When the sun shines on the earth again, there is no trace of sunlight in the three-meter-deep trench, just like at dawn. And for those who have stayed in the trench for several days, they can only be exposed to the sun at noon every day.

For the soldiers, it was the first time they discovered that sunlight, a seemingly ordinary thing, was actually so desirable.

"...The sun has risen..."

At an observation point behind the sandbag parapet, at the gap covered by the sandbag cloth, a ray of sunlight shone into the trench. Several soldiers looked at the ray of sunlight longingly. In the past few days, what they had seen

All they could see was what was inside this meter-wide trench. At this time, many people were extremely eager to see the outside world.

Finally, a soldier took a step forward and stood under the observation point. Then he opened some curtains at the observation point and saw a piece of greenery. At this time, the greenery looked so beautiful, but who could imagine it?

How many lives are buried under this green lawn, perhaps it is the flesh and blood that makes it so beautiful.

Life is like grass on the battlefield. In the end, flesh and blood will turn into fertilizer and nourish the earth...

When the soldier opened the curtain, in a German trench hundreds of meters away, a well-camouflaged German soldier saw the curtain lift through the scope. At first, what he saw was a somewhat

The helmet is familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar. The shape of the helmet is somewhat similar to the m1916 helmet on top of his head, and underneath the helmet is an oriental face.

Chinese!

The sniper immediately realized that the opponent he encountered today was completely different from the opponents he was used to in the past. He was Chinese! The Chinese Expeditionary Force, which had once caused Prince William's Corps to suffer, could not tolerate any hesitation on his part and almost crossed the line.

The moment his line was aimed at the opponent, he pulled the trigger.

"...the sun has just risen, the sunshine..."

Suddenly, with a "chirp" sound, several people under the trench felt some warmth sprinkled on their faces. At the same time, the soldier suddenly fell backwards, and blood spurted out along the wound on his neck.

Sniper!

"Gauze! Gauze..."

Several sergeants who were playing cards nearby rushed over. They pressed hard on the fool's wound and shouted loudly. They continued to use gauze to stop the recruit's bleeding. After a few minutes of simple treatment, the seriously injured

The soldier was then taken away on a stretcher.

Will he survive?

The soldiers with blood still on their faces looked at the wounded soldiers being carried away. Many of them did not expect that they would see death for the first time, but in this way.

"idiot!"

The sergeant, whose hands were full of blood, kicked over the soldier next to him. His face was full of anger. No one expected that they would lose a soldier like this.

"When it's time to charge, whoever exposes his head again and let the Germans shoot him, I'll kill him first!"

The sergeants roared and cursed, but everyone knew that the reason why they were angry was just because their subordinates' stupidity killed themselves. Perhaps death is inevitable on the battlefield, but for them, they don't want to see it.

To the point where the soldiers killed themselves.

Charge, when will we charge?

The soldiers murmured in their hearts that the damp and dim trenches were wearing down the soldiers' patience little by little. Perhaps these soldiers were not as brave as they thought, but this did not mean that they were willing to stay in the trenches day and night.

Enduring this endless loneliness and harsh environment.

But their dissatisfaction and complaints seemed to have reached the ears of the sergeants, who immediately began to torment the soldiers in their own way.

"One row, everyone is there, unfolding raincoats, maintaining rifles, dismantling bolts..."

Following the sergeant's command, the soldiers immediately got busy. In the past, except for the six towns in Beiyang, there were few squadrons that maintained guns. Usually, tasks such as dismantling the gun machine were mostly the work of the ordnance officer.

, and after the formation of the expeditionary force, the soldiers' discipline in maintaining their guns was restored again. This not only allowed them to better understand the weapons in their hands, but also helped them pass the time.

The soldiers moved extremely quickly. They dismantled the machine gun in the dim trench, and then began to wipe the gun assembly and clean the barrel. No one dared to relax at all, because military discipline is always accompanied by various punishments.

Here, they may not be asked to run dozens of laps around the playground like in the military camp, but that does not mean that the sergeants do not have ways to torture people. The simplest way is to stab people in the trenches, bayonets and kettles.

Then calling and not calling is enough to make many people collapse.

"Swipe left..."

On the other side, the sergeant who served as the platoon leader was humming the "command", and his soldiers were brushing their teeth in accordance with his command. Brushing their teeth here was unfamiliar to most expeditionary force soldiers.

"Personal service" also developed into a discipline.

"Here, if you cannot maintain good personal hygiene, trench foot, dental disease, and infectious diseases will find you, so brush your teeth at least three times a day, and each time should not be less than three minutes..."

The sergeant stood not far away and stared at his subordinates. At this moment, he saw a soldier spit out the toothpaste in his mouth. He immediately walked over and stared at the soldier.

"Private, did I make you vomit? Everyone, please refresh..."

The army is a group, and punishment is never a matter of one person, but a whole. If one person makes a mistake, he will be punished collectively. This is to cultivate their collective consciousness.

The sergeants in the trenches were doing everything they could to distract the soldiers from thinking about other things. When they did, several soldiers with steel helmets on their heads who looked no different from ordinary soldiers appeared in the trenches. Every time they walked forward, they would say

When you hear the call to stand at attention, you do not need to salute your commander on the battlefield, but it is necessary to keep standing at attention.

The collars of these officers, who were wearing ordinary soldier uniforms, clearly bore general stars and school titles. They were a group of generals and officers from the expeditionary force. Their brows were furrowed, and they did not even express their usual cordial greetings.

After greeting the soldiers, the parents there chatted briefly, but just walked around the trenches with frowns on their faces. They seemed to be inspecting the front trenches. Maybe, maybe, they were also passing this somewhat boring time.

