Chapter 151

Looking at the internal notification from the Empire.

Cheng Yu and the Blue Star netizens in the live stream couldn't understand; with the situation already this bad, why replace a great general like Manstein?

No wonder in the live streams of those streamers experiencing the 【Normandy Landings】 plot, the Soviets were already almost at the original location of Poland.

So Manstein had been dismissed at the beginning of the year?

Currently, the fastest timelines were those streamers and players experiencing the 【Normandy Landings】 plot, because they kept skipping, they jumped directly to the second half of 1944.

And for those like Cheng Yu who played step by step, the time in the 【Immersive Plot】 mode was only the beginning of 1944.

Those who skipped the plot too fast missed a lot of information and only knew that the Empire's Eastern Front had collapsed completely.

And those who skipped slowly, when the plot reached this point, only then learned some intelligence.

The Blue Star netizens in the live stream urged Cheng Yu to find other information. Although Cheng Yu didn't know too many people,

he could still understand some notifications.

After heading to the brigade headquarters to chat with some high-ranking Imperial generals.

After half a day.

He had learned quite a bit of intelligence.

After Cheng Yu returned to his regiment, he began to share the organized intelligence with the new live stream friends.

These new friends were also attracted by the news of Manstein's dismissal.

They hadn't seen the situation Cheng Yu had just investigated at the brigade headquarters.

At this time, Cheng Yu took out a piece of paper, listed several items, and shared them with the new Blue Star friends in the live stream:

"The main reason for Manstein's dismissal was his disagreement with the Imperial Leader."

"It is said that at the beginning of the year, because the war was going poorly, Manstein attempted to slow down the Soviet Federation's advance through an offensive."

"But the Imperial Leader's order was to hold at all costs, focusing on defense."

"This order from the Imperial Leader was actually quite common, because from the European battlefield to the North African battlefield, the Imperial Leader had never issued an order to retreat."

"Even if it meant the entire army would be wiped out, he ordered them to hold at all costs."

"It's just that holding at all costs was inconsistent with Manstein's philosophy; one was the commander of the Eastern Front, and the other was the Empire's highest ruler."

"The conflict between the two caused the Eastern Front battlefield to stagnate."

"With the accumulation of conflicts between the two sides."

"Manstein was dismissed directly, and the entire war on the European Eastern Front began to be directly interfered with by the Imperial Leader."

This intelligence was gathered by Cheng Yu through his own investigations and by looking at other players' plots online.

After finishing this intelligence.

It was hard to comment; it was impossible to say who was right or wrong. After all, one was the Imperial Commander and the other was the Imperial Leader; it was impossible that they both wanted to lose.

But the orders could only be listened to from one person.

And originally, the war was planned through discussions by major generals, with the Imperial Leader making the final decision.

Now, it was the Imperial Leader directly interfering.

It wasn't that they didn't trust the Imperial Leader, but it was said that during the First World War, the Imperial Leader... was just a common soldier.

Could he really command the entire battlefield well?

Manstein couldn't even handle the current situation.

This was the question that flashed through the minds of Cheng Yu and the Blue Star friends in the live stream, but it seemed there was no need to think about it, because although the Soviets hadn't reached Poland yet.

Those who skipped the plot fast had already reached the second half of 1944 in their 【Immersive Plot】 mode.

The Soviets had already recaptured all their territory and were preparing to attack the original territory of Poland.

It could be seen that in these six months, even after changing commanders and having the Imperial Leader directly command and interfere, the situation on the entire European battlefield had deteriorated rapidly.

There was simply no way to remedy it.

The war situation on "Earth" collapsed like this in the blink of an eye.

Many Blue Star players hadn't reacted yet.

Only then did they start to take it seriously.

Many people started collecting information from all sides, wanting to see where the Empire actually started to collapse.

On the other side.

In the live streams of many streamers whose skipped plot timeline was the second half of 1944.

Because they had already passed the 【Normandy Landings】 plot.

