March 1st 1935, Federation supply base, somewhere near Deventer
After the base had been taken, it had taken a while for reinforcements to arrive. The infantry involved in the attack had paid dearly for the lack of info on the tanks, 2 men had lost their lives and there were 13 wounded, with some probably not able to return back to their unit anytime soon. Their commander, Lieutenant Kehlers, a rather young man who, according to some intel from Bauer, had only gotten his position due to his father's influence, had been furious and left out no chance to remind him and any of the other how much "he" contributed to this victory. Valentin hadn't listened at all, for what he cared, Kehlers could take the glory and the praise for the whole operation. The base was taken, that's all that mattered. He had even been able to scavenge a new pair of boots from the supplies, much to his delight. Valentin had always been prone to blisters and his previous ones had somehow tripled his chances of getting them.
The rumor regarding Kehlers father reminded him a bit about his early career, when people had thought similar things about him. When he had started out as platoon commander after leaving the military academy, many of his peers didn't like because they thought that he'd had it easier than them, due to his father. But as much as his father could have eased his way, that option became unavailable when Valentin had decided to join the artillery instead of the armoured train units like his father wanted him to. His father had commanded an armoured train on the Federation Front during the previous war and he probably had such a dislike for artillery because of Valentins mother. But Valentin had made his choice at that point and when he later made the course for mountain warfare, it further strayed him away from the path his father desired for him. Even though his father was completely disappointed of his decision, that didn't mean that they broke contact. They still were family after all…
Valentin had thought about what might have changed if in his life if he had gone for the route as armoured train crewman. He probably would have seen less combat. The tank had replaced them as the main fear factor for infantry during the last war, the high command mostly used them for guarding railways and transport duties nowadays. The higher cost compared to tanks, combined with their restrictions had rendered them as pretty obsolete for their original role. Valentin believed that he would probably only be assigned to one of the trains used for transporting supplies and troops. Definitely a lot more different than where he was now and probably quieter…
But it was not like the the last few days had been full of action either, since after the capture of the base, the orders had changed. Now the base should be put back into working order, which meant that they had dug up a trench for defensive purposes and repaired some of the damage from the battle, that. HQ wanted to use this supply base as starting point for further advances in the south. Valentin didn't care much about this whole situation, he normally was one of the last people to get informed, after all. So it wasn't like he was able to achieve any changes in a plan, if HQ had decided something. He was just some lowly officer, he didn't matter much in the grand scheme…
He then read through the report again. It seemed that the tanks had been fresh reinforcements. The reports also mentioned, that something called "Operation Northern Cross" should result in a crippling defeat for the Empire, which Valentin found quite amusing, considering how the war had went so far. The report also went on about how they would receive fresh troops and that troops from the United Kingdom of Edinburgh would act as a Vanguard. Initially he had believed that this report could be something important, but Colonel Lindtmann had told him to ignore it for now. With roughly a third of Federation territory under imperial occupation, it probably was just some propaganda to boost the morale of the troops to avoid mass desertions. HQ probably had more important things to do than reading Federation-Propaganda at the moment...
March 5th 1935, Imperial Supply base, Ypern
As soon as the train stopped, Valentin stepped out of the waggon and headed towards the officers quarters. Hopefully somebody in the conference room was able to explain the situation to him, because the retreat order they had received yesterday made no sense in his opinion. Maybe Colonel Lindtmann or one of the other officers knew the reason. He ignored a saluting Lieutenant as he headed down the hallway before he reached the door of the conference room. He knocked and entered shortly after. Much to his surprise, the room was empty except the furniture and some maps and papers, which were lying on the table. Valentin sighed before he left the building. Might as well look for some NCO to dig for some information. He looked around until he saw a group of men from the infantry. Before he was able to approach them, one of them noticed him and after informing the other two, they saluted. Valentin gestured them to come closer, which they did. "May i ask you a couple of questions?" "Yes, Sir." one of them, a Sergeant, replied. "Do any of you know why there suddenly are retreat-orders?" Valentin asked him. "Yes, Sir. High Command ordered to pull back all troops that were in danger of getting encircled. The Federal Army started a massive counterattack that broke through the defenses of Army Group. Federation troops are pushing us back towards our own borders."