Dragon Clan: Lu Mingfei from All Quiet on the Western Front - Chapter 39: Samonie

Chapter 40 Samonie (Two in One)

"Paul, what should we do!" Kropp and Paul hid behind a small earthen mound. Two Hotchkiss M1914 heavy machine guns in the French trenches across from them were firing at them with crossfire. The terrifying firepower of the machine guns made them unable to raise their heads. Bullets whizzed past, and the earthen mounds splashed with dust, like water splashing in a storm.

"Wait!" Paul said only one word while lying on the mound. He was under great pressure at the moment, and his face looked haggard, with bloodshot eyes. His fingers tightly gripped the rifle, and his joints turned white due to excessive force. Sweat slid down his forehead and soaked his temples.

This was the first time he led a team to launch an attack. In the past, Kaczynski was always at the front, with Lu Mingfei, the sharpshooter, providing cover on the side. He only had to follow the orders and charge forward.

But now the core members of the two teams were gone, and only he, a barely experienced veteran, led the others to attack. Paul felt powerless, as if every step forward was shrouded in the shadow of death.

On the first day of the attack, the squad had people killed. The shells that Kaczynski and Lu Mingfei had managed to dodge every time before now seemed to have eyes and were specifically targeting them. Every explosion echoed in his ears, and every comrade's fall was a pain in his heart.

The sound of machine guns on the opposite side finally stopped. On the other side, a flamethrower climbed out of a small mound with a gas tank on his back and began to charge towards the French position, followed by many soldiers.

"Charge!!!" Paul saw that other teams had already charged, so he also ordered a charge. The soldiers' footsteps made a heavy sound on the muddy ground, and their heartbeats seemed to keep pace with the rhythm.

The flamethrower rushed to a place not far from the French position. Before he could stand firm, a bullet hit the fuel tank on his back, causing it to explode instantly. The flames from the explosion engulfed several soldiers behind the flamethrower. The flames danced in the air like the tentacles of a demon, burning all the lives that came close.

The sound of machine guns rang out again, and this time they had no cover and could only be shot at like targets. Bullets rained down densely on the ground and human bodies, making a creepy crackling sound.

The soldiers in front of Paul kept falling down like wheat being cut. Just when Paul thought it was his turn, the sound of machine guns suddenly stopped, and the French soldiers lying on the trenches on the opposite side also stopped moving one by one. The air was filled with smoke and the smell of blood. The sudden silence made Paul seem to hear his own heartbeat.

Paul didn't have time to think about it, he continued to rush forward, and soon rushed into the French trenches, he pulled out the engineer shovel from his waist and swung it at the French soldiers in the trenches, in this kind of trench hand-to-hand combat, the engineer shovel is much more useful than the bayonet. Every time he swung it, he was determined, and sweat, blood and mud mixed together and splashed on his face.

He chopped the shovel into the chest of a French soldier, but the French soldier did not fall down immediately. Instead, he held his shovel tightly. Paul could feel the other's hands trembling violently, and his eyes showed reluctance and fear.

A French soldier behind Paul saw this and stabbed at Paul with his bayonet. Just when Paul thought his luck was finally up and he was going to die here, a gunshot rang out and the French soldier who was rushing towards him with his bayonet fell to the ground.

"Paul, what the hell are you still standing there for!"

A familiar voice came into Paul's ears. He turned his head and looked at the trench. He saw Lu Mingfei half-kneeling on the trench, panting and pulling the bolt. Lu Mingfei's face was pale due to fatigue, but his eyes were still as sharp as a knife.

The moment he saw Lu Mingfei, Paul couldn't believe his eyes. For a moment, it seemed as if a mist covered his eyes and his vision became blurred.

Gunshots rang out again, and Lu Mingfei shot a French soldier who was pinning Hill to the ground not far away in the head. When he turned around and pulled the bolt, he found Paul still staring at him blankly, and he was so angry that he almost shot the guy.

"Paul, if you don't move, I'm going to shoot you!"

