Chapter 59 Pretending to be sick (First order required)
At this time, a man pushed open the door of the ward and walked in.
"Your Highness William!" Hill, Paul and others exclaimed when they saw the person walking in, with irrepressible surprise and awe in their voices. They immediately stood up straight, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.
It was Crown Prince William who came, but he looked much more haggard at this moment, with sunken eyes and dark circles under his eyes that seemed to be the mark of countless sleepless nights.
The war had not been going well in recent times, and the heavy pressure piled on his shoulders made him look much older than his actual age. Although his military uniform was still neat, upon closer inspection, the collar and cuffs were wrinkled, as if even the heir to the empire could not escape the fatigue and anxiety.
"How is the situation? I heard that you have extensive burns on your body and most of your bones are broken. The fact that you can still survive in such a situation is called a miracle by the doctors outside." Crown Prince William pulled a chair and sat down. There was a hint of worry in his tone, but more of it was amazement at Lu Mingfei's tenacious vitality.
"The situation is not good..." Lu Mingfei lay on the hospital bed, trying to feel his current condition. He could feel pain all over his body, as if every inch of his skin, every muscle and bone were clamoring in dissatisfaction.
What was even worse was the pain in his head. It was an indescribable pain, as if a saw was constantly sawing his head, trying to saw it in half.
Lu Mingfei understood very well that this was a side effect of his previous forceful use of the two spiritual words. The pain was far more unbearable than any external injury.
"Originally, I should have awarded you the Medal of Merit for conquering the Avercourt Forest," Crown Prince William was silent for a while, his expression revealing a bit of helplessness and apology.
"But now Hill 304 has not been taken, and part of the Avercourt Forest has returned to the hands of the French, so, I'm sorry..." There was a hint of regret in his voice.
"It's nothing, I don't care, but now that Hill 304 has not been taken, what should we do with the next offensive plan?" Lu Mingfei responded calmly, without a trace of fluctuation in his tone. He never really cared about any medals of honor. To him, those so-called honors were just short-lived brilliance on the battlefield, far less important than the lives of his comrades. He was more concerned about the next battle situation.
"New reinforcements are on the way. We will launch attacks on Dead Man Hill and Hill 4 simultaneously on April 9th, intending to capture these two places in one fell swoop. Will you be able to join the battle at that time?" William stared at Lu Mingfei, with a hint of expectation and anxiety in his voice. This was also the purpose of his coming here this time.
He has already witnessed Lu Mingfei's terrifying combat power. If Lu Mingfei participates in this attack, it will undoubtedly increase the chances of winning.
"April 4th?" Lu Mingfei frowned, his tone revealing a hint of heaviness and helplessness, "I probably won't be able to make it..." He was well aware of his physical condition. The injury he suffered this time was more serious than any other time before. Not only was he physically injured, but he also suffered a great blow to his spirit.
At this moment, his head was still dizzy, and the world in front of him seemed to be shrouded in a layer of fog. He couldn't even see people clearly, let alone pick up a gun and go into battle. He didn't know how long he would have to recover to be able to join the battle.
"I understand... You should have a good rest..." The light in Crown Prince William's eyes dimmed for a moment, but he soon regained his composure.
Although Lu Mingfei cannot participate in this attack, the battle must continue. Deep in his heart, he still retains confidence in victory in this battle. Even without Lu Mingfei, he believes that with the strength of the Prussian army, they can still capture the Dead Man's Hill in this attack.
"Wait a minute!" Just as Crown Prince William turned around and was about to leave, Lu Mingfei suddenly called him.
"What's wrong?" Crown Prince William turned his head puzzledly, with a questioning look in his eyes.
"I hope that my men won't have to go to the battlefield until I recover from my injuries. This is my compensation for not having the medal again."
Although Lu Mingfei's voice was weak, every word he spoke was full of power. He didn't want to suddenly hear the news of his comrades' casualties while he was lying on the hospital bed.
"Second Lieutenant!" Hill and Paul, who had been silent since Crown Prince William came in, were now moved to tears. They looked at Lu Mingfei lying on the hospital bed, their hearts filled with infinite gratitude and admiration.
"Okay..." Crown Prince William thought for a moment and nodded in agreement to the request.
