In Verdun, a rumbling thunder sounded in the night sky, and the sky shone with artillery fire that was shooting northward several miles away.

A farmhouse destroyed by artillery fire between the battlefields seemed even conspicuous. Although the farmhouse was very conspicuous, it was difficult to attract artillery fire. At this time, the farmhouse abandoned by its owner turned from a farmhouse into a hotel. For those who fought hard for several hours, even such a destroyed farmhouse could give them a good rest.

In the relatively spacious kitchen in the farmhouse, three or four wooden tables were filled with soldiers. These soldiers who had just stepped down from the front line to rest were eating rare hot and rice here. Unlike the army of other countries, the Chinese team fought and the food requirements were minimized. In order to facilitate the attack, the soldiers needed to move forward lightly. For this reason, they threw away canned food and all other unnecessary supplies, and only carried ammunition and dry food that could meet the needs of a few days. Dry food was the kind of light and high-calorie compressed dry food. In addition, if you want to have a hot meal, you may only have a hot meal and a sip of hot soup when you rest.

Liu Mingchun and Zhao Peiren had just arrived in France. They blinked in shock at everything on the battlefield. At the same time, they stretched their legs. They first took a boat, then a train, and then a military vehicle. After walking for two days, their legs were cramped. They didn't stay for long. A pale man - judged as a corporal based on military uniforms - ran to them.

"Liu Mingchun? Zhao Peiren?"

The two nodded.

A few months ago, they were still students in Lianyun Higher Business School, but with the rise of the expeditionary force, they joined the army with a belief in serving the country and then became a member of the expeditionary force.

They first trained in the Jiangsu Army Officer Education Team for several months, then stayed idle for a longer time in a repressed transitional barracks in Qingdao, before finally coming to France. Their ranks were warrant officers, and each of them would lead a platoon of soldiers. These soldiers had no combat experience like them.

The two of them had no idea about their military skills, and the strange scene of the fiery red sky cleared their minds.

"The company commander wants to see you, sir."

The sergeant said,

"He wants to know why you didn't arrive yesterday. We're going to the front line tomorrow morning."

The sergeant took the two to a place. At a glance, you could tell that it must have been a grass warehouse before - it is now idle, because the grassland has long become a battlefield. An oil lamp was hung on the hook hanging from the beams of the ceiling. A lieutenant in military uniform was drinking tea and leaning over to study some paper. His feet in military boots crossed their feet on a cabinet with a map. He raised his head.

"The inferior things, Indian tea flavor. You just came from China, do you bring any tea? I mean tea, authentic Chinese tea. It's not this kind of Indian product."

The two newcomers shook their heads.

"Sir, I have coffee,"

Liu Mingchun quickly replied,

"This is a gift from local overseas Chinese when they were in Singapore."

"Well,"

The lieutenant hummed,

"Tea, Chinese tea is the best thing."

While speaking, the lieutenant put down the paperwork at hand with relief and stood up. He was surprisingly tall and his arms were full of muscles. This made him look a bit like a sailor, and a sailor on a sailboat - strong, very strong, full of muscles.

"Sit on the chair."

What he called "chair" was two wooden boards placed on several broken bricks.

"Why are you guys not here yesterday?"

Liu Mingchun quickly began to explain, but the lieutenant interrupted him.

"The situation on the battlefield is always like this and messy. We have never fought such a battle, and we can come to France to fight, so there are problems like this. Anyway, they say so. It is God's blessing that you can come. We will go to the front line tomorrow to rescue the Ninth Company."

"Yes, sir."

"Warning Officer Zhao Peiren!"

Zhao Peiren nodded,

"Sir."

Li Shiqing looked at his new subordinate, then snorted, reluctantly expressing his approval. Then he looked at Liu Mingchun.

"Then you must be Liu Mingchun, huh?"

"Yes, sir."

"oh!"

This time, Li Shiqing's humming was also acknowledged. In fact, he had no interest in these two "rookies". Although they were from the famous Jiangsu Army Officer Education Team, these two people were just "scholars" from business schools. People like this were okay to do business and fight... But now, what other choice could he have? Now that his company can add two platoons, which has already made him very satisfied.

He took out a piece of paper from the pile of paper in front of him and read aloud,

"We noticed that in many companies, the daily rifle cleaning work was not treated correctly... all company commanders... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait. wait. wait. wait."

Li Shiqing threw down the paper with disgust.

"The signing is Major Song Shiming. Like you, he was from Lianyun Business School. I really don't understand you. If you don't want to be a good businessman, you have to come to the front line to join in the fun! You're so full!"

The chief's answer made the two "Caiwu" who had just arrived on the front line fall into a long silence. Faced with the chief's ridicule, Liu Mingchun seemed extremely cramped. Zhao Peiren was an unacceptable minister. Doesn't he look down on others? When Zhao Peiren thought of this, anger surged in his heart. But he, who was familiar with the rules of the army, knew that he could not refute. In fact, refuting had no meaning.

"Want to know where the damn problem is?"

Li Shiqing finally spoke, looking at the two new subordinates in front of him. Compared with these warrant officers and platoon leaders, he still liked the non-commissioned officers and platoon leaders, who shot them one by one.

"Sir?"

Liu Mingchun said.

"Since the start of the battle, my people kept using those damn rifles, fighting all day and night, killing the Germans in the rain and mud."

