Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 307: Military parade (Greater Germany)

The Führer's voice was a little out of shape in the electric horn, but the passion and power contained in the language remained undiminished, and the citizens on the streets of Berlin were full of enthusiasm.

Gustav Otto is a sergeant of the Wehrmacht, serving in the Grand German Infantry Regiment. As the acting platoon leader of the company, he stands at the forefront of the entire team.

The cheers from the horns in the trees on the street continued, and the crowd under the street trees had fallen into a frenzy. The police and the soldiers supporting the vigilance did their best to maintain order on the scene, but there are still enthusiastic citizens who break through the police. The human wall constantly hugs and kisses the soldiers of the National Defense Forces who are standing in the middle of the street waiting for the parade.

Because it is winter, olive leaves and flowers can’t be found. If it’s summer, the streets may have become a sea of ​​petals. Germans have a custom of presenting flowers to heroes. They decorate those cold ones with bouquets and green leaves. Tanks and artillery will be filled with flowers on the chest of soldiers, just like medals awarded to them.

Although there are no flowers, the German citizens have prepared alternatives. They threw colored paper and silk cloth to form bouquets at the soldiers, and holly branches were hung on the side of the gun cart. The young people and children were lying high. On the high street trees, shredded pieces of colored paper were thrown around, like colorful petals flying in the cold wind of early winter.

The whistle for the final preparation has been sounded, and the order has begun to be passed back quickly along the team.

Otto looked at the front of the team. There were the regiment’s flag bearer and two flag guards. The regiment’s commander, Colonel Shevelin, was standing behind the flag bearer in a parade gown. Next to the regiment’s chief of staff, Gorman. school.

Become the leader of the entire parade, this is the supreme honor of the Grand German Infantry Regiment. Every soldier keeps this in mind, so no matter how fanatical the surrounding crowds are, the infantry group’s queue is as stable and quiet as a stone .

Otto took off the M40 steel helmet from his head and rubbed the slightly rough frosted brim with his fingers.

This is a brand-new army helmet. According to the inspection number, it has been less than a month from the factory. Otto received it from the Quartermaster only a week ago. This time everyone in the Greater German Regiment received a new set of woolen parade gowns, new leather outfits and a pair of marching boots.

The Grand German Infantry Regiment has its own unique dress logo, which is obviously different from regular army units. Except for the GD logo on the epaulettes, the dress collar of the Grand German Regiment is twice as long as the ordinary army collar. There are three-breasted French-style cuffs on the cuffs.

This is not because this regiment wants to be independent. The longer collar and sleeve are the signs of elite troops in the Second Reich. The continued use of the Grand German regiment is to show a historical heritage.

This infantry regiment has been a window unit in Berlin since the Weimar era. It has a street military parade almost every month, which has become a symbol of the imperial force that still exists.

The members of the Grand German Regiment came from all sides of the empire. The Army Headquarters drew a company from the seven army infantry divisions allowed to be retained by the treaty at the time, and mixed it into this headquarters guard infantry regiment. In three months, each infantry division will replace an infantry company to serve in the headquarters guard infantry regiment, so this regiment has also become a symbol of the armed forces of the German Empire.

The Grand German Infantry Regiment is not only the face of the capital of Berlin, but also the face of the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. The daily training of this unit is very strict. The soldiers are all elites selected from the whole army. Received treatment that surpassed most of the army units. In addition to the steady stream of honor, everyone can also receive additional subsidies.

Because the Grand German Regiment itself has the attributes of a guard of honor, there is no better place to participate in the inspection than this unit. In all the large-scale activities in Germany, this unit has served as a guard mission, and the average height is more than 1.8 meters. The soldiers of the Grand German Regiment have become an alternative landscape in Berlin, comparable to the Royal Infantry Regiment in front of Buckingham Palace. Wearing the dark green "Greater Germany" cuff has also become a big dream for many young army soldiers.

"Everyone!" The head of the group's commanding sound was heard loudly in front of him, and he could still hear it clearly in the noise around him.

