Chapter 42: Crows and Knights

Chapter 42: Crows and Knights

Chapter 42: Crows and Knights

In June 1916, it was cloudy and rainy.

A fleet of military transport vehicles drove from the industrial town of Amiens to the front line twelve kilometers away.

The hum of the engine lingered in his ears, the transport vehicle was shaking up and down, and Jiang He, who had come to his senses, smelled a strong smell of earth. Raindrops were hitting the Pippen above, and everything was dark in front of him. He tried to apply slight force with both hands but encountered resistance.

"Old-fashioned handcuffs."

Half an hour later, the transport vehicle suddenly stopped, and people in the carriage were thrown to the ground, causing a quarrel among people.

The black cloth in front of him was taken off, and Jiang He quickly looked around. Including himself, there were 72 people in total. It was very crowded, and all of them were handcuffed. According to their initial identities, they should all be death row prisoners.

"You scum, even though you are guilty of a thousand deaths, you are still men. I know that most of you chose to join the army in prison in order to avoid the death penalty. But it doesn't matter. Welcome to the Prussian hell. You will go to the most dangerous place and do the most dangerous job. You deserve all this!"

The man with lieutenant's epaulettes yelled, and then a team of military police with rifles rushed up, roughly uncuffed the handcuffs, and escorted everyone out of the car.

Jiang He followed the crowd and came to the camp. There stood a wooden sign with "Birmingham" engraved on it at the door.

England is currently still under a voluntary military system, with battalions as the unit and recruiting soldiers according to the county area. A lieutenant colonel serves as the battalion commander. Under normal circumstances, the strength of a battalion fluctuates around 1,000 soldiers, with four infantry companies under its command.

"Hey, man, I haven't seen you before."

Next to the queue, a tall young man winked and approached, saying, "I grew up in Birmingham, and I have received all the ladies on Black Charcoal Street."

Jiang He said indifferently: "So you came to me to form a group, because people who know you don't want to associate with you. In fact, I have been away from home since I was a child."

There was a burst of laughter in the queue, everyone was happy to watch the fun, and the lieutenant in charge of the escort lit up a Majorca cigarette, completely ignoring the noise in front of him.

The tall young man's face flushed, "You are just an outsider. We in Birmingham don't welcome you!"

Jiang He was too lazy to prove anything and continued, "Murder, arson, piracy, treason, there are only four types of death penalty nowadays. You have already died for treason. The last big pirate to be hanged was decades ago. You are either stupid enough to start a fire accidentally, or you kill an old man or a woman or a child. After all, it seems that no one here is afraid of you."

The tall young man lowered his head, a mixture of anger and unwillingness. A stone hit his forehead and blood soon flowed out. He covered the wound tightly, still staring at the muddy feet.

The condemned man who threw the stone shouted, "Coward! A coward who burned his own house but didn't dare to go in to save his brothers and sisters. People like you should go to hell as soon as possible. Go and become a Prussian. Even your drunkard father is ten thousand times better than you!"

“It’s a shame.”

"Is he worthy of being sentenced to death along with us?"

"Drunkard Henry is just a bad person. How could he give birth to such a guy?"

Jiang He deliberately asked doubtfully: "How can a person be so cowardly? I don't believe it."

The tall young man looked angry, but suddenly raised his head and said, "My name is Charlie. I will prove to you whether I am a coward or not in the future!"

"Who knows when you might suddenly die? This nonsense is meaningless."

"Then I will follow you till death, and I will see for myself on the battlefield, you outsider!"

The column entered the camp, and the lieutenant and a non-commissioned officer briefly handed over their duties before leaving.

The sergeant was a thin man with a tawny beard, sinister eyes and a baggy khaki field uniform. He looked quite drunk.

"Corporal Arthur, you damned missing bastards, don't say you don't know me."

"You've made it big, Arthur!"

"Tommy, your brother has always been a good kid."

The death row inmates became lively. Birmingham has a population of several hundred thousand, and the locals have made a name for themselves and have heard of each other.

Arthur snorted and roared, "Once you are here, you must obey your superiors' orders. Now everyone, go get your supplies. If you don't want your feet to rot, take a few more pairs of socks."

Upon hearing this, the death row prisoners hurried to the military supply warehouse and went around to collect the necessities for the privates.

Jiang He was the fastest and was the first to complete a circle. The .303 Lee Enfield rifle, which was mainly equipped by the British Army, was well-known and its production volume was second only to the AK series, which had not yet been born. It had an effective range of more than meters, a ten-round loading, and supported the configuration of a scope. In addition, the bayonet, leather boots, field uniforms, engineer shovels, etc. were not light in weight. The most important thing was the iron helmet, which was only equipped on a large scale by infantry six months ago. This was a lesson learned after countless deaths.

Charlie, a tall young man, followed someone closely. He pulled the bolt excitedly and felt the sound was wonderful.

Arthur secretly took a sip of wine, and when he saw that everyone had finished packing, he shouted, "Follow me."

A group of people stepped on the mud and entered the trench line. The soldiers were scooping out the accumulated water on the ground with their helmets and talking and laughing with each other. After the Battle of Loos, the British army had not launched a large-scale offensive for eight months.