"Yes, sir."

Liu Mingchun and Zhao Peiren quickly said in agreement.

"That's why they're dirty. Of course, I mean rifles, not people. People can't get dirty anymore."

"Yes, sir."

After a moment of pause, Liu Mingchun began to defend his senior.

"I believe my Major Song doesn't want to-"

He wanted to continue talking, but Li Shiqing interrupted him.

"Oh, it's okay. It's all official articles. I only tell them what they want to hear. The brightest rifle in France is cleaned five times a day. And so on."

He sat down, put his feet back on the cabinet, and began to drink the second cup of coffee that he hated so much.

"I guess, you are all new recruits, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir."

Liu Mingchun said.

"I hope you won't be too incompetent, right?"

This question and his tone made Liu Mingchun's eyes twitch due to surprise. Before he came up with the answer, Li Shiqing interrupted him again.

"Don't worry. Training is a waste of time. I am the only professional soldier in the company. I am from Baoding Military Academy. The ideas of you, the officers like you, are a big joke. The training you need is: if you see a German, kill him. Keep your head out of blowing away. Don't let your subordinates get into trouble! Do you understand?"

Silence, for such words, the two can only remain silent.

"In addition, there is another thing, that is..."

He looked up at the two young officers in front of him. He added.

"Remember your promise, don't force soldiers if you can't do anything. As officers, you must set an example and know why you are a student officer?"

A retort made the two of them silence.

"It is because we should set an example by damn, and we should set an example, and be an example for soldiers. Therefore, the proportion of officers killed is very large, even exceeding that of soldiers. So. Now you can write a suicide note quickly. God knows whether you can survive tomorrow. Some people say that soldiers are cannon fodder, but in the Expeditionary Force, officers are cannon fodder! Do you understand?"

Regarding the words of the superior, Liu Mingchun remained silent. He and Zhao Peiren were both shocked, and were extremely shocked by everything here. They did not expect that everything here was completely different from what they learned. Mud, pests, maze-like trenches, the crisis lurking on each gun platform, every weakness in defense engineering, and every bullet whistling by. Everything here made them feel shocked while also understanding that they were coming to the front line.

"This is your territory."

In the trenches on the front line, Li Shiqing introduced their anti-aircraft holes to Liu Mingchun and Zhao Peiren. The area of ​​the anti-aircraft holes is about seven or eight square meters. The front line recently dug by the soldiers here, in the past few days, they have been digging the trenches like madmen to stop the Germans from attacking wildly.

"You have to add some soil to the damn top. It can't stop the shells flying directly over, and it won't work at the moment. Also, food must be hung up. If placed on the ground, Brother Rat will dry it up, which is a violation of the regulations. In this place, the bodies belong to them and the food belongs to us. Do you understand?"

After giving a few instructions to the two novices, Li Shiqing left after saying that, leaving only two young people alone in their new home. Zhao Peiren looked at Liu Mingchun. Liu Mingchun looked at Zhao Peiren.

A smile appeared on Zhao Peiren's face.

"Okay, brother, we're here."

Looking at everything in front of you, Liu Mingchun nodded.

"Yes, we're here, we finally arrived in France and came here to fight."

They sat on the bed, stroked the rough wooden wall with their hands, feeling the weight of the soil above their heads. They remembered what Li Shiqing said: The shells hit directly would make them finish playing. They recalled the summer vacation they had at the business school last year and the joy of the summer. Although it was already summer vacation, it was impossible for them to return to that kind of life.

But there was something else in the air, something on the front. The amazing reality of the new home made them feel more intensely than ever. They had arrived at the front line, only a few dozen meters away from the enemy who wanted to kill them. Their mission was to kill the Germans in front of them and put the Germans in a place of death.

Feeling everything here, the two sat on their bed, staring at each other, and then, for no reason, began to laugh loudly.

"Okay. We finally arrived in France. This time, we have to make a name for ourselves!"

"That's right, don't let them keep glaring at us!"

This seemed like a vow. It came out of the mouths of the two.

A few weeks later, Zhao Peiren and Liu Mingchun were no longer novices. They knew how to protect their subordinates, invade the enemy, and patrol in a dangerous and uninhabited area. They experienced rats, discomfort, bombardment, gunfights, and casualties of brothers who lived day and night. For them, the battlefield was just like many people said. There was never a novelist's Romantic, but only death and blood.

It was also when they had just accepted the war and adapted to the war that the transfer order was issued. They needed to hand over the defense line to the French. They were transferred to the Somme, a place that needed them even more... The main force of the Expeditionary Force was fighting with the Germans there! And what does this mean?

It means a more cruel battle.

Zhao Peiren lifted the sack hanging at the door of the anti-cannon cave. The smell of the human body and the smell of burning wood came towards us, and then the smell of kerosene and tobacco were not so popular. Half of the people were already dark. The other half were either crowded in front of the only mirror or asked their companions to help them clean up. One of them was writing letters quietly there, perhaps to his wife or family members. As for the other, he was swearing, and he kept cursing the Germans and French people in his mouth. Anyway, as long as he was not Chinese, he was cursed.

Under Zhao Peiren's gaze, the anti-cannon holes and the others quickly restored order. Zhao Peiren pointed out the number of people. There were eight people in total.

"Corporal, how many people are you counting?"
To be continued...