Germany does not seek survival

Before the outbreak of the war, Carol I had already signed a military alliance agreement with Germany and Austria-Hungary, so most people at the time believed that once the war broke out, Romania would join the Allied camp.

It just so happened that Carol I died in 1914, and his successor, Ferdinand I, was the complete opposite of Carol I.

Carol I was an absolute pro-German and had extremely high prestige in Romania. Although he was a foreign monarch, he converted to Orthodoxy and did not speak German in his daily life, but spoke Romanian entirely.

Ferdinand I was influenced by his wife. His father-in-law was Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh of England, and his mother-in-law was Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia. They were pro-British and pro-Russian in their political stance. He adhered to the Catholic faith, did not convert to Eastern Orthodoxy, and did not speak Romanian.

Germany was unlucky in that King Carol I died of illness in 1914 and was replaced by the pro-British King Ferdinand I, which directly led to the failure of Germany's decades of economic cooperation with Romania.

But if history had not changed, Ferdinand I's decision to join the Allied Powers would have brought great benefits to Romania, making it the final winner of the many Balkan wars, winning the most territory and keeping the fruits of victory until the 21st century.

The premise is that history has not changed.

Chapter 43 Banquet*

The Romanians in the village were too friendly towards the German occupying forces. The local men were either conscripted or fled to the other side of the Carpathian Mountains. Even the village chief and priest disappeared, and the leader of the villagers became a very beautiful woman.

The woman's name was Alexandra. She was said to be the wife of the former village chief. She was tall and looked very young, a beautiful girl. It was hard to imagine that she had given birth. Her symmetrical snow-white breasts lifted her linen shirt with Oltenia plaid. Her waist was also very thin, and her well-developed buttocks were wrapped in two red aprons, making her look even fuller.

Alexandra took the initiative to welcome Faust and the other occupiers. She brought seven or eight other older women and gathered around them, saying enthusiastically, "Sir, we have prepared a table of food and welcome you to the dinner."

Because the battle was imminent, Faust originally wanted to decline the Romanian villagers' invitation to the banquet, but before Faust could refuse, Captain Thomas agreed in his not-so-fluent Romanian.

Faust frowned and glanced at Captain Thomas, who explained, "Gentlemen, let's have a good meal before the battle. Even if the battle is well fought, there will inevitably be casualties. Are you all so eager to die?"

Rommel's face was stern. Of all the officers in the Grossdeutschland Battalion, Rommel was the most formal. "We are not in a hurry to die, but the limited time before the battle should be used for military preparations. Captain Thomas, please do not make me doubt your professionalism as a soldier."

Rommel's words made the atmosphere much more awkward, and the other officers hurried to smooth things over between the two men. Scherner and Kesselring both supported finishing the meal first. After all, it was just a meal, and the Romanians' friendly attitude deserved a good response.

Faust agreed to Alexandra's invitation, and the Romanian children also surrounded the German officers and asked the occupying forces for candy and chocolate.

Captain Thomas said proudly, "Before the war broke out, I traveled in Romania for over a month. The Romanians trusted Germany very much. They believed that Germany's industrial products, military, and system were the best in the world. Of course, German men were also the most attractive in the world."

To ease the atmosphere, Captain Thomas added: "Just like Captain Rommel, with your handsome looks, Romanian women would be eager to drag you into their boudoirs."

Rommel frowned and said nothing. He was a very traditional Christian and was not impressed by Captain Thomas's dirty jokes.

Kesselring laughed and said, "Captain Rommel has the kind of handsome face that easily commands respect from men. But if we talk about what women like, Faust's face is definitely more appealing to them."

The man with the mustache who was following the officers also commented sharply: "Slavic women are like this. They lack moral education. Every one of them is unfaithful and promiscuous. I dare say that all the Slavic women in this village are the same. Look at the way they walk... Tsk, what degenerate Slavs!"

In Xiao Hu's impression, it seems that all the people living in the east of Germany are Slavs.