They didn't continue to skip, but instead started collecting the information they had missed in the past six months.

Yu Feng's live stream.

At this time, Yu Feng had died in the 【Normandy Landings】, so he restarted, but this time he started as a local merchant in the British Federation.

Although it wasn't as direct as the news collected on the front lines.

Fortunately, because he had money, he could collect many newspapers and inquire about information from many sides, as well as news from other countries.

Yu Feng was sitting in his office at this time.

The newspapers collected by his employees from all over London were sent into his room, piling up half the room.

Yu Feng flipped through the newspapers, and the live stream could also see it, sighing:

"The Empire is truly at its wit's end now."

As he spoke, he picked up a newspaper, which contained the British Federation's propaganda about the current situation of the people in the Empire, and how the Eastern Front had collapsed completely due to a lack of supplies.

It seemed like the British Federation would invade the Empire's homeland tomorrow.

Although these were exaggerations, they were worth a look.

But there should be quite a bit of truth in them, such as the difficult living conditions of the Empire's people and the lack of supplies on the Eastern Front.

These could all be verified from other players' live streams.

The reason the Empire collapsed in these six months.

Was because of the lack of supplies. The newly appointed commander, Model, did resist several Soviet Federation offensives through flexible tactical application.

But they were still fighting and retreating all the way, with no other way.

Yu Feng flipped through the newspaper and said:

"The three great generals of the Empire in the 【Hall of Fame】 are Manstein, Guderian, and Rommel, right?"

"I remember there were no introductions for anyone else."

"Now that Manstein has been removed, only Guderian and Rommel are left."

"How is Rommel's health?"

"He stepped down in March, right? It's almost August now."

"About half a year should be enough for him to recover."

However.

As soon as he finished speaking, a barrage of comments from Blue Star friends floated across the live stream:

【Don't even think about it, Rommel is also finished.】

【Of the Empire's three great generals, only Guderian is left.】

【Quick, look at the player forum.】

Looking at this comment, Yu Feng also opened the player forum, curious about what the friend was talking about.

And as soon as he entered the player forum.

He saw the post with the "Explosive" tag, pinned to the top of the forum.

【Rommel suffered an air raid by the British Federation, life or death unknown?!!!】

"Hiss—"

"Is this for real?"

Although Yu Feng was on the Allied side, he had been beaten up quite a bit on the North African battlefield by the Imperial Legion led by Rommel, and Rommel was one of the Empire's three great generals, a celebrity in the 【Hall of Fame】.

Blown up by an air raid and life or death unknown?

Is it that sloppy?

Yu Feng quickly clicked to look. After entering the post.

What caught his eye was a video.

Yu Feng clicked on the video.

The screen started playing; the timeline of this plot was a bit slower than his, but it could be seen that they were also experiencing the Normandy Landings plot.

Because this video was... from the Imperial defenders' side.

In the video.

This Imperial faction player's angle was at a high point, looking at a line of Imperial officers inspecting in the distance below.

And the leader among them was Rommel.

This player even specially zoomed in the perspective to make it clearer, and also to let the Blue Star players confirm that this was indeed Rommel.

However.

Not long after.

The sound of bombers rang out in the sky.

The 【Normandy Landings】 weren't just fought on those few beaches; as the front line spread out and the war became comprehensive, both sides bombed non-stop every day.

And Rommel happened to run into it while inspecting.

The Imperial high-ranking generals in the distance wanted to find a place to hide.

But how could they compare to the speed of an airplane?

A series of small black dots were scattered and dropped down.

Boom, boom, boom—!

Exploding not far from those Imperial officers.

Perhaps the British Federation pilot in the sky didn't even know he had bombed such a figure.

Because in the newspapers Yu Feng collected, there was no news of it from the British Federation; clearly, the Empire had covered it up.

Dense Allied planes continued to bomb.

The Imperial defenders on the ground were running around everywhere, while the player with this perspective looked in Rommel's direction.

After a wave of bombing, the Allied planes had bypassed that area.

