CH 77

“We must not lose Huntingham. To lose Huntingham is to lose the Husson, which is to give the enemy a conduit. We must send in reinforcements somehow.”

“The situation of France’s central group army is currently good, and there is talk of dividing some of these troops and sending them to the relatively inferior north………….”

“Does this mean that we will continue our march or stop?”

“We won’t stop until before the occupation of the city. That is something we will have to figure out later, there are a lot of problems right now!”

“Due to the movement of civilians, the paths of our allies are being obstructed. The movement must be prohibited.”

“That’s like forcing civilians to build defenses! There’ll be children!”

The meeting continued non-stop until dawn. After dismissed his staff, Heiner continued to receive

and discussed the plan of action.

At one moment, his vision blurred and then became clear again. Tuk. Two drops of blood fell on the paperwork.

As he carelessly swept his finger under his nose, he found blood. Irritated, Heiner took out a handkerchief and wiped his nose.

He could not remember when was the last time he had a good night’s sleep. There was no end to the amount of work that had to be done and done again. Like the corpses of soldiers who were constantly being carried on stretchers.

His hand stopped for a moment as he wiped away the  drops of blood on the piece of paper. Looking at the bright red blood, the scene of “that day” seemed to replay like a nightmare.

The red water splashing in the bathtub, and the body hanging helplessly like a doll with broken strings……….(*Annette tried to kill herself in the tub)

Heiner raised his head and looked at the large map on the wall. His gaze stayed on the central front, marked with blue lines, which contained significantly more electric lines than the northern and southern parts of the country.

“Ha…”

He let out a low sigh and rubbed his face.

According to the report, Annette did not stay in the hospital but followed the moving procession. But there was a war going on in Huntingham, with a search operation. Safety could not be guaranteed until the end.

He went to the trouble of sending her to the farthest end that he thought was the safest, but the defense lines there were pushed. If she were to be in danger, it would be unbearable.

Danger —-

In retrospect, it was always he himself who put that woman in danger. All of her danger, pain, sadness, and unhappiness came from him.

And they went straight back to him, and in complete defeat, Heiner closed his eyes and buried himself deep in his chair.

He thought he would never lose. But every time he thought that, he was slowly losing.

Heiner slowly let go of the handkerchief he was holding to his nose. His hand was shaking like inertia. He clenched his hand. The handkerchief crumpled with his force.

Everything was over.

She was drifting away. So far away that he could hold on no more.

‘But why am I………..’

You are still here alone and feel like dead, and I am still thinking about you.

Have I spent all my life on you, so my life ended here, having lost you?

Heiner stared at the round bloodstain on the paper with vacant eyes. His hands slowly stopped shaking. In desolation he asked himself.

‘What is left for me?’

He counted them one by one, but they were all things that he had never wanted in the slightest. No, it was what he got for the only one thing he had wanted from the beginning.

“Isn’t it hard?” (A)

For the only one thing he’d ever wished for–

“Just everything.” (A)

A faint light returned to his empty eyes. The surroundings gradually became clearer. Then he reached out and grabbed the pen again.

The bleeding eventually stopped. Heiner tossed his handkerchief on the desk and flipped over the document, which still had blood stains on it. He mechanically repeated the act of reading, reviewing, signing, and rereading.

The dried blood stains faded as the document progressed, and by the third or fourth page, they were completely gone. Only the stark letters were inscribed on the white paper.

Heiner moved his pen. Black ink spread across the paper. Along the tip of the pen, his name was inscribed in the signature line.

[Heiner Valdemar.]

The Central Front had to be defended to the death. For the sake of the country where someone would live.

***

By the time Huntingham’s wounded soldiers and medical personnel had left the city, the enemy forces had seized control of most of the city’s suburbs in a rapid advance battle.

As the outer defensive line collapsed, the allies retreated to the inner defensive line.

The French Air Force bombed Huntingham indiscriminately. Under 1,300 bombers, Huntingham turned into a sea of fire.

Padania gathered as much manpower as it could mobilize. Military personnel and even civilian volunteers were mobilized to build a defensive line.

Annette joined the rescue operation and went to the outskirts with medical supplies. Since the suburbs were already almost entirely controlled by the enemy, it was inevitable to encounter them.

“What’s there!”

The enemy shouted something in French. Annette raised her hands and answered in the clumsy French language.

“I am a nurse.”

“You …… Padania …… come here…”

The French soldier said something, but Annette could only understand a few words. She tried to approach them to hear better.

The French soldier asked Annette many questions. However, seeing that Annette couldn’t understand the soldier gestured with his hand, pointing to the military vehicle.

Annette turned her head to where he was pointing. The soldier was lying on a liver gurney beside it.

“You want me to treat …… him?”

“Yes!”

Annette nodded hurriedly, then walked towards the injured person. On the way there, she glanced back discreetly.

From the lack of any particular commotion, it seemed that the allies were safely moving on while Annette got the enemy’s attention.

She quietly exhaled in relief as she approached the stretcher. The other person was a boy soldier, he had a young face, perhaps sixteen years old at most.

“…”

“Wait a minute.”

Perhaps he had been near an explosion, half of the boy soldier’s body was full of burn marks. His right arm, in particular, was in a critical state, with the flesh completely torn.

Annette hurriedly took out antiseptic and bandages and began to treat the wound. The boy soldier groaned like a dying animal, his wounds were obviously painful.

There was actually no time to do this, but there was nothing that could be done properly when a person, a young boy, was dying in front of her.

Annette, tightly bandaged, rearranged her belongings. As she was about to leave with her bag, she heard Padania language coming from nearby.

“Thank you.”

“Ha.”

The other man grabbed Annette’s waist as she almost slipped in surprise. She looked at the man with her eyes wide open.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Yes, yes ………..?”

“I thought the job was done.”

Listened carefully again, and the man’s Padania language was a bit poor. Apparently, he was French, who could speak Padania language.

“Oh—it’s all right.”

Annette awkwardly slipped out of the man’s arms. The man pulled back, scratching the back of his head.

“He’s just a baby, that one.”

“What? Oh, that soldier.”

“He’s a baby and he’s hurt a lot.”

“Umm. You can speak Padania language………….”

“I can listen better, but I can’t speak much.”

“I see.”

“Because I like Padania food. I learned a bit of the language.”

“Yes. ……”

Annette didn’t know what to do. Was he trying to brag that he understood Padania language?

Annette was a little nervous. There was nothing good about staying here for so long. The odds of a foreigner even knowing the face of the Commander-in-Chief’s ex-wife were slim, but it was difficult to know for sure.

“Where are you going?”

“Just—there.”

“It’s not safe there.”

“I’m a nurse. Nurse.”

“But it’s still dangerous.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. Now then–“

Annette spoke quickly, deliberately not paying attention to the other man’s language level. When she tried to turn around, the man hurried to block her way.

“…?”

“Yes?”

“I would like to know your name.”

“…… Catherine.”

Annette didn’t bother with the borrowed name for long. Then the man smiled and mimicked her pronunciation.

“Catherine.”

“Excuse me, but I’m busy, may I go now?”

“Yes?”

“I have to go.”

“Oh, you can speak French?”

Annette furrowed her brow. Apparently, this person didn’t seem to be able to communicate. She could only understand to some extent.

The French soldiers who were playing cards next to them chuckled as they pointed at them. It was too fast for her to catch, but she was sure it was a teasing remark.

She heard the word “woman” in between. Even if she didn’t understand, she had an idea what they were talking about, and Annette gently bit her lower lip.There really wasn’t time to do this.