On the morning of the fourth day after the start of the Allied Winter Offensive in North Africa.

In a manor house on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital, the German and American envoys are engaged in a pointless bargain.

"We are waiting for instructions from Potsdam," said German Smith in heavily accented English, "and we will not be able to respond until we are instructed." ”

"It's been two days since the first meeting, and your government hasn't given instructions yet? This makes me doubt your sincerity. ”

"I'm sorry for that," said the German envoy, "but we must wait for Potsdam's instructions." ”

The Americans spread their hands out, and the expression on their faces was quite helpless.

"Even if it's delaying time, please use your brains more and think of a few more excuses, okay?"

The ridicule of the Americans did not affect the expression of the German envoy, to which he replied: "I am sorry for that. At the same time, I must clarify that we have no intention of stalling for time, but we must wait for Potsdam's instructions. ”

"Isn't that just stalling for time!"

"No, we're just waiting for instructions, not maliciously delaying."

Such a straightforward attitude made the Americans speechless, and at this time, the recorder beside the German secret envoy who had not spoken all the time said: "Why don't we go to lunch first?" ”

"I like the idea." The Americans immediately agreed, and the German envoy, seeing that the Americans agreed, immediately closed the notebook that was spread out in front of him, and this reaction made people suspect that he was also eager to end this "meeting" that might not even be considered a mutual bargain.

As a result, the morning talks on the fourth day ended just over an hour after they began.

After eating, the secret envoys who were resting in their respective rooms all received briefings from China, so the expressions of the American secret envoys at the beginning of the afternoon talks were subtly different from those in the morning.

"Have you got instructions from Potsdam?"

"Not yet, sir," said the German envoy in the morning's tone, "but we have received a briefing on the war in North Africa. ”

The Americans immediately exchanged glances.

"Oh?" The U.S. secret envoy showed a very interested expression, "Is there anything interesting in the briefing?" Our command didn't tell us anything about it. ”

"Probably because they can't say it." The Germans, who had always been strict, suddenly said in a slightly mocking tone, "After all, they have invested many more troops than we have, but they have not achieved the results corresponding to the investment, and this thing is really shameless to say." ”

After the German's voice fell, the room was so quiet that only the mechanical sound of the wall clock could be heard. Eventually, the American envoy laughed, and the German envoy laughed too, and soon everyone laughed.

The laughter soon died down, and the American envoy snorted and said coldly to the Germans: "You have not won yet." ”

"But it looks like it's coming soon." The Germans did not hesitate to say.

Then the two looked at each other in silence for more than ten seconds, and then the American envoy stood up: "I'm going to Lisbon to watch the opera tonight, time is pressing, I'm afraid I have to go first." ”

"Please." The German made a gesture of please, "Have a good time, and the negotiation can be talked about tomorrow." ”

"Hmph." The American pouted, took his gentleman's hat from the butler who stepped forward, put it on his head, and strode out of the large parlor for negotiation.

The German envoy watched the Americans leave, and then leisurely picked up the black tea on the table.

"Isn't that a problem?" The recorder asked worriedly, "If he returns to China in a fit of rage and the negotiations fail, we will take the blame when we return to China, right?" ”

"They're not leaving." The envoy shook his head, "The fact that the envoy will be sent to Portugal already means that the Americans want to negotiate, and they, like us, want an armistice." So now we are talking here not about whether to have a truce, but in what state. How the benefits should be distributed after the armistice, this is what we are going to talk about here. ”

"You're right." The recorder nodded busily.

"But," the German envoy stood up, came to the window, and looked out at the lush wilderness, "it is not an easy task to finalize the terms, and perhaps it will be more difficult than simply urging the other side to cease the fighting." If, in the end, we are not able to put the terms above the red line drawn by Potsdam, then we will really be held accountable. ”

The recorder did not answer, and the large room fell silent for a moment.

**

North African front, temporary concentration of prisoners of war.

"He needs treatment." The German officer in front of the American prisoner of war dressed as an officer shouted, "Understand, treatment!" You Germanic bastard! ”

"We knew he needed treatment." The German officer said unhurriedly, "We are also going to provide corresponding treatment services, so please be calm." ”

"Nonsense, you just bandaged it roughly, and then threw him there with the stretcher!" The American said and raised his hand to point to the stretcher on the ground behind the German officer, "He is seriously injured, and you only stop the bleeding for him, which is clearly intended to kill him!" ”

"You misunderstood, he is now waiting for a transfer to the rear. You also know that his injuries are very serious, and our field medics cannot treat such a serious injury, so they can only do preliminary treatment and send him to a well-equipped hospital in the rear. The Germans still have a polite tone, which makes people suspect that this guy was a steward before he joined the army.

