Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 132 A piece of information for half an acre of land, will you tell me or not?
The night was deep, and the peaceful East Prussian plain seemed to have fallen into darkness, with everything in sight appearing as if it had been painted with a dark purple hue.

Ryan slowed the convoy down and ran to the cab of the foremost truck gun, squeezing in with two soldiers from the third rank.

These two young men were not actually from the third platoon; they were new recruits sent to the second battalion to replace two soldiers who had been lost in the Vosges Mountains.

However, because the Second Battalion was given leave immediately after that, they fell into the hands of the assault company.

Clearly, the arrival of Ryan had greatly excited the two young men.

The two of them chattered on and on, asking Rein how he escaped from the brigade camp and fought his way back, and how it felt to sit in the captain's seat of the airship.

Ryan didn't shy away from these things, and since chatting was indeed helpful for staying awake while driving at night, he chatted with them all the way.

However, he kept looking at his system map.

The convoy wasn't moving fast. Trucks of this era could only reach a top speed of 35 km/h on the highway. Considering that they were driving at night without lights and the road ahead was a simple, flattened dirt road, a speed of 10 km/h was already quite impressive.

But this kind of road was the best passage for those cavalrymen.

Horses with horseshoes can easily run at speeds of over 20 kilometers per hour on this kind of road.

The problem is that.

1: Although it is night now

2: These Imperial cavalry are fucking fast!
Before Ryan could say more than a few words to the two young men driving, he saw that the red dots on the map were already a kilometer away.

That translates to the fact that these imperial cavalrymen were able to reach speeds of 30 kilometers per hour in the darkness of night!

Renn didn't know much about cavalry, but he knew that this was obviously using the horses to their deaths!
He immediately called out to the driver next to him: "Drive the car to the other side of the road, then stop the car, but don't turn off the engine."

The truck began to veer, accompanied by the sound of light braking, and the lead truck in the convoy caught up.

"Stop the convoy! Don't turn off the engines!"

Ryan immediately gave orders to the driver of the lead vehicle.

The convoy behind reacted quickly, but quite a few cars still stalled due to sudden braking.

in the carriage.

Renn began to feel that he could faintly hear the sound of horses' hooves in the wind, but he could not see anything. All he could see was the short road about a hundred meters long in front of him.

Fortunately, the system map showed the location of the red dots. He began to hold up his binoculars and observe the outline of the horizon in front of him, trying to find the shadow of the cavalry.

The passenger in the passenger seat followed suit and started looking through binoculars, but like Ryan, he couldn't see anything.

But at that moment, Renn suddenly heard a faint, somewhat clear sound of horses' hooves.

A continuous clattering sound came from ahead, but it didn't sound very clear.

With a sudden effort, he grabbed the door frame and stood up in the driver's seat, only to find that a considerable amount of dust seemed to be rising from the dirt road on both sides, which was more than half a meter lower than the road, along with several faint red dots.

Those red dots kept flickering in the darkness, looking just like red will-o'-the-wisps.

"It's the Imperial cavalry!" Hammer, the driver of vehicle number two, exclaimed softly from the side.

Ryan didn't know how he saw it either: "How did you know?"

"They like to put red-glowing glasses on their horses, saying it will help them see better at night. I saw those things before the war started!"

Hammer frantically pulled his sidearm from his belt, while the passenger in the passenger seat pulled out the MP-14 submachine gun issued to all truck drivers from under the seat and pointed it at the road ahead.

"Idiot, do you want to break the glass?!"

Hammer was startled by his passenger and quickly grabbed the submachine gun, staring intently at the dirt road to his right.

The same goes for Rennes.

But he simply raised his hand and flattened the windshield, then pulled out his P-08 rifle and looked at the jumping red dots in the distance with the co-pilot who was holding a submachine gun.

Suddenly, Ryan remembered what Hammer had just said—what did he mean by the horse being able to see better at night with glasses on?