The strong do have privileges in many cases, and Lu Mingfei has undoubtedly won this privilege with his strength. What's more, the lieutenant in front of him is not doing this for himself, but to protect the subordinates who fight alongside him.
In this way, Lu Mingfei continued to lie in bed, and he still had no intention of getting up until April 4. In fact, his physical condition had recovered to a large extent, but he chose to conceal it.
After all, if anyone else had suffered the same injuries as before, they would have died several times over. As long as he didn't say anything, no one would suspect that he was faking illness in bed.
Every time he changed his dressing, Hill would help him get the medicine and then pretend to change it for him. The doctors here are extremely busy every day and are happy to have one less patient to take care of.
"Mr. Lieutenant, do we really not have to participate in the attack on Dead Man Hill?" Hill sat by the window, listening to the earth-shattering explosions in the distance, his voice filled with deep worry and uneasiness.
The hospital where they were located was not far from the Hill of the Dead, and they could clearly hear the sound of artillery fire during the attack. The sound was like an invisible giant beast, echoing through the valley, carrying the power to destroy everything.
“At least wait until the first phase of the attack is over…” Lu Mingfei stood in front of the window, staring at the huge column of smoke rising from the Dead Man Mountain in the distance. The column of smoke rolled in the sky like an erupting volcano, dyeing the entire sky blood red.
The Prussian army launched an unprecedented artillery bombardment today, consuming at least 17 trainloads of artillery shells, but even so, they still failed to capture the heights on Dead Man's Hill.
On the battlefield, soldiers from both sides were torn to pieces in the bombardment, which was why Lu Mingfei was reluctant to leave the hospital. He had anticipated how brutal the next battle would be, and he didn't know if he could change the situation of the war if he really went to the Dead Mountain. His heart was full of contradictions and struggles.
-
At the same time, on the other side of the battlefield, Moreno was carrying twelve kettles full of red wine and a long string of bread strung together like a bullet belt and hung around his neck. He treaded laboriously on the muddy ground and had to stop running forward. There were several soldiers around him who were also carrying supplies with fatigue and anxiety written all over their faces.
The Prussian bombardment continued, and the military workers who were originally transporting food to them were torn to pieces by the artillery fire halfway, leaving them without any food or water for three consecutive days.
The company commander had no choice but to send them down the Dead Man Mountain to the rear to carry food under the threat of artillery fire.
The whistling sound of shells streaking across the sky was heard, and Moreno and his men all had their hair standing on end.
The Prussian artillery had already controlled all the passages leading to the Hill of the Dead, and they would bombard these passages at irregular intervals every day to prevent any possible supplies and reinforcements.
"Moreno, be careful!" Just as Stephen shouted a warning, a cannonball tore through the air and landed precisely at his feet with unstoppable destructive power.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment. Moreno watched the shell explode the moment it touched the ground. The huge shock wave carried countless fragments and flames. Stephen's body was completely torn apart in the explosion. His flesh and blood flew in the air, and red liquid splashed, blurring Moreno's vision.
His mind was blank, and he felt as if time had stopped at that moment. All that was left in his ears was the remnant of the roar and the sound of his heart beating violently. He didn't know whether the scattered liquid was Stephen's blood or the broken red wine. The bright red liquids mixed together and dyed the ground red.
"Stephen!" Moreno's voice was hoarse and desperate, like a low roar squeezed out from the depths of his throat. He stood there blankly, staring at the pool of blood and red wine mixture at his feet, an indescribable pain and anger welling up in his heart.
He had just met up with Stephen and hadn't had time to say a few words before Stephen turned into bloody fragments in front of him, never to be seen again.
"Moreno! Hurry up! Another shell is coming!" A French soldier next to Moreno pulled Moreno, who was still dazed, and ran forward.
More and more shells fell from the sky, blasting the French soldiers running in front into pieces. A shell also fell next to Moreno, and the broken shrapnel flew towards him.
Word Spirit Bronze Throne
Moreno's skin suddenly became as hard as steel. He protected the French soldier next to him under his body, and all the shrapnel from the artillery shells were bounced off by his hard skin.
The shelling lasted for a few minutes and finally stopped, but except for Moreno and the French soldier he was protecting, all the other French soldiers who came with him were dead.
Moreno let go of the French soldier in his arms and looked at the mess on the ground in dismay.