"Then you should send it!" The Americans were still roaring, "I see a lot of trucks going backwards, can't I make a place in those trucks for my men?" ”

"Our field medic thinks that if he is evacuated by truck, he will not be able to hold out before he arrives at the hospital, so we are prepared to transport him in a more efficient way," the German still said, "Our army has always acted on humanitarian principles, so you can rest assured that your men will be handled in the best possible way." ”

The American was about to say something, when he noticed that behind the German officer, the German soldier pulled out a grenade-like thing that was still in the sand not far away.

The grenade spewed out a large amount of yellow smoke, which spread with the wind, and soon formed a ribbon of smoke that fluttered downwind.

"What the hell is that going on?" The American, seemingly oblivious to the ongoing topic, pointed to the smoke bombs that were still spewing smoke and asked.

"That's just a normal guidance operation," replied the German disapprehantly, "you know, it's not easy to find our position from the air, after all, there are quite a few logistics detachments in the vicinity, and it's hard for the pilots to distinguish them." ”

"Pilot?" The American officer asked with a frown.

"Yes."

As soon as the German officer's voice fell, the roar of the engine was heard in the sky, and soon a flying machine with huge rotors appeared in everyone's field of vision.

The plane flew rapidly and descended slowly, and the whirlwind set off by the rotors swept across the ground, blowing so that the eyes of the American officers could not be opened, and the American prisoners who had gathered together behind the officers and sat on the ground also raised their hands to shield themselves from the wind, and some simply turned their backs to the direction of the wind - but these people still couldn't help but look back at the slowly falling aircraft.

The aircraft landed firmly on the ground, and the door on the side of the strangely shaped fuselage opened with a thud, and then two German soldiers jumped out of the aircraft, bent on their waists and pressing the steel helmets above their heads with one hand, and ran quickly to the stretcher on the ground.

As the two men lifted the stretcher, the American officer, who had been "negotiating," couldn't help but ask, "Where are they taking my men?" ”

"Later, I will be sent to the rear hospital for treatment." The German officer looked surprised, "I just told you that we will transfer your men to a large hospital in the rear, right?" ”

"Use this thing?"

"Yes." The German nodded, and his face, which had been straight, suddenly revealed some smugness, "We have been using helicopters to evacuate the seriously wounded two months ago, and it has effectively improved the survival rate of the seriously wounded in our army. ”

The American officer, with his mouth half open, stared at the helicopter, and just like that, the two German soldiers who disembarked from the helicopter carried all four stretchers on the ground onto the plane. Immediately afterwards, the two soldiers also sat in the cabin and patted the bulkhead on the outside of the cabin.

The roar of the engine, which had just been lowered slightly, rose high again, and the aircraft called the helicopter left the ground and rose vertically into the air. After ascending for about a few tens of meters, the Americans saw that the fuselage of the aircraft was tilted forward, and the tail of the aircraft was obviously upturned. The American was about to open his mouth to ask if there was something wrong with the flying machine, when he saw the flying machine, which had just been rising vertically, start to move forward. As it moved forward, the pilot of the aircraft tilted the fuselage to the left, so the aircraft drew an arc-shaped trajectory in the sky, completed the turn, and flew in the direction it had just flew.

The American officer did not withdraw his gaze until the silhouette of the aircraft completely disappeared from the horizon, and looked back at the German officer in front of him.

"You're just going to use this thing to transport the wounded?"

"For now, yes, occasionally send some emergency fuel to the small troops who have broken down halfway."

"Oh my God, why don't you put rockets on them for ground attack?"

The German officer shook his head: "I don't know very well, but my personal guess is probably because this thing is too easy to shoot down by ground fire." ”

The American officer thought for a moment and agreed: "Indeed, this thing feels much heavier than a fixed-wing aircraft, and the rotor is estimated to be very vulnerable in the face of anti-aircraft fire." ”

"And that fat fuselage, the anti-aircraft gun shooter probably loves that fuselage to death."

"Yes." After the American finished speaking, he suddenly remembered what he was here for, and he touched his nose, "Well, now that my subordinates have been properly disposed of, I will not waste your time anymore." Thank you for doing a qiē for him. ”

"You're welcome, but his injuries are really serious, and we're not sure if we'll be able to save them in the end."

"Then leave it to God to decide."

"I don't believe in God." The German officer said, pointing to the fig leaf badge on his chest.

"Ah, yes, damn it, you don't believe in God." With that, the American officers saluted the Germans.