Could it be that the people of the Empire have developed night vision devices these days?

Then why is it for horses?
I don't understand.

Raine shook his head, but he still said to Hammer, "Hammer, when I say 'turn on the lights,' you turn all the headlights on! Understand?"

"Yes, Colonel!"

As soon as Hammer finished speaking, Raine noticed that the sound of horses' hooves was getting louder and louder.

He immediately pointed his gun at the red dot, and a few seconds later, the sound of horses' hooves rang out from directly in front of him!
"coming!"

Renn shouted it out directly:

"Turn on the lights! Turn on all the damn lights!!"

"Hammer! Step on the gas, full speed ahead!!"

As soon as the two orders were issued, the two trucks, which were already completely blocking the road, immediately turned on their headlights.

Although Hammer didn't know why Ryan wanted him to step on the gas, his soldier's instincts made him immediately carry out the order.

The car that Ryan was in immediately turned on its lights and followed.

The convoy behind, noticing the car in front had its lights on, assumed the headlight restrictions had been lifted, and the bright yellow lights stretched for hundreds of meters!

The road, which was originally pitch black, suddenly became as bright as if the sun had risen, which immediately frightened the cavalrymen who were less than a hundred meters away from the convoy.

The horses, which had been galloping at high speed on the dirt roads on both sides of the highway, were first blinded by the sudden appearance of lights.

One warhorse was so frightened that it raised its front legs high, throwing its rider off its back and falling to the ground, neighing in pain.

Although the remaining riders managed to calm their horses down, the horses still turned their heads away as if they wanted to rush into the swamps and fields by the roadside, where it was uncertain whether they could even get through!

The riders pulled hard on the reins almost simultaneously, trying to coordinate with their commands to bring the horses back under control.

But the roar of engines and gunfire that followed dealt them a fatal blow.

Without Ryan giving any orders, the two co-pilots, each holding a submachine gun, pulled the triggers.

The cross-shaped flames and gun barrels scorched the surrounding air, and the two submachine guns, like machine guns, dragged streaks of ash on the ground before finally hitting the two cavalrymen.

The moment his horse was shot, a rider leaned against the stirrup and fell towards the side of the road. He quickly pulled out a dagger, cut the leather of the stirrup, and fell to the ground.

But the other person wasn't so lucky.

His warhorse first paced heavily on the ground, but its thick neck could no longer support its head. Its painful neighing even reached the end of the caravan. Before two breaths had passed, it collapsed to the ground.

He himself was a beat too slow to react, and his thigh was pinned down, and his feet were tangled in the horse tack. He could only watch helplessly as his comrades rode over his head.

But his comrades were clearly not as lucky as him.

Because the only cavalryman who wasn't thrown off his horse jumped up and his eyes met Renn's right away.

His body was almost level with the carriage. Rein simply raised his hand and pulled the trigger twice, creating two small bullet holes in the chest of the Imperial cavalryman.

The already timid horse was terrified by the gunshots that rang in its ears. It didn't even land properly, and after letting out a neigh, it plunged headfirst into the muddy ground by the roadside.

And it wasn't until the last horse collapsed that the truck Ryan was sitting in finally started moving.

"What the hell are we doing driving?! Get out! Get out! Don't let those two damn Russians get away!"

Ryan pushed open the car door, jumped out, grabbed a gun, and led the charge forward.

Hammer immediately blew his whistle, and a platoon of men jumped out of the truck behind them, each holding a flashlight and a pistol, and charged towards the Imperial cavalry who were trying to escape.

Then they all stopped.

Because the fastest Imperial cavalryman on horseback got stuck in the swamp and half of his body was no longer visible.

The one trapped under the horse has no chance of escape.

The only one who hadn't entered the swamp or been crushed by the horses had a broken leg and was crawling backward while clutching a rock, keeping an eye on the direction of the caravan.

His sidearm had fallen somewhere, and the dagger in his hand couldn't threaten anyone dozens of meters away.