Sorge, one of the few university students in the Greater German Camp, immediately retorted: "Adolf, Romanians are not Slavs. The Romanian language they speak is a Romance language. In terms of kinship, Romanians are closer to the French, Italians, and Spanish. They should be a branch of the Latin people."

The mustache man tsk-tsks again: "Latins, that's not surprising. There is no other nation in the world more lewd than the Latins."

Captain Thomas said: "Romanian women think Germans have money... They always try to get close to them, especially during the war."

The mustache scolded, "Germans must not have intercourse with Latins or Slavs. Mixing blood will reduce the purity of the German bloodline. Any soldier who has intercourse with a foreign race for the sake of temporary pleasure is committing a grave sin."

Sorge was half Russian, and he was not happy with the mustache's outrageous racial views:

"So after becoming independent, the Romanians chose the name Rome. Adolf, they consider themselves the purest descendants of the Roman Empire, descendants of the Roman legions that conquered the Kingdom of Dacia two thousand years ago."

The man with the mustache stubbornly said, "In the East, it's all barbarians pretending to be the Roman Empire, just like the Russians. Right? The Romanians also believe in Eastern Orthodoxy, as do all the backward peoples of the East. They also say they are descendants of the Roman Legion, but in fact, the Romanians are actually descendants of the Dacians, who were conquered by the Roman Empire."

Sorge was speechless: "Orthodoxy, the most authentic Roman Empire, the Byzantines also believed in Orthodoxy."

The man with the mustache shouted, "Byzantium! A Greek fake, right? Is there anything reliable in their history books? The Greeks dared to claim the history of the Roman Empire as their own. How bold! The real Roman Empire should be the Holy Roman Empire of the Germans."

The historical level of the mustache is not bad by the standards of the 19th century, but by the standards of the early 20th century, it is already racist and very biased.

Faust held his forehead helplessly and stopped the quarrel between the little mustache man and Sorge. In front, Alexandra also brought the officers to her house. All the meals had been prepared and were very rich. They were also adjusted according to the German taste.

The staple food is traditional Romanian polenta, which is made from corn flour and water or milk. It has a dense texture and is usually eaten with stewed meat, sour cream or goat cheese. Today it is served with sauerkraut rolls and grilled mietz sausages, as well as hot tripe sour soup. In the middle, as a must-have dish for entertaining guests, is the roasted whole pig as the main course.

Sauerkraut rolls are made by wrapping minced pork, minced beef, rice and spices in sour cabbage leaves or grape leaves and slow-cooking them for several hours. Mitz sausages are spiced grilled sausages made from a mixture of beef, lamb and pork, usually seasoned with garlic, thyme and coriander. The sour tripe soup is rich in flavor with a lot of garlic, sour cream and vinegar.

These dishes are generally sour and are often seasoned with lemon juice, vinegar or fermented bran, which is in line with the Germans' love of sauerkraut. Culturally speaking, it can be seen that Romanians' diet has been greatly influenced by the long-term rule of the Ottoman Empire, and these dishes use a lot of Turkish spices.

Alexandra affectionately prepared beer for Faust. She walked in front, her round buttocks swaying from side to side as she walked. It was a rare and beautiful sight.

During the war, it was really rare to be able to eat so many delicious and fresh foods, so Faust also started to feast on them. This was probably because the war on the Romanian front had only recently broken out, so the supplies were not as bad as in other countries, which had been exploited by the war for several years and had become impoverished.

The Romanians hadn't yet fully grasped the horrors and cruelty of the war, so Alexandra's friendly attitude towards the occupiers likely stemmed from their belief that the war would soon be over. Perhaps they also believed that, after the war, Germany and Romania would quickly restore friendly relations.

The other Romanian women who attended the banquet also invited the German officers to dance. Alexandra also took Faust's hand and danced the traditional Romanian Hora dance together.

