Chapter 52: Airplanes
Hearing this, Colonel Slein was taken aback, his mouth half-open. After a long pause, he nodded and said, "You're right, Sergeant. You've reminded me!"
Without further hesitation, Colonel Slein turned and shouted to his adjutant, "Lucas, go and stop Major Philip immediately. Tell him to treat those prisoners well!"
"Colonel..." Lucas was momentarily stunned.
"Go!" Colonel Slein commanded loudly.
"Yes, sir!" Lucas replied reluctantly.
As Lucas ran unwillingly toward the city outskirts, Colonel Slein helplessly shrugged and said to Qin Chuan, "Sergeant, if my adjutant were half as smart as you, I would be content!"
Then, shaking Qin Chuan's hand, he added, "Thank you for the reminder. I think... it's time for me to say a few words to those prisoners."
"Yes, sir!" Qin Chuan responded.
This interaction further demonstrated that Colonel Slein was a smart man. He knew it was the right time to use those prisoners to spread the "spirit" of the German army, thereby achieving the goal of reducing the pressure on their offensive.
Watching Colonel Slein leave in a hurry, Werner approached Qin Chuan with an expression of disbelief and said, "Unbelievable, you actually succeeded!"
Qin Chuan also felt relieved because this decision would save nearly ten thousand British soldiers from disaster, especially since most of these British troops were logistical personnel who posed little threat to the Germans on the battlefield. In this sense, it was a win-win situation.
However, the adjutant Lucas still had doubts. He said to the returning Colonel Slein, "Colonel, how can we ensure they won't go and inform other British forces? They might even escape back to Tobruk and become our problem!"
"Don't worry, Lucas!" Colonel Slein said, looking at the captured "Matador" trucks, "Because we have trucks now, we'll always be ahead of them!"
Colonel Slein was right. The hallmark of German warfare was speed, much like the famous "blitzkrieg" tactics.
Moreover, Colonel Slein had thought of another benefit, something even Qin Chuan hadn't considered... If they stripped the prisoners of all their supplies, including food and water, these prisoners wouldn't be able to travel far in the desert. In fact, they might even become a problem for the British, as they would surely consume a large amount of the food, water, and medicine intended for the advancing British troops.
Ten minutes later, the unit was back on the road, but this time they were using trucks.
The British "Matador" military trucks had spacious cargo areas... After all, Britain was an old industrial nation. Their tanks might have been underwhelming due to poor development choices, but even a fool knows that the primary role of a truck is transportation.
This allowed each truck to carry at least thirty German soldiers... The soldiers sat in four rows in the truck bed—two rows in the middle and one row on each side, with about seven soldiers per row, plus the driver and co-driver, making exactly thirty people.
In this way, one hundred trucks could transport nearly the entire regiment, with some trucks left for carrying supplies.
In fact, the "Matador" military truck was long enough to hold 38 people or more.
But considering the danger of overcrowding... for example, if they were ambushed on the road, having too many people in the truck bed would result in heavy casualties in the first attack, and the cramped conditions would make it difficult to retaliate. Moreover, it would be hard for the soldiers to jump out of the truck and quickly spread out into a battle formation.
On the other hand, the extra space could be used to carry supplies like water, gasoline, food, and ammunition... At this point, the Germans didn't lack these, as the British warehouses had everything. The trucks were filled with supplies, giving the soldiers a sense of security.
Qin Chuan's unit was assigned to the trucks... Traveling by truck was meant to get them to the next British supply station as quickly as possible and capture it.
So, while riding in the trucks spared the soldiers the hardship of marching through the desert, it also increased the risk of combat.
For Qin Chuan, he preferred to ride in the truck, as he was already exhausted... From capturing Tenggetengel, there had been no proper rest. Then there was an entire night of marching, and by now, they had been under the stress of battle, marching, and the fear of death for a continuous twenty-four hours. This left Qin Chuan and everyone else utterly exhausted. As soon as they got in the truck, they collapsed in the cargo area and fell into a deep sleep, regardless of the noise and shaking of the truck.
Before falling asleep, Qin Chuan even thought that if a shell could destroy the truck he was in while he slept... that might be the most desirable outcome because he could die without pain or fear, and no longer face this cruel world.
Qin Chuan was awakened by the sound of planes because even in his dreams, he knew the sky was controlled by the British, and planes meant danger.
Sure enough, when Qin Chuan opened his eyes, he saw that the other German soldiers were already awake, all with expressions of panic and worry.
Qin Chuan knew what they were worried about... This was the desert, and it was daytime. If British reconnaissance planes spotted them and called in fighters or bombers to intercept, the convoy would have nowhere to hide.
Soon, Qin Chuan noticed the convoy slowing down, the drivers clearly affected by the presence of the reconnaissance plane overhead.
Qin Chuan quickly shouted to the driver ahead, "Don't stop, keep going, maintain a steady speed!"
The other German soldiers in the truck bed quickly realized what was happening and started shouting to the trucks behind and those stopped on the roadside, "Keep going, maintain a steady speed!"
After thinking for a moment, Qin Chuan added, "Don't shoot!"
This order was also passed along, just like an official command from their superiors.
In fact, many believed this was indeed an order from the higher-ups, and it wasn't until later that they realized it actually came from a sergeant.
Whether it was due to the inherent discipline of the Germans or the pressure of war, the convoy quickly shook off the initial chaos and resumed orderly movement along the road at a steady pace. No one got out of the trucks, no one stuck their heads out, and no one fired a shot.
After a while, the roar of the planes gradually faded, and the soldiers couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Good thinking, Sergeant!" Werner said to Qin Chuan, "Pretending to be British!"
Werner had fully grasped Qin Chuan's intention... The Germans were riding in British "Matador" trucks, so if they maintained a steady pace without causing any commotion and didn't take any hostile actions under the plane's surveillance, it would be easy for the British pilots to mistake them for one of their own convoys.
"Don't celebrate too soon!" the baker said, taking a sip from his water bottle, "We can't be sure we've really fooled them. Maybe their bombers and fighters are already on their way!"
The baker's words made the soldiers' hearts sink again.
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