When Paul heard Lu Mingfei's angry curse, he smiled instead. He raised his hand and wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, then kicked the French soldier who was holding his engineering shovel, pulling the shovel out. Then he swung the shovel again, this time cutting the French soldier's throat and completely ending his life.

Paul roared and waved his shovel at the French soldiers around him. At this moment, he was full of energy, as if he had found his backbone, and he chopped down several French soldiers in a row. Every blow seemed to vent all the pent-up emotions of the past few days.

Lu Mingfei pulled the bolt continuously, shooting dead any French soldiers who might threaten the Prussian soldiers in the trenches. Every shot was accompanied by the fall of a French soldier, and Lu Mingfei's sharpshooter style remained undiminished.

The French soldiers in the trenches fled as they watched their comrades falling down, and finally a line of defense in front of Samonie was taken. The trenches were filled with cheers of victory and groans of pain, and the smell of blood and gunpowder filled the air.

Lu Mingfei sat in the trench panting. He felt like his lungs were about to explode, and his whole body was in pain. The bones that had begun to heal seemed to be breaking again. Every breath he took was accompanied by severe pain.

In order to get here as soon as possible, he did not stop for a moment. In order to make his shooting more accurate, he even held his breath while shooting.

"Hans, why are you here...Shouldn't you be back home for recuperation?" Paul sat next to Lu Mingfei, panting. He leaned against the trench and slumped down like a deflated ball, or like a bow that had been stretched tight and suddenly relaxed. Every cell in his body was calling for rest, but he knew it was not the time to relax.

"I was supposed to go back to Prussia today, but I met Garden and he said your condition was not good, so I rushed here." Lu Mingfei said calmly, but his voice sounded unusually clear in the noisy battlefield.

"Sorry..." Paul lowered his head in shame, his heart full of self-blame for not being able to protect his comrades.

"Paul, it's not your fault. This is war. That's how war is. No one knows when they will die." Lu Mingfei comforted him, with a look of deep fatigue and helplessness in his eyes.

"Corporal, I thought I was going to die here just now, but I didn't expect you to show up. You know, the moment you appeared, I felt like I saw an angel." Hill also sat over, looking at Lu Mingfei with stars in his eyes.

The other surviving members of the team also gathered around Lu Mingfei. When they saw Lu Mingfei, they all relaxed. They had been under a lot of pressure during this period.

Fatigue and tension were etched on every face, as if all the fear and anxiety had found a safe haven to rely on in an instant.

The previous battle in the Corey Woods had had a great impact on their three perspectives, and before they could digest the shock, they were dragged to a new battlefield.

Moreover, this French position had not been bombarded, and the firepower was very fierce. The remnants of the French troops from other lines of defense were constantly filling in here. Every attack was a race against death.

In order to take this place, they could only rely on human lives. The Prussian soldiers who launched the charge kept falling down like wheat being cut. The two French machine guns fired at least tens of thousands of bullets in the past few days, repelling their attacks time and time again.

Lu Mingfei and his team took a brief rest before heading to the rear defense line. Everyone knew that there were more challenges and dangers waiting for them ahead, but they had no choice but to keep moving forward.

With Lu Mingfei's joining, their attack went much more smoothly and they were about to reach Samonia.

………………

"Damn it!" Lieutenant Colonel Bernard, the commander of Samonie, angrily swept all the documents, maps and ink bottles on the table to the ground. Those things were scattered everywhere, and the ink spilled on the floor, just like Bernard's anger and despair at the moment.

Just now, a battalion coming to reinforce Samonie was discovered by a Prussian artillery observation post half a mile from Samonie.

The Prussian heavy artillery mercilessly created a terrible wall of fire between the reinforcements and the Samonie defenders, with flames shooting into the sky and smoke filling the air.

The reinforcements were caught off guard by the sudden artillery fire. Amid the tragic explosions, the soldiers fled in all directions, their cries and roars mixed together. In the end, they suffered heavy losses and were forced to stop advancing. "Report to the colonel! Most of the officers at the grassroots level are dead! No one is managing the soldiers who are still alive. They all want to escape! They even spread the word in the rear that Samonie is about to fall, saying that they are the only group of people alive!" A nervous signalman panted and rushed into the headquarters, reporting hastily.

