Iron Cross

On September 5, it was a feint attack on the ground, but it was an out-and-out fierce battle in the air. An air force captain nicknamed the "Star of Africa", Hans Joachim Marceu, single-handedly killed 17 British aircraft on this day. Although the task was completed a few days later than in real history, The quantity has not been compromised at all. Starting at 8:30 in the morning, the statistical machine dedicated to him started turning. In the first 10 minutes, he continuously destroyed two Curtiss P-40s and two Spitfires each. After returning to the airport to replenish fuel bombs, he took off for the second time to fight. In 10 minutes after 11 o'clock, he killed 8 P-40s in a row. When the ground crew replenished his ammunition, he was surprised to find that more than half of it was still left. In the evening, after taking a short rest, Marceiu performed his third combat mission. He seized the afterglow before the sun set and shot down 5 P-40s again.

This is truly an unheard of miracle! Even Guderian, who set up his headquarters at the airport, was stunned. Although there were super aces on the Eastern Front who shot down more than a hundred enemy planes, he had never heard of the glorious feat of killing 17 enemy planes in one day. Now he can understand what the head of state told him before leaving: Guderian, this time you go to Africa to give me a gift to an Air Force hero. It can be regarded as a meeting gift for him after I concurrently serve as the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. I thought that the head of state would give the young air force captain some gadget, but unexpectedly, the head of state actually gave him a big and original gift.

When Marseille's returning plane appeared over the airport, everyone spontaneously went to stand on both sides of the runway, with their chests held high and their heads raised, as if a guard of honor were greeting a general returning in triumph. Guderian stood at the front of the team and wanted to personally greet the Air Force hero. When Marceliu jumped out of the cabin and stood still, Guderian walked over quickly. He did not follow the rule that those with lower military ranks saluted first. Instead, he took the lead in saluting. Under the leadership of the general, all the officers in the airport saluted Marceliu. You gave a solemn military salute and cheered loudly, which soon formed a rhythmic shout-"Marseyou!", "Star of Africa!".

While receiving the cheers from the stars, Marceliu quickly returned the salute to Guderian. The photographer took several photos of the captain and the general shaking hands warmly. It could be seen that Marceliu was very tired, but there was a bright look in his eyes. However, his energy could not be concealed in any way, "Sir, thank you very much for greeting me personally."

"I should be the one thanking you. If you do this a few more times, the British pilots will not take off for combat."

"Hahaha." The two of them laughed and chatted while walking side by side towards the headquarters. Guderian said: "You came just in time. Today the big gift from the head of state to you has also arrived. It was delivered by a special person along with accessories and fuel. Da, I didn’t tell you in advance because I was afraid that you would be distracted from fighting.”

"That's great!" Marceu said with emotion as he took the towel handed over by the orderly to wipe his sweat, "Sir, there is something that may offend others, but I just want to say it."

"Well... you are such an interesting young man. You can say whatever you want." Guderian didn't take it seriously. He knew this young man's unique style and had heard his "strange person" more than once. "It's strange." He patted the latter on the shoulder, "You know, the tone you said this is very similar to the demeanor of those young boys when I was teaching at the tank school. This opening sentence is probably because you can't stand your immediate superiors and ran to him. Used when complaining to your immediate boss.”

Marceliu stared into Guderian's eyes and said seriously: "Although many people have commented on your replacement of Marshal Rommel, I think you will be better than him. Because we have been applying for more accessories. And supplies, the Marshal and his quartermaster always said they would arrive as soon as possible, promising not to take more than half a month, but this promise was not fulfilled until he returned to Berlin. But as soon as you took office, these problems were solved..."

Guderian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He originally thought that Marceiu would talk about some personal matters, but he didn't expect it to be this. But he couldn't say this, otherwise it would hurt Rommel's feelings if it spread out. Rommel argued with the head of state and the Italian leader no less than three times for the supply of the Afrika Korps. Guderian didn't know about this at first. Rommel told him the inside story only when the job was handed over. With Rommel's arrogant temper, he disdained to push the blame outwards, and naturally he could not explain the misunderstandings he had among the African Army. And Guderian had just suffered enough from the Italians' prevarication and delay. He knew the difficulty of maintaining logistics and had a deeper understanding of the difficulty of being a commander. The reason why supplies could be achieved so quickly this time was that he believed that Marshal Kesselring should be credited with the first credit. But he didn't know that for this matter, not only Marshal Kesselring was running up and down, communicating everywhere, but also Hoffmann personally called Mussolini, not only complimenting him for half an hour, but also in order to make the Italians They were more generous in terms of transportation, specifically allocating 200,000 tons of fuel and 100 No. 2 tanks.