The Hora dance is two people holding hands and spinning in a circle, then spinning tighter and tighter, their bodies gradually sticking together. Alexandra was about the same height as Faust. Halfway through the dance, Alexandra turned her back and came into Faust's arms, her hips just below Faust's lower abdomen. As the dance swayed, the warm flesh of Alexandra's body kept rubbing against Faust's body.

To the cheerful music of the Romanian pan flute, the passionate Alexandra moved faster and faster, pressing her plump and soft buttocks against Faust, wriggling up and down and left and right.

She turned her head, frowning slightly, her eyes met, her face flushed, and her expression full of lust: "Mr. Officer, please be gentle when you bump into me."

Alexandra's face, half covered by her long hair, had obviously turned red. If you touched it with your hand, it must have been burning hot. But Faust just felt extremely wronged. Didn't you insist on pulling me around?

It is not known whether Alexandra has a good impression of Faust, the German officer, or simply wants to take advantage of Faust, or maybe all the men in the village have left and the women can't stand the loneliness?

Because Alexandra had her back to Faust, and Faust's hands were held by her, crossed in front of Alexandra's chest. As Alexandra moved, Faust's hands could only press on her chest, and as he rubbed, his arms soon felt the gradually hardening bulge of her chest.

Faust could almost feel the subtle wrinkles on the bulge, and could also feel the tender and soft thing slowly hardening. Alexandra's face became redder and redder, and her lower body squeezed back hard. The butt crack soon caught Faust, and her round and soft butt took the opportunity to keep wriggling, taking advantage of Faust.

Faust became a little flustered. He glared at Alexandra, but the woman remained unmoved and kept pushing back, almost making Faust feel the warmth and wetness under her long skirt. Faust had no choice but to look around, afraid that people around would see this scene. Alexandra immediately squeezed her buttocks together, and the two of them let out a low moan almost at the same time.

Alexandra twisted her waist in circles, continuing to increase the stimulation. Faust finally couldn't bear it anymore. He loosened his hands and broke free, taking several steps back. On the back of Alexandra's lower body, on her skirt, where her legs were together, there was a small, very obvious wet stain.

Faust retreated to the dining table, slammed it hard, and growled, "I say...we should get down to business!"

===

From now on, chapters with * in their names contain pornographic content. You can skip them if you don't like them.

Chapter 44: Weapons Diplomacy

At the beginning of the war, some people always thought that the war was just flowers and dew, and regarded it as a short carnival. Little did they know that the joyful brutality would end with brutal joy. After more than two years of war, the Germans have gradually realized this, but the Romanians have not yet fully recognized the reality.

The Germans would soon teach them a lesson.

Rundstedt assigned the areas of responsibility to each unit. In addition to the Grossdeutschland Battalion, two Württemberg Mountain Hunter Regiments of the 22nd Army also joined the battle. The Grossdeutschland Battalion was responsible for the front line on the east side of the Les-sur-Louis Heights.

There is a river outside the highlands on this side. Romanians call it the Kupenur River. The river is more than 40 meters wide. Winter is the dry season, the water is particularly shallow, there is drifting ice in the river, and there are many poplar trees covered with snow on the river bank.

Faust had a map obtained from the 22nd Army Command. The information on the map was extremely detailed. The key points around the river embankment were circled and the specific heights were marked. The most important thing was that the map also marked the shallowest part of the river.

In the shallowest section of the Kupenur River, German soldiers could already wade across the river on foot. However, the temperature of the glacier was extremely low in winter, and wading all the way across was still very difficult. If they were blocked by the Romanian defenders at this time, frostbite alone could cause serious casualties in the Grossdeutschland Battalion.

Fortunately, the weather was bad and there was thick fog on both sides of the Kupenur River. Faust was the first to lead the team across the river in the fog. After Little Mustache followed him across the river, he was responsible for leading the scouts to observe forward. About ten minutes later, Little Mustache's reconnaissance report was sent back. They found a Romanian reconnaissance team consisting of 6 to 8 people in the fog and asked for instructions whether to open fire.

