Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei's War Journey

Chapter 77 Shooting in the Dark

Half an hour passed quickly, and the Prussian bombardment began.

The artillery fire tore through the night sky, illuminating the death zone. The first wave of shells landed on the French front line, and the huge shockwave shook the earth, even the trench where Lu Mingfei and his men were hiding was trembling.

The shelling lasted ten minutes. Those ten minutes felt like an eternity to the soldiers huddled in their trenches awaiting their charge. When the artillery fire began to penetrate deeper into the French positions, it meant—

"William Hans! Why haven't you broken out of the trenches yet!" Lieutenant Klaus appeared behind Lu Mingfei and the others, along with the Ninth Company soldiers who had come to provide support.

"Everyone! Charge out now! If anyone dares to back down even a step, I'll kill him!" Lieutenant Klaus drew his Luger P08 pistol from his waist and fired several shots into the air, shouting loudly.

"Supervisory team! Move forward!" Several soldiers from the Ninth Company immediately took a few steps forward with their rifles fixed with bayonets, their faces expressionless, and pointed their guns at Lu Mingfei and his group.

"Caesar!" Lu Mingfei shouted first, then exchanged a glance with Caesar next to him, indicating that this was the guy.

Caesar nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

"Everyone, charge with me!" Seeing Caesar nod, Lu Mingfei no longer hesitated, holding his revolver in one hand and an entrenching tool in the other, and shouted loudly before being the first to rush out of the trench.

"Charge!" Otto roared, following closely behind Lu Mingfei, holding a rifle with a bayonet fixed in his hand, his eyes bloodshot.

Everyone who could still move jumped out of their bunkers, bayoneted rifles, and rushed into the death zone, repeatedly ravaged by artillery fire, riddled with shell craters, corpses, and wreckage.

The whistle for the charge did not sound. This kind of suicidal charge does not need a whistle; all it needs is the gun barrels of the supervising team behind them.

Caesar followed closely behind, a golden glint in his eyes. The Kamaitachi had already silently deployed. The wind demons carried back the commotion from behind. He heard Klaus's stern urging and the click of the bolts being pulled back by the supervising soldiers.

"Once they've entered the position, you all follow immediately! We must take that position! This time, the credit might earn me a Level 2 Iron Cross!"

Klaus's voice, clear through the weasel, reached Caesar's ears with excitement at the prospect of obtaining the Iron Cross, showing no pity or concern whatsoever for the soldiers who were paving the way for him with their lives.

Caesar's eyes had turned completely cold. He wished he could turn around and shoot Klaus right now, but not yet. The distance was too close and he would be seen, and the French army was beginning to recover from the shelling.

The charging troops were instantly exposed to the French counter-fire. Although the artillery bombardment destroyed most of the French forward firing positions, the remaining machine guns and rifle bullets were still deadly.

Bullets swarmed out of the smoke like locusts, tearing through the air. People were constantly being hit and falling to the ground. Lu Mingfei felt bullets whizzing past his scalp and cheeks, but what terrified him even more was the sight of people falling around him.

Those familiar faces who were eating together, cursing together, and looking forward to eating meat together just a few hours ago are now disappearing one by one into the smoke and blood.

"Charge! Charge! Charge!" Caesar roared, and with his roar, the machine gun directly in front of Lu Mingfei fell silent.

Lu Mingfei immediately felt the pressure ease, and he began to run like crazy, unleashing all the physical strength and survival instinct he had honed during his survival journey in the Andes Mountains and eight weeks of grueling training!

Like a leopard spotting its prey, he leaped through shell craters and trampled over corpses at top speed, charging recklessly toward the French forward trenches.

He forced his way through the 300-meter death zone in less than half a minute, fueled by the adrenaline rush and the life-or-death situation!

The instant he leaped into the French trench, the entrenching tool in his hand, carrying his entire weight and momentum, slammed down like a force splitting a mountain onto the head of a French soldier who had just emerged from the gun emplacement and hadn't even had time to fully raise his rifle.

The entrenching tool slammed solidly into the French soldier's Adrian helmet. The helmet blocked the sharp blade of the shovel, but the terrifying force it carried was transmitted without reservation.

The French soldier didn't even have time to scream. He was like a wooden stake struck by a heavy hammer, his neck snapping backward at an eerie angle. His head under his helmet seemed to shrink instantly, as if it had been dented by the impact.

But this is far from over!

With his other hand, he fired six shots from his revolver. The six bullets were fired almost simultaneously at extremely close range, accurately knocking down several French soldiers who had just regained their senses and were trying to raise their guns. Their bodies fell backward as if struck by a heavy hammer, and their blood instantly stained the trench wall red.

Without even looking at the result, Lu Mingfei threw away the empty revolver and smashed it into the face of a French soldier. Then, gripping his entrenching tool tightly, he charged into the depths of the trench like a tiger among sheep.

Not long after, Otto rushed in. Relying entirely on brute force, he rammed a French soldier who was trying to shoot Lu Mingfei in the back against the wall, stabbing him hard in the abdomen with his bayonet, twisting it, pulling it out, and spraying a spray of blood.

Karl, dragging his injured leg, gritted his teeth and climbed into the trench, using his rifle as a crutch. When he saw a French soldier lying on the ground still moving, he would finish him off with his bayonet.

More and more Prussian soldiers poured into the trench and fought fiercely with the French soldiers.

Caesar rushed in as well. He didn't immediately join the melee, but quickly scanned his surroundings, looking for a favorable position and angle of observation. His golden eyes flickered slightly in the dim light, and the weasel remained open, trying to catch the sounds behind him.

