Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei's War Journey

Chapter 101 Caesar's Desire to Become a Pilot

After Lu Mingfei returned from the command post, Lu Mingfei and the others officially had a three-day vacation.

During those three days of rest, they finally didn't have to rush up that mountain of the dead anymore and could rest properly. They slept for almost three whole days, not thinking about anything or doing anything. When they woke up, they ate and smoked.

Henrik used his power to give Lu Mingfei and his men special treatment, providing them all with military-grade food and even a bottle of champagne every day.

However, Lu Mingfei and the others did not have as much fun during their three-day vacation as they had imagined. They did not sleep well, and the slightest noise would wake them up suddenly. They would not lie down again until they were sure that there were no whistling shells or shouts of enemy charge.

This has become an instinct for them, a result of countless brushes with death and post-traumatic stress disorder.

They could only manage a little sleep by relying on the wine that Henrik brought them.

But it was precisely this instinct that allowed them to survive on the battlefield.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and Lu Mingfei and his men were heading to the battlefield again. Their target was no longer the familiar Dead Man's Mountain, but another mountain marked on the map that would also be drenched in blood: Hill 304.

Over the course of three days, the Prussian engineering units demonstrated remarkable efficiency in their attack on Hill 304.

Taking advantage of the night and under the cover of artillery fire, they secretly dug two attack tunnels, each about three kilometers long, towards Hill 304, right under the enemy's nose, and named them Galwitz and Crown Prince respectively.

These two tunnels can silently transport large numbers of infantry and assault teams to positions very close to the enemy, in order to achieve a surprise attack.

Lu Mingfei and Caesar were currently inside the tunnel called the Crown Prince's, waiting for the next attack.

The shelling resumed; it seemed the bombardment of Verdun would never cease.

"I should have become a pilot—" Caesar leaned against the tunnel entrance, looking out at the sky, where several Prussian and French planes were dogfighting in the smoke-filled sky.

"You can fly a plane?" Lu Mingfei leaned against the tunnel wall, looking at the sky outside. The only fun for these soldiers hiding in the trenches every day was watching their own planes fight the enemy, and even betting on the outcome of the next duel with their meager rations or cigarettes.

"Of course—I can not only fly propeller planes, but also helicopters and even fighter jets—" Caesar said matter-of-factly.

"I've heard that the average mortality rate for pilots is higher than that for machine gunners—" Lu Mingfei continued.

Machine gunners were among the most dangerous infantrymen, and pilots, in the era of World War I when technology was still immature and air combat rules were crude and rudimentary, often died even faster, either turning into fireballs in the air or failing to survive after crashing.

"That's better than hiding in the tunnel like a rat waiting to be blown up—" Caesar's voice sounded somewhat hollow. He still looked up, his gaze following the two small black dots tumbling and fighting in the sky, his tone filled with undisguised longing.

Lu Mingfei didn't say anything, but took out another cigarette and lit it. The smell of tobacco temporarily dispelled the earthy smell in the tunnel. He understood Caesar's thoughts very well.

Who would want to live like a rat that can't see the light, huddled in dark, damp tunnels and trenches all day long? Who doesn't yearn for the sky? Even if it's also polluted by gunpowder and occupied by death, it is still the sky.

After a long while, Lu Mingfei seemed to have made a decision. He flicked his cigarette ash and spoke calmly.

"After we take Dead Man's Mountain, we'll have a relatively long vacation, and Crown Prince William said he'll give us another Blue Max medal—then I'll give you the medal, and I'll also go to Henrik and ask him to help you apply for a transfer. With your abilities, as a recipient of the Blue Max medal, and with our recommendation, you can become a pilot."

"What?! What are you going to do? What about the third row?" Caesar was completely stunned and asked anxiously.

"Heh." Lu Mingfei chuckled softly, his laughter tinged with weariness, yet also with a carefree, reckless spirit.

"Don't worry about us. I'll be going to military academy for a while. Otto and the others will go visit their families. Once I graduate from military academy, I'll become a company commander with more power and autonomy. Trust me, I'll keep them alive," Lu Mingfei said with a smile.

"But—" Caesar wanted to say something more. He wanted to say that this was too sudden, that it was unfair, that abandoning everyone to pursue the sky was a betrayal, he wanted to say so much more—

But Lu Mingfei interrupted him.

"I want to see you soaring in the sky. You are the proud Caesar Gattuso. You should be in the sky, fighting like a true knight, conquering that realm with your eyes and ears, instead of hiding in this dark underground like rats with us, barely surviving by listening to the sound of cannon fire every day."

As Lu Mingfei spoke, he patted Caesar heavily on the shoulder, then turned to the other soldiers behind him and shouted loudly.

"Don't you agree?"

Karl was the first to raise his head, forcing a somewhat stiff but sincere smile: "Yes, Sergeant Caesar—"

With your hearing so sharp, you must be able to hear where the enemy planes are from the sky, right? Come on, shoot down all those French planes for us!

Otto grinned, revealing his tobacco-stained teeth, and said gruffly, "If you become a pilot, I'll bet my entire fortune on you! Then you won't lack cigarettes."

The other soldiers nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! It's so much more exciting up there!"

"It's better than staying cooped up here—"

"Sergeant Caesar will definitely do it!"

"The platoon leader is right!"

These comrades who came from the same recruit training camp still remember Caesar's extremely arrogant appearance, but that once proud nobleman has become a rat in the tunnel.

This sergeant, whose hearing was exceptionally sharp and who always managed to lead them away from the deadliest artillery fire, would surely be Prussia's most formidable aerial knight if he could fly.

Caesar becoming a pilot also became a kind of hope for them. Among these rats mired in the mud, someone had to break free, fly into the sky, and see the clear blue sky unobscured by the smoke of war, and win back some dignity and pride for them on another battlefield.

Moreover, this was an arrangement personally made by their platoon leader, William Hans, and they had an almost blind trust in Lu Mingfei.

Caesar looked at the seemingly relaxed yet resolute smile on Lu Mingfei's face, and then at the dirty and tired faces around him, which were now sincerely wishing him well. A complex mix of emotions welled up in his heart.

The proud Caesar Gattuso—this name has been forgotten for far too long in this world filled with mud, bloodshed, and numbness; even he himself had almost forgotten it.

He once thought he would win everything with absolute advantage and in a magnificent way, instead of like now, huddled in a stinking tunnel, dodging cannonballs with the hearing given by dragon blood, and surviving in the dirtiest way.

Lu Mingfei's words were like a pebble thrown into stagnant water, stirring up a subtle ripple in his heart, which had long been devoid of any ripples.

Soaring through the sky—fighting like a knight—that was the freedom he sought, he longed to fly high!

"Lu Mingfei—" Caesar said in a low voice, which was more hoarse than usual.

"Alright, stop being so sentimental." Lu Mingfei patted his shoulder hard again, interrupting his possible thanks or refusal.

"It's settled then. After this war is over, you'll go fly planes. Don't forget to fly low occasionally so we can see how powerful you are."

Just then, the deafening cannon fire outside suddenly stopped; the attack was about to begin.

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