At this time, several high-ranking generals were supporting Rommel and running quickly toward the distance.

Through the zoomed-in perspective, one could see blood streaming down Rommel's head, and his feet were motionless as he was carried away by others, life or death unknown.

The screen ended there.

Because the scream of the bombs diving from the sky was already approaching.

Boom—!!!

The perspective went pitch black, and the comments on the video floated wildly.

【???】

【Damn! I was just watching Rommel, you scared me.】

【On purpose, definitely on purpose.】

【This bomb... it scared me so much I almost jumped out of bed.】

【Manstein dismissed, Rommel air-raided, the Empire is finished.】

【Of the three great generals, only Guderian is left unscathed.】

【This is just bad luck, even drinking cold water makes your teeth ache.】

【The Empire couldn't win anyway, and then Rommel gets bombed so dramatically.】

【Laughing to death, he recovered for half a year, and as soon as he reached the front line, he was bombed back to the hospital.】

【Is there anyone with big connections, check Rommel's situation, was he bombed to death?】

Looking at the video.

Yu Feng and the Blue Star netizens in the live stream had strange expressions.

This was too dramatic...

A WWII celebrity in the 【Hall of Fame】, one of the Empire's three great generals.

Almost bombed to death by an air raid, and even the pilot who bombed him didn't know he had done such a big thing; if he had known, the British Federation's newspapers would have been flying everywhere.

Yu Feng sighed:

"Suddenly it feels quite fair."

"Everyone has one life."

"Ordinary soldiers might be killed by a bullet from nowhere, and generals of this level might also be killed by a bomb falling from the sky."

"Reasonable."

As Yu Feng said this, he also flipped through the game forum.

The posts in the forum were divided into the Imperial faction and the Federation faction, but they were all viewed together; one could choose to display only the posts of which faction.

Yu Feng chose the Imperial faction.

He wanted to see if there was any latest news.

But after flipping through it.

He didn't find any more news, but many people confirmed that Rommel was indeed hospitalized.

The specific situation was currently unknown.

Some players had screenshots of a hospital in Berlin, where one could vaguely see Rommel lying on a hospital bed.

Yu Feng looked at the picture and scoffed:

"It's indeed Rommel."

"The pilot made a great contribution."

"Who could have thought that an ordinary bombing would send one of the Empire's three great generals to the hospital."

Yu Feng exited this post.

However, he discovered that the posts on the Imperial faction side had all exploded, with post after post about the Imperial Leader being assassinated being pushed to the top.

Yu Feng and the Blue Star netizens in the live stream were stunned.

What the hell?

Rommel just got bombed into the hospital, and the Imperial Leader was also assassinated?

Yu Feng quickly clicked on the post with the highest popularity.

Upon entering, he found that Berlin in the video was already under full martial law; looking at the time above, it had only been three days since Rommel was bombed.

Gestapo with fierce expressions were searching for something on the streets.

Although there was no specific situation.

But it looked like the Imperial Leader should be fine, otherwise the Empire wouldn't be like this now.

But the news collected in this half a day truly stunned Yu Feng and the Blue Star netizens.

The situation on the Empire's side was truly terrible.

"The Imperial Leader assassinated, Imperial generals dismissed or having bad luck; how to put it?"

"It's like those NPC things in the 【Huaxia】 game about national destiny."

"When national destiny is gone, everything comes."

"The Empire has been too unlucky this half year."

Although he said that.

But as an existence that had tortured Blue Star players for so long, facing such an Empire, Blue Star players didn't dare to jump to conclusions too early; what if the Empire could still turn the tide?

However, as a few days passed.

From the news collected from all aspects, plus the latest plot.

People kept triggering the plot 【Operation Market Garden】 personally commanded by Montgomery.

The Empire's hope of turning the tide seemed even more slim.

At this time.

In Yu Feng's live stream.

He also chose to restart.

After restarting twice.

He finally started in the army and also triggered the 【Operation Market Garden】 plot.

