In the era of underdeveloped communications, people in different countries were as isolated as if they were living in different eras.

In the fifth year of the world war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the verge of collapse, and in order to strengthen the Austro-Hungarian people's firm belief in the war, the Austro-Hungarian media did everything they could, and in the mouth of the Austro-Hungarian media, the Entente had become a hell on earth in order to continue the war, so that the Austrians, who were suffering in the war, would ignore the immediate difficulties and firmly believe that the Allies could defeat the Entente in the coming months.

In the eyes of the three Austro-Hungarian soldiers, what they saw was clearly different from what the Austro-Hungarian media had advertised.

There is no easy food, no starvation, no people are poor, and the standard of living of these colonial servants from the "backwoods" seems to be better than that of the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy, which is really a devastating conclusion.

It is an obvious fact that all the southern African soldiers seen by the three Austro-Hungarian soldiers were wearing cotton clothes that looked very thick and had significantly better warmth.

The hats they wore on their heads were made of the fur of some kind of animal, and such hats were only seen on nobles, but they were handed down in the northern division of Rhodesia.

The leather boots on their feet were made of a whole sheet of animal fur, some of which could be seen at a glance as cowhide or sheepskin, and some of which they had never seen at all, but they knew that the patterns on the shoes were very beautiful and worth a lot of money at first glance.

In the course of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's previous battles with the Italian troops, they had captured individual food distributed by the Italian troops, and the delicately packaged and delicious canned food and luncheon meats made everyone salivate, and sometimes even a skirmish over a box of canned food.

Right next to the hot coffee kegs, several cooks in white uniforms were pouring cans with open lids into a large iron bucket, apparently preparing lunch for the soldiers.

The chefs were a bit rude, they were fast, not all the cans were emptied cleanly, one chef emptied the boxes and then rinsed them with water, only to be reprimanded by the other chef, so everyone picked up the pace, and the empty boxes around them were piled up almost as high as theirs.

Surely some of the boxes were not emptied.

Three Austro-Hungarian soldiers stared at the boxes, hoping to help clean them up later.

"Hello, I'm Captain Ross of the Gendarmerie of the Northern Rhodesia Division, what's your name?" An officer of Chinese descent with the rank of captain sits down on a shell box in front of an Austro-Hungarian soldier.

The three Austro-Hungarian soldiers were squatting on the ground, carefully tucking the corners of their coats, which had just been opened, and which smelled of motor oil when they got their hands.

For these three soldiers, this is the taste of happiness.

Several officers were being interrogated separately by several officers, who were separated from each other by a great distance, ensuring that they did not have the opportunity to collude.

"Dear sir, my name is Gustav Zweig."

"Well, Gustav—oh no, sorry, it's Mr. Zweig, what is your purpose?" Ross was taking notes while asking.

Luckily, the soldier named Gustav Zweig could speak English, which was a rarity in 1916.

No, it's 1917 either.

"We're here to surrender, we're tired of the war, we don't want to die silently, I want to go back to my hometown and be with my children, they need me—" Gustav Zweig shuddered and answered the question, his eyes constantly looking at the tin bucket that had begun to smell and overflow.

Rose continued to ask, "What did you serve in that unit before?" The number of the troops, the mission, the name of the commander of the unit, tell me everything you know. ”

Confessions from captives are an important way to obtain information, especially if they are sent to the door on their own initiative, and their confessions are usually more authentic.

In order to get prisoners, the northern Rhodesian division would organize elite troops to go to the positions of the Austro-Hungarian troops to scratch their tongues, which was a very dangerous job, and it was very likely that the whole army would be wiped out if they missed, but the people with special skills enjoyed it, and they regarded it as a very challenging job, and the no-man's land between the northern Rhodesian division and the Austro-Hungarian positions was a "paradise" for these elite troops and precision marksmen.

"I served in the integrated 187th Division, and there are only more than 6,000 people left in our division, and the division commander is-"

"Wait, a division of more than 6,000 people?" Ross was suspicious, and in the British Expeditionary Force, more than 6,000 people were almost a brigade, and some of the larger battalions had several thousand people.

The strength of a standard division in the British army is now about 15,000 men, because the popularity of automatic weapons has reduced the size of the force.

