Chapter 398

On the ruins of a pile of buildings like a hill, John picked up a broken photo frame, shook off the broken glass and picked out the photos in the frame. Inside the photo is a very happy family of three, each with a happy smile on his face.

He raised his head difficultly and looked at the burning building not far away. With a bitter smile, he left the photo frame at his feet. The family died in the bombing yesterday. They had no time to hide in the air raid shelter, so they had to hide in the basement of the building.

There are also a dozen elderly people and some children who are inconvenient in their legs and feet. Now they are buried under the ruins and burned for two hours by the fire ignited by napalm. John knew that they were dead, and they were very ugly.

John is now in uniform and a British Army man. He is now in charge of an area several times the size of the original area, managing about 2000 volunteers and four soldiers with guns. Of course, he was under the control of the original British officer and was subordinate to the rear air defense forces. He did not have to go to the beach to fight with the German landing forces.

With that picture, he hobbled on the ruins, bypassed a semi buried iron bed, and walked step by step to the top of the ruins. There two men with armbands nodded to him. It reminded John of what he had been like before, so he managed to squeeze out a smile and nod back.

Yesterday's bombing, the Germans sent out nearly 200 planes, and hundreds of tons of bombs were dropped in downtown London, a scale John had never seen before. German bombers used to visit London, but they bombed more industrial areas and some secret factories in the suburbs. In the urban area, they just dropped some remaining bombs and left.

But yesterday's air raid was obviously aimed at downtown London, and this time it was obviously revenge for something. The German dropped so many napalm bombs that most of the buildings were seriously damaged.

Most of the houses in London have been in ruins. The Germans visited London seven times in just ten days, including a three-day rest. The hurricane fighter production line in the suburbs of London can only supply the RAF with one or two lost fighters per day.

"John, are the casualties counted?" A young signalman riding a motorcycle stopped under the ruins, took out a statistical notebook from the pocket hanging on the side of the motorcycle, supported the motorcycle with one foot, and yelled to John on the ruins.

"How could it be counted?" John kicked the debris on the ruins and answered helplessly in a loud voice: "there are still 45 buried below. If you count them all, 711 people, or more."

"Don't be too sad. There are few in your area. In the most serious area in the south of the city, the ventilation system of an air raid shelter is blocked by German incendiary bombs. It's said that more than 2900 people are dead inside." Said the young signalman.

"When to distribute relief food is a matter of life." John stepped down from the ruins and tripped over something. It was not easy for him to fall down. He stood firmly, then raised his head and asked anxiously, "the shop has not been opened for three days. Many families have no food to eat."

"I don't know. It's said that there was another ship berthing yesterday, but it's said that the arms and food carriers were sent from the United States. When did they dock? I think it's about three days ago." The young officer thought about it before he said.

John also knew that a grain carrier had landed three days ago, and that half of the grain had been taken to the south coast. After all, there are tens of thousands of people waiting to eat.

With a sigh, John fumbled out a flattened cigarette case from his pocket, poured out the only two cigarettes from it, and handed them to the young signalman: "friend, you have a lot to do with each other. Help. We have no food in our family. Can you find a way to get some?"

"I knew you had to say that." The young signalman said with a smile: "since we are so familiar, I don't want more, 400!"

Without saying a word, John began to look in his pocket and finally turned out all the money he had hidden: "you've got six hundred. Give me more."

"I have a lot of appetite." The young signalman stuffed the money into his pocket, then took out two bags of bread and some margarine written in German from the pocket hanging on the motorcycle. Then he turned out a bag of dried fish and took out three small bags of American flour: "I only have so much. I give it to you."

He pointed to the margarine made in Germany and said with pride, "it's said that even their akkado eats this brand. It's smuggled. It costs a lot of money! The transportation of grain from the United States is not very timely and the interval is too large. Once it is sunk, it will be difficult for more than ten days... Although the risk of smuggling from Holland and Denmark is high, it is fast anyway. "

"There are also traitors in Germany." John looked at the German made butter on his hand, the poor packaging on it, and the head's face, which had been distorted by repeated printing. He said, "I'm a shame to their head."

"Isn't it?" The young signalman nodded: "it's said that he is a big man with a great background." John was silent for a few seconds. Then he asked, "do you think the Germans will land?"“ The above people speculate that the possibility of landing is as high as 90%, so we are constantly expanding our defense forces at several suitable landing sites. " The reason why the young signalman knows so much is that he has a more powerful family. His grandfather heard that he is a general and knows a lot of military secrets“ Can you stand it? " John asked again. The young signalman looked left and right, and answered cautiously in a low voice: "I don't know. The brochure said that we can definitely beat the Germans back to their hometown, but no one can say what the outcome will be. In private, my grandfather said, "the chances of victory are less than half." He sighed and said to John, "my grandfather said that about half of the fort was built in the last war, and now it is being refitted. However, due to the lack of materials, most of them can only use the original ones."“ How do you stop the German attack? " John heard for the first time that London, where he used to be, was so dangerous that he couldn't help asking“ To tell you the truth, the defense facilities 20 years ago are very solid, and some major areas are well prepared, so I think there should be no problem? " The signalman thought for a moment and said, "let it be." With that, he said goodbye, and then started the motorcycle. With the roar of the engine, it disappeared at the corner of the next street. John looked at the things at his feet, and a sack that he had given to him when he was leaving. In peacetime, it would have cost less than half of the current price. With a wry smile, John put the sack on his shoulder and wanted to rush back to the air raid shelter to deliver the food to his wife. However, he found several volunteers in ragged clothes around him, one by one hesitant, and seemed to want to speak. Of course, he knew what these people wanted to do, so instead of rushing to speak, he waited for them to speak first. In front of these volunteers, he, the head of the military, is such a well-informed and powerful person, just like a signalman or a backer in his eyes. Stalemate for a few seconds, and finally a man took the lead to speak: "Sir, these food... Can, can we share some." The others didn't speak, but the expression on their faces made it clear that they were waiting for an answer“ It depends on how much money you have. " John replied, "as you must have seen, I've also paid money to save lives. If it's cheap, I won't do it!"“ I have 300! " The man was very smart to hold out his money, he had to take out more money, because several mouths at home were waiting for him to take food back“ I have 300 here, too! " Another person also quickly paid, but the last volunteer seemed to be in a tight pocket, where his face turned red, but he couldn't get the money“ Butter, flour John took the things out and left the bread, dried fish and a bag of flour. Skillfully put the money into his pocket, and then take the rest of the things back. In terms of value, the sacks and food in his hands are almost for nothing. After walking a street, he found that the man who had no money still followed him. His face turned red, but he hesitated and did not dare to speak. John didn't say much. He opened his pocket and threw the dried fish to the man: "go back and stare at me. Come to me if you have any problems!" The man nodded gratefully: "thank you! I will repay you. " With that, he ran all the way back to the ruins where John was in charge. John came to the entrance of the air raid shelter on the street, and went down the stairs which looked a little steep. The dead body was long gone, but the blood and debris were still there to prove the story that had happened. Every time he passed by, he would take a look at the corner, at the pool of blood and the dusty debris“ My dear Seeing his wife and children, John was in a better mood. He trotted over, picked up his child, and handed his wife something to eat: "I got some food, flour for Mrs. Mary." Mrs. Mary is their new neighbor, the wife of the officer who is John's backer. Their family moved in the day before yesterday and got together with John's family. Like all Britons, the days are getting harder and harder.