonged to different departments. , don't be too polite.

"I came this time to find out the heroine of this letter." The major general smiled and asked the secretary to open the briefcase, and took out a letter paper with a corner red with blood. The paper seemed to be a little wrinkled because of the blood, but it could be seen that the letter had been kept very well along the way.

The mayor was taken aback for a moment, then frowned and stared into the general's eyes: "Spy cases? We don't have any important military bases here, and such things don't happen often! Is it a woman? You can't make a mistake, right?" ?”

The general laughed: "Don't make wild guesses, just take a look and you will know. Marshal Brauchitsch personally intervened in this matter. This matter has been filed in the Propaganda Department. After verification, it will be taken at an appropriate time. Come out and use it as imperial propaganda."

Doubt filled the mayor's eyes. He took the letter and read it carefully. The blood-stained lines made his brows gradually relax, and the expression in his eyes changed from doubt to emotion.

I don't know if you'll miss me, maybe you won't. But I really don't miss you all the time. Imagine what kind of person you will marry and how to spend your beautiful youth... As long as you live well, I will be happy in heaven...

At that time, I will propose to you and hold a wedding that everyone will envy. We will have many children and live happily together until we are a hundred years old—I will always love you Bode.

The mayor closed the letter, stood up with a smile, took out a bottle of good-looking French red wine from the cabinet next to him, and handed an empty glass to the general: "You know, we only sent 14,000 yuan here half a year ago. Many fathers and sons were sent to the battlefield, this time you came here, I thought you came here for the source of soldiers."

Obviously, the mayor had no intention of entertaining the military personnel with good wine. No matter what these generals came to do, it seemed that it was some bad news: if they lost a war, they needed to continue conscription; to catch spies or collaborators—in short Well, the local government doesn't like these Wehrmacht generals, they represent a lot of shit and endless bad news. But it was obviously not the case this time, so he took out the wine.

"In fact, we don't have a larger-scale mobilization plan in the short term. The head of state hopes to end the war, but obviously the Soviets and Americans want us to continue fighting. This is not what we want to do." The general took over He took his glass, and politely asked the mayor to fill it up.

The mayor nodded: "But this time, I will do my best to assist what the military requires. I will arrange for people to find this girl. She should receive this love from afar."

"Thank you!" The general took a sip of the fine wine, then pointed to the stone tablet outside with a smile and said, "Do you still believe what is written on that tablet?"

"Of course!" Without even thinking about it, the mayor replied immediately: "We firmly believe in the words above, that is our belief and our oath!"

The general solemnly agreed: "Because of you, we all firmly believe that the German Empire will become the world's leading power."

The mayor glanced at the general, then turned around and called his secretary, and arranged for a man to search for a family in this town. Germany's wartime household registration statistics were very strict and orderly, so the assistants soon found the current address of the Coria family.

"Go together?" After the general got the result he wanted, he immediately put down his glass and stood up, suggesting to the mayor.

"Together!" The mayor nodded, and the two walked out of the house together.

Soon, they drove to Kolya's home, where they found a girl named Kolya who was helping her mother. They asked to confirm their identity, and mentioned the boy named Bird. Apparently the girl knew this Bode, and talked very chatty about that silly neighbor classmate.

"Miss, I don't think he will come back again. Here is a letter he left for you. I hope you can accept it." The general saluted the girl regretfully, and then handed the letter to the girl who was stunned. .

Soon, crying came from the room. In the quiet town, it was as if the branches were swaying in the wind, which made people feel heartbroken and heartbroken. As a life goes away, this love may never leave any results, but it still exists, engraved in this era, leaving an eternal mark.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me in person? Why?" Kolya sat on the ground holding the blood-stained letter paper, crying loudly. She must also like Bode, who knows that the letter of the first confession became the farewell of the two people.

The mayor patted the girl on the shoulder and comforted him: "He is a warrior who died for Germany, and everyone in the town will be proud of him."

The general finally stood silently under the stone tablet in the small town for a long time before getting in the car and leaving. When he left, majestic songs were being sung in the town, and everyone shouted the slogan of dedication to Germany, and excitedly shouted the name of Bode, a soldier, with louder and louder voices.

During the First World War, this small town selected 10,000 soldiers and sent them to the front line. Soon, almost all of these 10,000 soldiers were killed in one battle. The people in the small town were not afraid of death, and they immediately summoned another 10,000 people to continue fighting for their motherland.

In the end, 30,000 people in the entire town went to the battlefield to fight the British and French enemies on the brutal Western Front. In 1919, there were only more than 2,000 soldiers returning home from the town. They erected a stone monument in the center of the town to commemorate those relatives who died. There is a line engraved on the stone tablet: Even if we all die in battle, Germany will live forever.

As the sun sets, the golden afterglow covers the stone tablet, as if it has coated the stone tablet with a layer of gold, but the plain stone tablet is still simple, solemn and solemn. r1148

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