Iron Cross

In the afternoon of September 19, 1942, on the coastal road under the scorching sun, a convoy of tanks and armored vehicles was advancing rapidly, rolling up the sky full of yellow sand. Soon they appeared in the 1st Armored Division of the British Empire Army. In front of the position of the 7th Motorized Brigade.

Captain Clark, who was leading his men to build a position, could see clearly through the telescope that this fast armored formation was led by 8 Crusader tanks, followed by 16 M4 Sherman tanks, with a Daimler in the middle. -The Dingo armored vehicle is full of sophistication. Because he had not received any notice of the arrival of such a convoy, and because his boss had conveyed an order that he might face the German Afrika Korps tomorrow, he became more suspicious. While he alertly signaled his men to prepare for battle, he lowered his body to see what was going on.

The opponent seemed to be charging unscrupulously, and only stopped when they reached the position. An officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel got out of a command armored vehicle, holding a briefcase common to the headquarters staff, and asked the person closest to him. , Corporal Adams, who was obviously in a daze, said: "Hey, Corporal, which section are you in?"

"We are from the 7th Motorized Brigade, which part are you from?"

"I am Robin, Chief of Staff of the 42nd Royal Tank Regiment of the 1st Tank Brigade. Where is your commander?" The lieutenant colonel was neatly dressed, with a shiny helmet. He spoke with a standard Oxford accent and looked like an aristocrat in his every move. , which made Corporal Adams, who had been busy fighting recently, look ashamed. After saluting in a hurry, he immediately pointed his finger in the direction where Clark was lurking, betraying his company commander without hesitation.

Seeing that the situation had become like this, Clark could no longer hide. He hinted to the people around him not to relax their vigilance, and trotted over to greet him. The other party returned the gift lazily, took out a book of identification and handed it over: "Captain, I am Lieutenant Colonel Robin of the 1st Armored Brigade. This is my identification."

Clark opened the ID and took a look. Sure enough, the other party's military rank, position, unit and other information were clearly written on it. From the photo to the steel seal, he couldn't see any flaws. He turned over and over on the battlefield to check the military ID of a high-ranking officer. It was a very rude thing, so he immediately returned the ID to the other party. Before he could ask the other party's purpose, Lieutenant Colonel Robin showed his white teeth and said in an obviously domineering tone: "Why did you stop? Didn't Chief Montgomery ask you to chase the Italians?"

"Sir...sir." Clark didn't know how to answer. After thinking about it, he pushed the responsibility upwards. "The superiors have ordered us to build fortifications on the spot to resist Guderian's troops."

"The Germans haven't come yet, so you're just going to ignore the Italians?" The other party was obviously choked by this explanation, and asked in confusion, "That's not what the people at the headquarters said before I came, and they still swore to me that We need to deal with the Italians as soon as possible.”

"Who knows about the things above?" Clark smiled and spread his hands, indicating that he did not want to go further on this topic. Then the scene fell into a brief silence. Only the surrounding soldiers cast curious eyes. Lieutenant Colonel Robin asked : "How is your position building going?"

"Sir." Clark did not answer the question, but asked, "Why are you here?"

"Chief Montgomery was afraid that you would not be able to quickly deal with the Italians, so he specially asked us to come here to strengthen the combat strength." Robin seemed to suddenly realize, and took out the command order from the briefcase. Clark glanced at it briefly and returned it to the other party. He had never been exposed to orders from the headquarters. This was not something he should understand at this level. He could not tell whether it was true or false.

Clark looked embarrassed at this order: "Shangfeng has regulations for the entire division to build defensive positions on the spot. Each unit must guard the defense area. No vehicles are allowed to move without authorization. I cannot let you pass without receiving an order."

"What kind of bullshit rule is this?" The other party was obviously angry. "Does it mean that our tanks and armored vehicles are required to be parked outside? Doesn't that mean that when the Germans come, we will be their first target?"

"Sir, if not, I'll call the superiors for you to ask about the situation..."

"Okay, please do as you please, don't make me wait too long."

Clark immediately trotted to the field telephone, picked up the phone and said a few words before running back immediately: "Sir, the battalion commander said he didn't know about this matter. He asked you to wait for a while, and he went to ask for instructions."

"Of course it's no problem." Lieutenant Colonel Robin found a place to sit down at random. Clark obviously couldn't make the situation too embarrassing. In addition, he had not completely dispelled his doubts about the lieutenant colonel. He always felt that the timing of his appearance was strange. , so he had nothing to say and started chatting about home affairs. The conversation got to the point of Robin's accent. Clark had an idea and said that although he grew up in Cambridgeshire, he had also been exposed to students from Oxford and Cambridge universities. Many students can only understand but not speak the Oxford accent that is common on campus.