He changed the topic and said with a smile: "As an individual, I am very happy that you think so, but others may not be willing to hear this, so the scope of communication can only be limited to us."

Marceiu nodded to express his understanding. He was not a flatterer. He just expressed his feelings today. After saying what he just said, he felt that all the long-repressed emotions had been released.

"Now I can tell you about the gift the head of state brought you." Guderian said enthusiastically, "You must not have guessed..."

"What is it?" Marceiu's curiosity was also aroused.

"Follow me." Guderian led Marceiu to the tarmac, pointing to a tropical FW-190A with a thick nose and brand-new equipment. "This is your new gift. It is better than the Bf-109 It has stronger firepower, longer range, and faster speed. Well, it is more suitable for the BZ tactics you are used to..."

Guderian wanted to say something more, but after all, he was an armored warfare commander. He was very clear about the performance of tanks. Apart from the few updates he just made, he couldn't describe many technical indicators and performance characteristics of the aircraft. Faced with Marceiu's question, he quickly became speechless. Finally, he spread his hands and said, "I can only say this, the rest is up to you to figure out." This look made the mechanic next to him extremely amused and laughed. It took him a long time to answer clearly the key points Marcelo wanted to ask.

"This aircraft is not included in the military expenditures of the Air Force. It was purchased entirely with the personal funds of the head of state." Guderian didn't care about the predicament just now and said with a smile, "You have to know that the head of state has the highest remuneration in Germany. He can earn tens of millions of marks. He used the royalties to buy you a new aircraft specially designed for tropical areas. He said it was given to you in the name of the Air Force Commander. The vertical tail of the aircraft was neatly painted with your shooting downs. The logo - it's a pity that they didn't draw enough, and they have to add the results of your victory today."

"That's great!" No matter how the plane was, Marceiu felt very honored to receive a gift from the head of state who was thousands of miles away. "Long live the head of state!"

"I have reported the results of today's battle to Marshal Kesselring. He is also very shocked and said that he will fight for the highest honor for you. If nothing unexpected happens, you will be another hero who will receive the Diamond Cross Knight Medal."

"Really?" The young man's tone was light and seemed very calm.

Guderian asked strangely: "You don't seem surprised at all?"

"I feel that I can achieve more ambitious goals and am worthy of this honor and the care given to me by the head of state." The young man proudly told his previous story: Once, he was flying from Tripoli to the frontline base of Gazala. Unexpectedly, Shortly after takeoff, he encountered engine failure and made an emergency landing. He had no choice but to take an Italian army truck eastbound. But being accustomed to flying in the air, he couldn't stand the slow crawling of trucks, so he found a German general in charge of logistics supplies on the side of the road and asked him directly to send a special car to take him to the war. The general was so moved by his words that he actually sent his Admiral O. Pell high-speed car to take him to the front-line base. The only requirement was that he must shoot down 50 aircraft in return.

"Everyone was worried about me and thought it was an impossible task, but I fulfilled my promise within half a year." The young man blinked proudly, "General, how many do you want me to shoot down?"

"I dare not say the upper limit of your achievements, but I hope you can keep in mind the expectations the head of state has for you."

"What did the Führer say?"

"I hope you will pay more attention to safety." Guderian patted the seat of the plane. "He specially asked someone to install the latest ejection seat for you. Just pull the wrench and you can automatically eject from the cockpit and parachute. But he I hope you never need to use this feature."

"I understand the painstaking efforts of the head of state." Marceiu nodded solemnly, "I will keep these words in my heart forever."

"Now I'm going to try out the new gift from the head of state." Marceiu asked the mechanic about the relevant technical and operational essentials, and soon started taking off for the fourth time.

"Oh, my God!" The mechanic who just came from the mainland exclaimed as he watched Marceiu's smooth movements of controlling the Fw-190 at the airport under the sunset. "It's unbelievable. He is really the first." This is your first experience with this kind of aircraft?”

Guderian nodded: "He is the best pilot I have ever seen, bar none!"