According to the German army's mission-oriented command requirements, grassroots non-commissioned officers have the right to make such tactical decisions and should not ask their superiors for everything, so as not to delay military operations.

But the mustache guy's loyalty to Faust is extraordinary. He reports in the morning and asks for instructions in the evening, and he reveals his true feelings to Faust.

Faust immediately asked Scherner to take his troops out. The sights and observation mirrors used by the German army were all military products from Zeiss, and their quality was much better than the equipment in the hands of the Romanians. So it was not surprising that the German army could discover the movements of the Romanian army first.

A small-scale battle soon began. After the first round of fire, several Romanian soldiers fell to the ground, and the others fled into the thick fog. A few minutes later, the gunfire on the left side of the German army became more intense.

The reconnaissance team reported that many Romanian soldiers were moving towards the German army from the east side of the stream. The Romanians moved very quickly, and the vanguard was only a few hundred meters away from the German army.

Rommel and Kesselring immediately and spontaneously commanded the heavy machine gun groups to move towards the enemy and ordered them to use firepower to block the river, river embankment and paths. The Romanian army was large in number, but the German army took the initiative and had strong firepower. In addition, the Romanians were caught in thick fog and could not understand the situation. They could only passively take the beating. Soon the Grossdeutschland Battalion completely controlled the positions on the other side of the Kupernur River.

The remaining troops crossed the river calmly. Faust took the time to observe the enemy situation. At this time, the fog had decreased a lot. The Zeiss telescope used by the German army could achieve an angular resolution of 3 to 5 arc minutes and could clearly identify the outline of a human body at 1 kilometer away. It was considered the world's best optical performance at that time. However, with Faust's naked eye vision, he didn't need a telescope.

Near the Le Sului Heights, the Romanian army also built and dug dense trenches in accordance with the requirements of the Allied military advisers. The trenches continued to extend all the way to the artillery position on the side of the heights, where there were about a dozen field guns.

Because this was a battle to capture the highlands, Faust mainly consulted Scherner, an expert in mountain warfare, and Paulus, the most professional staff officer in the Great German Camp, for tactical advice.

Paulus had already formulated a specific action plan for Faust before the war. After the Grossdeutschland Battalion crossed the river, its primary goal was to destroy the Romanian artillery positions. This would not only weaken the firepower of the defenders, but also cause the Romanian defenders on the Les Sulouis Heights to misjudge the German targets, making them think that the German attack was mainly aimed at capturing the artillery positions.

Because the defense of the Le Sului Heights was strong and the weather was bad, the Romanians might not have imagined at first that the German army had such a big appetite.

In front of the Romanian artillery position, Captain Scherner picked up a small stone, scratched out a space on the ground, and used the stone as a pen to draw the general terrain of the battlefield. He moved very quickly and finished the drawing in a minute or two.

As soon as the map was drawn, Scherner told Faust: "...Now please give priority to sending two platoons to attack Le Sului Heights from the front as a feint. If you encounter strong resistance from the defenders, you should immediately retreat. This is to confuse the Romanians and make them more superstitious that the German army has not yet made up its mind to attack Le Sului Heights..."

"...Next, a platoon of soldiers will use ropes to climb up the steep ridge of Hill 1001, where the Romanian artillery position is located..."

Faust asked, "Is this a repeat of our old strategy for capturing Hill 1794?"

Scherner nodded. "Please send another company to attack from the front of the mountain road. By coordinating from both sides, we can capture the Romanian artillery positions more quickly."

Faust clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Captain Scherner has a keen eye and a flexible mind. He is truly a rare military talent. Given time, it wouldn't be surprising if he became a marshal."

Scherner smiled. This mountaineering expert was nearsighted and wore a pair of small round-framed glasses. When he smiled, he looked somewhat comical.

The Great German Battalion immediately took action. Faust decided to lead the team to take charge of the important task of climbing the mountain and attacking the artillery position. Everyone agreed with this because the battle of Hill 1794 had already shown that Faust was strong enough. With him, the climbing speed of the company-level troops could be increased several times.