British and French generals rarely appear in the trenches. Even regiment and brigade commanders rarely appear in the trenches. But in the Chinese Expeditionary Force, as long as necessary, let alone regiment and brigade commanders

, even if the generals need it, they will grab a submachine gun without hesitation at any time, jump out of the trench and charge like ordinary soldiers. In the East, this is called leading by example or leading by example, but now, these generals.

It seems much more depressed than before.

"When will we attack?"

In the forward headquarters of the expeditionary force far behind, Han Wu, who served as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy as the liaison officer of the expeditionary force, frowned slightly. This was not a problem for the staff, but a problem for the frontline troops.

"Sir, since we entered the battlefield on June 24, our troops have been in the trenches for ten days..."

Ten days, what happened in the past ten days?

It started with seven days of artillery bombardment on July 1. The British and French troops launched an attack along the front at the same time. The British army suffered unprecedented heavy losses. The direction of the attack of the French 6th Army happened to be the weak area of ​​the German defense. The German army before the war

It was not expected that the French army would attack here. Therefore, the defense force was very weak. On July 3, the French 6th Army broke through the defensive position of the German 17th Army with a fierce assault and caused serious casualties to the German army. Soon,

The German 17th Army regrouped its forces and organized multiple counterattacks. However, in the face of the powerful firepower of the French army, it not only failed to regain its position, but suffered even more casualties.

During this period, what were the three divisions of the expeditionary force doing? In a crowded trench less than two kilometers wide, which can be said to be the worst environment, the right flank of the French friendly forces was covered. Tens of thousands of people crammed into this narrow trench.

In the trenches, the harsh conditions were wearing off the expeditionary force's spirit little by little.

Even the old foundation of the Jiangsu Army, the Ninth Division of the Expeditionary Force adapted from his Second Division, is now becoming a little impatient. Perhaps the Expeditionary Force is responsible for the feint attack mission, but the headquarters needs

is a suitable fighter...

"Sir, the soldiers have only one thought right now. Fight them out!"

Huang Kaiyuan looked at the old commander and reiterated his request. As the commander of the Ninth Division, he was the reserve team in the hands of the former enemy command, that is, the reserve team in this reserve team. But now, even as a commander, he is under the command of

Enough of this waiting.

"Sir, if you try hard in one go, then it will fail again, then in three cases you will be exhausted... We can't wait any longer!"

Any officer of the Expeditionary Force understands this simplest truth, but... Frowning, Han Wu shook his head and said.

"We are responsible for covering the flanks of friendly forces..."

Their mission is to cover friendly forces. Before they can fully coordinate with the French army, even the initial feint attack mission they accepted may only change from a feint attack to a "sit-in" now. The reason why the French army is unwilling to see what they see is

The fundamental reason why the expeditionary force launched a feint attack is that in the eyes of the French, any results achieved by the expeditionary force are just picking peaches.

"Cover, it depends on how to cover it. Now Germany's 17th Army is organizing a counterattack with all its strength. However, its counterattack is under the powerful firepower of the French army, which can be said to have suffered heavy casualties. It can be said that now the 17th Army has basically arrived.

If you are on the edge of being powerless, you just need a heavy punch to hit it over, maybe..."

Looking at the commander, Huang Kaiyuan's eyes were full of expectations. The Ninth Division of the Expeditionary Force is the Second Division of the Jiangsu Army. The Jiangsu Army is considered elite in the country, and the same is true in the Expeditionary Force. But now, it has become an officer corps.

For supplementary regiments such as the Sergeant Corps, the headquarters rarely sends troops adapted from the Jiangsu Army to the front line. Instead, in the name of strengthening the combat effectiveness of each unit, the headquarters often transfers sergeants and officers from several divisions adapted from the Jiangsu Army to supplement other units.

Among the troops, even the bones made of iron cannot withstand such "steel setbacks". In just a few months, Huang Kaiyuan has "lost" nearly a thousand people. The reason for the expeditionary army staff is very simple. The Ninth Division did not go up.

We have passed through the battlefield, so there are no casualties, so naturally we have to make sacrifices...

Rather than sacrifice like this, it would be better to fight the Germans with real swords and guns on the battlefield. In that case, the commander would have a reason to supplement, and then take the opportunity to supplement each other among the brother troops.

The Jiangsu Army is the national army, but on the other hand, the Jiangsu Army has the surname Li!

It's not like he hasn't said these words to the old officer before, but...

"Sir, our line of defense is more than enough for one division to defend, but we are squeezing three divisions like a honeycomb. As long as you give the order, the ninth division..."

After pondering for a moment, Huang Kaiyuan drew a line on the map.

"The British have advanced 1.5 kilometers so far. I guarantee that I will also penetrate 1.5 kilometers and then penetrate from the flank of the 17th Army. In this way, the frontal pressure on General Fuxi will be relieved..."

Positive pressure?

What kind of frontal pressure is the French army facing now?

In fact, unlike the British army, which suffered heavy casualties, the pressure faced by the French army was far less than the outside world imagined. As soon as the battle started, the French army was overwhelmed by the extremely fierce artillery fire.

The German army waited for the French infantry to take the opportunity to launch a quick and sudden attack. Before most of the German soldiers climbed out of the shelter, the French soldiers reached the front of the German position. In just two hours of fighting, the French 2nd Army occupied the first German position.

and support points.

In the following two days of fighting, the French army's progress could not be said to be smooth, because the German defense force was weak. The French Sixth Army not only broke through the defensive position of the German 17th Army with a fierce blow, but also gave

The German army caused serious casualties, and when the German army regrouped its forces and organized multiple counter-attacks, it not only failed to regain its position, but suffered even more casualties. It can be said that the German 17th Army had already suffered losses during the attack and subsequent counter-attacks.
To be continued...