"Tum..."

Flares pierced the dark sky, and searchlight lights swept across the no-man's land hundreds of meters wide from time to time. Brand-new and cruel barbed wires were scattered in this no-man's land, and the air exuded the stench of corpses.

Entering April, as the weather gets hotter and hotter, some corpses of soldiers that were not cleaned up hastily rotted under the sun, emitting a disgusting stench. (Read the novel at Ye Zi·Yu~You.yzuu.)

Looking from the reconnaissance balloon to the ground, the no-man's land covered with wire mesh is like the surface of the moon. Millions of artillery shells are sweeping across this land. Perhaps, in the past few years,

In the middle of the month, there was no fierce fighting here. Even every day, except for the Battle of Verdun, which was still going on but had exhausted both sides, newspapers would report this stalemate with the title "All Quiet on the Western Front."

The battlefield, but no one knows when the war will break out.

However, at this time, the atmosphere on the entire battlefield seemed very tense. Whether it was French soldiers, British soldiers, or German soldiers, they all understood that after this silence, it often means the beginning of a more intense storm!

At this time, no one dared to take it lightly. With the light of flash bombs, the French soldiers in the trenches observed the battlefield from the periscope. They endured the bites of mosquitoes in the trenches. When they thought of the troops behind them, bursts of dissatisfaction suddenly surged in their hearts.

mood.

“I really envy those Chinese people!”

Yes, since the battle of Verdun, the Chinese Expeditionary Force has become a new force in the Allied Powers. When people thought that more and more Chinese Expeditionary Forces would play their role on the battlefield, what was unexpected was that

, but they were thrown into the rear far away from the front line. Obviously, for the French, the Chinese Expeditionary Force they were worried about had once again won their glory, and this army that had just made military exploits seemed to be forgotten.

However, although it has been forgotten, the Chinese Expeditionary Force is still continuously deployed on small scales by the French military headquarters to save France's own blood. But correspondingly, the Chinese Expeditionary Force rarely undertakes the main offensive tasks anymore.

Most of them were defensive operations, and the months-long defensive operations had cost the expeditionary force tens of thousands of casualties.

However, for the French military headquarters, in this process, they seemed to have discovered a new "use" of the Chinese Expeditionary Force. As long as it is a position defended by the Chinese Expeditionary Force, it will never be lost, and the French casualties exceed five

Achievements are difficult to maintain. After receiving an order, the Chinese Expeditionary Force will perform its duties to the letter and will never retreat even half a step without an order. This unexpected surprise makes it possible for the Chinese Expeditionary Force to continue to fight against the Chinese ** troops

There are some prejudices, but the generals in the French military headquarters have to admit one thing, just as the outside world says - China has the best soldiers in the world.

On the muddy road, lightning trucks made in China were driving in the mud. Most of these cars carried the insignia of the French army. If we say that after Verdun, except for the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which has gained some fame, the Expeditionary Force

The "Lightning" truck used is also called "the best truck".

During the Battle of Verdun, the French army witnessed with their own eyes how the "Chinese Lightning" traveled on impossible roads. Later, when the expeditionary force was resting and recuperating, at the request of the French military headquarters, the expeditionary force transported troops to France.

The army provided 100 "Lightning" trucks. Before the Battle of Verdun, which was designed to make France shed blood, and the Germans also shed blood, came to an end. The French Army Command was like China purchasing many

Up to 10,000 "Lightning" trucks to replace domestic and Ford trucks.

In the past few months, more and more "Chinese Lightnings" have appeared on the worst traffic roads on the French front, gradually replacing Ford and other American trucks. Just as a group of "Chinese Lightnings" loaded with wounded people were traveling along the

As they were retreating along the muddy road, a dozen dark green "Lightning Trucks", led by a small "Lightning Horse", headed forward. [.yz u u. Just read the novel~]

….