Faust did the same thing. He climbed up first with a bundle of cables, and then used the cables to help other team members quickly climb the mountain.

At this moment, the surrounding gunfire intensified again, the sound of gunfire resounding like popping beans everywhere. Under the dim sky, countless gun muzzles burst into orange flames, and gray and yellow figures swayed, fought, and fell...

Soon, Faust led a platoon up the mountain. They replaced the bayonets on their rifles and advanced quickly. The Romanian troops on Hill 1001 were completely attracted by the third company led by Scherner, and were completely unprepared for the steep side of the ridge. By the time they noticed something, the commando led by Faust had already rushed into the Romanian artillery position.

"Follow me, rush forward!"

The terrain on the top of the mountain was not favorable to the German army. Faust's position made it difficult to judge the enemy's strength. The Romanians were at a higher position on the artillery position and could fire from a high position. If the battle lasted too long, the German army would definitely suffer heavy casualties.

So Faust decided to lead the charge and end the battle as quickly as possible. With a strong jump, he had already jumped over the nearly three-meter-high wall of the Romanian artillery position. The defending artillerymen were all surprised. They did not have rifles in their hands, but at least some gunners had pistols.

But surprisingly, the Romanian artillerymen equipped with pistols did not resist. As soon as they saw the German army, they immediately raised their hands and surrendered.

This is not because of Faust, the superman, but because Romania seems to choose to surrender quickly when it encounters any German troops at close range. They lack the courage to fight to the death in close combat. In this regard, the Romanian army is actually not a qualified modern army.

The German commandos immediately took control of the artillery position, and Faust actually saw the words "Krupp Cannon! Made in Germany" engraved on the gun.

In the early days of Romania's independence, the army had outdated equipment and only had some Russian weapons, so during the reign of King Carol I, it carried out military cooperation with Germany and introduced a large number of German equipment. Krupp, as the representative of German military industry, undertook the task of "arms diplomacy" and consolidated the economic and political ties between Germany and Romania through arms sales.

Romania signed its first major contract with Krupp in 1893, purchasing 36 C73 77mm field guns and supporting ammunition. At the beginning of the 20th century, from 1904 to 1912, in the last few years before the outbreak of World War I, Germany and Romania reached the peak of arms sales. Romania purchased 120 77mm and 105mm field guns, 60 heavy fortress guns of 150mm and above, and more than 200,000 artillery shells and related accessories from Krupp.

During the Second Balkan War in 1913, Krupp urgently delivered 30 M1903 howitzers to Romania. Romania has not yet paid the balance of this arms sales transaction to Germany.

In total, Germany sold at least three or four hundred cannons to Romania before World War I. Now, after going around in circles, Faust has seized a lot of them.

Chapter 45: The National Socialist Oath

After Faust led his troops to attack the artillery fort, the Romanian defenders were attacked from both sides and began to show signs of collapse when confronting Scherna's Second Company head-on on Hill 1001.

The soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Battalion were very skilled in shooting. A large number of Romanians became targets of machine gun fire, and the enemy fled in all directions. Faust, standing at the commanding heights of the artillery position, had a clear view of the Romanian army's position.

The defensive area hastily set up by the Luo army started from the road below the artillery position and ended westward at a tall fir tree. The front was about 350 meters, including a steep wall about ten meters high facing the stone road and a relatively protruding hill.

"Attack!" Faust declared decisively. "Divide our assault team into three groups. The first will ascend the steep face and block the approach to the fort with volley fire. The second will cross the cobblestone path and select a position to cover Scherner's Second Company. The third will remain in reserve behind the steep face of the fort."

"Yes!"

The man with the mustache was the first to nod his head and follow suit, followed by the rest of the officers and soldiers. After the high mountain training and the battle on Hill 1794, Faust had already established a strong reputation within the Grossdeutschland Camp.

