"Ah, no, no, no, I won't make that move... Hm? No chance to take it back? Uh, does that mean I'm cornered?"
Seated on a small stool, German Air Force Captain Hans Rogan was sweating profusely. Clearly, he was far less proficient in chess than he was in games like Chinese Chess or Stratego, as evidenced by his current plight, being thoroughly defeated by the graceful young girl seated across from him.
After Rogan finally made a move, the girl smirked cunningly. "If these pieces could fly like dandelions, then maybe you'd have a chance! But... you've lost!"
"Hey, Qili! You've won three games in a row, can't you let me win once?" Rogan complained, pulling out a foil-wrapped chocolate bar from his pocket. The two children beside the girl immediately perked up at the sight of it.
The girl smiled as she divided the chocolate among her siblings, then looked smugly at Rogan. "Another round?"
Rogan confidently set up the pieces. "Bring it on!"
Initially, the game seemed evenly matched, but midway through, Rogan made two critical mistakes. As victory slipped away from him once again, the poor captain felt like he was on pins and needles. Thankfully, Stephenberg arrived just in time.
"Captain! Captain! Good news!"
"What good news?" Rogan hastily set the game aside and stood up.
Stephenberg exclaimed excitedly as he ran, "France has surrendered! The armistice was signed in the Compiegne Forest, and it happened in the same railway carriage where we were forced to sign the armistice in 1918!"
"Thank heavens!" Upon hearing this news, a German farming couple sitting by the door embraced tightly. To them, the cruel war seemed to be coming to an end.
Rogan didn't show much joy on his face. Instead, he asked Stephenberg, "What's the date today?"
"June 21st, why?" Stephenberg's excitement was still evident.
"June 21st? Oh, nothing!" Rogan racked his brain, trying to recall. He remembered that the armistice between France and Germany was signed by the Germans on June 22nd— it had been a high school history question, and "622" was an easy answer to recall. It seemed history had deviated "just a bit" because of his influence.
"Hah, the suffering the French imposed on us back then, today we can finally return it in kind!" Stephenberg exclaimed loudly, completely disregarding whether the three French children behind Rogan could understand him.
Though the taste of a turnaround was certainly refreshing, Rogan couldn't muster much excitement. He turned to "Little Sophie Masson" and her siblings. Although they couldn't understand German, they could likely sense something from the expressions on the adults' faces.
"Can we go home soon?" Sophie asked timidly.
"Yes, very soon!" Rogan replied with a smile. "The war between Germany and France has ended, the dead will rest in peace, the living will rebuild their homes. That's how history repeats itself!"
Little Sophie nodded, seeming to understand. "You're all good people!"
The term "good people" left Rogan puzzled for a while. Did he save and take in these three French children simply because he was a good person? Or was it because he coveted the charm of the French girl and her elegance, anticipating what she would become in a few years?
"I'll have a two-day leave next weekend, and I'll take you back to Monck to see if... I can entrust you to our former neighbors or friends," Rogan said reluctantly. He didn't have the energy to care for these children anymore— visiting them for half a day every week was already the limit.
The girl hugged her siblings understandingly. "Thank you, Mr. Dandelion!"
Rogan couldn't help but smile at that. The clouds of worry lifted somewhat.
"My name is Hans Rogan, but of course, you can call me Mr. Dandelion if you like!"
Back at the barracks, Rogan went straight to General Puchner's office. The acting commander of the makeshift airborne division revealed that the high command still hoped to peacefully resolve the conflict with Britain. According to the plans from the Supreme Command, the next step for the German forces would involve some adjustments: the vast army would be downsized, but the air force and armored units, which had performed admirably in Poland and France, would be further strengthened. Rumor had it that the navy would also return to the track of Plan Z.
"Britain won't surrender, and the war won't end here!" Rogan once again adopted his adept "charlatan" stance. "I'm sure the British, who have dominated the seas for centuries, won't easily abandon their pride. Losing tens of thousands in France means little to them. What matters is that their proud navy still holds overwhelming superiority, and they have a stubborn wartime prime minister!"
Puchner gestured for Rogan to sit on the sofa opposite him. "General Staudinger says your analysis of the battlefield situation is very accurate, but this time... I'm curious about your reasons! Can the lonely British still hope for victory?"
"Britain may seem isolated now, but don't forget, the Americans are already providing them with military aid. For their own interests, this assistance will only increase. The English Channel and the British fleet can effectively block our armored units from sweeping across Britain, and the incompetent Italians will only suffer defeat (although the Italian army had not yet launched the North African campaign at this time, their performance in the southern France campaign was already humiliating). As long as the homeland remains intact, and their vast overseas colonies remain, the British have hope until the day of the counterattack!" Although he didn't mimic the tone of a certain military program host, Rogan was quite fluent and slick in his delivery.
"But even if Britain fully mobilizes its colonies, they can't possibly defeat us on land!" Puchner appeared confident — if Germany could easily defeat the Anglo-French coalition, those savage British colonies wouldn't be able to muster a formidable army, would they?
Rogan said pensively, "Don't forget, there's a formidable opponent on the European continent!"
Puchner immediately thought of the answer. "The Russians?"
Rogan continued in his charismatic tone, "If we can't overcome the Channel to defeat the British, and if the British refuse to surrender to the bitter end, then we'll have no choice but to turn around and deal with the increasingly powerful Soviet Union. By then, Germany will once again be plunged into that terrible two-front war! The Russian bear may seem backward, but in terms of weapons technology and war potential, they're no less than us! We must firmly prevent this situation from happening!"
Puchner remained silent for a while. "How do we prevent it?"
"By thoroughly defeating the British first!" Rogan asserted firmly.