The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The next day, the First Infantry Regiment boarded a train bound for Tunisia.

The train was built by the French to connect France's three colonies in North Africa and better manage them... Of course, this management also has military aspects, that is, once there is a colonial dispute or rebellion, France can quickly transport troops and supplies there to suppress it.

The French battalion also went with them.

Qin Chuan disagreed with this because the training of the French battalion had not been completed, and they should stay in Algeria to complete the training.

But Colonel Slain said: "Tunisia needs manpower, they can train while building fortifications on the front line!"

"What if the training is not completed before the enemy comes?" Qin Chuan asked.

Colonel Slain answered without thinking: "Then let them train while fighting!"

It can be seen that Colonel Slain did not care about the life and death of these French soldiers, or it can be said that after Darlan established the Algiers regime, the role of the French battalion was not so great.

"Lieutenant!" On the shaking train, Vinete walked up to Qin Chuan and said, "They want me to talk to you!"

"They?"

"Yes!" Vinete raised her eyebrows: "They want to know if they have been sent to the battlefield!"

Qin Chuan looked back at the French soldiers in the carriage, and seeing their pale faces, he realized that this was their first time on the battlefield.

Qin Chuan put away the rifle he was cleaning, handed it to Werner, and then stood up and said to the French soldiers: "Yes, you guessed it right, we are going to the battlefield!"

"But we are not ready yet!" A French soldier said: "You told us that we have two months to train!"

"We still have one month on the battlefield!" Qin Chuan replied: "The enemy will enter Tunisia in a month, of course it may be earlier, you have to understand that no one can be sure about the battlefield!"

The French soldiers couldn't help but feel uneasy, and many people even began to vomit.

"Lieutenant!" Someone said, "You should give us more time to say goodbye to our families!"

"They thought we were still in the training camp!"

...

Qin Chuan listened to these complaints and excuses quietly, and then asked, "Are there any other requests?"

The French soldiers quieted down.

"Should we notify our combat plan so that your families can come to Tunisia to see you?"

No French soldier dared to answer.

"This is the army, this is a war, and we are soldiers!" Qin Chuan said, pulling up a German soldier from his side and said, "Look, our families are in Germany, but we are fighting in North Africa. Should we also complain to the superiors?"

The carriage was quiet, with only the rhythmic clanging of the rails.

"You have to remember one thing!" Qin Chuan continued, "When you put on your military uniforms and go to the battlefield, no one will regard you as French, the enemy will not, and we will not. You have only one identity like us... Soldier, do you understand?"

"Understood, Lieutenant!"

"Yes, Lieutenant!"

...

When Qin Chuan sat back in his seat, the French soldiers were in a much better state.

Qin Chuan could understand what these French soldiers were thinking. They were under double pressure: on the one hand, there was the pressure of the battlefield, and on the other hand, there was the pressure of identity. They were worried that because they were French, the German army would send them to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

So Qin Chuan's words were openly scolding them, but secretly telling them that German soldiers had a harder time than them and would treat them the same way on the battlefield.

But in fact, even Qin Chuan was not sure whether this could be achieved.

The train drove all the way to Gafsa... The straight-line distance was more than 200 kilometers, and the plane only took half an hour, but the train took a full day. Of course, this was also related to the slow speed of the train at that time.

Gafsa is a central and western city in Tunisia. It can be said to be an important transportation hub, with roads and railways extending in all directions... This is related to the fact that Gafsa is a trading post. This area is rich in fur, dates, grapes, olives, citrus and other fruits, as well as chemical plants and handicrafts such as carpet weaving and felt making. Tunisia's largest apatite mine is also nearby. Merchants need to transport these things to major ports and sell them abroad, so naturally there are roads. The railways were built by French colonists to plunder Tunisia's supplies more conveniently.

A large part of the Gabes defense line built by Major General Neumann is to defend Gafsa, a key transportation hub.

Dozens of cars from the 200th Division have been waiting outside the train station. The soldiers of the First Infantry Regiment got on the cars in a very orderly manner in platoons. The car soldiers stepped on the accelerator and drove south.

The car Qin Chuan was riding in was inserted with three hitchhiking soldiers from the 200th Division.

A second lieutenant with a scar on his face looked at the French soldiers in the car with some surprise and asked in German: "Which unit are you from?"

"They are French!" Qin Chuan replied: "But they can understand English!"

"Oh, French!" The second lieutenant laughed: "I didn't know they joined our team!"

"Well, now you know!" Qin Chuan was a little uncomfortable with the second lieutenant's attitude.

The lieutenant handed Qin Chuan a cigarette and said, "You must be in a difficult situation, Lieutenant!"

"What?" Qin Chuan didn't understand what the lieutenant said.

"I mean..." The lieutenant took out a lighter and lit a cigarette for Qin Chuan, and raised his head to the French soldiers: "Teach them to change their habit of surrender!"

Several German soldiers laughed.

Qin Chuan did not laugh, he just replied: "They are my subordinates, lieutenant, and also your comrades!"

Several German soldiers quickly stopped smiling, then nodded and said: "Sorry, lieutenant!"

When the troops arrived at the high ground, Qin Chuan realized that this was not an isolated phenomenon... This was not only because the Germans of that era were influenced by Hitler and thought they were better than others, but also because of France's poor performance in World War II, especially the Maginot Line, which was called a shame.

So when the French battalion went up to the high ground, the German soldiers of the 200th Division all cast strange eyes at the French battalion, and some soldiers even whistled at Vinette and several female soldiers.

Vinette was not someone to be trifled with, and she raised her middle finger to those German soldiers without hesitation, causing the German soldiers to make a fuss.

One of the brave German soldiers chased after her and shouted to Vignette in an indecent gesture: "Hey, lady, do you need me to teach you how to shoot?"