Chapter 12 Mud

"One, two, three, push!"

"One, two, three, push!"

Colonel Brauchitsch stood in the drizzle, shouting loudly over and over again, directing several people to push the car stuck in the mud out.

"Buzz! Buzz!" The engine made a heart-wrenching roar, but it still couldn't get the bulletproof car weighing several tons out of the muddy pit. The lines on the wheels that were originally used to increase friction had been filled with mud. After turning and rubbing, they became as smooth as if they had been polished, and they couldn't bear any strength at all.

Rommel wiped the rain off his face and couldn't help complaining. "These Slavic bears, have their brains been soaked in mud? This kind of place is also called a road? I think this is a living swamp." His pants were stained by the splashing mud, and the original black fabric had turned into a dirty khaki.

Guderian next to him smiled bitterly. "I really admire Napoleon for being able to fight to Moscow in such a difficult place." He felt like there was a piece of candy stuck on the sole of his boot. He took a lot of effort to pull it out, but only his feet came out, and the shoes were still buried in the deep mud. He sighed and could only bend down and pull out the shoes with his feet on the cold mud.

"Hey, what are they doing?"

Under the astonished eyes of several Germans, a group of Soviet soldiers began to take off their uniforms and pad under the wheels under the orders of their superiors.

Looking at the Soviet soldiers who were shivering in the cold rain with only thin vests on their upper bodies, Manstein couldn't help muttering. "Oh my god, they are simply treating soldiers as animals. Are these soldiers all pigs? They might as well cut branches on the roadside to pad under the wheels."

Rommel and Guderian's eyes widened immediately. "Why didn't you say it earlier?"

Manstein touched his nose with an innocent look. "I wanted to see when these Slavic grey animals would come up with this idea. Now it seems obvious that they are much dumber than I thought. This is a good sign. I really hope they can stay like this. Don't you think so and therefore didn't tell me about this method?"

Rommel and Guderian looked at each other, nodded, and said in unison. "Of course, we thought so too and didn't tell me."

If it were a German highway, this distance would definitely not take an hour, but it took them five or six hours to reach the next station. Except for Yannick and the driver, everyone in the group was extremely embarrassed and exhausted, and Colonel Brauchitsch was even hoarse from shouting.

Fortunately, the Soviets arranged for everyone to take a comfortable hot bath and change into clean clothes before getting on the train.

Yannick gathered them in the carriage where he was and personally poured a glass of wine for several people. "Are you all exhausted?"

Rommel asked with some curiosity. "Why don't you take a plane to Moscow, Your Highness?"

Yannick smiled. "Why, do you blame me for being so willful?"

Rommel shook his head hurriedly. "No, no."

Yannick did not delve into it and explained casually. "The reason why I took this road is to let you have a personal experience of the road conditions in the Soviet Union. I believe you are already impressed, right?" These people will be the main force of the attack in the future. I hope that this trip will allow them to deeply understand the vastness of the Soviet territory and the various difficulties they will encounter.

Everyone nodded. "Yes, this can't even be called a road. The drainage ditches in the German countryside are much better than this. I don't understand why these people don't repair the road. Don't they think it's troublesome?" Although no one has put forward slogans such as "Build roads first if you want to be rich" at this time, it is obvious that repairing the road can at least facilitate their own travel. Don't these Slavs even understand such a simple truth?

"Maybe this road block is their national defense project? After all, whoever wants to attack them will definitely suffer on this bad road, or even fall on this bad road." French Emperor Napoleon's conquest of Russia ended in a disastrous defeat, and this muddy road also made him suffer.

Yannick knew that the maintenance of roads in the Soviet Union was several times more troublesome than other places due to climate reasons, so dirt roads were mainly used on non-main roads far away from the city. He lowered his voice and asked seriously. "Everyone, if we imagine that we want to attack the Soviet Union, what should we do in this situation?"

"..." Everyone couldn't help but look at each other, wondering why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would ask such a question. Attack the Soviet Union? With the current national conditions in Germany, self-preservation is a big problem, and it is even more impossible to imagine attacking other countries. Finally, Colonel Brauchitsch spoke in a low voice. "Your Highness, I think there are only two ways. Either let them repair the road, or avoid the rainy season." After saying this, he himself felt that the first method was a bit ridiculous. Your Highness is the crown prince of Germany, not the Soviet Union. Why should the Soviets obediently repair the road?

But Yannick nodded slightly. "It's not impossible to let them repair the road. Avoid the rainy season..." That would be even easier. If Germany in the original time and space had not been dragged down by Italy, the pig teammate, it could have reached Moscow before the rainy season. At that time, the German army assembled more than 5 million troops and prepared to attack the Soviet Union in April 1941.

As a result, Germany was ready, and Italy was repeatedly beaten by the British army in southern Europe. Mussolini, who couldn't hold on, asked Hitler for help.

It was the end of June when the German army drove away the British army in Greece. The German high-level officials ignored an important factor, that is, the rainy season in the Soviet Union. July and August every year are the rainy season in the Soviet Union, and the road traffic in the Soviet Union is not very good. At that time, the roads will become very muddy, which will affect the German army's advancement of the Soviet Union. On June 22, the German army launched a large-scale attack on the Soviet Union. Although the German army achieved an initial victory, it then encountered a headache-inducing rainy season.

At this time, Yannick had no intention of forming an alliance with Italy, at least not Italy led by Mussolini.

"Ger, go ask the Soviets if you can leave tomorrow morning." He did not bring the four beautiful secretaries with him this time, but found a reliable agent from the intelligence department, who was also a secretary, bodyguard and translator.

Soon, Ger came back to report. "Your Highness, the Soviets agreed, and the train will start at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Oh, the Soviets really respond to requests." The Soviet side originally arranged a plane, but Yannick's words immediately changed it to a special train for him. Just now, Yannik did not directly transfer to the Soviet special train at the Soviet-Polish border, but asked to take a train to the next train station before getting on the train. Although the excuse was that he wanted to appreciate the Soviet border scenery, the Soviets still agreed without hesitation and suffered a lot on the way. And now the departure time has been changed according to his request.

It is really not like the style of a certain ideologue to be so attentive to the crown prince of a capitalist imperial country! !

"If you are attentive without any reason, you are either a traitor or a thief!"