Chapter 41 African Forces (Two in One)
Lu Mingfei's sickle-weasel detected it before the bombardment came. He immediately stopped Paul and his men who were about to charge forward, and ordered the team behind to stop advancing.
All the artillery fire fell on Samonie's trenches and part of the area in front. If Lu Mingfei had not stopped the troops behind from advancing in time, they would probably have suffered considerable losses.
The artillery fire was like an angry dragon, tearing horrific wounds on the ground. Smoke and dust filled the air, covering the sky and the sun.
Lu Mingfei took Paul and the others to hide behind a small mound and watched Samonie being bombarded by artillery fire not far away.
The deafening explosions made them cover their ears involuntarily, their heartbeats seemed to rise and fall with the shells. With each explosion, the ground shook slightly, and the smell of dust mixed with gunpowder blew in their faces, making them feel suffocated.
"Corporal, it looks like that wasn't fired by our artillery." Hill squatted beside Lu Mingfei and asked in a low voice, with a hint of uneasiness in his tone.
"Don't worry about it. It's our turn to attack once the bombardment ends." Lu Mingfei didn't understand where the bombardment came from, but he knew that the moment the bombardment ended would be the perfect time to attack.
Although his voice was calm, his eyes were fixed straight ahead, ready for the next move at any time.
The long shelling finally ended. Lu Mingfei and his men ran towards Samonie's defense line with guns. During this period, no gunshots were heard and they occupied Samonie's trenches effortlessly.
The machine guns that had frightened them had already turned into scrap metal. There was almost nothing intact in the trenches, and there were twisted steel and shattered sandbags everywhere. But Lu Mingfei still detected through the sickle weasel that there were a few faint heartbeats in the place buried in the soil.
"Dig!" Lu Mingfei took out his engineer shovel and dug towards the places where there were still faint heartbeats. Paul and his men also began to dig for the living French soldiers under Lu Mingfei's instructions. The soil was dug up shovel by shovel, and the smell of blood and soil filled the air.
The war had already caused too much bloodshed, and Lu Mingfei didn't mind saving those French soldiers if it didn't endanger his own safety or that of his comrades. He understood that both the enemy and the friendly forces were innocent people dragged into the abyss by this war.
Bernard was dug out by Lu Mingfei. Fortunately, he was not torn to pieces by the bombardment. Covered in dust and blood, Bernard looked particularly embarrassed, but the lieutenant colonel rank on his chest was still clearly visible.
"Oh, he's a lieutenant colonel." Lu Mingfei was a little surprised when he saw the military rank of the man who was dug out.
Bernard coughed a few times with great effort and coughed out the dirt in his throat. If Lu Mingfei had been slower, he would have suffocated to death.
After coughing, Bernard looked at the Prussian soldiers who occupied the trenches with a complicated expression. Under Lu Mingfei's instructions, those soldiers dug out the surviving French soldiers one by one.
He didn't expect that his position would be attacked by his own people, and in the end he survived by relying on the enemy's charity. He felt that the faith he had always held seemed to be collapsing. It was a deep sense of powerlessness and loss, as if the soul had been drained out of the whole person.
"Have one." Lu Mingfei took out two cigarettes from his pocket, lit them, put one in his mouth, and handed the other to Bernard.
Bernard took the cigarette and smoked it silently. He and Lu Mingfei watched the Prussian soldiers digging the soil and bandaging the wounded French soldiers. The smoke filled the space between them, as if it was a bridge between two different worlds.
Bernard didn't speak until the cigarette in his mouth was almost burned out, his voice was so dry and hoarse.
"You can't reach Verdun." This was the only thing the stubborn French lieutenant colonel could say now.
“Maybe…” Lu Mingfei was a little hesitant. He didn’t know much about the history of World War I. During history classes, he either slept or read novels and comics, but he had heard a little about Verdun, the place known as the last glory of France.
