Battle of the Third Reich

The voice of the head of state is somewhat distorted in the electric horn, but the passion and power contained in the language are not reduced at all, and the citizens of the streets of Berlin can be heard intoxicated.

Gustav Otto is a sergeant of the Army of the National Defence Forces. He served in the German Infantry Regiment and served as the company’s acting platoon leader, standing at the forefront of the entire team.

The cheers from the horns on the trees on the street continued, and the crowds under the street trees had fallen into a frenzy. The police and the soldiers supporting the guard tried their best to maintain the order on the scene, but there were still enthusiastic citizens who broke through the police wall. Hugging and kissing the defense officers and soldiers standing in the heart of the street waiting for the parade.

Because it’s winter, you can’t find olive leaves and flowers. If it’s summer, the streets may have turned into a sea of ​​petals. The Germans have the custom of offering flowers to the heroes. They will decorate those cold tanks and cannons with bouquets and green leaves. It will also be filled with flowers on the soldier's chest, like a medal awarded to them.

Although there are no flowers, the German citizens have prepared alternatives. They threw colored paper and silk cloth into bouquets at the soldiers, and hung holly branches around the gun carriage. Young people and children lay on the high street trees On the top, shredded pieces of colored paper were thrown around, like colorful petals flying in the cold wind of early winter.

The whistle finally prepared by the representative had sounded, and the order began to be quickly passed back along the line.

Otto looked at the front of the team. There was the flag bearer and two flag guards of the regiment. The captain of the regiment, Chevalin, was standing behind the flag bearer in a parade dress, and next to him was Lieutenant Colonel Gorman.

It is the highest honor of the German Infantry Regiment to become the leader of the entire parade queue. Every soldier remembers this, so no matter how fanatic the surrounding crowds behave, the Infantry Regiment queue is as stable and quiet as a stone.

Otto took off the m40 helmet on his head and rubbed the slightly frosted helmet eaves with his fingers.

This is a brand-new army helmet. From the inspection number, it is less than a month before leaving the factory. Otto received it from the quartermaster only a week ago. This time everyone in the Grand German Regiment received a new woolen parade dress, as well as a new leather outfit and a pair of martial boots.

The German Infantry Regiment has its own unique dress logo, which is obviously different from the conventional army units. In addition to the floral gd logo on the shoulder badge, the dress badge of the German Regiment is twice as long as the ordinary army badge, and it is also on the cuff. With French-style three-breasted sleeves.

This is not because this regiment wants to stand alone. The extended collar and sleeves are the symbols of elite troops during the Second Empire. The continued use of the Grand German regiment is to express a heritage of history.

This infantry regiment has been a window unit in Berlin since the time of Weimar. It conducts street parades almost every month, becoming a symbol of the existence of imperial force.

The members of the Grand German Regiment came from all sides of the empire. The Army Command selected a company from each of the seven Army Infantry Divisions allowed by the treaty at the time and mixed it into this headquarters guard infantry regiment, and then every three months. In time, each infantry division will change an infantry company to serve at the headquarters garrison infantry regiment, so this regiment has also become a symbol of the German Imperial Armed Forces.

The German Infantry Regiment is not only the face of the capital of Berlin, but also the face of the Weimar Republic and even the Third Reich. The daily training of this unit is very strict, and the soldiers are elite selected from the whole army. For the treatment of most army units, in addition to the steady flow of honor, everyone can also receive additional subsidies for military pay.

Because the Grand German Regiment itself has the attributes of an honor guard, it is no better than this unit to participate in the review. All large-scale events in Germany were carried out by this unit as guards and guards, with an average height of more than 1.8 meters. Soldiers have become an alternative landscape in Berlin, which is comparable to the Royal Infantry Regiment in front of Buckingham Palace. Wearing dark green cuffs of "Greater Germany" has also become a big dream for many young army soldiers.

"All!" The commander Hong Liang's command came from the front, and he still heard clearly in the noise around.

Autolily put on his new helmet again and fastened the chin strap. This helmet is actually an improved version of the m40 helmet. It discards the original bright coating. The manufacturer sprayed a matte gray-green matte coating on the helmet body and added a jaw to the chin strap. The supporting structure can just fit on the lower jaw, and the helmet becomes more stable after fastening.

