Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 32: Going out and picking up a female warrant officer

No? Why the hell didn't you tell me earlier?
When Ryan heard Brian's words that he wanted to leave him behind safely, he almost asked him to leave him behind.

But what Brian said was clearly a lament that he was a soldier completely loyal to the empire, so Ryan knew very well that now was not the time to say this.

At least I have to wait until the first battle is over, make some achievements, and then apply to the higher-ups to go to the rear...

After all, the soldiers of the empire often take pride in their constant offensive and desire to attack. If they prematurely propose the idea of ​​going to the rear, it will still damage their impression among their superiors.

With a long sigh in his heart, Ryan decided to temporarily suppress the idea of ​​applying to go to the rear.

There is not much to say about what happened next.

Brigadier General Brian called his adjutant back and ordered everyone present today not to mention his conversation with Ryan. He also called his driver and asked him to send Ryan and his subordinates to Strasbourg as soon as possible.

By the time Ryan packed up and prepared to leave Mosingen, it was already past dinner time and almost nightfall.

But the news that he was going to Alsace had already spread everywhere.

I don't know which talkative lieutenant said it, or whether it was Brigadier General Brian who said it, but when Ryan took Brinkman out of the camp, the car that took them to Strasbourg was already filled with cheap beer, rationed cigarettes and chocolate that could be found everywhere.

In the car, Brinkman handed out a mountain of "gifts" to Ryan who was sitting in the back seat to prevent him from being squeezed. He also spoke to Ryan with interest.

"Lieutenant Maurice's adjutant just asked if we could take them with us, saying they also wanted to be stationed in Alsace."

"Morris?" Ryan thought about it and felt as if he had heard this name somewhere, but it took him a long time to remember that it seemed to be Schneider's name.

"Oh, Schneider!"

Ryan was still not used to the cars in this world that had almost no suspension systems, but fortunately this car was much more comfortable than the previous taxi, so he could accept it. "His adjutant? Why did he want to go with us?"

"It seems that because their company was awarded the Meritorious Company Award in the previous battle, the headquarters asked them to train new recruits while stationed in the rear." Brinkman said with regret.

Ryan immediately got angry: "Huh? There is such a good thing?"

"What?" Brinkman glanced at Ryan.

"No, it's nothing."

Ryan immediately pretended to know nothing and changed the subject, "What did that Schneider kid say?"

Brinkman put on a thoughtful expression, and after a few seconds he said, "As for the lieutenant...his mother is seriously ill, so he took leave and returned to his hometown in the imperial capital. Wasn't this matter quite a big deal before?"

Ryan was stunned for a moment. He had never heard of this before.

However, he also understood why the person who had just proposed to go to the Rhine front with him was Schneider's adjutant, rather than Schneider himself.

“It would be nice if they could come.”

he muttered.

"Huh? No problem?" Now it was Brinkman's turn to be surprised.

Ryan's tone was matter-of-fact. "After all, they're troops who've already participated in battles and won. Putting aside the question of whether they've gained combat experience, the mere fact that they've won battles makes their morale much stronger than the average unit."

In fact, Ryan only said half of what he said.

The half that he hadn't said was that most of the Empire's current troops, even Farlan's troops, only regarded this battle as a short-term one and would not develop into a long-term confrontation and war of attrition. Therefore, a highly motivated army was obviously much stronger than those rookies who had no idea what a battlefield was.

What's more, Schneider Company of the 1st Regiment had obeyed his command in previous battles.

After all, the holder of the Blue Star Max Medal will indeed gain the unconditional trust of the army, but everyone is not a fool and has his or her own boss.

Therefore, most people would definitely give priority to obeying the orders of their superiors rather than an airborne heroic officer.

The army is a huge organization composed of a large number of people, and its complexity is completely different from that of the game.

Reality is not a game either. It is obviously impossible for the orders issued by players to be delivered to every officer and even every soldier without error, and then be executed perfectly by those officers and soldiers.

A unit that had obeyed his command, and even served as a group of soldiers who had gone through life and death together, was obviously easier to command than the next unit he was about to receive. After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, Ryan finally spoke: "Can you bring them over, Lieutenant?"

“But they’re not…” Brinkman hesitated.

Ryan waved his hand and said, "You can tell the headquarters that we can also train troops on the front line. Just let them rotate a group of people when they have nothing to do. It's not a big problem."

"Brigadier General Brian had actually considered sending me to the rear, but it seems the headquarters already knew about my going to Alsace."

"Then I'll report this to headquarters tomorrow." Brinkman nodded and wrote it down in his notebook.

However, just when she finished her work and was about to take a good rest on the road, the Mercedes they were riding in stopped halfway.

The dim yellow light shone on the country road, illuminating several Imperial-style sidecar motorcycles and a row of soldiers in strange uniforms.

"Where are these troops!"

An officer roared and ran over from the front of the queue. Ryan could still see a faint green light on her clothes.

Is it a flashlight? Or something else?
Ryan squinted his eyes, trying to see more clearly, and then he saw a female warrant officer wearing a black leather jacket with bags almost the same size as her body hanging on her chest and back.

Brinkmann immediately said, "We are from the Ninth Army of the Fifth Military Region. We have been ordered to be transferred to the Seventh Army. Our mission is to garrison the Rhine Valley front!"

After she finished speaking, she paused and then asked, "Where are your numbers?"

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant. We belong to the Imperial Second Fleet. I'm sorry I can't elaborate on the specific organization."

The female warrant officer immediately saluted Brinkman, and the equipment on her body collided with each other, making a dull puffing sound. Her silver hair was particularly conspicuous in the moonlight.

"We have been ordered to depart from the Stuttgart General Staff Headquarters and proceed to Strasbourg to assist the Seventh Army in carrying out aerial reconnaissance missions along the front lines."

After saying that, the soldiers wearing the same uniforms stood up from the ground and came to the front of the car lights.

Ryan looked at them and found that there were twelve people in total, thirteen if the warrant officer was included.

It is worth mentioning that he found that almost everyone here was a sergeant, except for the girl in front who was a warrant officer.

"Are you from the Air Force or the Navy?" Ryan asked immediately - he heard the word fleet.

"Captain of the Air Force Fleet!"

The female warrant officer immediately stopped and returned.

Ryan got out of the car and stood out of the car's headlights. He asked in a proper voice, "Why are you parked in front and not moving?"

"Our truck got stuck and we just got it out."

Only then did Ryan notice a four-wheeled troop carrier with very narrow wheels parked on the muddy ground ahead.

There was also a slight burnt smell in the air, probably because the engine was overheating.

"Second Lieutenant, get out first." Ryan patted the car door and said to the warrant officer in front of him, "Have your men put all their equipment in the car. Use this car and the motorcycle to haul it to Strasbourg. The remaining distance is only a dozen kilometers. We can barely walk it."

"Grateful!"

The female warrant officer immediately turned around and gave orders, and the remaining soldiers quickly took off their equipment and stuffed it into the sidecar motorcycles and cars.

Ryan checked in with Brigadier General Brian's driver, and after seeing him off, he remembered that he had not yet asked the name of the commander of this unit.

He patted his uniform, smoothed out the pinched spots, and saluted the capable warrant officer. "I'm Ryan, Ryan Fligg, of the 502nd Border Guard Battalion of the Ninth Army."

The female warrant officer's expression suddenly froze for a moment, but she immediately returned the greeting and said.

"Warrant Officer Soma Perris, of the Imperial Air Force's Second Fleet."

(End of this chapter)