I asked you to escape, but you became a soldier in World War II

Chapter 146 Enemies meet on a narrow road
The next day, Lin Chen and his companions were called out for questioning one after another. The result was predictable. These proud American pilots were unwilling to reveal a single word.

The German army had no choice but to escort them back to their homeland. The German officer, with a sly smile on his face, said that he would let them also taste the feeling of bombs falling from the sky.

The six people were escorted by a German military vehicle, with two motorcycles in front and behind, equipped with machine guns. It would have been extremely difficult for them to escape.

Fortunately, the escorting German troops did not make things too difficult for them. However, the closer they got to the German mainland, the more obvious the signs of destruction became.

At night, the group entered a small town to rest. When the townspeople learned that the people in the car were Allied pilots, especially bomber pilots, they immediately became furious and rushed forward to avenge their relatives who died in the bombing.

The escorting German troops still tried to stop the convoy, but even so, many stones flew into the carriage. Except for Lin Chen who was good at dodging, the others were all hit and had bruises on their faces.

Fortunately, a group of Wehrmacht troops arrived in the end, showed relevant documents, and took Lin Chen and his group away. Otherwise, they would have been torn to pieces by the growing number of German crowds.

Following them all the way to the outside of a church, seeing the armed guards around, Lin Chen instantly felt that there seemed to be an important person here.

"Who has the highest military rank among you?" At this time a lieutenant colonel came out, with a first-class Iron Cross medal on his chest that was very conspicuous.

"I am a lieutenant, so I should be the highest ranking one!" Lin Chen stood up.

The other party was obviously a little disdainful of Lin Chen's only lieutenant rank. He shrugged and said, "Come with me."

Of course Lin Chen had no choice but to go along with him. After all, he was surrounded by National Defense Army soldiers who were eyeing him covetously. It was obvious that these soldiers had experienced a real bloody battle.

There's no way to fake that murderous aura.

The lieutenant colonel knocked on the door, and after receiving a reply from inside, he motioned Lin Chen to go in by himself, and then waited outside the door.

Lin Chen was very curious. Who was this important person? Why was he so impressive?
However, when he walked in, he saw a senior German general with a red collar badge sitting in front of a table, carefully looking at the map with a magnifying glass and drawing circles with a pencil.

Damn, it’s a collar badge with three cornflower petals. Looking at his epaulettes, Lin Chen’s eyes widened.

The epaulettes are made of a group of three gold threads wrapped around each other, forming four and a half coils on each side. The top coil serves as a buttonhole to fix the button. The button is gold-plated and decorated with a metal emblem of a crossed marshal's baton. The epaulettes are sewn on a scarlet base.

Hanging around his neck was obviously the highest honor among German medals - the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Diamonds, Oak Leaves and Swords.

This guy turned out to be a German Field Marshal. He looked like...
At this moment, the other party finally raised his head, smiled and asked Lin Chen to sit down.

"I was delayed by something just now. Let me introduce myself. I am Erwin Rommel, commander-in-chief of the German Army Group B. What is your name?"

Upon hearing that the other party was Field Marshal Rommel, known as the "Desert Fox", Lin Chen was a little at a loss for a moment, because he has always been his idol.

This man was said to be a pure soldier who fought bravely only for the honor of a soldier. Of course, the German leaders did have a great deal of kindness towards him, but even so, he never shot prisoners in battle and treated his subordinates with humility.

Therefore, after the war, he was one of the few senior German generals who was not included in the list of war criminals.

"Mr. Marshal, I am Lieutenant Lin Chen of the 1st Squadron of the 8th Air Force in Europe."

"Oh, Lieutenant Lin, please take a seat. I'm sorry, it's war time now and supplies are scarce. We only have boiled water. Would you like a glass?"

"OK, thanks."

I had heard that Rommel lived a simple life, but I didn't expect it to be so simple. Unlike other German officers who always smoked and drank, his life was not much different from that of ordinary soldiers.

"Your Eighth Air Force is very powerful. It has razed many factories in our empire to the ground. If you continue to bomb them like this, the war will end prematurely." He said as he handed over a glass of water.

The water temperature was just right, and Lin Chen was very thirsty, so he drank it all in one breath.

