Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei's War Journey

Chapter 71 The Real Trench

After burying the soldier, Caesar led the others back to the barn, but the arrogance and confidence he had shown before were gone from his face. They had been there for less than an hour and had not even reached the actual front line yet.

Caesar stared blankly at the half-metal plaque in his hand, which was engraved with the name and birthplace of the soldier who had just been there.

Lu Mingfei glanced at him, then sat down beside him and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm wondering, if I hadn't reported Herman, if our class had also undergone that kind of hellish training—would Miller still be alive?" Caesar said, stroking the half of the name tag. He was now genuinely regretting it.

"Maybe—but the battlefield is always full of unknowns. Take a rest, you'll really be going to the front lines soon," Lu Mingfei comforted him. Although he didn't particularly like this arrogant young master, they were, after all, from the same place.

"Hmm—thank you," Caesar said, then closed his eyes.

Lu Mingfei also closed his eyes to rest, but he couldn't fall asleep. The slightest noise would wake him up. The others were the same; they were all afraid that the shells would fall again.

Four hours passed quickly, and Lieutenant Erich arrived on time.

"Recruits, assemble!"

The soldiers quickly assembled. After the afternoon's shelling, they moved faster and were more alert. Fear is the best teacher.

"Now, I will take you to the defense zone. Keep quiet and vigilant on the way. There may be sniping and artillery fire at any time on the front line," Lieutenant Erich said.

"In addition, each squad will be assigned a veteran as an advisor, who will teach you how to survive on the front line."

The veterans emerged from behind Lieutenant Erich, and Lu Mingfei recognized one of them as Corporal Schubert, who had been making strange remarks at the village entrance earlier.

Schubert walked up to Lu Mingfei, looked him up and down, and said with a smile, "You look like a soldier, come with me."

Soon, the entire company, led by the veteran, headed to the trenches at the front.

This time, there was no singing, no talking. The column moved forward silently in the darkness, everyone's nerves taut after the previous shelling.

They first arrived at the location of the second trench, and then used the communication trench there to proceed to the first line of defense.

Prussian troops typically dug three trenches on the battlefield. The first trench was a defensive trench, which was the most heavily fortified and usually had a very dense barbed wire fence laid in front of it.

The second trench was a support trench, where reserve troops were stationed. It was located several hundred meters behind the resistance trench and connected by a communication trench. If the first trench was breached, the retreating troops could come here to continue the resistance.

The third trench is the reserve trench. After the first two trenches are breached, all remaining troops will launch a final counterattack here.

Lu Mingfei and the others bent down and crawled into the trench. The trench was narrower than they had imagined, allowing only one person to pass at a time. Moreover, the trench was not a straight line, but a zigzag pattern.

Schubert said that if the trench were straight, the enemy could easily break through one and then machine-gun the entire trench. Moreover, if the shells exploded inside the trench, the curved trench could effectively limit the straight-line propagation of shrapnel and shock waves, reducing casualties.

These are lessons learned through blood and tears.

However, perhaps because it rained yesterday, the trench was full of mud, making it extremely disgusting and exhausting to walk on. They also didn't know if someone had used the toilet in the trench, as the mud smelled pungent. They didn't dare to straighten up to breathe fresh air, fearing they might be blown up by stray bullets flying from somewhere.

Finally, they emerged from the communication trench and arrived at the trench area. The real trenches were much deeper than the ones they had dug at the training camp, two meters wide and two and a half meters deep. They had to stand on steps to see outside. The trench walls were reinforced with wooden planks, and the ground was also covered with flooring.

Small niches were dug into the trench walls, containing ammunition and supplies. There were also anti-artillery holes at intervals, but most of them were already half-collapsed.

"They're here." A soldier standing on the steps, who was looking outside, saw Schubert and Lu Mingfei approaching and said.

"Yes, I brought a group of children to take your place," Schubert said with a smile.

"Let me introduce you. This is Bernd, the deputy company commander of the Second Company. In the battle a few days ago, the Second Company lost 100 out of 150 men."

There are only 50 people left now, and you are here to replace them.

Bernd jumped down the steps, his movements somewhat stiff, his left leg noticeably less agile. Lu Mingfei noticed several repair marks on his military uniform, and besides exhaustion, his face also showed a numb calmness, the numbness that comes from experiencing too many life-and-death situations.

"These kids? Can they even make it through the night?" Bernd glanced at the Hansband soldiers, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

Schubert shrugged: "Who knows? But that's the order. You retreat to rest and regroup, and they'll come up to take over."

Bernd paused for a moment, then beckoned a few veterans over: "Take them to familiarize themselves with the defense zone. We'll withdraw in twenty minutes."

The new soldiers were led by the veterans to familiarize themselves with the defense zone. Lu Mingfei followed Bernd and Schubert, listening to their introduction as they walked. "This defensive line is 300 meters long, and your platoon is responsible for 100 meters." Bernd's voice was unusually calm.

"There are three machine gun positions here, but only one Maxim is usable; the other two were destroyed in yesterday's shelling."

He pointed to the small niches on the trench wall: "These are for ammunition, these are for grenades, and these are for medical supplies, but the medicine is almost gone, so you'd better use it sparingly."

Reaching a bomb shelter, Bernd stopped. "This shelter can hold eight people. If the shelling is intense, they can take shelter here. But if the shelling is too fierce, the shelter might collapse. One collapsed the day before yesterday, burying five people, and none of them were rescued."

His tone was completely flat, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

Lu Mingfei forced himself to memorize every detail: the location of the machine gun emplacement, the ammunition depots, the retreat route —

"Most importantly, stay alert at night and don't sleep. If you're really too tired, take turns sleeping in pairs. The French like to launch attacks before dawn, when people are most tired and least alert," Bernd concluded.

"Also, if you hear a strange hissing sound, put on a gas mask immediately."

Twenty minutes later, the handover was completed, and Bernd prepared to evacuate with the remaining 50 veterans of the Second Company.

Before leaving, he walked up to Lu Mingfei, stared at him with his one eye for a few seconds, and asked, "Kid, you're the class monitor?"

"Yes, sir."

"Remember, your mission is not to kill the enemy, not to gain merit, but to keep your men alive. If half of you are still standing after 24 hours, then you have succeeded." Bernd's voice and expression suddenly became extremely serious.

He patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder, a very light touch, but Lu Mingfei felt a heavy entrustment: "Good luck."

After saying that, he turned around and led the veterans into the darkness of the trench.

Schubert remained in the trench, lit a cigarette, and said, "Alright, boys, now it's your turn to set up the defenses."

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath and began assigning tasks.

Otto led five men to inspect the machine guns and firing positions, Carl led five men to organize the ammunition, Bruckner led five men to clean the artillery shelters, and he himself led the rest of the men to inspect the barbed wire, observation posts, and ammunition.

The atmosphere in the trench was unusually oppressive, with a strange smell permeating the air: the smell of gunpowder, the smell of blood, and the smell of rotting corpses. Just as Hermann had said, the stench of decay was everywhere; this was the smell of the battlefield.

The preparation work for the defense zone lasted for an hour. By the time the moon reached its highest point, the 100-meter defense zone had been preliminarily prepared.

The 24-hour countdown is about to begin.