Compared with the "Chinese Lightning", military cars called "Lightning Horses" by soldiers are not well-known in France. Only the expeditionary force is equipped with hundreds of "Lightning Horses", but anyone who has seen it will be familiar with it.

Its crate-shaped body leaves a deep impression. This small car has a simple structure and tough style. It is made of stamped thin steel plates with reinforced ribs and is equipped with a folding windshield and canvas roof. And this small car

The total weight is only 685 kilograms, and only one person can lift it from the front. More importantly, its good cross-country capabilities mean that officers riding the "Lightning Horse" do not need to consider pushing the cart when passing through the swamp.

question.

In the eyes of many people, within a few months, this small but powerful car is a first-class car and will soon be accepted by the British, French and other military teams like the "Lightning" truck.

When the convoy was driving, the French people on the roadside would occasionally cast their eyes on the convoy. The people sitting on the trucks were all Orientals. Seeing these Asians, it was different from the ridicule in the past. Those French

The soldiers always gave them kind smiles and even greeted them enthusiastically. No matter what the generals thought, in the eyes of these French soldiers, no matter what, this army that suffered the Germans was staying in the same trench with them.

friends in.

"Are you new here?"

A soldier in the sidecar of a motorcycle next to the convoy asked loudly to the Chinese soldiers on the truck. The uniforms of these soldiers were very new, and their faces did not have the fatigue after staying on the front line for a long time.

Completely full of energy.

Additional troops!

The soldiers on these dozen trucks are all soldiers replenished from the southern military camps. They are often soldiers who have just arrived in France from China. Maybe the fighting on the front line is not too fierce, but the loss of soldiers in the army always needs to be replaced in time.

, no one knows when the next battle will start, and after it starts, whether the expeditionary force will take on new tasks.

All Quiet on the Western Front!

Almost as soon as they arrived in France, Lu Siyou and his comrades heard this sentence, and also heard all kinds of "rumors" about the expeditionary force. Although the expeditionary force was on the front line, it was far away from the front line. The expeditionary force was "glorious"

"" has become a reserve force. At least for the exception of a dozen infantry regiments scattered at certain supporting points on the front line, the vast majority of the expeditionary forces are stationed in French rural military camps more than ten kilometers away from the front line, quietly

Quietly waiting for orders.

The truck drove into the military camp. Lu Siyou and others in the car quickly looked at their "seniors" curiously. The troops added by Lu Siyou and others were the 3rd Division of the Expeditionary Force. The 3rd Division had an infantry regiment stationed along the Somme River.

Although no fighting has broken out there in recent months, small-scale raids are still taking place. Faced with his own casualties, the commander of the Third Division made several requests to the headquarters, asking him to make up the difference immediately.

Finally, after waiting for more than a month, with the arrival of the fourth batch of troops, the headquarters finally met his request and provided him with 364 new recruits.

"Look,"

Wang Shiqin, who was filling the sandbags with mud, grabbed the grain beside him and pointed at the reinforcements who jumped out of the car.

"Another batch of new recruits!"

Jia Youliang nodded. Even though none of them had been on the battlefield, everyone felt like they were veterans who had been on the battlefield. [Ye*zi] [Yu*You] As soon as they saw the new recruits, they seemed to have found some

"Veteran" feeling.

"Let's go back and see if these new recruits have brought anything..."

"Wang Shiqin, the family has food!"

The sergeant sitting on a simple sandbag machine gun fort suddenly roared. The two of them were chatting and quickly continued to fill the sandbags. Maybe this is a military camp far away from the front line, but as an army, we must always be vigilant.

What's more, they don't believe those foreigners from the bottom of their hearts. Just two months ago, in Verdun, the 32nd Regiment of the Expeditionary Force was responsible for guarding a defensive line because the French army was retreating.

They didn't say hello to them and were almost surrounded by the Germans. Now, even though they were in the rear, in order to avoid the same thing happening, they turned the military camp into a field fortress to avoid being hasty when friendly forces' defense lines were breached.