Ryan glanced at the guy who had run into the swamp, then shouted to the hesitant soldiers behind him, "Don't bother with that idiot who fell into the swamp, it's a waste of time."

"Two men, drag this guy out. The horse is beyond saving, give it a quick death."

"Hammer! Bring someone who speaks Russian!"

Then Hammer came running over: "Colonel, nobody speaks Russian."

"What do you mean?"

Renn paused for a moment: "I remember..."

Hammer: "That's Schultz."

"Grass!"

Renn was silent for a moment before saying, "Then no one speaks Russian?"

Hammer gave Renn a complicated look, then glanced at the Imperial cavalry still crawling not far away: "Does being able to say sweet nothings count?" "You'd better not say anything."

Renn patted him on the shoulder, then gave the crippled Imperial cavalryman a quick and painless death with a single shot.

There's no point in moving these prisoners around if no one speaks Russian.

But his action terrified the two imperial cavalrymen in the distance.

Despite the pain of his broken leg, the cavalryman, pinned down by his horse, stubbornly squatted and jumped in front of everyone, fueled by adrenaline, rattling off every word of Imperial language he knew, looking like a clown.

Then Brinkman went up and gave him a thorough dressing down.

But the guy in the swamp doesn't know that!

Although Raine said to let him fend for himself, there were still a few people—especially the platoon leader of the third platoon—who just couldn't resist dragging the guy out of the swamp.

This was mainly because he hadn't managed to gain any merit by capturing officers from the Third Army Headquarters of Farland in the last operation.

He was just one prisoner away from getting a Level 1 Iron Cross.

Raine knew what he was thinking, but Hammer walked over clutching a pair of red glasses from a horse's head.

"Why isn't it glowing anymore?"

Ryan took the sunglasses, looked through the lenses, and found he couldn't see anything at all; it was pitch black: "Wearing these, you can't even see the damn headlights!"

"So the only option is for the horse to use it."

Hammer said helplessly, "But I've heard that nobles can use it too, though I've never seen any nobles in the Empire use this thing."

Raine twisted his leg and kicked Hammer's shoe: "You talk like you've ever met a nobleman from the Empire."

Hammer was speechless: "So you've just never seen it before?"

As they talked, the two walked towards the convoy.

Brinkman seized the opportunity to join the fray: "What should we do with that Imperial cavalryman over there?"

She had only learned French and the language of the United Kingdom, and knew nothing about the Royal Language.

Raine didn't look at her, but just fiddled with the sunglasses in his hand that looked like a toy, saying, "Nobody understands Russian, so even if we saved him, we couldn't take him with us..."

If Schulz hadn't left yet, a truck could have taken him to Königsberg.

But they are now a full 100 kilometers away from Königsberg, which would take at least a day to drive there, and they would also need to send several people to watch over the prisoners, which is obviously not worthwhile.

Brinkman knew this, so she was still a little hesitant about whether to save the person.

Because in her eyes, the cavalryman she had killed earlier must have been too badly injured and had his adrenaline pumping. Even if she saved him, he wouldn't survive, so it would be a waste of her efforts. Therefore, she might as well give him a quick death.

The guy Ryan killed was unrepentant and kept throwing stones at people. Who knows if he would have taken a knife and killed us if we had gone over there?

There are reasons for all of them.

But the one who didn't get injured and fell into the swamp...

She looked at Raine and, seeing that he had no intention of saving anyone, sighed and prepared to gather her soldiers and continue on her way.

But at that moment, the cavalryman in the distance shouted out.

"I can speak Imperial language! I can speak Imperial language! Uncle, it's me!!"

This immediately drew everyone's attention to him.

But because his pronunciation was so strange, several soldiers thought he was possessed by some demon and almost shot him.

Fortunately, their colleagues stopped them, preventing them from actually killing the imperial cavalryman.

Hammer immediately looked at Raine: "Should we save her?"

