Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 130 Heading to Insterburg
October 20, 1914.

Before his short vacation was over, Renn had already changed into a brand-new colonel's uniform and set off for East Prussia with Brinkman.

They arrived in Königsberg by truck a few days ago and are now heading towards Insterburg along the road.

A total of forty trucks were fully loaded with the entire assault company's soldiers and all the equipment needed for the operation, while at the very back of the column were three wagons carrying huge wooden crates.

But these wooden crates didn't contain any goods, and the truck wasn't an ordinary truck either.

They were all self-propelled truck-mounted artillery pieces hastily modified by the Imperial Equipment Department.

These vehicles, hastily assembled using existing Imperial truck chassis and FK.96 field guns with their barrels cut short, will arrive at the Eighth Army's base on the Eastern Front with Rein and his men, and will undergo combat testing in the upcoming campaign against the Empire.

Yes, the Empire's negotiations were not entirely successful.

The imperial states on the eastern front refused to negotiate peace with the empire.

At this moment, inside a truck at the very front of the queue.

Ryan sat on the right side of the rear of the carriage, reading the newspapers he had accumulated over the past few days, using the sunlight filtering through from the rear of the carriage.

Lieutenant Brinkman sat opposite him, holding a newspaper that had been brought from the United Kingdom by an air transport flight converted from a retired Zeppelin, and which was also published in the United Kingdom and Farland.

Her face was full of joy, making it hard to believe that just a month ago she had achieved her twentieth kill in this war.

Suddenly, she put down her newspaper and placed a full-page photo in front of Ryan: "Colonel, I heard that there hasn't been any fighting on the Western Front for two weeks. General Kruk of the First Army has even started going out to sea to fish."

Ryan paused for a moment, then looked over the top of the newspaper at the enormous photograph.

Commander Krug, whom I hadn't seen for some time, was standing in front of the camera, holding a one-foot-long large fish in his clip. Beside him stood not only his staff officer, who always had a sour face, but also several officers from France and the United Kingdom.

This can all be considered a result of his talks at the beginning of the month.

The United Kingdom intended to use traditional exclusive diplomacy with the Empire to complete the partition of Farland.

But this intention was shattered by a few words from Renn.

The subsequent conversation between Renne and the Farland reporter successfully gave all the generals and troops of the Farland First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Army Groups, who were on the verge of exhaustion from the long march, a chance to catch their breath.

Although their Marshal Joffre did not directly negotiate with the Empire, their republican government had already been in contact with the Empire regarding a truce.

Of course, this is only a temporary truce.

The window of opportunity will be at most until next summer.

The Farrans seemed to hope to use these six months to replenish their lost troops and build a ring of fortresses, though spaced apart, that were almost identical in size around the Verdun region.

Yes, they agreed to the conditions for the demilitarization of the Verdun Heights, and notified the Empire and the United Kingdom by telegram on the evening of October 2nd, the same day that Raine spoke.

General Constantine, commander of the Fifth Army, was furious when he learned of this, because he felt betrayed.

But just a few days later, he was arrested by the Verdun police on charges of illegal prostitution and sent back to the Imperial Army's observation camp in Verdun.

Of course, only a few people knew about this, and Ryan was one of them.

In summary, ever since Raine's speech in the United Kingdom, the Empire has taken a very tough stance in pressuring the United Kingdom to sign a short-term peace treaty with them, which is to be renewed every three months and renewed every quarter.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Farland will also sign the same treaty this month.

Everyone knows that this false peace will last at the shortest possible time until the end of the year, and at the longest until the beginning of next spring.

But this provoked the Empire.

The Empire viewed the peace treaty between the United Kingdom and the Empire as a ruthless betrayal of its ally. Their Tsar understood better than anyone that the Empire had to end the war as quickly as possible—once spring arrived, it would all be over.

Therefore, their Tsar almost immediately abandoned negotiations with the United Kingdom and delivered a national mobilization speech via radio on October 15.

Immediately afterwards, the First and Second Armies of the Empire charged into the Empire's territory from the Lominteng Forest on the easternmost edge of the Empire and a town called Velenburg on the western side of Lake Masurie, respectively.

General Leningkamp, ​​commander of the First Army of the Imperial State, has already led his men through Staru and Compiègne and is currently advancing on foot towards Insterburg.

Insterburg, one of the front-line areas currently under the defense of the Eighth Army, is where Eighth Army Staff Officer Ludendorff and his staff are stationed, attempting to direct the main force of the army to engage in a direct confrontation with the Imperial Army's 200,000 troops.

But no one knows what happened, so much so that it wasn't until the third day after Ryan led his troops out that they received news that fighting had already begun at the front.

Glancing at the newspaper in Brinkman's hand, Ryan looked at the scenery on both sides of the road with a wry smile, but there was no dissatisfaction in his tone: "They seem to be having a great time over there."

"After all, this is the first truce since the start of the war."

Brinkman retrieved the newspaper, carefully folded it to the size of a book, and looked out of the carriage.

The truck, traveling on a road that is half a meter higher than the ground, and with its already tall cargo box, can see a much farther view than if it were standing on the ground.

Scattered across the vast land are fragmented farmlands and numerous woodlands, and amidst the crisscrossing streams and roads, patches of shimmering, watery pits can be seen from time to time.

Although Renn had heard about the terrain of East Prussia before, his expression immediately became complicated when he actually saw the terrain that made it impossible to know which way to go.

This place is unsuitable for fighting.

Ryan was very certain of his judgment.

Although he was not particularly skilled in military matters, the closer he got to Insterburg, the more he found the surrounding terrain to be extremely complex.

The only road that trucks can pass through is the one right here. If you want to transport troops, you'll probably have to rely on the only railway line that's about 40 kilometers away.

He instinctively stood up, wanting to see more clearly.

Before I could even get my footing, the truck in front of me screeched to a halt.

The entire convoy came to a stop in the middle of the road.

Ryan immediately got out of the car and jogged to the front of the convoy.

McVell got ahead of him faster.

From Renn's perspective, the kid, whose injuries had fully healed, now sported a shaved head, with only a few strands of hair left on top, which looked quite strange.

"What happened?!" Renn asked, leaning closer.

A sergeant said, "The engine overheated, probably because we didn't add enough water earlier... It will take a while before we can set off."

"Can it be done before sunset?" he asked.

The sergeant shook his head repeatedly: "That definitely won't work."

"Is it……"

Ryan stroked his chin, then nudged McVeigh, who was standing by cluelessly, with his shoulder: "Go and inform everyone to send out scouts to check if the area is safe. The rest of you, stay put and rest. We might have to spend the night here."

McVell immediately stood at attention, but before he could run away, Ryan added another vicious remark.

"And one more thing! Remember to tell the third row to cook, don't let the second row do it. I don't know which idiot in the second row put chocolate in the soup last time, I'll skin him alive when I find out!"

(End of this chapter)