Even though the distance had increased, he could still hear Klaus urging the Ninth Company soldiers to follow up, expand their gains, and seize the credit.

Caesar picked up a French Lebel rifle, lay prone on the French trench, and unleashed his full power, locking onto Klaus in the other trench.

Klaus's position was shielded by sandbags and the corner of a trench. Only when he moved to a specific spot could he possibly see the target's upper body, especially the head and chest. He waited for the right moment, just like a real sniper.

He wasn't afraid of others taking sniper shots at him; he trusted Lu Mingfei and his comrades-in-arms.

"Lieutenant! They've broken in! They're grappling with the French!" A soldier from the Ninth Company's voice came through the Kamaitachi, tinged with surprise and perhaps a hint of admiration.

"Alright! Second platoon, advance from the left! Third platoon, prepare to charge at the signal! We can't let those remnants get all the credit!"

Now! Klaus seemed to want a better view or to command more effectively, so he moved two steps toward the edge of the trench, leaning his upper body slightly out for cover!

The shooting window appeared, and although it was only for a brief moment, Caesar managed to seize it.

Caesar's finger rested steadily on the trigger, his muscles making subtle adjustments. The muzzle made an extremely small lead adjustment in accordance with Klaus's movement. Wind speed, humidity, bullet drop—all the data were calculated in his mind in an instant.

boom!

The sound of the Lebel rifle was not abrupt amidst the shouts of close-quarters combat and sporadic gunfire in the distance; the bullets spun as they left the muzzle, piercing through the lingering smoke.

Through the rudimentary iron sights, Caesar saw Lieutenant Klaus's arm, which had just been raised as if to point in a certain direction, suddenly tremble. He staggered back as if struck in the chest by a heavy hammer. The excited expression on his face froze instantly, his eyes widened in disbelief, and he looked down at the dark red bloodstains that were spreading rapidly on his uniform.

Klaus swayed, and the Luger P08 pistol slipped from his hand and fell into the mud. He tried to grab a sandbag next to him to steady himself, but his strength quickly dissipated, and he eventually slid softly down the trench wall and fell to the ground.

"Lieutenant! The lieutenant has been shot!" shouted a soldier from the Ninth Company in terror.

"Sniper! There's a sniper! Over there!" Someone fired wildly in the direction where there might be a sniper, bullets whizzing around the edge of the trench near Caesar, kicking up dirt.

It worked!

Caesar's heart skipped a beat. Without hesitation, he retreated deep into the trench, quickly threw aside his Lebel rifle, picked up a blood-stained entrenching tool, and charged towards the nearest French soldier like an ordinary soldier, joining the bloody hand-to-hand combat.

"Lieutenant Klaus is dead! Killed by a French sniper!" The news spread like wildfire among the soldiers of the Ninth Company in the rear, and panic and chaos began to grow. The death of their commander was a fatal blow to the morale of the troops.

Meanwhile, the battle on Lu Mingfei's side had reached a fever pitch. He and about a hundred men charged into the French trenches, but the French seemed to have anticipated the Prussian attack and had reinforced their ranks with a company. Lu Mingfei and his hundred men had to deal with three hundred men.

A one-on-three situation seems like a slim chance of winning, but they also have Lu Mingfei and Caesar, two hybrids, so it's not entirely hopeless.

Caesar bumped into a French soldier at a bend in the muddy trench. The man was a middle-aged soldier with a big beard and fierce eyes. He thrust his bayonet at Caesar.

Caesar sidestepped, his entrenching tool slashing down diagonally, the blade cutting into the man's shoulder-neck junction and lodging in his collarbone, splattering warm, sticky blood all over his face.

Caesar pulled out the entrenching tool with force, and the French soldier collapsed limply. How many was this? The fifth? The sixth? He couldn't remember.

During training at the Kassel College, they simulated combat using Friga bullets. Those hit would fall asleep peacefully and wake up with at most a slight headache.

But here, every swing of the sword brings out real blood, real screams, and real death.

"Caesar! To the right!" Lu Mingfei's voice came from not far away.

Caesar instinctively ducked, a bayonet grazing his cheek. He swung his shovel back, severing the man's wrist, and then kicked him to the ground.

Lu Mingfei had already reached Caesar, holding two entrenching tools in his hands. He slashed at the hands of the French soldiers beside him, his whole body soaked in blood, mostly from the enemy, but the fresh wounds on his arms, shoulders, and cheeks showed that there were also some of his own.

"Did you take them down?" Lu Mingfei asked, panting heavily.

"Hmm," Caesar replied briefly.

"That's good. Now let's fight our way out. Are you confident?" Lu Mingfei grinned, his smile blooming amidst the blood and grime. It was a smile that was almost manic, a smile that completely revealed his true nature.

Caesar looked at him, his icy blue pupils reflecting the image of his mad comrade, and he laughed.

"Of course, I am Caesar Gattuso!" Caesar wiped the blood from his face and gripped the entrenching tool tightly again.

The two men stood back to back, like a spinning meat grinder, charging towards the most densely packed area of ​​the French army.

"Otto! Move towards the center!" Lu Mingfei roared as he cleaved open the head of a French soldier.

"The squad leader is here!" Otto led seven or eight men, cutting a bloody path from the right and joining them. These men were all wounded, but their eyes were as fierce as wolves.

"Take a headcount! How many are still able to fight?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"Including those with minor injuries, about fifty!" Otto replied, panting heavily.

"We must wipe out their company!" Lu Mingfei said.