Since everyone's timeline was synchronized, it hadn't started yet, but it was already in the preparation stage.

At this time, Yu Feng opened the "Real-time Map" on the Polar Star official website in the live stream and introduced it to the friends in the live stream while looking at the map:

"【Operation Market Garden】 is the Allied version of 'Blitzkrieg'."

"It's just implemented by relying on paratroopers."

"According to Commander Montgomery's plan, the Anglo-American Allied forces will seize important bridges in Europe through airborne operations, and then use these bridges to bypass the Empire's Siegfried Line."

"After bypassing it, they will strike directly into the Empire's abdomen."

"It has a lot of similarities to the Empire's original plan to blitz Falanxi."

Under Yu Feng's zoomed-in map.

Blue Star netizens intuitively saw the planned route of this 【Operation Market Garden】.

It was indeed as Yu Feng said, similar to the blitz of Falanxi.

It's just that this blitz bypassed the Empire's defensive line; Montgomery's plan was to use paratroopers to seize many river bridges in the northern part of the Empire.

Although sending a large army through those river bridges to strike directly into the Empire's abdomen, this way they wouldn't have to face the Empire's defensive army on the Siegfried Line.

It was simply a replica of the "Blitz of Falanxi."

Only Falanxi's "Maginot Line" had become the Empire's "Siegfried Line."

Yu Feng also marveled:

"It has to be the Allies."

"This move by Montgomery is a killer blow."

"Using the Empire's own moves to fight the Empire."

"This battle will be something to brag about for a lifetime."

"The Empire, which blitzed others for a lifetime, has been blitzed by the Allies."

At this time on the Blue Star side, no one felt that this plan could fail.

After all, that was a Marshal of the British Federation; he couldn't be so bad that he was worse than a common soldier, right?

And now the Empire's situation was so rotten that this battle could be won even with one's feet.

However, someone in the live stream still reminded:

【Is it a bit too aggressive?】

【Normandy hasn't stabilized yet, and now they want to strike directly into the Empire's abdomen?】

However, the scattered words were quickly countered by other Blue Star netizens in the live stream:

【Laughing to death? Another expert here?】

【Can you think of what the British Federation Marshal can't? Has he fought his whole life in vain?】

【Exactly, what rank are you? Still pointing fingers at an Allied Marshal.】

【Buddy, that's Montgomery, the one who made Rommel suffer a big loss on the North African battlefield; you say he's aggressive?】

【If he wasn't aggressive, how could he defeat Rommel? Just do it.】

【I feel like after this operation ends, Montgomery will be deified.】

【Nonsense, striking directly into the Empire's homeland, even fiercer than the Marshal on the Soviet Federation side, how can he not be deified?】

【Charge, charge, charge! Streamer, try to be the first to enter Imperial territory!】

【Wait, streamer, why are some live streams called Garden Operation, and some are Market Operation? Isn't it Operation Market Garden?】

Yu Feng looked at the comments, saw the question at the end, and explained:

"【Operation Market Garden】 is a collective term."

"It is mainly divided into two parts."

"Market Operation is the paratroopers seizing important river bridges in the north."

"Garden Operation is the ground troops going to meet the paratroopers and then striking directly into the Empire's hinterland."

"Two, one after the other."

"Combined, it is 【Operation Market Garden】."

"I am participating in 'Market Operation' and am currently on standby as a paratrooper."

"I see other live streams are the same."

"This is also a convention for Polar Star; for some major plots, the timelines are strictly synchronized and start at the same time."

"Friends who haven't had time to participate can skip the plot now and see if they can catch up."

"I estimate it will take a few more days for the whole operation to start."

"If you skip now, it should be in time."

"Which unit am I in?"

"I'm in the British Federation's 1st Airborne Division, which is also the main force for this 'Market Operation'."

Yu Feng chatted with the friends in the live stream.

The unit he was currently in had already received the mission and was in combat readiness. Yu Feng's identity was an officer, so he didn't need to be busy.

