It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 185 | Henschel, I'm coming!

It's getting late.

Amidst a flurry of snowflakes, an Opel Olympia car travels along the Imperial Highway in Thuringia.

It must be said that the infrastructure in Varland is excellent, with highways extending in all directions.

However, the road was covered in snow and ice, and Shanke gripped the steering wheel tightly, not daring to be distracted for even a moment.

In this era, electronic driver assistance systems like ABS and ESP didn't exist, making driving in rain or snow extremely dangerous. The Olympia used a 55-horsepower four-cylinder gasoline engine with a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour, but Shank only dared to drive it at 50 or 60 miles per hour.

He turned and asked, "How far are we from Erfurt?"

Moreau opened the map, looked at it carefully, and replied, "About fifty kilometers, Colonel. How much gas do we have left?"

"one third."

"Let me drive. You're driving too slowly. We could have arrived before sunset."

Shank had been driving for almost four hours straight, and he was quite tired because he had been highly focused the whole time.

So he slowed down and stopped, switching places with Morrow.

As soon as Mo Luo got in the car, she stepped on the gas pedal hard. The car swerved left and right and started to drift, which immediately scared away Mr. Shang's drowsiness.

"Damn it! What are you doing? Take it easy!"

“Don’t worry.” Morel said nonchalantly, then exclaimed in surprise, “Hey, Colonel, look to the left, it looks like an army?”

Shank looked to his left and saw a long line of hundreds of trucks stretching as far as the eye could see in the opposite lane.

It appears to be a DID (Deutsche Ottoman) force retreating south.

Moro's driving style was terrifying. Several times when she drove across the ice, the car went out of control and veered off course, but each time she managed to save it by counter-steering.

These days, even seat belts aren't readily available, and the fatality rate in traffic accidents is alarmingly high. At speeds of 80 or 90 miles per hour, a rollover almost certainly means certain death.

Liu Ting was so frightened that his legs were shaking when he got out of the car. Shang Ke was also in a bad mood, feeling dizzy as if he had been on a roller coaster.

In the suburbs of Erfurt, large numbers of troops withdrawn from the Elbe front are resting, and morale is visibly low.

From time to time, shouts and curses could be heard from afar; it was the Imperial Japanese Army military police arresting deserters who had broken away from their posts.

Shank had no time to pay attention to anything else; he was only focused on giving Morrow directions to find the informant provided by the embassy.

The first one is missing.

The second one was also nowhere to be found.

Around midnight, the three arrived at the location of their last informant and finally made contact.

The detached house was unremarkable. The person who opened the door was a quiet-looking young woman with typical Germanic features. She was a clerk at the city hall, recruited as an informant a few years ago, and her name was Klein.

Klein was quite surprised by Shank and his group's late-night visit, but quickly calmed down after explaining their purpose.

"I need your help to forge an executive order, and I also need you to come with us to Kassel."

"It's too chaotic outside right now. I hear the Ivan Rossites are heading towards Leipzig, and you're going to Kassel?"

"Correct."

"When do you want it?"

"It's very urgent now."

"No, we have to wait until dawn, until the city hall opens." Klein let Shank and the others stay at his house for the night to avoid the wind, snow, and cold.

Shang Ke was generous and gave her a large check as payment. There wasn't much food in the kitchen, so the hungry group roasted some potatoes and ate them with tomato soup to stave off hunger.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Klein went to the city hall, first tampering with and forging an administrative order, then requesting leave to seek refuge.

When she returned, Shang Ke and the others had already filled the car with gasoline and purchased a lot of bread and drinking water, ready to set off.

"May I ask a question? What do you intend to do to Henschel?" Klein asked, puzzled.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Shang Ke was staring at the map, carefully planning the route. Upon hearing this, he replied without turning his head, "Let's go treasure hunting."

The group set off without stopping.

Shank's insistence on taking the adventure to Kassel was obviously for ulterior motives; Kassel was the location of the famous Henschel company.

The Henschel plant, located here, is a world-renowned heavy machinery company that started with steam locomotives and has since expanded its business to include tanks, bulldozers, trucks, diesel engines, aircraft, and more.

Historically, the VK4501(H) Tiger heavy tank, known to everyone, was made by Henschel.

Both Moreau and Klein were skeptical of Shang's idea.

How can you be so sure those company employees will obediently comply? Are you suggesting we rob them?

While passing through a small town called Melsungen, Shank discovered that there was also an army stationed there, and a checkpoint had been set up.

Judging from their identification documents, there was nothing unusual about the group, and the soldiers prepared to let them pass.

The corporal in the lead kindly advised, "If you're going to Kassel on business, I suggest you hurry up, because in a couple of days this place might become a war zone."

Shank winked at Moro, who understood and asked, "Which unit are you? Didn't you receive orders to retreat?"

The corporal replied, "We are from the No. 2 recruit training battalion of the 49th Reserve Infantry Brigade of 'Hessen,' and as of now, we have not received any orders to withdraw."

All the communication during this period was translated and relayed by Klein.

Upon hearing this, Shang immediately came up with a plan and whispered a few words to Morel and Klein.

Then, the group made an excuse that they needed to ask for something and drove the car to a nearby recruit training camp.

The 49th Reserve Infantry Brigade is a military management unit with an administrative focus, and it has several training centers, one of which is the No. 2 recruit training camp.

As is well known, qualified officers in Varland have long been a very 'valuable' class of people, quite precious indeed. Looking around, although there are hundreds of new recruits, there is only one second lieutenant in charge of supervising training.

Taking him under control means taking control of the hundreds of people here.

The row of brick and tile huts next to the training camp serves as the office space.

Shang Ke patted Mo Luo on the shoulder and whispered encouragingly, "Mo Luo, it's up to you. You must pretend to be very serious and earnest."

Morro muttered, "I actually hate the Vallanders the most."

Despite saying that, she still handed over her identification and then saluted quite solemnly, saying, "Second Lieutenant, I am Marianna, an Army Officer Candidate, Cecil Moreau. I am ordered to oversee the destruction and transfer of critical technical data from the Henschel factory. This has been authorized by the Varland government, and I need your cooperation."

After translating these sentences, Klein also handed over the forged document.

The lieutenant looked around, utterly bewildered, and hesitated before saying, "Something's strange... I think I need to verify this with my superiors... Who is this Easterner next to you?"

“He is a member of the Zhongguo Advisory Group and also an honorary major general of Hurricane,” Klein replied calmly, then countered, “Lieutenant, we don’t have time to wait. The Ivanros are closing in every minute. Do you really want them to seize those important documents?”

(End of this chapter)