The largest establishment is the US military division, a US military standard infantry division is almost 25,000 people, the reason why there are so many people is because the US army lacks professional officers, when the United States entered the war in 1915, the total US army and navy are not as many as the British expeditionary force in the Battle of the Somme, a British army in a company of infantry is only 120 people under normal circumstances, the US army is 250 people, more than double the British army.

"Yes, the year before last we had sixteen thousand men in the 187th Division, we fought from Russia to Italy, and we did not get reinforcements in between, and now there are only more than 6,000 people left, many soldiers died in the previous battles, some wounded soldiers never had a chance to return to the battlefield, some of the wounded were directly abandoned, I can now remember those abandoned wounded soldiers when I close my eyes at night, they cry and beg me, but I have to leave-" Gustav Zweig was a sentimental man, As he spoke, he began to cry again.

Rose silently handed over a handkerchief.

Gustav Zweig thanked him, but he didn't dare to take it, there was not a trace of dirt on the white handkerchief, and Gustav Zweig unconsciously lowered his head.

Rose put the handkerchief back in his pocket and handed a soldier to get Gustav Zweig something to eat.

Soon, a large bowl of hot pasta was delivered to Gustav Zweig.

Pasta –

By Chinese standards, it's actually similar to ramen, except for hollow pasta, which is called macaroni, solid pasta is the closest thing to what Chinese people are used to.

Of course, the pasta of the Northern Rhodesian Division is different from the traditional pasta.

The noodles were still pasta, the sauce was made from fresh beef and canned vegetables, a large bowl of pasta filled with a thick layer of fragrant meat sauce, and the soldiers kindly brought Gustav Zweig a fork instead of the chopsticks that the officers and men of the Northern Rhodesian Division were more accustomed to.

"Eat, let's move on when we're done—" Ross was not in a hurry, he looked at Gustav Zweig with interest with a cup of hot coffee.

Gustav Zweig was not polite, he was really hungry, such a bowl of pasta, in the current Austro-Hungarian army, even an officer is not qualified to enjoy it, and he can't eat such a hearty pasta in a restaurant in Vienna.

After a moment of gobbling up, Gustav Zweig felt that it wasn't enough, and he looked at Rose with longing.

"No, no, no, you can't eat, listen to me, you've been hungry for a long time, if you eat too much, you'll die-" Ross decisively refused, Gustav Zweig was not the first Austro-Hungarian soldier to surrender on his own initiative, there have been many tragedies before.

Such a tragedy in the northern division of Rhodesia will always be passed on as a joke by the officers and soldiers, but only those who have really come into contact with these Austro-Hungarian soldiers can feel how tragic they really are.

"Well, thank you very much, sir, I haven't eaten enough for a long time, it's the most delicious meal I can remember, and I'll remember it for the rest of my life—" Gustav Zweig held the bowl and didn't know what to do with it, noticing that the other soldiers were holding a used bowl in a tin bucket that was resting on the fire, and Gustav Zweig wanted to take the bowl too, but didn't dare.

Even such a fire is a rare luxury in Austria-Hungary, and last year Vienna spent probably the coldest winter ever, the citizens burned everything that could be warmed, ate all living things except people, and the books in the museum were taken out to light the fire to keep warm, and this year's Vienna -

Gustav Zweig could not have imagined.

"Leave it here, someone will take care of it later." Ross casually spilled the unfinished coffee in the cup, the coffee gets cold quickly in the winter, and if you don't spill it, it will freeze in the cup very quickly.

But this action made Gustav Zweig feel distressed, looking at Gustav Zweig's appearance, if it weren't for Ross, Gustav Zweig wouldn't mind drinking the coffee that had become cold.

Ross was helpless and raised his hand to call a soldier to pour another cup of coffee.

Gustav Zweig couldn't stop thanking him again.

"Alright, now let's move on, what's your troop commander's name?" Ross continued the interrogation.

"Our division commander is Luc Tauhti, and the supreme commander is General Otto von Billow, but now General Otto von Billow has returned to Germany, supposedly to take part in the upcoming attack on France." Although Gustav Zweig's position is not high, the sense of secrecy of the German-Austrian forces is really not strong.

Ross finally got the news he wanted, and in recent times there has been more and more news about the imminent start of a new German offensive.

"Tell me more about what you know about General Otto von Billow." Ross has a good attitude, and the information is obtained little by little.

(End of chapter)