"Our old friend Ernie is dead!" David Simon's voice was a little hoarse.

As the most famous war correspondent in World War II, Ernie Pyle has never escaped the snare of fate.

"I'm sorry!" Robert Capa just said a word, then shook his head and said no more.

George Roger next to him said to Robert Capa, who was serving Huaxia, with a slightly accusatory tone: "It was the Huaxia people who killed him!" ”

Unlike history, Ernie Pyle was not killed by a bullet from a Japanese sharpshooter on the island of Okinawa in April, but fell under the weight of the Tunisian Pioneer cannon.

Although he had taken refuge in a fortress that was safe enough, the impact of the cannon on the ground had shattered his internal organs.

"We are also sorry! There are clear orders in our Chinese army not to shoot at journalists, medical personnel, etc., and some protective measures are taken against journalists on both sides of the war. But there are always surprises that we can't avoid. This is war, and we can't control it! Xiao Qian, who was following Kappa, stepped forward and apologized.

As the most famous Chinese war correspondent on the European battlefield in his previous life, Xiao Qian came to Europe early and was familiar with these reporters in Europe and the United States, and what he said was known to everyone as a fact.

The Chinese army was quite polite to those reporters, and the regulations on the protection of journalists mentioned by Xiao Qian were also effective, and it stands to reason that war correspondents wearing obvious signs would not be difficult for them as long as they were not engaged in espionage activities, and would even provide them with some necessary help.

Some secrets, especially the secrets of the base, will never be accessible to them, and some dark sides, except for those that they are not allowed to access, Huaxia welcomes European and American reporters to record the crimes of those scapegoats, so as to clear Huaxia's suspicions.

This also makes those journalists who advocate freedom have a large number of works that reflect the real side of China, and even David Simon's works have many photos of the Chinese army or China.

At this point, David Simon just grimaced and didn't say anything.

He knew that Ernie's death could only be regarded as a little unlucky.

He wasn't the lucky Robert Capa. But he practiced his famous saying: "If your photos are not good enough." It's because you're not close enough! ”

Within the ultra-long range of the Vanguard cannon, any corner of the front line seemed to become somewhat dangerous.

In particular, the vanguard cannon has always been killed one by one, and it is impossible to carefully distinguish which ones should be killed and which ones should not be killed.

"It's part of his relic!" Fang Da behind Xiao Qian once held a kraft paper file bag.

As soon as the vanguard cannon came out, it never lost, and that position had been easily captured by the Chinese army, and when the allies fled. The remains of the fallen soldiers were not even recovered. Although the corpse of such a special person as Ernie was taken away, some things were left behind in a hurry.

David Simon took the file bag, which contained only a few things, two letters and a diary.

“……

I've come to this place for the third time! But unlike the previous two times, I got off the plane this time. I immediately felt a terrible lack of self-confidence! David Simon opened the diary, which was half covered, and the first page was a record of Ernie's first day in North Africa, his war diary.

"The first time I came was with General Bradley, and during the Tunisian campaign of '43, the lads in our army were relaxed as if they were on vacation. Their self-confidence even surpassed that of the British, whose nostrils liked to face forward, and of course, the current British, who looked to be bowing their heads in despair in front of the mountains of supplies on our docks. That moment. I seem to have a feeling in my heart. The world will be ours!

My feeling is accurate. When I came to North Africa for the second time, most of North Africa had pretty much fallen into our hands. The areas occupied by the embarrassed Germans will soon soon fly the Stars and Stripes. Not only in North Africa, but even in Europe, where we have already counter-offensive, the glory of our army will be spread everywhere.

But this time, as soon as I came, I felt that the lads had the same expressions on their faces as they had been in England.

What made the confidence on their faces slip away? I decided to look for answers! ”

Ernie's diary is somewhat mutilated, but mostly intact, and David Simon flips through the pages.

“…… Colonel Harry told me something that dawned on me.

This time, the prelude to the battle on which the people of Washington and China had pinned their hopes had already begun, but it ushered in one defeat after another, which almost destroyed the confidence of many soldiers.

