Chapter 238 The French Doomsday (8)
Joseph Goebbels, who was following behind Wilhelm, was absolutely impressed. The appearance of these sailors was so unkempt and emitted a strong sour odor that anyone else would have avoided them. However, His Highness warmly shook hands and chatted with each sailor, displaying not a trace of disdain.
Watching the sailors, each overwhelmed with gratitude and teary-eyed, Goebbels admired His Highness's means of boosting morale, feeling that he had mastered the art to perfection.
In his mind, Goebbels quickly formulated a draft, ready to write an article upon returning, vigorously praising His Highness for his love for the soldiers, portraying how well he connected with the grassroots soldiers.
The fifth person to step onto the dock was U -47's captain, Günther Prien. To be honest, if it weren't for him wearing the submarine commander's special leather jacket, Wilhelm wouldn't have recognized this wild-looking man with a full beard as the talented and promising 31-year-old young man of this year.
"Captain Prien, welcome back safely! You are the heroes of the Empire! On behalf of the Empire, I thank you for your courageous performance!!"
Prien, equally excited, showed a guilty expression. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. We could have done better. We installed 12 explosive warheads, but for some reason, only nine detonated."
Wilhelm, however, smiled dismissively. "You don't need to blame yourself, Captain Prien. This has already exceeded my expectations. It couldn't have been better. Let's go; I have prepared the best feast at the palace to welcome and honor you!"
After shaking hands and greeting the remaining sailors one by one, completing a perfect "show", Wilhelm looked at Goebbels behind him. "Goebbels, I leave them to you."
"Rest assured, Your Highness." With a graceful bow, Goebbels looked at the crew of U-47. "Gentlemen, from now on, you will follow my arrangements. The first step is over there, where hot water and clean clothes are ready. Go and clean up."
Wilhelm was about to sit in the car when the Air Force Commander-in-Chief Kesselring and the Army Aviation Commander-in-Chief Richthofen came to report. "Your Highness, the Anglo-French coalition has dispatched a large number of aviation forces to prevent our army from crossing the Meuse River. However, the enemy's fighter group has been intercepted by our fighter planes, and the bomber group has been almost completely eliminated."
"Well done." Wilhelm nodded. "They shouldn't only send the air force, right?"
Immediately, Richthofen respectfully said, "Your Highness, I have sent out a large number of reconnaissance planes. Once we detect any enemy movement, we will immediately dispatch bombers to intercept."
Since that was the case, Wilhelm had nothing more to say. He nodded again and sat in the car. Anna in the car immediately covered her nose. "Wow, Your Highness, the smell on you is really…"
Wilhelm couldn't help but smile. "It seems I need to take a bath before going back. It's really hard for these submarine soldiers." Unfortunately, even if he wanted to improve the conditions for these submarine soldiers, he was powerless. Apart from the current small submarines like U-47 with less than a thousand tons, freshwater was a scarce resource even on several-thousand-ton submarines from the future.
Unless it was a super nuclear submarine like the Typhoon class, which could contain a swimming pool inside, only such submarines could provide enough freshwater. At the current stage, they could only rely on the endurance and perseverance of the submarine crew.
The group returned to Berlin, and under Goebbels's arrangement, the U-47 crew comfortably took a bath, shaved the beard that had grown in the past few days, and after thoroughly cleaning themselves and changing into the prepared new military uniforms, they arrived at the airport to fly to Berlin.
When the plane landed at Berlin Airport, ten luxury convertible cars were already waiting at the airport. Goebbels carefully arranged seats for each U 47 crew member. Watching him busy from front to back, Prien couldn't help but ask, "Minister, what are you doing?" It's just sitting in a car, is it necessary to be so elaborate?
Goebbels smiled faintly. "Captain Prien, perhaps you don't know that in addition to the military battles on the battlefield, there are also battles in public opinion, economics, diplomacy, culture, and many other fields. We are responsible for the battles in public opinion and culture. Failure on any battlefield could have catastrophic consequences, so we must do our best."
Prien nodded vaguely, seeming to understand.
When the convoy entered the main road of the city, the road had already been closed, and their convoy was the only one on the entire road. On both sides of the road, there were dense crowds. When the convoy approached, the crowds erupted into thunderous cheers.
"Minister, did you arrange this too?" Prien asked Goebbels, who was sitting in the co-driver's seat.
Goebbels shook his head. "Of course not, these people came spontaneously to welcome us." He instructed the driver to slow down. "Captain Prien, since everyone is so enthusiastic, don't you want to show your appreciation?"
"How should I do that?" This kind of treatment was the first time for him, and he felt a bit at a loss.
"It's simple; you just need to stand up and wave to the crowd."
At Goebbels's words, Prien stood up and waved to the crowd. The cheers from the crowd became even more enthusiastic, and shouts of "U 47" echoed through the sky.
Even Wilhelm, who had just come out of the palace after taking a bath, heard the distant cheers. "It seems that everyone's morale is high." This was a good phenomenon. After all, war is a comprehensive competition at the national level. If the people at home are resentful and complaints abound, failure is not far away.
Dressed in new attire, he arrived at the banquet hall.
"At attention! His Highness is here!" A rough shout came from outside the door. The noisy banquet hall instantly quieted down, and everyone immediately stopped talking, raised their chins, straightened their spines, raised their right hands high, performed the German salute, and shouted, "Long live Germany!"
Wilhelm gently raised his forearm to signal everyone to finish the salute, and everyone withdrew from the formality, with the sound of arms being put down being uniform.
"Everyone! Today, there is no need to be so formal!" He walked to the center of the room in front of the U 47 submariners. "You are the protagonists today. Eat freely, drink to your heart's content, and enjoy yourselves! But before that, let's start today's award ceremony!"
Admiral Dönitz behind Wilhelm waved his hand to the side, and a major carrying a tray walked solemnly behind Wilhelm.
"Captain Prien, you are now awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, and you are promoted to the rank of Colonel."
The magnesium lamps around flashed like gunfire, making a loud sound. Dozens of journalists recorded this historic moment from various angles. It should be noted that the German military had not even awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross at this time. Prien received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords, and it was personally awarded by His Highness, indicating his outstanding merits.
"Clap!" Prien stood at attention, chest held high, and the heels of his boots knocked together, making a crisp sound. He raised his right hand high, saluting in a standard German manner. "I will do my best to fight for the glory of the Empire!"