"Want some more?"

"Okay, give me some more." After Lin Chen was captured, he had nothing to eat or drink. This was undoubtedly a torment for these pilots who had lived a pampered life in the UK.

Seeing his condition, Rommel knew what would happen to him after being captured, so he took out two pieces of bread from his bag and handed them to him along with a cup of water.

Lin Chen didn't waste any words and just wolfed it down. Then he immediately felt his energy and strength restored.

"Thank you, you are such a great marshal!" Lin Chen's words were not just flattery. In his previous life, he had read about Rommel's life in books and watched TV, so he had a certain understanding of him.

"Haha, just average. If he were really great, he wouldn't have been chased back by Montgomery."

"No, your failure in North Africa was ultimately due to the fact that Germany's national strength was not enough to cope with a world war of this scale. With only the troops in your hands, you were able to achieve such a record. This is unprecedented and will never be repeated."

Hearing Lin Chen's words, Rommel was somewhat moved. His life in North Africa was really frustrating. The Italians were not reliable at all, and his own troops were pitifully small. The worst thing was that the Mediterranean was known as Italy's inland lake, but the ships supporting North Africa were sunk one after another by the Allies.

In the end, he gave up North Africa because he had run out of ammunition and resources. This was a part of history that he could not bear to look back on.

"Forget it, it's all in the past, let's not talk about it. So Lieutenant Lin, what do you think of the current situation in Western Europe?" Rommel was different from most people. He didn't ask sensitive questions, but instead seemed to be chatting with friends.

"You want to hear the truth?" Lin Chen smiled.

"Of course, I never like those false diplomatic words."

"If you must hear the truth, I advise you to take your troops and surrender to the Allies as soon as possible to avoid your men continuing to make fearless sacrifices." Lin Chen's words were simply treasonous in the German-occupied area.

If the Gestapo were still present now, they would probably shoot Lin Chen to death without hesitation, and even Rommel would be in danger.

Sure enough, Rommel's face changed drastically after hearing this, but his good Prussian officer education made him quite gentlemanly. After taking some time to calm down his emotions, he smiled and asked, "If I asked you to surrender with your men, would you do it?"

"Of course not, but judging by the current situation, it is only a matter of time before Germany is defeated. When will Germany be able to withstand a two-front war? Moreover, it is now a three-front war, or even a four-front war (strategic bombing)." Lin Chen did not want this respected German marshal to end up committing suicide, so he gave a few reminders.

"The Soviet offensive on the Eastern Front is becoming increasingly fierce. The German Army Group Center has suffered a severe blow that cannot be recovered. As for the other directions, it is even more of a mess.
In the south, the Allied forces landed in Italy. Although German reinforcements arrived and temporarily stabilized the situation, with the strong stamina of the Allied forces, it was not a problem to capture Italy.

Looking at Western Europe, the Allied forces are about to open up a second front. Although you are in charge of this defense, you also know that the Allied forces have too great an advantage in the air and at sea, and the German army's hope of resisting is almost zero.

Once the Allies land, will the German army not collapse? "

This incisive analysis really hit the nail on the head, and even Rommel, who was experienced in warfare, understood that what Lin Chen said was true.

"Thank you, young man. You can tell me so much, which shows that you are a very good person. I am not afraid of you laughing at me. In fact, I understand what you said, but I have been blessed by the leader, and I have no choice but to serve my country with all my heart.

We all swore an oath!"

Rommel looked at Lin Chen very seriously, and Lin Chen understood that he could not persuade the other party, just as the other party could not convince himself. A true soldier starts on the battlefield and will inevitably end on the battlefield.

"I will do my best to get you to a more comfortable prisoner-of-war camp and ask them to take good care of you. I hope you can survive until after the war. The post-war reconstruction work needs young people like you."

When he said this, his eyes were full of loneliness.

Walking out of Rommel's headquarters, everyone came up to ask him who he had met. Lin Chen just smiled and didn't say much, because no one would believe him. Why would a German marshal meet with an American Air Force lieutenant?
Perhaps it was the marshal's greeting, and soon someone brought them food and water. After everyone had eaten, they continued on their way. However, not long after, they stopped in front of a prisoner-of-war camp on the German-French border.

