Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei's War Journey

Chapter 93 Iron Cross and Doping

The attack on February 22nd came to an end. With the arrival of the main force, Lu Mingfei and his men completely captured the forest. However, the Ninth Company suffered heavy losses. The Third Platoon led by Lu Mingfei was relatively okay, but the other three platoons were basically all lost by more than half.

Lu Mingfei released the entrenching tool in his hand and, together with Caesar, placed a corpse into the pit they had just dug, and then began to fill it with soil to bury it.

After doing all this, he and the other surviving soldiers saluted the surrounding mounds of earth.

Henrik stood quietly at a distance without disturbing them. Only after Lu Mingfei and the others finished their moment of silence did he come to Lu Mingfei's side and speak.

"You did a great job this time. I've already written it into the battle report. I believe you'll receive an Iron Cross in a few weeks."

"However, although the Iron Cross cannot be given to you immediately, I have already reported that your rank will be promoted to sergeant major, Caesar and Otto will be promoted to sergeant, and several other soldiers will be promoted to corporal."

The corpses hanging in the woods shocked the entire division headquarters. The massacre, which was clearly a demonstration of force, made the staff officers, who were used to casualty figures, fall silent for the first time in front of the battle report.

Fortunately, Lu Mingfei and his men eliminated the French troops who committed this atrocity, so the higher-ups planned to issue some commendations. However, the application process for the Iron Cross was quite complicated, requiring multiple levels of approval and taking at least two weeks to be sent from the rear.

The quickest way to boost morale now is to promote military rank. Henryk was also completely cleared of suspicion of treason because of this action and was reinstated as a captain.

"Iron Cross?" Lu Mingfei repeated in a low voice, his tone revealing little emotion.

Henrik nodded and continued, "Not only you, but Caesar, Otto, and several others who held the line at crucial moments will also be nominated, but your name will be listed first."

Lu Mingfei looked up at Henrik and asked, "Company Commander, how many men are left in the Ninth Company?"

Henrik was silent for a few seconds before finally speaking: "Less than half of the original staff."

The answer wasn't unexpected, but it was still chilling when it was actually said.

"Then can we leave this area?" Lu Mingfei continued to ask, even though he already knew the answer.

"No, we can only keep moving forward until we're all dead," Henrik said. He longed to leave this hellhole, but they didn't have that right.

"Don't think too much about it. Get some rest tonight. We have to keep fighting tomorrow." Henrik patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder.

Lu Mingfei nodded without saying anything more. He understood what Henrik meant. He turned and walked towards where the three platoons of soldiers were gathered. Otto was bandaging a young soldier's arm wound. Karl was leaning on his rifle, staring blankly into the distance. The others were either sitting or lying down, their faces filled with exhaustion and lingering fear.

"Platoon leader." Otto stopped what he was doing when he saw him.

Lu Mingfei walked among them, his gaze sweeping over each familiar face or one with newly added scars. "Did you all hear what the company commander said?"

The soldiers nodded, some excited after all, it was the Iron Cross, but others were dismissive.

"The Iron Cross—ha, I wonder if we'll even live to see the day the Iron Cross arrives. Mitrell wanted the Iron Cross so badly, and now he's lying here." Karl chuckled, then patted the grave mound beside him.

That's where Mitrell lies. Lu Mingfei remembers that the soldier wanted to marry the girl he liked, but her father's condition was that he get a Level 2 Iron Cross.

"Does anyone have the address of the Mitrell family?" Lu Mingfei asked. He planned to send the Iron Cross to Mitrell's house after he got it; it was the only thing he could do.

Soon a soldier gave him an address. Lu Mingfei silently wrote it down and then sat down next to Caesar, who had been silent since the beginning.

"What's wrong? You're about to receive the honor you've always wanted, aren't you happy?"

"The last member of Hoffmann's class is dead too—" Caesar murmured upon hearing Lu Mingfei's words. He looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with unprecedented confusion.

Hearing this, Lu Mingfei was stunned. He knew that Caesar was not referring to the soldiers he was currently leading, but to the Hoffmann Class he led in the recruit training camp.

Lu Mingfei's current platoon is the original recruit company. Of the 230 recruits in the recruit company, only more than 30 remain. Not to mention Caesar's Hoffmann class, even Lu Mingfei's Hans class in the recruit camp now only has a few familiar faces left.

A heavy sadness quietly permeated the two of them, but Lu Mingfei knew that they could not wallow in it.

He took a deep breath of the cold air, then suddenly raised his hand and slammed it heavily on Caesar's shoulder, the force so great that Caesar's body swayed.

"Hey! Sergeant Caesar!" Lu Mingfei's voice was deliberately raised, carrying an almost exaggerated sense of fervor and excitement.

"Get your act together! How can you survive tomorrow's attack if you're constantly living in an atmosphere of death?! Think about how to lead the surviving brothers to live one more day! That's what you should be thinking about right now!"

As he finished speaking, Caesar felt his heart begin to race, his adrenaline surge, his face flush, and he became as excited as if he had been given a stimulant.

"Damn it—Lu Mingfei! Stop using your damn supernatural powers right now!" Caesar roared. He felt as if he had been forcibly injected with a large dose of adrenaline. Although his spirits were lifted, the discomfort from his racing heart was also very clear.

"I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my throat!"

Lu Mingfei chuckled softly, as if he had succeeded in playing a prank, and the golden light in his eyes faded.

Caesar then felt his violently beating heart begin to calm down, and his body felt like it had taken off; he was somewhat weak but still able to cope.

"Is this your Word of Power? Your chosen servant?" Caesar couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know. After I killed that hybrid, I gained a memory and this ability. However, the gap between me and the Royal Chosen One is quite large. It's like giving you guys a stimulant; it doesn't enhance the body's functions," Lu Mingfei said, shaking his head.

"Doping? That's fine too. Morale is very important on the battlefield," Caesar said in a low voice.

Lu Mingfei looked at Caesar's face, which quickly regained its composure but still retained a slight, unusual flush, and nodded: "So, perhaps we should give it a new name? 'High Morale'? Or 'Adrenaline Surge'?"

Caesar rolled his eyes at him, annoyed. "More than your taste in naming, I'm concerned about its consumption and reach. How many people can you influence at once? How long will the effect last?"

Lu Mingfei pondered for a moment: "About—if I go all out, it can cover a radius of 100 meters? The effect will weaken if there are too many people, and the duration will not be long, maybe just a few minutes. Afterwards, there will be a brief feeling of fatigue, but it's not like the severe backlash after the King's Chosen Servant ends. The consumption on myself is roughly equivalent to sprinting one kilometer at full speed."

Caesar nodded thoughtfully. This ability might become a powerful tool to turn the tide of a battle at crucial moments, especially when charging, holding a position, or retreating, boosting morale on the verge of collapse.

"A very useful ability, but—it seems you're destined to be an agitator or a commander, Sergeant Lu Mingfei. Your skill is like a lower-level Word of Power of a Royal Chosen Servant. I wonder if you can become a Royal Chosen Servant in the future."

"Who knows—let's just get through tomorrow first," Lu Mingfei said in a low voice.

"It's your turn to be on guard, Sergeant Caesar. I'm going to take a nap."

"Understood." Caesar stood up, stretched his stiff neck, picked up his rifle again, and regained his usual calmness in his eyes. However, deep down, there was a hint of complicated thoughts about his increasingly unfathomable comrade-in-arms.

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