Most of the soldiers had long regarded Faust as the real commander, and had forgotten the real battalion commander Colonel Epp.

In order to move more easily, the commandos only carried a light machine gun. Sorge held up the machine gun, Tito held up the bullet belt with brass shells, and then Faust put one hand on the eye patch and concentrated his other eye to lock the enemy's position in the dim light.

"Come on, Sorge, Tito, aim and shoot, position 10 to 15, and adjust your fire according to my command!"

On the hillside of the highlands, Romanian soldiers and German soldiers were intertwined in a melee, and it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe for a moment. Only Faust's eyesight could accurately identify the battlefield situation. He commanded the machine gun crew of Sorge and Tito to open fire. The machine gun fire from a high position was both fierce and accurate. Strings of bullets flew into the enemy group as if they had eyes, and there was a sudden sound of ghosts howling.

Brass shell casings kept falling to the ground, and soon piled up into a thick layer. Seeing that the fire cover was almost done, Faust took up the committee rifle with a bayonet, jumped out of the artillery position first, and moved forward in a low posture. On his left and right and behind him were dozens of commandos spread out in battle formation.

The Romanian army had the advantage in numbers, but was attacked from both front and back and was now in chaos. Faust took the lead and rushed out to disperse the demoralized Romanian soldiers with hand-to-hand combat. He rushed forward alone and defeated thousands of troops. He could be said to be driving a thousand men alone.

At the foot of the mountain, Major Rundstedt, who was in charge of the overall command of the Les Sulouis Plateau, put down his eight-fold Zeiss telescope and looked surprised:

"This is Saint Quentin Siegfried! This is the war hero of the Western Front! It's incredible! With such a brave man here, it seems we don't need reinforcements led by General Falkenhayn. We can capture the Schudok Pass alone."

Major Rundstedt, with binoculars hanging from his neck and fists clenched, said excitedly, "Order the Württemberg Mountain Regiment to also initiate the battle. Deploy the 6th Mortar Battalion to Hill 1001 to ensure our army's firepower advantage on Les-sur-Louis Hill. Act immediately."

This battle to capture the artillery position was somewhat similar to the German Army's Serbian Campaign, except that the scale of the action was reduced a hundred times. However, the principles were the same, launching a pincer attack from multiple directions. As long as the enemy's front line was torn open in one place, the troops would rush in like a tide, causing destruction everywhere, giving the troops attacking from other directions an opportunity, and finally squeezing inward together to completely crush the enemy's resistance.

The result of the battle was very brilliant. Faust once again won a victory at a very low cost. The Great German Battalion suffered only seven deaths and dozens of casualties. The Württemberg Mountain Hunters who cooperated in the battle also suffered more than one hundred casualties.

The German army wiped out an understrength Romanian regiment. About 400 Romanian soldiers were killed by the German army in the battle, and more than 1,000 Romanians surrendered and became prisoners.

The Romanian prisoners were lined up in dense columns on the narrow mountain road, with no end in sight.

The defenders of Le Sulouie Heights opposite the 1001 Battery had not yet realized that the German army was about to launch a pincer attack on Le Sulouie Heights. The defenders did not know that they were in a desperate situation and were still organizing their forces to launch a counterattack against the German army that occupied the 1001 Battery.

Faust led a group of officers from the Great German Battalion to the top of the mountain. From a bird's eye view, he looked far into the distance and said, "After the fall of the Skuduk Pass, Romania will be conquered by the German army..."

The mustache man shouted, "And you, Mr. Faust, will become the conqueror of Romania who will go down in history, the second Trajan the Great!"

Faust wondered, "What will happen after the conquest? What will our generals and governors do in Romania?"

The mustache fell silent. Faust continued, "The Germans will plunder Romania's supplies. Weapons and ammunition are of course a given, then oil and coal, and finally food. They will continue until the Germans have squeezed every last grain out of Romania. The generals will not leave a single thing for the Romanian people."