"Really? That's such a coincidence." Lieutenant Colonel Robin suddenly became enthusiastic: "I studied in Cambridge for several years. It's a pity that I didn't know you at the time."

As he spoke, he took out two packs of Italian cigarettes from his briefcase. He smiled and called to the soldiers watching the excitement: "Come here and try them all. The best Italian products are all captured by us. They are better than the Yankees' Camel brand." Much better." The soldiers glanced at Clark, and then stared at the cigarettes with fiery eyes. Clark had no choice but to distribute them on the spot, and soon there was a joy of puffing up the smoke.

After a round of cigarettes, Lieutenant Colonel Robin and Captain Clark, who were strangers to each other just now, seemed to have become very familiar old friends. They began to brag and chat endlessly. Lieutenant Colonel Robin was very eloquent and loved to show off. , kept talking about all kinds of things about his student life at Cambridge University: What is the most upscale bar near the school, which not only has the best Scotch whiskey, but also rare French brandy and wine from Hesse and Bavaria, Germany. of dark beer, and then said a few dirty words that all men would understand, making all the soldiers around him laugh.

Poor Clark was born into a civilian family, and becoming a captain was the result of many years of hard work. He had never had the opportunity to see the life of the upper class before. He had only heard of the bars, dance halls, billiard rooms, and racetracks mentioned by their names. Or a place that I have seen once at most from a distance, but I don’t dare to go in and spend money at all. However, the places mentioned by Lieutenant Colonel Robin are indeed the most high-end, luxurious, classy and popular places in Cambridgeshire. Not only are the names correct, but the location, appearance and scale are all correct. As for the gentle waitresses inside, the gorgeous backup dancers, the charming fashionable girls, etc., Clark was far from knowing the inside story. Now he could only listen to it with his eyes wide open. How could he dare to think about these things before?

The soldiers were all envious of Commander Robin's experience and romantic encounters, but Captain Clark said angrily: "Comparing people to each other is really irritating. This person is obviously a noble boy and a playboy. I don't know." He became a lieutenant colonel at such a young age and has been serving in the troops directly under the headquarters. Judging from his arrogance, he may still be an absolute idiot. "

However, thinking this way, I couldn't control my thoughts of flattery. These days, everything depends on connections. Who knows when these big shots will become famous in the future? Churchill was also a bohemian playboy when he was young. Isn’t he now the Prime Minister of the British Empire?

After a while, the other party showed an obviously impatient look and began to take out his pocket watch frequently to check the time. Clark's sharp eyes recognized the gold Rolex pocket watch at a glance. It is said that it commemorated the coronation of King George VI in 1937. He had only seen the limited edition on the brigade commander. He no longer doubted that it was a senior officer, and all his wariness and doubts were instantly dissipated.

He did have a phone call with the battalion commander just now, but the battalion commander clearly told him that the brigade headquarters and armored forces had already moved forward to pursue the Italians and could not be contacted at all now. He was allowed to judge the truth of this matter by himself without offending anyone. There was no need to delay things. The so-called further request for instructions from above was just to deceive Lieutenant Colonel Robin. All he wanted to do was to keep the other party to interrogate the situation and see if there was any problem, so there would be no response at all. After talking about it for so long, if there is really a problem, it's time to reveal the truth. Although this officer's personal life is not very reliable, isn't this just the way of the noble officers of Great Britain - it seems that he is completely careless.

"Captain Clark, it seems that you don't need reinforcements. It's time for me to lead the troops back. Just tell your brigade commander that I've been here." Lieutenant Colonel Robin is probably familiar with Clark and knows not to make excessive demands to avoid injury. He kept his temper and rarely lost his temper, "If he asks more questions, just say that I went to search for the German reconnaissance troops."

"No, no, no!" Clark thought to himself, if he really had to do this, if the brigade commander contacted the lieutenant colonel in the future, how would he explain this? Being punished yourself is a minor matter, but missing orders from the headquarters is a major matter. "You'd better go over. It's important to carry out the mission. After all, this order only targets the vehicles of this division. Of course, the headquarters' formations are not restricted."

"Then I'll leave first." Lieutenant Colonel Robin shook hands with him warmly before leaving. "When the war is over, I'll treat you to the best bar in Cambridgeshire for a drink..."