They were worried that those bad things at the front would not fall on them.

I'm really curious, is the Huaxia army really that strong? ”

"In just a few days, I realized how terrible the Huaxia army is! The attack of the Huaxia began again. This time it was not the previous knight-like small-scale duel, and from the tremor of the earth that made people unstable, it was clear that the Huaxia people were going to make the final duel.

There was smoke everywhere, and there were cries and howls, and it was clear from the faces of the soldiers who ran past me that this time we were in a bad situation.

Colonel Harry told me that we have more than 600,000 troops, thousands of tanks and thousands of warplanes, and 20,000 artillery pieces. We are fearless and simply cannot fail.

But my ears seemed to be filled with the sound of Chinese artillery and the screeching of bombs dropped by bombers overhead. ……”

"Today, I interviewed General Bradley. When I first met him, he was still a major general, and at this time he was already a four-star general. Although this is still a temporary title, being the commander-in-chief this time is enough to prove his ability.

In his mouth, I received some proof of our strength, far exceeding the strength of the Allies in the Tunisian campaign against the Germans and Italians.

However, it seems that the strength of the Chinese people is stronger.

I was in General Breddell's command room when I heard the news of the rout of the Maret line at the front.

I already knew about it when I first fought the Germans. Tunisia's terrain is complex, and the mountains and sea give Tunisia a lot of natural hazards.

The Germans had taken advantage of the French line between the Matmata Hill and the coastline to inflict heavy losses on the Allies, and if Rommel had not made a big mistake, I am afraid that the casualties would have been even greater.

Admiral Bradley has just told me that after the reconstruction, this line alone will make it difficult for the Chinese to move forward.

But less than three hours after his words, it was washed away.

Even after receiving an emergency call for help from there, the support plan was still being discussed by the General Staff, and the army there could not support it.

The Chinese army fought so fiercely. ……”

"I've been staying at Command for the past few days. The news here is quicker and more detailed, but without exception, the vast majority is bad news. Bradley only slept no more than three hours a day, but his anxiety still couldn't change the tide of the battle, and news of the rout and loss came from all over the country.

I really wonder how China's domestic industry is at most equivalent to the level of Japan, and their navy has only just been established, and they can't even secure transportation lines by sea, so how can they make our powerful army retreat step by step four or five thousand miles away from their homeland?

I know the copycat company, but I don't think a company can have more strength than the world's first industrial power.

Could the American army, armed with first-class steel machines, be unable to defeat a China armed with purchased arms?

'Where is the strength of the Chinese army?' I asked several people, including Bradley, the same question, and they told me the same answer.

The airplane, a new weapon originally invented from the Wright brothers in the United States, was unexpectedly defeated by the Chinese.

When Bradley told me that the Chinese had beaten almost all of our fighters with their own jets, I was stunned.

I've seen the kind of shiny silver fighter jets that whizz over our heads. The soldiers all called it Silver Lightning. It was its appearance that quickly eliminated almost all propeller fighters, including a large number of our deployed fighters in North Africa.

We launched our own first jet fighter directly for this. It was a very beautiful aerial saber that could protect our skies.

When I heard the news, I was overjoyed.

But before I could send my manuscript, I heard the news that the Sabre fighters had their wings broken.

The Chinese people, like magic, also suddenly appeared a large number of fighters that seemed to be stronger, and also brought long-range aerial rockets, no, to be precise, it should be called air-to-air missile tactics.

In just two days, more than 200 sabers were broken.

So the Chinese people, who were recognized as extremely powerful aerial bombardment, began again, and together with the artillery positions of the Huaxia, they actually suppressed our front-line artillery fire.

Without the support of artillery fire, our army fell into even greater passivity.

Without the suppression of the air fighters, the Huaxia transport planes were scattered everywhere with umbrella flowers, making our defensive line look full of holes, and General Bradley and his staff were so busy that they didn't even have time for coffee.

But the worse news came again, the Chinese attack was not only from the air, but also from the impact of the most powerful army of armored tanks on land, and the attack from the sea, which we had never expected. (To be continued.) )