"The rumors even reached Bapst's division headquarters, and they sent a message asking if Samonie had really been lost!" the adjutant quickly added, his voice trembling slightly with nervousness.

Bernard was so angry when he heard the report from his adjutant that he slammed his fist on the table, almost fainting from anger. He stared with bloodshot eyes full of anger and helplessness. Bad news came one after another, as if fate was mocking him mercilessly.

"Tell those guys in the military that Samonio is fine! We will defend until the last man falls, and we will place a machine gun team on the rear line of defense! If anyone still wants to escape, just shoot him!" Bernard ordered with gritted teeth, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"I will never let those cowards tarnish the glory of France!" His voice was low and firm, echoing in the air like a vow.

"Yes!" The adjutant received the order and immediately found Samonie's last warhorse and asked the messenger to go to Bapst in the rear to tell him that Samonie was still holding on. The messenger took the reins, his face showing tension, but he still got on the warhorse.

When the messenger rode out of Samonie, he saw the gray Prussian uniforms rushing towards Samonie like an endless ocean, accompanied by fierce artillery bombardment. The shells drew arcs in the air, made sharp whistles, and then exploded on the ground.

The messenger was frightened by the scene and waved his whip desperately to make the horse get to Bapst faster.

When he ran into Bapst, he was already sweating all over and his face was as pale as paper. He began to shout the news of the fall of Samonie, his voice hoarse and desperate, he did not believe that Samonie could hold on under such an attack.

An officer of Bapst wanted to stop him to ask for specific details, but failed. The messenger was still running desperately to deliver the message. His eyes were full of fear and despair, as if the shadow of death had already shrouded his heart.

It wasn't long before the news spread throughout Bapst and even reached the ears of Commander Bapst.

"Lieutenant Colonel! Those Germans are attacking!"

On the other side, Bernard's adjutant also saw the Prussian army attacking and immediately reported the news to Bernard.

"Everyone defend the position until the last person dies!" Bernard's voice was as firm as steel, with an unyielding will. He knew that Samonie had no way to retreat and could only fight to the death.

Most of the company and platoon leaders in Samonieri had been killed in the battle, so Bernard personally took up his gun and went to the front to command the battle. His figure seemed extremely firm in the artillery fire, like an unyielding mountain.

The French soldiers in the trenches who had wanted to flee when they saw the Prussians coming were greatly shocked when they saw the battalion commander personally go to the front line. Their fear and despair were infected by Bernard's courage, and they clenched their weapons and prepared for the final battle.

"For the glory of France!" Bernard pulled out his pistol and lay on the trench, continuously shooting at the incoming Prussian soldiers, while shouting loudly to boost the morale of the soldiers around him.

The French soldiers were indeed inspired by Bernard's shouting. They raised their guns and shot at the Prussian soldiers. The roar of the machine guns also gave them more confidence. They successfully resisted the first round of attack by the Prussian army.

At this moment, a shell fell into Samonie's trench. Bernard looked at the place where the shell fell with some despair. One shell was not enough to make the commander of Samonie despair. What really made him despair was that the shell was fired from Bapst behind them.

Bapst's military headquarters believed the messenger's words and thought that Samonie had fallen, so they launched an indiscriminate artillery bombardment on Samonie.

The French artillery, which had never been accurate since the beginning of the war, was extremely accurate this time. The machine gun positions were silenced, and more and more shells fell into the trenches of Samonie.

Bernard ordered his men to quickly fire a signal flare to stop firing, but it was of no avail. The shelling lasted for two full hours, and Samonie fell under the fire of its own people.

I found that I really can't balance work and novel writing at the same time, so I told my boss yesterday that I would resign, but he wants me to leave in September. I don't know if I can support myself by writing novels. If not, I'll just take it as a half-year vacation for myself.

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