Iron Cross

Rank tried to recall the scene that year: "I was still a middle school student at the time, and I went there with my mother to visit a distant relative. It was said that he also had a noble title and had some influence in the local area. I hoped to seek help and find some way for me to study at Cambridge or Oxford University in the future. . But the person was very cold and didn't want to talk to us at all, so he sent us away hastily. Then the next year, my mother still didn't give up and insisted on going again, but it was still not ideal. Then she gave up. I got to Cambridge on my own—not through their route.”

"In this case, will you be recognized by others?" Skorzeny was a little nervous.

"No... I was only a teenager at that time. People who have met me will not associate me with that thin, short little boy. What's more, I knew this family a year before my mother died. A relative died and I had just graduated from Cambridge. They mistakenly thought that I would have a great future and specially posted a message hoping that we could go over to express condolences. I ignored it..." Ranke said in a positive tone, "Me and the I didn’t interact with other residents of the town, and other people in their family didn’t have any impression of me, because I left in a hurry both times.”

"That would be great. Can you draw a map?"

"Yes, but so many years have passed. I can't guarantee that the scene is still the same now, let alone that my memory is perfect. After all, at that time, I only looked at this strange scene with the eyes of a little boy."

"No need, just describe the general situation." Skorzeny was relieved, "No matter how it changes, the main features will not change in just more than ten years. Places such as bridges, rivers, hills, and woods will change. There will be no changes, we can adjust the plan based on this map and aerial photos.”

"Then I will draw it for you early tomorrow morning."

"No problem. Now you change a set of clothes first, and then I will take you to get to know the team members. This is the rule every time a new member comes, and you are the commander, and there is no exception."

Rank hurriedly changed into the uniform of a British military police lieutenant colonel. This time he chose the rank of lieutenant colonel - at his age, this kind of military rank was almost at the top, and there was no way to go higher.

Skorzeny looked at him carefully and praised: "As soon as you put on these clothes, you showed the unique aristocratic style, decadence and pretentiousness of the British. I am looking forward to your performance." "

Rank looked in the mirror and said: "If I were to play the role of an officer of the rear garrison gendarmerie, I would have to do a good job with my hair. Hairspray and styling water are essential, and maybe I would have to sprinkle some perfume on it—— I feel so disgusted every time. By the way, these must be British or French brands. If they are not available, Italian brands will do. Don’t be German, as the smell will reveal their secrets.”

Skorzeny nodded, agreeing with Rank's point of view.

"In addition, some brand-name shirts, ties and leather shoes should be prepared for me, such as the ones with the name of the famous Italian fashion designer Elsa Hurley on the label. Those are the brands enjoyed by the upper class - although military uniforms cannot It reflects the characteristics of luxury, but do you think those noble gentlemen don’t use luxury goods?”

“Italian brands won’t reveal their secrets?”

"Italian brands are louder, more luxurious, and more recognized by the aristocracy than British brands. It is true that Britain and Italy are in a state of war, but it does not mean that Italian luxury goods cannot enter the British Isles. In fact, because Italian brands are more It was more difficult to obtain before the war, but now these noble officers are more respected than before," Ranke said, "I observed for several days in the British officer prisoner of war camp in North Africa, and almost all noble officers had one or two sets of equipment like this. Just pick them all off instead of just confiscating their gold watches.”

Skorzeny laughed: "Don't worry, these props must be there. You can't find me to coordinate through Director Bowman or Director Carlton Broner - you get into the role so quickly."

After gathering the team members, Skorzeny first briefly talked about Rank's situation, then introduced the team members to him one by one, and made a special introduction to the team members with extra skills. Rank listened clearly and worked hard Note down that Skorzeny introduced everything in English. Although it was a bit clumsy and laborious, the meaning was basically expressed correctly, and the team members all responded in English.

"Nice to meet you..." After the introduction, Rank took the initiative to extend his hand and wanted to shake hands with them one by one. Unexpectedly, before he could touch each other, there was a burst of ridicule around him, all said in various weird tones. : "Hahahaha, someone speaks German, fine, fine..."

"Sorry..." Skorzeny shrugged sheepishly, "I forgot to remind you just now."