Ryan: "Make him say 'Rhabarberbarbara' (rhubarb cake). If he can say it, save him."

"what?"

Now it was Hammer's turn to be stunned.

Because he had never heard of such a standard yellow cake in his life.

Then Ryan patted him on the back: "Have someone carefully drag him out of there. Whoever fucking falls into the swamp, I'll dock a month's salary."

"Yes!"

Hammer immediately accepted the order and left to prepare for the rescue.

Brinkman, on the other hand, was quite annoyed by Ryan's tongue twister, clearly because his family upbringing was too good and he had never heard such a joke before.

It was at this moment that Renn suddenly remembered something.

He immediately stopped Brinkman and handed him the horse sunglasses he was holding: "Lieutenant, they said only nobles can use these, try them on."

Can I refuse?

"let it go."

Ryan scratched his head, hung the sunglasses on his belt, and turned to look at the swamp.

Hammer was very quick.

As soon as Raine gave the order, he spread a large, unused canvas on the ground, placed the dismantled warehouse panel on it, and walked over to the Imperial cavalryman in one go, squatting on the wooden board: "Let's talk about pooping."

The cavalryman was taken aback for a moment.

Then he glanced at Raine, who was still on the shore, and then at Hammer.

After a long silence, he looked at Raine and shouted, "This guy's brain isn't working properly!"

Brinkman almost burst out laughing, but she quickly turned her head to the side, trying hard not to laugh: "Looks like you really can speak Imperial."

Renn was speechless at the cavalryman's words.

He glanced at the soldiers who were already laughing so hard they were doubled over, memorized everyone's names, and then looked at Hammer, who was staring at him innocently: "Bring that Russian out here."

Several soldiers immediately rushed forward, putting a rope around the Russian and using newly issued entrenching tools to clear away the mud around him.

Five or six people worked for quite a while before finally managing to pull the person out of the ground.

The only problem is that the swamp's silt is a bit ungrateful; it stole people's underwear.

With no other option, Hammer could only find a tattered blanket to cover the Russian's genitals before dragging him to Raine.

Raine, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, gave one to Hammer and another to the Russian, but didn't light it: "Where did you learn Imperial language?"

"I used to raise pigs and farm for the Turtle Clan of the Empire."

"Oh, farmer."

"No, not a farmer."

The Russian quickly shook his head, correcting Ryan's statement, his voice weak: "I don't own any land or things, they all belong to the master."

"No room?" Renn glanced at him, then gestured to Hammer to let him light a cigarette.

Hammer hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly took out a new glowing Zippo lighter, and struck it several times before finally lighting it.

This surprised Ryan, who couldn't even afford a lighter, yet Hammer was willing to.
However, he didn't ask any further questions. Instead, he borrowed a light, puffed out smoke, crossed his arms, and continued to ask, "When did you and those people arrive in the Empire?"

The Russian exhaled a smoke ring, his voice no longer trembling, and the cigarette in his mouth visibly shortened: "The month before last."

"August?"

Ryan perked up, realizing that it was no wonder these people were running so fast on this road; they had run it before and were familiar with it.

He thought for a moment, and waited until the other person had finished smoking and been blown around several times by the three or four degree wind, before continuing to ask, "What is your mission? How many people are ahead of you?"

"This, I can't say."

The Russians were very stubborn, but Renn didn't care at all.

Hammer, who was standing nearby, immediately slapped him on the head and was about to make the Russian kneel on the ground, but was stopped by Ryan: "He won't say anything even if you do that, don't waste your energy."

Hammer was somewhat resentful, but it was an order after all.

Then he heard the whispers of the devil.

Ryan was seen with a cigarette dangling from his lips, counting the remaining cigarettes in the pack.

He said.

"One piece of intelligence, a piece of Tverti, plus two pigs. If they're all true, I'll give you an extra ten pieces of Tverti."

"Choose any location, the Empire, the Kingdom, or Farland, it's all fine."

(End of this chapter)