Chapter 59
Fafnir gathered a group of over-energized companions in the military camp, often getting into various scuffles and brawls with soldiers from other units in nearby camps. He also made many new friends this way. One guy's name left a deep impression on him - "Karl Gustav Shuttekhaufen? Am I in the Legend of the Galactic Heroes or something? Someone actually dares to have a name like that?" However, the little brat was quite ruthless when it came to fighting! He rubbed his chin, muttering to himself - he had just been beaten up by the person he mentioned. The guy wasn't small either, belonging to the engineer corps of the division, and was a combat engineer who often used flamethrowers and explosives. However, this weirdly-named guy also had a weird habit. He was extremely enthusiastic about recording his birthday, and all his belongings and weapons had "911" written on them in inconspicuous places. "The world is really big, with all sorts of strange people." Fafnir sighed after finding out.
The training life in the military camp was tense, and everyone had accumulated a lot of pressure. One day, Fawfnir and another comrade from the tank regiment, Hoinz Belwigen "driver", sneaked into the military band's barracks under the cover of Yang, and stole many musical instruments. Belwigen was also one of the few comrades who got along with Fawfnir after he arrived here, older than them at 25 years old, but everyone had the same education level, graduating from 9th grade. However, he found a decent job as a bus driver for the Hamburg Public Transportation Company after graduation. He enlisted in the army three years later, which was different from Fawfnir's previous comrades who were 19 or 20 years old. After enlisting, he became a tank driver in the 112th Infantry Regiment and had good luck to return to the rear for training in March 1939, where he drove the No. 3 tank. In the Polish campaign, he performed much better than Fawfnir's group, at least his Third Light Division was still advancing in the Southern Army Group, grabbing the opportunity to fire cannons, but unfortunately, only a few trucks were their achievement - as a driver, this wasn't even his achievement...
They stole out the violin and trumpet, Fafnir used to be called Bohu when he was bored in the desolate world, he also practiced various musical instruments in his dream world to kill time. The violin, piano, saxophone are all instruments that he has been practicing for thousands of years. Now in the barracks, he picked up the violin and started playing, at first a bit rusty but soon became extremely proficient - although still can't compare with Paganini's genius, but compared to Heifetz it's not much different...
During World War II, the German army's musical literacy was still very high. The barracks were soon packed with people, and next to another 37-caliber gun, the captain O'Brien picked up a trumpet and accompanied them. At this time, the regimental commander who had been reported that the band instruments had been stolen rushed over in a hurry, bringing his men with him. The old regimental commander came from the German Imperial Military Academy before World War I, where musical instruments were one of the compulsory courses. Now he arrived at the entrance of the barracks and saw a crowd of people outside listening to the violin and trumpet duet, so he stopped and listened for a while, waiting for the music to end...
The final result was that Sergeant Farnell was confined for a day and his promotion to sergeant-major was temporarily forgotten, while Yang and "driver" Belliveau and O'Brien got off scot-free.
In 1940, Fawcett's unit was assigned to Kleist's armoured army and after assembly they quietly entrained for the Ardennes. By the end of April the whole army had assembled and lay hidden in the forests of the Ardennes. Training ceased and all that remained was a series of checks on vehicles and supplies as they waited quietly for the start of operations, Fawcett being possibly the only man in the regiment who knew that the campaign to destroy France would begin on 10 May.
At dawn on May 10, large numbers of German Ju87 Stuka dive bombers suddenly launched fierce bombing raids against airfields, railway junctions, troop concentrations and cities in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. At 5:30 am, along a front of over 300 kilometers from the North Sea to the Maginot Line, German ground forces launched a massive attack on the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, opening the curtain for the invasion of France.
After the B Army Group launched a supporting attack and attracted the main force of Britain and France, the A Army Group's Kleist Armored Corps, where Fawcett was located, began its main attack. Fawcett's regiment belonged to General Guderian's 19th Armored Corps, which charged into the Ardennes Mountains at the beginning of the battle.
Fawcett drove the new No. 4 tank with abandon, still lamenting that it wasn't a long-barreled No. 4, "Alas, this short 75 is not powerful enough, and we won't have the long-barreled No. 4 until '42... It's really not fun being a driver, when can I be a tank commander?" At this time, Fawcett had already been promoted to corporal, and after the French campaign was over, he might even get to be a tank commander.
"Halt!" the car commander ordered, "Direction 14 o'clock! 400 meters! Enemy infantry group! Grenade launch!" Favniel made an emergency stop, and the gunner rotated the turret to fire a 75mm grenade. This was their only shot throughout the entire journey through Luxembourg... They quickly passed through Luxembourg, driving their tanks at high speed all the way, without any obstruction or need for firing, as if they were taking a leisurely drive along the river.
On May 12, the German army crossed the Ardennes valley and reached the Meuse River, easily capturing the Sedan fortress. The task of Favniel's tank group was simple: drive - arrive outside the city - fire a few shots - infantry disembark to attack - victory... ... Until now, Favniel, as a driver, had not even fired a few shots, and the entire tank company had no casualties, only numerous malfunctions. From the observation hole, Favniel watched the grenadiers storming the Sedan fortress, his keen eyesight saw a dark-skinned combat engineer, Karl Gustav Schutte-Klein, carrying a flamethrower on his back, under the cover of his companions, spraying a long flame into the shooting holes of the ground fortifications, where terrifying screams came from inside, and this dark-skinned guy was celebrating with his companions. Soon Sedan fell, and everyone slept well in the city of Sedan.
The next day, on the morning of May 13th, the vanguard's grenadiers began to gather rubber boats in preparation for crossing the river. The sky was filled with the rumble of engines as a large number of Stukas and Junker 88s dived towards the French positions on the opposite bank, unleashing a fierce bombardment. Favniel climbed onto a tank, gazing at the explosions sending smoke billowing into the clouds, "Modern warfare is indeed thrilling!! It's much more exciting than that chaotic brawl in Honghuang!" He exclaimed repeatedly.
In the afternoon, the grenadiers began to cross the river. The Frenchmen on the other side immediately raised their white flags. Fafnir was not surprised at all and joked with the crew members: "What do you call ten million Frenchmen raising their hands at the same time?" The crew members said they didn't know, and he laughed loudly: "Of course, it's the French army!" The car burst into laughter, and even other crews heard it on the wireless and laughed. Commander Otto laughed for a long time, then shouted: "It's our turn! Advance, Fafnir!"
