Chapter 156 The Battle of Poland (19)

"Report, Commander, there's a German envoy outside, requesting to see you."

"..."

"..."

The originally bustling command room fell silent in an instant. The air seemed to solidify, and all eyes focused on this guard.

After a while, General Bortnowski was the first to react. "What did you say?!"

The guard, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the awkward atmosphere, stammered and repeated, "A German envoy has arrived, requesting to see you."

"Germans? Have they discovered us?!" General Bortnowski blurted out, instinctively looking towards Colonel Anders, who was equally shocked.

"It seems so. The other side claims to be the commander of the armored reconnaissance company of the 330th Regiment under the German 10th Armored Grenadier Division, and they've come to negotiate on orders." The guard answered promptly.

The commander of the reconnaissance company? Does that mean the German ground forces are not far from here?! "Bring them in; I want to see what these Germans want to discuss." After adjusting his uniform, General Bortnowski ordered, "Prepare for battle!" A military headquarters was not as easy to move as a company or battalion headquarters. Before they could make preparations to evacuate, the Germans might already be on the attack.

As for how they were discovered, it wasn't as General Bortnowski suspected, being tracked by Colonel Anders.

Half an hour earlier.

"The signal is getting stronger; there are at least ten high-power radios in operation." A transport helicopter flew over the forest, and the wireless detection officer inside, wearing headphones, shouted.

The captain beside him asked, "Distance?"

The detector listened for a while and pointed very confidently in a direction. "Over there, it won't be more than five kilometers."

The captain patted the pilot's shoulder and said, "Let's land here."

The helicopter hovered in mid-air, and the captain led a squad of soldiers and the wireless detection officer rappelling down to the ground, heading towards the direction of the radio signal. After wiping out several outposts along the way, they finally reached the mountaintop, overlooking the valley on the other side.

"It seems we've caught a big fish. Judging by their security forces, there's at least a regiment, not to mention those affiliated personnel. There are at least several thousand people here!" The captain's eyes gleamed as if he could already see the medals beckoning to him. "Quick, contact the helicopter dispatch center."

At the helicopter dispatch center, a dispatcher handed a telegram to General Wolfram von Richthofen, who was personally overseeing the dispatch center. "Report, General, A-level authorization."

General Richthofen took the telegram and glanced at it, immediately issuing orders. "Order all aircraft in areas 51, 52, 53, and 54 to cancel all missions immediately, assemble in area 50A, and await ground forces instructions. For aircraft already on their way back, those with sufficient fuel should also head over to support them."

"Yes!"

Soon, the captain on the ground received a reply. "Captain, we've made contact. The first batch of Stuka bombers will be flying to a standby position 10 kilometers away in at most ten minutes. But isn't this too risky for you?"

The captain, however, replied confidently, "It's okay. I don't think the Poles have stooped to the level of killing envoys out of frustration. Even if something happens to me, you can avenge me and bomb them fiercely."

After receiving General Bortnowski's orders, the guard saluted and left, while the staff officers, like their commander, tidied up their uniforms.

"General, Captain Schwartzinger, the commander of the 330th Armored Reconnaissance Company of the German 10th Armored Grenadier Division, is here to salute you." Captain Schwartzinger saluted General Bortnowski with a barely perceptible military courtesy. Of course, he was not the commander of the reconnaissance company, but there was no need to truthfully tell these Polish people that he was part of a lone special forces team, was there?

After General Bortnowski solemnly returned the salute, he began to scrutinize the enemy before him.

The appearance was decent, but that damn chin was annoying. Looking at Schwartzinger's arrogantly lifted chin, Bortnowski couldn't help but think, "Captain Schwartzinger, what did your superiors send you to discuss? If it's about surrendering, you can leave now."

"I apologize, General. I am indeed here to persuade your forces to surrender because we don't want to cause unnecessary slaughter." Captain Schwartzinger replied sternly, raising his chin. "Your command post is already within the range of our artillery fire. For the safety of you and your subordinates, I hope the General can make a wise choice."

"Why should I believe your words? If what you say is true, you would have launched a direct attack by now and wouldn't bother with such pointless actions." Sechyak questioned.

Schwartzinger smiled slightly, seemingly expecting Sechyak's response. "Allow me to prove our strength to you. Please, follow me, Commander."

They walked out of the command post, and Schwartzinger raised his right hand in the air, drawing a circle. Soon, an aircraft appeared in the sight of everyone.

"What can one aircraft prove?" Bortnowski asked. The next moment, he saw the aircraft start to dive, targeting an anti-aircraft gun on the mountaintop.

"!!" Bortnowski endured the oppressive scream from the aircraft, staring in astonishment as it continued to dive. He had seen bombings before, mostly horizontal bombings, and at most, a dive angle of thirty to forty degrees. He had never seen an aircraft dive at such an almost vertical angle.

Soon, the aircraft was less than 1000 meters above the ground, but there was no sign of it pulling up; it continued to dive. Bortnowski murmured in confusion, "Could it be trying to crash with the aircraft?" Or was there a malfunction? He glanced at Captain Schwartzinger next to him but found no worry on his face. He smirked slightly, as if he had anticipated the fate of the anti-aircraft gun.

In the gaze of everyone's astonishment, when the aircraft was more than five hundred meters above the ground, the bomb on the aircraft finally detached, and the nose of the aircraft began to lift.

Everyone watched in horror as the bomb accurately and precisely fell on the anti-aircraft gun, pulverizing it.

Schwartzinger looked triumphant. "The kind of bomber is called Stuka, the most precise dive bomber in the world. Once it targets something, nothing can escape its accurate bombing. Even if you luckily avoid one, two, can you avoid dozens?"

Following the direction indicated by Captain Schwartzinger, everyone looked in horror at the sky in the distance, where at least dozens of aircraft were flying towards them.

Under Schwartzinger's smug gaze and the complex and indiscernible looks of the surrounding staff officers, Bortnowski reluctantly made a decision. "Tell your superiors that if you treat us according to international conventions, then we..."

For a moment, the word "surrender" rolled in Sechyak's throat, bouncing back and forth, and it took a long time before he could say it with great difficulty. "We surrender."