He was walking around the military camp at this time, starting to introduce the equipment to the Blue Star friends.

Because they were responsible for an important airborne mission and were elite troops of the 1st Division, the equipment was very sophisticated:

"This is a Sten submachine gun; its advantage is high rate of fire, suitable for close combat."

"This is an improved version of the Bren light machine gun..."

A few days later.

In Yu Feng's live stream.

Europe, over Arnhem.

The roar of the transport plane rang in his ears, the cabin door of the transport plane opened, and strong winds surged into the cabin, blowing the soldiers around.

Yu Feng grabbed the handle tightly, feeling a bit dizzy looking at the scene below the cabin door, quickly turned his head away, and said to the friends in the live stream:

"Not looking good."

"Maybe it's the plane; it's too bumpy."

"I'm a bit airsick now, afraid of heights."

Comments floated across the live stream.

【You can say you're airsick, but are you sure your fear of heights is from airsickness?】

【Laughing to death, streamer, don't forget to open your parachute.】

【No-parachute landing from thousands of meters, you're invincible.】

【Streamer, close your eyes, don't look, just jump and pull the cord.】

Yu Feng looked at the comments with a bitter smile.

Damn.

This is indeed too high.

He hadn't realized he was afraid of heights before?!

At this time.

The commander's voice rang out, piercing through the noise:

"3 minutes!"

"Prepare to jump!!!"

Yu Feng looked out.

The glider unit below had already set off first, but the radio in the cabin intermittently transmitted sounds of distress.

The Empire's anti-aircraft fire network below rose up.

Dense sparks of bullets spread out like fireflies.

Yu Feng had a bad feeling in his heart.

Can you jump in this?

Won't you be killed directly???

And in other live streams, the situation was about the same.

Because of Zhao Ming's design.

So many players were assigned to the British Federation's 1st Airborne Division in the 【Immersive Plot】 mode.

And relatively speaking.

Many on the Imperial side who triggered this plot were assigned to anti-aircraft units.

One jumping, one shooting birds...

In the sky.

Yu Feng was still cheering himself on.

And the order to jump had been given; soldier after soldier quickly rushed out of the cabin, jumping down to prepare to seize the bridges and positions.

Yu Feng gritted his teeth and followed them down.

The perspective in the live stream descended rapidly from thousands of meters high; because it was the first-person perspective, the Blue Star netizens in the live stream couldn't help but feel their hearts rise.

Watching the perspective fall rapidly, there was a feeling of being there in person.

But the next second...

Bang!

A soldier below Yu Feng hadn't even opened his parachute yet.

His body suddenly exploded.

A severed arm flew out and hit Yu Feng in the face, as if he had been slapped hard.

And the blood mist and visceral fragments of the exploded body covered Yu Feng directly.

Although the friends' perspective in the live stream only saw a cloud of blood mist explode because it was too fast, Yu Feng, who was covered in blood, only felt his whole body numb with disgust.

In Yu Feng's perspective, he was getting closer and closer to the ground, but his heart was getting colder and colder.

Those soldiers who jumped first below were simply targets.

Although they were almost impossible to hit at high speed while falling, as they opened their parachutes, soldier after soldier became a moving target.

Yu Feng watched helplessly as the anti-aircraft gun bullets swept over, and soldier after soldier's body exploded into blood mist.

After the parachutes were torn, they fell in free fall.

Even while in free fall, the person wasn't dead yet.

Directly hitting the ground and dying...

Not only that.

The landing point was also off; looking at the terrain below, the target bridge in the far distance was at least 10 kilometers away.

Yu Feng's heart was cold.

He deeply realized what it meant that this world was a huge amateur show.

And no one said there were so many Imperial defenders and anti-aircraft guns on the ground?

Being used as a target was one thing, but being nearly 10 kilometers off the target location?

Which idiot flew this plane?

10 kilometers?

Not only do you have to deal with the anti-aircraft units on the ground first, but you also have to walk all the way there?

Damn!!!