Chapter 924: Chapter 32: The Iron Tower Still Stands

September 22, outskirts of the Carolingian capital.

A Super Pershing rolled into the village, the tank operators looked around confused at the idyllic pastoral scenery of the small village, the gunner muttered: “Where have we ended up, is this still Carolingian?”

An old farmer holding a baguette said something in Carolingian.

Gunner: “What did he say?”

Commander: “How should I know, I don’t speak Carolingian.”

At this moment, a few young men came out of the bakery nearby, speaking in Ansaic: “Welcome! The Prosen Army hastily retreated a few days ago!”

Commander: “Are you with the Resistance Organization?”

“Yes, we are the Resistance Organization, we can guide you all the way into the city!”

More people came out of the houses, the young men from the Resistance shouted something in Carolingian, the commander only understood the word “Dago,” the name of the Free Carolingian leader.

Soon, the villagers surrounded the tank, throwing bread, cheese, and fruit onto it.

The gunner was stunned by so many items: “Are we really in the Occupied Area? How come it seems like they’re living better than we are at home?”

Commander: “Yeah, look at the young people in the village, there are both men and women, with arms and legs; why have we fought all the way here? Both of my brothers died on the beach, seeing them like this… Damn it!”

Just then, the crowd pulled a woman holding a child from a building, pushing her to the side of the Pershing Tank, and started cussing her harshly.

The commander hurriedly asked the young people who claimed to be from the Resistance: “What’s going on?”

“She bore a child for a Prosen, always regarded herself as a first-class citizen of the Empire, looked down upon the neighbors, now everyone wants to vent their anger!”

Commander: “What else bad did she do?”

The young people of the Resistance looked at each other, then shook their heads together: “No more, if she did anything else bad, we would have hanged her by now! Hung her on a lamppost, just like during the Great Revolution!”

At this time, the “collaborator” woman’s child was snatched away, she let out a heart-wrenching scream.

Commander: “Enough! Return the child to her! Let her stay quietly!”

The young man who had been talking to the commander asked puzzledly: “She is a traitor of the Carolingians!”

Commander: “And how loyal are you?”

Young man: “We have been fighting for the freedom of Carolingian!”

Commander: “Then how many Prosens have you killed?”

Young man: “I… cut the Prosen’s phone lines! And blew up their power poles with explosives!”

The commander asked again: “Do you have siblings and friends who died under the Prosen’s butcher knife?”

The young man shook his head: “No.”

“Then you have no right to judge her, go find someone whose family member was killed by the Prosens, they have the right to judge her! Go find one!”

The young people looked at each other, just then, someone who looked like a village elder questioned loudly, the young people translated the commander’s words.

Everyone was stunned, looked at each other, and the “collaborator” woman took the opportunity to snatch back her child and rushed back to her house, locking the door.

Commander: “Is that house she occupies yours?”

Resistance young man: “No, it’s her father’s house, their family has lived in the town for nearly a hundred years.”

Commander: “Let me summarize, this woman entertained a Prosen Officer in her own home, she was raped by the Prosens, and because she couldn’t have an abortion as a Catholic, she gave birth to the child, and you want to persecute her just because she usually acts high and mighty, right?”

No one answered.

The villagers couldn’t understand Ansaic, but they roughly guessed what the commander was saying, so they remained silent.

At this time, a convoy of Jeeps and M3 half-track vehicles came rolling in.

The crowd immediately became happy again, rushing toward the United States Army entering the city, throwing flowers, bread, and cheese onto every vehicle.

The commander sighed, asking the young man from the Resistance still by the tank: “How is the situation in the capital?”

The young man replied joyously: “Great, the tower is still standing!”

——–

Prime Minister Leonard tossed today’s The Times onto the table, saying to his secretary: “If they had taken the Carolingian capital twenty days sooner, it would have turned into a great victory. Now all the limelight is stolen by Rocossov. Rocossov was the first to liberate the capital of an occupied country!”

Secretary: “No, we recaptured the capital of Tunisia, it’s also an occupied country.”

Leonard: “But it’s not in Europa! No matter how many African countries we recapture, it’s meaningless, incomparable to even one in Europa! We could have been the first to recapture a Europan country!”

Secretary: “Perhaps we shouldn’t have forced the Melianians to revolt, then Rocossov would stop to rest, and we could have been the first to recapture a Europan capital.”

Leonard said nothing, sitting in his chair, sullen.

At this time, Marshal Margo pushed the door open, bursting with energy, and said to Leonard: “We are ready to launch Operation Market Garden!”

Leonard: “Did Eck agree?”

“Yes, Eck said it’s an action that must be taken, so he agreed to the entire operation plan, but they insist on airdropping the United States paratroopers near relatively close bridges. I guess they have no confidence in their own paratroopers.”

Leonard pursed his lips: “Hard to say, maybe they just don’t want to throw the airborne troops deep into enemy territory, maybe they think this plan is bound to fail, letting the paratroopers be able to retreat at any time.”

Marshal Margo: “No matter what they think, we just need to attack. The Prosens are already in disarray, this Empire is now like a crumbling house, just a gentle push will topple it! The reason Rocossov hasn’t advanced is entirely because his reserves and supplies are exhausted.