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The Italian lieutenant, Alfredo, whose name means "wise and peaceful" in German, certainly lived up to it in many ways.

First, he was indeed wise, as evidenced by his suggestion to look for camels when searching for a desert guide.

And second, as he soon made clear:

"I'm a pacifist!" Alfredo exclaimed, frustrated, as he spoke to Qin Chuan. "I'm against war and violence. You can't just drag me onto the battlefield like this!"

"A pacifist?" Qin Chuan looked at Alfredo in disbelief, then glanced at his military uniform and rank. "Are you kidding? You're a soldier, and not just any soldier—you're an officer!"

"I'm serious!" Alfredo replied. "That's why I'm in charge of logistics and transportation. Look..."

Alfredo pulled out his handgun and ejected the magazine, waving it in front of Qin Chuan. "I don't even carry bullets. My gun is empty!"

Qin Chuan was genuinely shocked, yet he believed Alfredo. It was hard to fathom that an Italian officer would walk around unarmed, especially in a war zone.

"What will you do if you encounter the enemy?" Qin Chuan asked, unable to hide his disbelief.

Alfredo's expression of resignation made it clear—he would surrender, likely taking his men with him.

Qin Chuan shook his head as he helped Bushra, the guide, load supplies onto the camels. "But you're not as smart as you think."

"What do you mean?" Alfredo didn't understand.

"You should know," Qin Chuan said as he hoisted a heavy goatskin water bag onto a camel's hump, "that telling me all this won't change anything. Bushra is now the guide for our entire regiment, the only guide, and you're the only one who can communicate with him. In other words, every officer and soldier in the regiment is depending on you two. Do you really think I'm going to let you go? Or that you have any choice in the matter? If necessary, they'll put a gun to your head to make sure you keep moving. I'm sure you wouldn't want that."

Alfredo's face fell, his hopes dashed, but he knew Qin Chuan was right. He had no choice in the matter, so he resigned himself to his fate and stopped arguing.

"Lieutenant," Qin Chuan said, trying to comfort Alfredo, "look at it this way: the entire regiment is relying on you two, so they'll do everything they can to protect you."

Alfredo nodded weakly. It was a small consolation, but it was something.

However, Qin Chuan left out the part where this protection was only guaranteed while they were in the desert. Once they were out, who would care about the fate of an Italian lieutenant?

A few minutes later, the regiment set out. Scouts on sidecars advanced in the direction indicated by Bushra, marking the route and constantly relaying information back to command via radio. The main force followed the marked path under Bushra's guidance.

Since Qin Chuan had found the guide and brought Alfredo along, his company was placed at the front to ensure the safety of both the guide and the lieutenant.

The sight of the march was somewhat comical: the modern, mechanized German force, with its artillery and vehicles, was led by a group of camels, plodding along slowly with their bells jingling like kitchen utensils clanging together.

But Qin Chuan knew that, in the desert, the camels were far more reliable than the vehicles, despite needing food like any living creature.

As the sun slowly rose over the horizon, its warmth initially felt welcome, dispelling the lingering chill of the night. But soon, the warmth turned into a stifling heat that rapidly intensified. The regiment marched as if in a giant, uneven frying pan, with the ground radiating heat, seemingly intent on roasting every person and animal walking on it.

Werner marched along, gulping down water as sweat streamed down his face, soaking through his uniform. The others were in a similar state.

"You need to ration your water," Bushra warned them. "No amount of water will be enough if you keep drinking like that."

"But how can we do that?" Werner replied. "We need to stay hydrated!"

"The trick is to let your body get used to being dehydrated," Bushra explained.

Werner looked puzzled.

Bushra's advice made sense—if your body is in a state of dehydration, you'll sweat less.

But it was easier said than done. Dehydration could lead to dizziness, fatigue, and other symptoms, especially when combined with the exertion of marching.

Yet Werner had no choice. He knew he couldn't keep going the way he was, or his water consumption would be double or even triple that of the others.

After some thought, Werner tightened the cap on his water canteen and hung it back on his belt. German soldiers had a strong sense of duty and often made personal sacrifices for the sake of the group.

They hadn't gone far before Qin Chuan noticed a sidecar that had broken down by the side of the road. A few German soldiers were struggling to get it moving again but eventually had to give up. The equipment of the 5th Light Division was mostly old, worn out from years of use on the battlefield, and now, under the strain of high temperatures, it was inevitable that problems would arise.

Qin Chuan could only hope that the trucks wouldn't suffer too many breakdowns.

But soon enough, he saw a truck in trouble up ahead... It was a supply vehicle from the reconnaissance unit, and its wheels were stuck in soft sand. No matter how hard the driver pressed the gas, the wheels only dug deeper into the sand.

A group of German soldiers volunteered to help push the truck, but the effort was in vain. Every time they freed the wheels from one hole, they got stuck in another—the truck was digging its own traps.

Alfredo ran over and shouted to the frustrated driver in the cab, "You should let some air out of the tires!"

"Let air out? Will that help?" the driver asked, skeptical.

"Of course it will!" Alfredo insisted. "Just try it—it won't hurt!"

The driver thought about it and decided to follow Alfredo's advice. Sure enough, the truck, which had been struggling to move, suddenly started rolling smoothly, like a wildcat freed from a snare.

The driver leaned out of the cab, grinning, and waved at Alfredo in thanks.

"Wow!" Werner exclaimed in amazement. "That's incredible!"

"It's just experience," Alfredo replied. "I've been driving in Libya for three years."

"I know," Werner said with a smirk. "A pacifist, right?"

He and the other German soldiers chuckled together.

"That's a useful trick," Qin Chuan said. "We should pass this on to the other drivers."