The last living French soldier was dug out, and they and Bernard were taken as prisoners to the camp behind the Prussian army. Every captured soldier seemed unusually silent, with complex emotions in their eyes, including anger, humiliation, and a hint of relief.
Lu Mingfei was watching the French soldiers staggering toward the rear. Hill came over and said, "Corporal, I just heard from those French soldiers who were dug out that the defense line behind seemed to be guarded by African troops." Hill's voice sounded a little worried.
"African troops?" Lu Mingfei narrowed his eyes and took a deep puff of cigarette when he heard Hill's words.
The African troops had a very bad reputation in the Prussian army because they never took prisoners and any enemy soldiers they captured would be tortured and killed on the spot.
These African soldiers all came from tribes in Morocco and Algeria. They fought very bravely, but perhaps because of their low level of education, they were very impulsive and often disobeyed orders and rushed around on the battlefield. Every time they launched a charge, they were like a group of chimpanzees in heat.
…………
Louvremont, the rear defense line of Samonie, on the evening of February 2th.
"Omar, I heard that Samonia ahead has fallen, and those Prussians are about to attack. Can we stop them?" An African soldier dressed in black asked another African soldier next to him.
He was now lying in a bomb crater, shivering with cold, his whole body curled up, his dark skin becoming his best protective color in the dark night. If it weren't for his mouth full of white teeth and two eyeballs, no one would have noticed that there was a person lying here.
"I don't know, those French are damned! They let us die in the front, but they are sleeping in the trenches behind us!" Another African soldier in the crater was also shivering with cold, and he kept cursing at the French soldiers behind him. Their clothes had long been penetrated by the cold wind and moisture, and their bodies were as stiff as iron, and even their fingers could not move flexibly.
Although the weather in France is not as cold as in Russia, for people like them who come from Africa where the average temperature in winter is around 20 degrees, the severe cold here is somewhat unbearable.
What's more, the defense line they are currently stationed on has no pre-set fortifications, only densely packed bomb craters. All the shelters on the defense line that could be used to resist severe cold or artillery fire were razed to the ground by Prussian artillery shells in the past two days.
The hastily built fortifications in the rear were now occupied by the French. They could only lie in the bomb craters and endure the severe cold waiting for the Prussian army to attack. The morale of all the African soldiers in the bomb craters was reduced to the lowest. Everyone prayed silently in their hearts, hoping that this night could pass safely.
They have almost completely lost their will to fight. After all, this is not their country. They are just here to be cannon fodder and die. If there is any benefit for them coming here, it may be the first snow in their lives that they saw two days ago.
When they saw the legendary snow, all the members of the African combat troops were so excited that they even ate the falling snow. However, when they had to lie on the cold snow at night to resist the enemy's attack, everyone's excitement was completely gone, and they were left with only deep disgust for this white and wet object.
"Those Frenchmen are here to kill us!" The African soldier named Omar was still cursing. Every curse was filled with anger and helplessness, as if he wanted to vent all his dissatisfaction.
"It's not enough that they have plundered our country's wealth, they also want us to be cannon fodder for them. When I go back, I will make sure my children resist the rule of these French guys!" Omar's voice was particularly harsh in the cold night, as if it could pierce through the dark sky.
Omar's voice was so loud that not only the African soldier beside him heard it, but also the African soldiers in other bomb craters. They all agreed that Omar was right, and the seeds were quietly planted during this period. A flame of resistance ignited in everyone's heart. Although the flame was weak, it seemed particularly hot in this cold night.
"Omar, stop cursing. Look, are those Prussians?" The African soldier beside Omar quickly pulled Omar to stop talking, and pointed outside the crater. Omar only saw countless gray objects rushing towards them outside the crater, like a black tide that was about to drown them. It was an endless darkness that seemed to swallow up everything they had.
Omar stuck his head out of the crater to see more clearly. As soon as he stuck his head out, a bullet brushed past his ear. He immediately lay back down in the crater, touching the bloodstain left by the bullet with some shock.