In order to show the magnificent style of the Grand German Regiment, the entire regiment did not wear military coats, only dressed in gorgeous parade dresses, carrying a full set of military parade armaments.

In addition to the sergeant officer, each soldier is carrying a fur marching backpack, which is now a sign of the old German troops, because the headquarters has decided that the troops formed after 40 years will not be distributed at this price. Expensive but flashy m34/39 marching bag.

This kind of bag uses a marching backpack made of fur. It is called a horse leather or horse fur backpack by military enthusiasts. The fur is mainly used to prevent rain and is very suitable for activities in mountain forests.

Historically, the Japanese Army completely copied this marching backpack. Because domestic cowhide materials are insufficient, Japan uses horsehide as an alternative. This backpack has gained the reputation of horseskin backpacks, and instead brought the original German version into the ditch. Too.

When the National Army was engaged in the adjustment division, it imported a full set of equipment from Germany, including this m34 fur marching bag. What is striking is that because this equipment is expensive, in order to avoid daily wear and tear, these backpacks are usually locked in the ordnance warehouse of the state government. They will only be distributed when they encounter a grand event such as a military parade. In the hands of soldiers. Not to mention the Guofu soldiers carrying this backpack, it does seem to add a bit of tough temperament. The m34 backpack, like the m35 helmet, has become a symbol of the elite family of the Guofu.

However, since it is used as a material for combat preparation, it must be sent after the war. In the actual history, after the full outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, whether it is the Songhu Battle or the Nanjing Battle, in the photos of the battlefield where the German armor appeared, he was unable to find this. Backpack shadow. (The Japanese seized a lot from the warehouses in Nanjing and Hankou, and this kind of backpack disappeared completely after the government entered Sichuan.)

Because the backpack was carried, the soldiers did not wear a y-shaped strap, the food bags and debris bags around the waist were also removed, and only the felt sleeve kettle and the gas mask jar were left on the back waist.

The officer carried a telescope, a map bag, and a self-defense pistol, and a ceremonial saber and bayonet hung from his waist. Soldiers’ personal pistols are not allowed to be brought on this occasion, but it is not because of security issues. If even the Grand German Infantry Regiment can’t be trusted, I really don’t know which unit is loyal, but it’s just because of the officers Our pistols are not uniform in style, which may affect the aesthetics of the queue.

It’s okay if you change to other units, such as the two field infantry regiments that follow, but after all, the Grand German Regiment is the face of the German Wehrmacht, and a large group of senior generals are staring at it.

"Advance!" At the command of the regiment, the flag bearer sent the flag in his hand forward, and the entire infantry regiment took a step forward at almost the same time, and then marched forward at the standard marching speed.

At ten o'clock, the German Infantry Regiment crossed the Charlottenburg Gate and marched along the Charlottenburg Avenue towards the avenue under the Bodhi Tree. The parade queue spreading for several kilometers is like a awakening python, slowly shaking the scale armor and winding forward.

"Let's go! One one two one!" Otto raised his head on the right side of the queue, did he monitor the queue on his side with Yu Guang.

These people have been training for this for several weeks, but they can't be astonishing at this juncture.

In the historical German military parade in Berlin, the queue for participating in the team is not exactly the same. If you have watched the documentary of that year, you will find that not only is the queue incomplete, some even go wrong, not to mention the Chinese of later generations. Compared with the guard of honor, even the entrance to the sports meeting of a middle school in a certain place in China may be a little stronger than them.

This is because the Germans were conducting a military parade to celebrate the victory. The participants were all meritorious troops participating in the actual combat on the Western Front, and there was no queue training in advance. Now the German Regiment has deliberately spent several weeks on intensive training in the queue, and the effect was immediately visually reflected. It was like a uniform formation of steel. It immediately saw the German citizens on both sides as stunned.

ps: Thank you for your support and consideration. This chapter is the last chapter issued in China. Boarding at noon tomorrow. The next chapter will be written in the distance. It may be the 19th or the 20th.