Ottoli put on his new helmet again and buckled the chin strap. This helmet is actually an improved version of the M40 steel helmet. It abandons the original bright paint. The manufacturer sprays a matte gray-green matte coating on the helmet body and adds a lower jaw to the chin buckle. The support structure can fit on the chin, and the helmet becomes more stable after being fastened.

In order to show the abundance of the Grand German Regiment, the whole group did not wear military coats, but only wore gorgeous military parade gowns and carried a full set of military parade arms.

Except for the sergeant, every soldier is carrying a fur marching backpack. This is now a symbol of the old German army, because the high command has decided that the troops formed after 40 years will not be distributed. This expensive but flashy M34/39 marching bag.

This kind of cover uses a marching backpack made of furry fur. It is called a horseskin or horsehair backpack by military enthusiasts. The furry fur is mainly used to prevent rain and is very suitable for activities in mountainous areas.

In history, the Japanese Army completely imitated this marching backpack. Because of the shortage of domestic cowhide materials, Japan used horse leather as a substitute. This backpack has the reputation of horse leather backpack, but the original version of Germany was brought in. Go to the ditch.

When the National Army was engaged in the adjustment division, it specially imported full suits from Germany, including this M34 fur marching bag. What is embarrassing is that because this equipment is expensive, in order to avoid daily wear and tear, these backpacks are usually locked in the national ordnance warehouse, and will only be issued when they encounter grand events such as military parades. Soldier's hands. Not to mention the national soldiers with this backpack on their backs, it seems that they have added a bit of a strong temperament. Like the M35 helmet, the M34 backpack has become a symbol of the elite line of the national government.

But since it is used as a war preparation material, it must be sent after the war. Actually, after the war of resistance broke out in history, whether it was the Battle of Songhu or the Battle of Nanjing, in all the battlefield photos that German weaponry appeared, I was surprised to find Not in the shadow of this backpack. (The Japanese seized a lot from warehouses in Nanjing and Hankou. After the government entered Sichuan, such backpacks disappeared completely.)

Because of carrying a backpack, the soldier did not wear a Y-shaped strap, and the food bag and sundries bag were removed from the waist. Only the felt-jacketed water bottle and gas mask jar were left on the back.

The officer carried a binoculars, a map bag and a self-defense pistol, and a ceremonial saber and bayonet hanging from his waist. Soldiers’ personal pistols are not allowed on this occasion. It’s not because of security issues. If even the Grand German Infantry Regiment can’t be trusted, I really don’t know which other unit can be considered loyal, but it’s just because of the officers and soldiers. The style of our pistols is not uniform, which may affect the appearance of the queue.

It doesn't matter if you change to other troops, such as the two field infantry regiments following, but after all, the Grand German regiment is the face of the German Wehrmacht, and a large group of senior generals are staring at it.

"Go forward!" The commander gave an order, and the standard bearer sent the flag forward. The entire infantry regiment took a step forward at almost the same moment, and then moved forward at a standard marching speed.

At ten o’clock exactly, the Grand German Infantry Regiment crossed the Charlottenburg Gate and marched along Charlottenburg Avenue towards the Lindenstrasse~ IndoMTL.com~ The parade queue spreading for several kilometers was like a waking giant The python, slowly trembling and winding its scales.

"Step together! One, two, one!" Otto walked on the right side of the queue with his head up, whether he was watching the queue beside him from his side.

These people have been training for this for several weeks, but they shouldn’t be ashamed of this knot.

In the historical Berlin military parade in Germany, the queues of the participating teams are not at all neat. If you have watched the documentary of the year, you will find that not only the queues are not neat, but some even go crookedly, don’t talk about it. Compared with the Chinese honor guards of later generations, even the entry style of a middle school in a certain part of the country may be better than them.

This is because the Germans were holding a military parade to celebrate the victory. The participants were all meritorious troops participating in actual combat on the Western Front. They did not conduct queue drills beforehand. Now the Grand German Regiment has spent a few weeks deliberately conducting queue intensive training, and the effect is immediately reflected visually. The uniform formation is like steel, and the German citizens on both sides are immediately stunned.

PS: Thank you for your support and understanding. This chapter is the last chapter published in China. I will board the plane tomorrow noon. The next chapter will be written in a distant place. It may be the 19th or the 20th.