Arriving at the front-line trench, Company Sergeant Tommy pushed the almost burned-out cigarette to the ground to extinguish it. His blue eyes were the only clean part of his body. He spoke, but his voice was not loud.

"Unfortunately, you will spend more than half of the next week as tunnel soldiers living in this battlefield. The environment there is worse than you can imagine. The chalk soil may collapse at any time, and there are enemies who may appear at any time. From now on, I will be responsible for you. I will pray sincerely after I die."

Tommy relit a Somme cigarette, activated his supernatural powers, and then reached out to light up the three privates.

"You three tough ones come with me."

Charlie turned to look at Jiang He, and seeing the other person taking a step forward, he followed suit. The other person was the death row prisoner who threw stones at him.

Arthur arranged for this group of new privates to be stationed in this section of the trench with a company. Because of the upcoming major operation, the number of troops soared to nearly three hundred. His younger brother Tommy was the company sergeant major with the rank of second-class warrant officer. He was usually responsible for tunnels, coordination and logistics.

Tommy put out his cigarette and said bluntly, "We have received an order from above. Starting tomorrow morning, the artillery group behind the front will cover the Prussian position with saturation firepower for seven consecutive days to destroy the enemy's barbed wire and machine gun positions. When the bombing is over, all front-line troops will launch a charge. Our company's mission is to dig a tunnel and bury and detonate explosives under the opposite No. 145 position."

"We don't have enough time. That's why you're here. The Prussians are also digging tunnels. If we run into them, we'll have close combat. I need people to attack from both sides. You three are the toughest among the newcomers. Forgive me for saying something so inexplicable, but I have gypsy blood."

Charlie yelled, "Leave it to us, sir!"

Jiang He did not comment. This was not a negotiation, but a notification. The other party just expressed it in a euphemistic way.

Tommy handed over his aluminum cigarette box. Cigarettes could be used as currency on the front line to exchange for alcohol and other military supplies with comrades. A haircut required about three cigarettes.

Charlie and the condemned man both looked at someone. Tommy saw that the test had paid off and said, "You are now a private. You are in charge of the three-person team. I will make up the process tonight. Then it's dinner time."

"Understood." Jiang He replied, took the aluminum cigarette box, and a prompt tone sounded in his ears.

[Tip: Faction reputation +10 points]
[Promotion: You have become a second-class soldier (10/100)]
……

In the evening, a simple bonfire was burning in the trenches. Several helmets were hung on a bracket made of wooden sticks, and there was gradually boiling hot water inside. Tobacco, alcohol, tea and sugar were indispensable supplementary foods in the army. The British army had an unimaginable devotion to tea.

As for the military rations, Jiang He took a bite of the "wooden board" called No. 4 biscuit. It was so hard that it hurt his teeth. Its only advantage was that it was moisture-proof.

There was a cry in the sky, and a large crow circled down and landed next to the campfire. He threw the caught hare into the fire and roasted it. He jumped close and whispered:

"This is a welcome gift, partner. Stop chewing on these cookies that can be used as bricks."

Jiang He couldn't help but look sideways. He thought that his exclusive intelligence agent might be a man or a woman, but he never expected it to be a big crow.

Crow introduced himself: "I'm a player level 8, I don't have much combat ability, I can only run away and collect intelligence. Haha, my name is Wuhe, I audited computer science and technology, and my business ability is quite good."

Not far away, Charlie and the death row inmate were frying bacon and No. 4 biscuits. Jiang He stretched out his hand and let Wuhe jump onto his shoulder. He moved his lips slightly and asked, "What is the Prussian Sword of Reverse Trees? I have a sign here that the offender is in a high position inside."

Wuhe answered cheerfully, "At present, I only know that it is the official intelligence organization of Prussia. There is more than one extraordinary person in it. The ancient alchemists in this world of remnant life have made major breakthroughs in the field of souls. The alchemical matrix they developed is based on animal souls and turned into armor to protect souls. They named it Knight Soul Armor, which gives people extraordinary powers."

"For example, your current boss Tommy, the intelligence I have found shows that his soul weapon is a wildebeest, also known as a wildebeest knight. He has the gypsy tradition of free migration and love for his family. His physique is slightly better than that of ordinary people, and he can have a flash of inspiration when facing a crisis and turn danger into safety."

"Can it also enhance basic attributes?"

"Yes, but the increase is not significant. It is equivalent to two free attribute points. The focus is on the abilities derived from animals."

Jiang He was somewhat interested in hearing this and said, "Check the old nobles on the opposite Prussian front. They should have a stable inheritance. You and I can get soul weapons, and our strength can be improved."

Wuhe nodded. All his resources were concentrated in his professional field and he had no ability to engage in frontal combat. He rushed to join them as soon as he had gained something in order to cooperate.

Before leaving, Wuhe said, "Partner, you can find a few more helmets and put them in the ten equipment slots of the authorized player. This will add head defense and make it difficult for bullets to explode your head. Also, add a friend first."

(End of this chapter)