"Get off the bus! You damn Americans!" The guards in the POW camp were obviously not as polite as the escorting German troops. They started beating and scolding, and Lin Chen was also hit twice.

The escorting German officer greeted a sergeant who came out of the prisoner-of-war camp, probably talking about the preferential treatment mentioned by Rommel. Unexpectedly, the sergeant laughed wildly.
"Your Excellency the Marshal must want us to 'entertain' them well, right? I understand!"

Fuck, Lin Chen was a little speechless. Your comprehension ability is too poor, right?
However, the German officer obviously did not want to waste too much time on his prisoners of war. After smoking a cigarette, he took his men away.

Lin Chen and his companions’ life as prisoners of war officially began.

The group was asked to take off all their clothes and then run cold water over their bodies, freezing everyone half to death. The German guards, on the other hand, laughed happily.

After randomly spraying some unknown disinfectant powder, everyone was allowed to put on their clothes quickly, then shivered and received a number, and then was assigned to the prisoner-of-war dormitory.

Compared with other concentration camps, the treatment in this prisoner-of-war camp was indeed much better. At least the prisoners were not piled up together like in concentration camps.

Although it is also in a simple wooden house, the ventilation is still good.

The bed Lin Chen was assigned was the lower bunk, and there was a lot of blood and pus on it. A strong fishy smell filled his nose. God knows what the previous resident had experienced.

The arrangements for the other five people were also disrupted, probably because they were afraid that the people who came in would riot. This can be considered an effective means of managing prisoners of war.

Lin Chen discovered that all prisoners imprisoned here were prisoners of war of a certain level, and almost all of them were British and American. The one with the highest rank was a British colonel named George. It was said that he was captured while staying behind to fight in the Dunkirk period. He had been imprisoned here for many years and his physical condition was very bad, but he was still everyone's spiritual leader.

In Lin Chen's cell, the highest-ranking officer was an American captain named Richardson, who seemed to be an officer of the 1943rd Bomber Group. Lin Chen walked over to greet him, but his reaction was very cold. Because he was imprisoned in early , he had never heard of Lin Chen's amazing deeds.

Besides, no matter how awesome you are, you’ve already entered now, so isn’t it the same?

Just when Lin Chen was trying to get close to the others, the cell door suddenly opened and the German sergeant he had seen before walked in. He twisted his fat body, holding a thick wooden stick, and beat up the two American prisoners of war who were blocking his way.

Then he shouted to everyone in that arrogant tone,

"There have been a lot of new people coming in these days, so I need to emphasize the rules here. No casual conversations, no saving of food, no resistance! Now that you're here, just throw your rights into the trash and remember your obligations!"

After saying that, he turned around and left, as if he didn't want to stay in this room for even a minute longer.

"Who is this person?"

"Dedmonton, the person in charge of the first prison area here, is cruel and brutal. It's not normal here." He tapped his head with his hand.

"Shut up, Smiles, do you want to repeat the same mistake as last time?" Captain Richardson interrupted his introduction rudely.

Smils spread his hands helplessly, and Lin Chen immediately shut up and lay down to enjoy a rare rest.

However, just two minutes later, the door was opened again, but this time, German soldiers came in like wolves and tigers.

"Get up, lazy pigs! The night's work has begun!"

While whipping them, they urged everyone to go out and line up.

The prisoners of war here were probably used to it, and didn't say anything dissatisfied. They walked out of the cells mechanically and numbly and lined up on the muddy ground outside.

Only then did Lin Chen realize that the square was already crowded with about four to five thousand people.

When we arrived at the square, it was still raining outside and the temperature was already very low. The hot air we exhaled quickly turned into white mist.

"Everyone, listen up! The newly appointed Major King is going to give a speech. Be quiet!" Sergeant Dedmonton stepped forward to maintain order.

Jingke? Lin Chen felt that the name sounded familiar.

But when that person opened his mouth, Lin Chen suddenly remembered the German officer who fought with him in the Battle of Stalingrad!
At that time, he was lurking around and it was easy for him to remember the other person's face and voice. He didn't expect to meet him again after such a long time.

(End of this chapter)