Iron Cross Fire

In the silent night, Kuster pointed to a hill in the distance and said:

"That's where we attacked, and it was from here that the Russian defenses were quickly destroyed and nothing could be done again."

Franz nodded in recognition of his achievements. He trimmed his beard, lit a cigarette and said:

"Well, I once read about your deeds in the newspaper during my spare time during the war, and it was exactly the same as what you said."

Just as the two were about to chat, a soldier suddenly appeared and said to them:

"General, there is news from Austria-Hungary!"

"Didn't I tell you not to ignore messages from the Empire? And didn't you notice that I was busy?"

Kuster was very dissatisfied. It was not easy for him to get together with his friends but he still had to be disturbed. You can imagine his anger.

"But this time it's a big deal! The higher-ups said they would give us a cabinet seat."

The soldier's eager voice wasn't enough for anyone to notice, but what he said was important to Kuster. Kuster suddenly walked up to him, grabbed his shoulders, and stared at him like a hawk. Questioned:

"Are you sure this is true? If not, you know what the consequences will be."

"I...I'm sure!" Kuster's majesty made Xiaobing breathless. He quickly took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Kuster.

Kuster grabbed it, looked at it carefully, then nodded, took out the paper and pen, wrote something on it, handed it to the soldier and said:

"You can go and help me bring this back to the Austro-Hungarian high-level officials. Just say it is a letter written by Kuster himself."

The soldier ran away in a hurry, showing no respect or courtesy at all, but Kuster obviously didn't care and was still rubbing his chin and thinking about his plan.

Seeing the soldiers running further and further away, Franz also walked up to him and asked curiously:

"What did you write? Who do you plan to put in the cabinet?"

"It's nothing, just some polite words. I haven't decided who will go to the cabinet yet, but it will definitely be our people."

Kuster's expression was very relaxed, as if he didn't care about the cabinet matters at all. He clapped his hands and turned his eyes to the distant scene again.

But Franz on the side was obviously not in the mood to appreciate it, and asked nervously:

"Then you just deal with it so casually? This is a quota for cabinet members. Once we have it, we can observe every move inside!"

"Then who do you think should be in the cabinet?"

"It must be someone from the military! Who else could it be?"

Franz was categorical and unquestionable.

"So who in the army do you think would be a good fit?"

"Well..."

Kuster asked another question. Franz was stumped at this time. He really couldn't think of anyone who would be suitable.

The Austro-Hungarian army was vast, and most of the generals in it were high-ranking officials. It was hard to say whether they would be loyal to them after entering the cabinet.

No one is suitable to be one of his own, and the only people who are trustworthy are the people in the small circle around Kuster, but most of them are dead now.

"I think...any soldier in the army could be in the cabinet for us."

After thinking for a few seconds, Franz, trying to fool him, gave an ambiguous answer.

Kuster stared at him for a few seconds, looking a little embarrassed. Then he looked up to the sky and laughed, clapped his hands and said:

"General, I think the most senior soldier is you."

Franz immediately understood what he was talking about, his eyes wandering, full of disbelief.

But he quickly calmed down, suppressed his excitement and said:

"Ha! I thought you would let your son do it."

"That's more or less the case. I want you to help him and work with him to find out the inside news of the empire."

Kuster shrugged and responded noncommittally:

"By the way, why did you come to me? Look at my poor memory, I actually forgot the question I wanted to ask the most."

"My unit suffered heavy losses in Ukraine and was almost wiped out, so I was dismissed..."

When he said this, one could clearly see Franz's dim eyes and unwilling expression.

"Look at your appearance, what's going on?"

Kuster couldn't see his friend in such a miserable condition, so he quickly asked.

"Hey, I was too negligent. I was too aggressive and just wanted to seize the fighter plane to expand the results. Unexpectedly, I was ambushed. After the failure, I was chased all the way by the Russians."

Franz shook his hand, obviously unwilling to mention the matter.

But Kuster still pressed the question, as if he would not give up until he got the result:

"What about your friendly forces? Are they doing it for free? Why don't they come to help you?"

"I don't know, but I don't have to blame them. After all, it was my mistake and I should bear the responsibility."

Seeing how stubborn he was, Kuster was helpless. He grabbed Franz's shoulders and yelled:

"Don't stick to small-scale command issues and broaden your horizons. If you were really that bad, then I wouldn't have a friend like you. Think about it carefully, how did you lose? Even if you don’t understand the cause and effect, you can still learn some experience from it!”

Hearing what he said, Franz couldn't hold his chin any longer and thought for a while.

Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something, his eyes lit up and he said:

"After being ambushed, I immediately informed my superiors, but there was no response from them. My troops held out for nearly seven hours, but no reinforcements arrived. It was really hard for those warriors to persist for so long in a battle that had no chance of victory."

As he spoke, Franz felt a little sad, and the words on his lips suddenly got stuck, and he didn't know what to say.

Kuster patted him sympathetically, comforted him and motioned for him to continue.

"After retreating, I saw that the telephone line was intact, but the headquarters said that they didn't receive the call, and we also reported by wireless telegram, but they said they didn't receive it."

After being comforted, Franz planned to continue. But as soon as he continued, he had a flash of inspiration, and the words on his lips kept flowing.

Kuster was very angry when he heard this. Seeing that he was about to explode, Franz quickly raised his hand to stop him, and then said thoughtfully:

"When I first went in, those officers were eating and drinking; after seeing me, they quickly changed their expressions and became enthusiastic. I suspect that they are pretending."

"Don't doubt it, this must be! It's obvious that those people want to harm you."

This time Kuster really couldn't help it. Although he tried his best to restrain himself from swearing, he couldn't avoid contempt for others.

"Maybe, but don't worry about it. After all, if I hadn't been dismissed, how could we meet? Don't always think about hatred, there will always be good things. Go back, it's a little late today."

Seeing that he was so optimistic, Kuster didn't say anything more and went home with him.

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