"It's the Prussians! The Prussians are attacking!" Omar shouted loudly, his voice filled with fear and despair, as if he wanted to use his voice to dispel the fear in his heart.
"Everyone, prepare to fight!" an African soldier shouted. He was the platoon leader of their platoon. He just stood up and wanted to shoot outside when a bullet pierced his brain. Blood spurted out instantly, staining the snow around him red, like a blooming red flower.
"Run!" Omar was terrified as he looked at the platoon leader lying in front of him with his eyes open. This was his first time on the battlefield and the first time he saw someone die in front of him. Fear spread in his heart, as if it was going to devour all his rationality.
He ran madly backwards, the snow under his feet making a harsh sound under his footsteps, and every step was filled with despair and fear.
The other African soldiers who were still lying in the shell holes and preparing to shoot at the oncoming Prussian soldiers dropped their guns and ran to the rear when they saw Omar running.
The Prussian soldiers' bullets kept flying, as if the god of death was whispering in their ears. Every fallen comrade made them feel extremely terrified, but they had no time to care about anything else, and their only thought was to escape.
Their figures seemed particularly small in the night, like a group of lambs lost in the darkness. Everyone was filled with despair, but they had no choice but to struggle to survive on this battlefield. The cold wind whistled past, taking away their last bit of warmth, leaving only endless cold and fear.
……
"Deville, do you think those Germans will really attack us?" Two French soldiers were hiding in the shelter to keep warm. Their thin uniforms were unable to withstand the severe cold outside.
"What are you afraid of? We have to wait until all the niggers outside are dead before it will be our turn." One of the French soldiers curled his lips in disdain when he heard his companion's question.
At this moment, a sudden noise outside attracted their attention.
"Could it be that the Germans are attacking us?" the French soldier who asked the question just now asked with some fear.
"Damn it, those niggers died so quickly, let's go out and take a look." Another French soldier cursed, and they both walked out of the trench to check the situation outside.
The French soldiers in other shelters also heard the noise and walked out of the shelters and lay down in the trenches.
When all the French soldiers came out of their shelters and lay down in the trenches, they saw a group of black objects running towards them, shouting that the Prussians were attacking.
"It's those niggers. How come they are coming here?" Deville lay in front of the machine gun and aimed outside. He was the machine gunner of this company. The person who asked him the question just now was his deputy and he repeated that it was his deputy.
"Hurry up and get back to your defense line!" The company commander of their company shouted at the African soldiers who were running wildly, and at the same time he took out his pistol and fired several shots into the air.
But the African soldiers did not stop at all. Instead, they ran faster when they heard the gunshots.
"Damn it! Machine gunner! Shoot!" Seeing that his shouting had no effect at all, the company commander gave an order to Deville.
"Shoot...shoot...Aren't we in the same group?" the deputy machine gunner stammered.
"The deserters are not in the same group with us, and those black chimpanzees are dead, so they are dead." Deville responded coldly.
At the company commander's command, machine gun fire rang out. Bullets rained down on the fleeing African soldiers, and the snow was immediately stained with blood. Some soldiers fell to the ground after being shot, howling in pain. Their voices echoed in the cold night sky, mournful and desperate.
Deville's eyes were cold and ruthless, and his finger kept pulling the trigger, with no mercy or sympathy at all. In his view, these fleeing African soldiers were not his comrades at all, but betrayers, targets that he had to eliminate.
"Keep shooting, don't let anyone retreat!" The company commander's voice was particularly loud amid the gunfire, carrying with it endless coldness and determination.
However, no matter how strict the company commander's orders were, some African soldiers still tried desperately to escape.
The soldiers who were hit were struggling on the ground, their blood staining the snow around them red. Some were still screaming, trying to use their last bit of strength to crawl towards the bunker in the distance, but their efforts were doomed to be in vain.
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