When organizing the defense, it was discovered that there were no fortifications to defend....

Looking at the "veterans" who were building fortifications in the camp, Lu Siyou felt a little strange, because it was still more than ten kilometers away from the front line, but they still built the camp into a simple fortress.

"I am Second Lieutenant Wang Tianmu. Now I need to explain to you..."

When Lu Siyou and others looked curiously at the camp and the veterans whose uniforms were stained with mud, an officer stood behind the table and explained to them with a form.

"This is your personal insurance policy. According to the insurance regulations of the Expeditionary Forces, only if you die in action after signing the personal insurance, your family can receive insurance benefits other than the pension..."

"In the name column, fill in your name, in the number column, fill in your soldier name plate number, and here is the beneficiary column. This is very important. Not only must the beneficiary's name be clearly written, but also the beneficiary's relationship.

Relationships, such as parents, wives and children..."

After explaining the military insurance, Second Lieutenant Wang Tianmu picked up another document.

"Okay, this is the form for military savings. According to the regulations, 40% of your military salary will be received in cash in France and 60% will be paid at home. This was already determined before you came to France, but now you have entered

In the war zone, you can receive a field allowance of 5 cents per day. Please be sure to fill in your military savings account. In fact, as your commander, I hope you can have long-term plans, considering that this is located on the front line, and your food, clothing, housing and transportation include straw paper

All personal items such as cigarettes, soap, toothpaste, etc. are provided by the expeditionary force. In the military camp and on the front line, there is no place to spend money at all. Therefore, I suggest that you change the general's salary to a lump sum method. In this case,

After a year, you will have a few hundred yuan in savings. With this savings, when you return to China in the future, you can use the money and your retirement money to do some business and buy land. Of course, if you are willing, you can also use military pay.

Buy bonds, and the interest on bonds is relatively high. If you make this choice, your account can be directly converted into a bond certificate of deposit..."

Different from treating soldiers as "food" and "cannon fodder" in the past, perhaps based on the experience of the Jiangsu Army, the military needs to use various methods to ensure that soldiers have no worries, including pensions, insurance and other "financial services".

One of them is to solve the soldiers' worries.

"There is also this kind of military mail. I believe you have come across it. This kind of envelope is a military mail envelope. All the postage has been paid in advance. Each soldier can get ten envelopes per month. If you finish writing ten letters, you can

Send letters to the Military Welfare Institute, and your letters will be put into military parcels. For military parcels, the French do not dare to charge for postage. Of course, the letters will be separated domestically..."

For Wang Tianmu, this bespectacled second lieutenant officer who graduated from a French missionary school, apart from the translation work, what he does here is to explain to the soldiers the various benefits prepared by the expeditionary force headquarters for the soldiers, and to explain to the soldiers

They explained soldier insurance and even some financial services for soldiers.

"Okay, disband, turn in the form in an hour!"

Finally, after building a simple defense line along the machine gun fort, Wang Shiqin and Jia Youliang, who had no other tasks, strolled to the additional recruits. They had just received personal equipment such as rifles, grenades, and gas masks.

, were having a meal in the restaurant. It was different from the first batch of expeditionary troops who came to France in the past. The food was sufficient, and there was also a lot of meat.

"Every day feels like Chinese New Year!"

For many soldiers who have just arrived in France from China, the food in France undoubtedly satisfies their appetite - a lot of meat!

"Recruit egg!"

Sitting on the chair, Wang Shiqin asked when he saw the new recruits with their mouths full of oil...

"I haven't had such good food in a long time!"

The expeditionary force's meals were divided into two types, one was battlefield meals, with very rich meals, and the other was rear meals, with very simple meals and only eating meat once every two days.

"French bread in the morning, rice and radish chowder at noon, noodles in the evening..."

Seeing that the other party's military rank was higher than his own, Lu Siyou quickly replied.

“Not as much meat as here!”

Listening to the words of this new recruit, Jia Youliang said.
To be continued...