"Okay, one mark!" In fact, Rank knew something was wrong as soon as he said it, and that German greeting was just subconscious. Gritting his teeth, he took out a coin from his pocket and handed it to Skorzeny, and said in his trademark Oxford accent, "Hello everyone, I am Rank, your new commander, let us work together for this mission. !”

"Come on!" Although the team members didn't know Rank's background, one look at his military rank and his Oxford accent showed that he was the leader the captain had been looking for. They immediately cheered up and everyone cheered. I feel acutely that the time for action is approaching.

"Now form the team, line up in three horizontal lines, stand at attention and report the count." Rank turned his head and said to Skorzeny alone, "You act as my guard and stand behind me with a submachine gun in your hand. There is no need to form a team - there is The big and sturdy guard is also one of the unique features of noble officers. "

"Yes, sir!" everyone, including Skorzeny, answered loudly. The teams quickly lined up as required and started counting, "One, two, three..."

"I just inspected your situation through basic actions such as team formation and counting, and found that there are the following problems. Please attach great importance to them and pay attention to overcome them." Ranke listed them one by one:

First, your team formation and counting are too fast and too well-trained. You are all elites, and these essentials of movements are not a problem for you. But the problem is that those who stay in the UK have been mobilized. I don’t know which wave. Officers and soldiers, even if they have received reserve education, they will not have such good military quality, so you have to slow down the pace, it is best to have times when you are in a hurry;

Second, your troops are arranged too neatly. Our German troops are strict and meticulous about queues, but the British are not so particular. Your troops are arranged too neatly and with great momentum. I have seen the worst troops on the Alamein front. Even the elite British troops could not resist this momentum, let alone the scumbag soldiers left behind;

Third, during the counting process, the tone can be slightly longer, especially the last number must be longer - remind the leader that the counting is at the end, don't laugh, the British are generally not strong in mathematics ability, similar to You need to think about the calculation of sixteen times three for a while. If you finish the calculation so quickly, what should you do if the officer hasn't calculated it yet?

Everyone couldn't hold it back and burst into laughter.

"Turn left, walk in unison...stand still." After only thirty minutes, Milank raised a problem again, "You are walking too neatly! You should walk more casually, and the swing distance can be enlarged if appropriate. The British goose step Walking is very exaggerated, and you want to throw your hands into the sky. Walking in unison also has this problem. Remember not to bring in the German goose step at any time. Finally, you must subconsciously stamp your feet when standing still - don't feel uncomfortable, Britain. That’s what I’m used to.”

Everyone laughed again, and only Skolz was secretly glad that it took just a few basic actions for someone to see the problem. Fortunately, Rank corrected it, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

"I have two final words of advice for you. Please keep them in mind: The first sentence is that you are not the elite troops - Great Britain's elite troops were either defeated by us on the battlefield in France, or now North Africa is eating sand, and you are just the rear. You are a left-behind force, so your movements and daily performance cannot be too good, otherwise it will be incredible; second sentence, you are a military police force, the kind of force that has no real ability but usually pulls five to six people, so be careful to gather them. You must display the vanity, arrogance, decadence and indifference that are unique to the military police. Note that these habits do not include hard work, so after walking for a long time, you can complain to your superiors and ask for a rest... …”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the team shouted "Ouch, ouch, ouch", and then there were screams one after another, asking for a rest in various tones.

"Asshole..." Rank was made to laugh and cry, "There are too many people shouting, and they are not pretending to be the same at all. No matter how useless the British military police are, they are soldiers, not grannies. You must take turns in shouting, and you must fully demonstrate it. Showing that kind of hypocritical attitude of pretending that nothing is wrong even though he can't move fast, because most of the time the fucking British officer is riding alone or riding in a car. How can he know that the team can't move without someone telling him? It is impossible to expect the British chief to cross a five-kilometer cross-country with you. If the British were really at this level, they would have conquered the world long ago, and they would not be beaten like this by us. They even rely on colonial troops to fight. "

Only then did everyone suddenly realize, and by the way, they despised them severely.

Now Skorzeny is getting nervous. The team still has so many flaws and is about to set off again. Do we need to ask the head of state for some grace?

Rank shook his head vigorously: "It doesn't have to be like this. Let's not talk about whether the lurkers you sent out can hide for that long. No matter how hard you train, you won't be able to turn the commandos into British troops. There will always be flaws, but time will not change them. Wait for us - the head of state must have his own reasons for insisting on time. "