"Moreno, let's go. The others are waiting for us." The French soldier felt sad when he saw the broken limbs all over the ground, but they still had to transport the food back to other hungry comrades and didn't have that much time to stay here and grieve.
Moreno carried the relatively intact food from the other soldiers on his back and continued running towards where the company was stationed.
When Moreno returned to the trench, he saw a comrade lying beside a pool of green water, drinking greedily. There was a swollen corpse soaking in the mud.
The corpse's face was already rotten, and its pale skin was crawling with maggots and emitting a foul stench. But the comrade didn't care about it at all, as if the rotten muddy water was the most delicious dew in the world.
They were so thirsty that they were almost going crazy and no longer cared about cleanliness.
Moreno patted the man's shoulder gently, then placed a kettle full of red wine next to him. When the other French soldiers in the trench saw Moreno coming back, they all recovered from their zombie-like appearance. Moreno distributed food to those people and then came to a middle-aged man who was sitting in front of a box of grenades and smoking.
"Captain, I'm back." This person was the captain of the company who took Moreno to the Mountain of the Dead.
"Are you the only two who came back..." The company commander looked at Moreno and the French soldier who came back with Moreno, and remained silent for a while.
"Moreno, you know, our artillery has been bombarding us for almost two hours, and I almost took this box of grenades to blow up the artillery position." The company commander took a deep puff of smoke and said, his bloodshot eyes revealing madness, proving that what he said was true.
Due to the long-term bombardment, both the French and Prussian artillery were severely worn out and had lost their accuracy. Two out of ten shells fired at the enemy would hit their own people.
"Moreno, do you think we can really hold Verdun? We have been here for so long and have not seen a single Prussian soldier, but our company suffers seven or eight casualties every day." The company commander said in a self-destructive manner. He was almost driven crazy by the endless bombardment.
"Yes, we can." Moreno said firmly. He thought to himself that if Verdun could not be defended, the deaths of Stephen, Markel, De Leon and other French soldiers would be meaningless.
"Really..." The captain hadn't finished his words when shells rained down from the sky. The huge roar drowned out his last words. A shell landed beside him, detonating the box of grenades under his buttocks, instantly blowing him into pieces. At that moment, the fire bloomed in the trench, like a sad and beautiful flower, blooming with desperate brilliance under the gray sky.
The other French soldiers who were still eating were also thrown into confusion by the sudden bombardment. This time the bombardment was different from the previous ones. The moment the bombardment ended, Prussian gray uniforms poured towards the trench like a tide.
"We can... We can definitely hold it..." Moreno muttered to himself as he looked at the remaining limbs of the company commander and the chaotic trenches. There was a trace of confusion and despair in his eyes, as if everything he believed in had turned into nothingness at this moment.
Then he opened the glass bottle that had been hanging around his neck and drank the strange red liquid with a hint of gold inside.
The moment the liquid flowed into his throat, he felt a burning power surging in his body, as if something had awakened in his blood. That power carried with it uncontrollable violence and rage, as if it was going to tear him apart.
………………
As the attack became more and more deadlocked, more and more wounded were transported to the hospital. Originally, Lu Mingfei was given a room to himself under the special care of Crown Prince William, but this was cancelled because the hospital was overcrowded.
The originally quiet ward was now filled with painful groans and anxious whispers. The walls seemed to have become cold and gloomy because of these sounds. The air was filled with a strong smell of blood and medicine, which was suffocating.
"Mr. Lieutenant, what should we do now?" Hill asked Lu Mingfei, who was still lying on the hospital bed, with a hint of uneasiness and guilt in his voice.
He felt somewhat at a loss as he looked at the wounded around him who were wailing violently in pain. His inner struggle and self-blame made him feel at a loss as to what to do. A sense of shame as a deserter lingered in his heart, making it impossible for him to suppress his anxiety.
Lu Mingfei felt a little confused when he saw the wounded people wailing around him.
Just when Lu Mingfei was struggling over whether to go to the battlefield, Crown Prince William came to his ward again after many days.
"A monster with great strength and invulnerability has recently appeared on Dead Man Mountain. My soldiers have no way to deal with him. I need you."
I’ll finish writing about Verdun with the Bronze Throne. As there is not much information about the Somme, I’ll write about it in a shorter version. I should be able to finish writing about World War I in the next few days.
(End of this chapter)
