O Somme! The bloodiest battle of the First World War will take place here, with more than 1.3 million soldiers from both the Allies and the Central Powers spilling blood on the ground, and more than 340,000 casualties compared to the Battle of Verdun, known as the "meat grinder".

Leach was sure that Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes was right, that the Entente were going to make a big move on the Somme side, but he listened to Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, and it was obvious that the Allies were aware of the military intentions of the Entente, but to some extent did not pay enough attention to it.

I don't know when the Allied artillery bombardment stopped, but the artillery units on the side of the Central Powers were still carrying out retaliatory shelling.

The sound of the explosion came from afar, and there was no explosion and the shaking of the ground at close range, and the faces of the officers in the bunker were not tense at all. And it seems that it was at this time that Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes saw the corporal standing in the corner of the bunker.

"Who is he?"

"Report to the sir, he's my herald."

"Why is he here?"

"Report to the sir, I need him to communicate with the positional guard company of the 24th Reserve Light Infantry Battalion at all times."

Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, who seemed uncomfortable with the presence of a corporal at the officers' meeting, waved his hand to Adolf. Hitler went a little further.

Adolph. Hitler should have looked humiliated when he was driven away, but he seemed to be relieved and retreated some distance.

Hard to understand? No, no, no, you must know that Germany during the First World War was an imperial system. Under this system, the class is very strict, and the strictness of the class is also reflected in the ranks of the army.

The strictness of classes is not unique to Germany, and it should be said that the current state emphasizes class division, especially the army, which pays more attention to the difference between officers and soldiers. It is in such an environment that Adolf. Hitler stayed next to a group of officers, and one can imagine how much psychological pressure he must have been.

Richie looked at the lieutenant who was talking to Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes, a middle-aged man who looked slightly chubby, and his left hand habitually moved when he spoke, and occasionally raised it with a ring with a family crest on his finger that stood out.

"Richie? Richie! ”

A call made Richie turn his head to see Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes' serious face.

"Your company needs reinforcements, and we don't have a source of reinforcements from the rear. I allow you to go to the field hospital in the rear to make a selection, understand? ”

"Understood, sir."

The Somme was large, and the common positions of the 24th Reserve Light Infantry Battalion and the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment were near Bomon-Ammel. Mr. Leach had heard from some of his colleagues that the opposite side of the position was guarded by a British colonist force, apparently called the Newfoundland Legion, all of whom were from Canada.

Baumont Amer? The name was terrible, and Richie didn't know the history of the First World War, but he vaguely remembered that the Battle of the Somme had begun with Beaumont Ammel, and that they had been stationed there.

Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes also deliberately allowed the search for additional troops from the field hospital, indicating that Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes was not as relaxed as he was during the meeting, and it was estimated that he had already smelled danger.

At the end of the short officer meeting, it was not only Li Qi who was given a quick replenishment of the company's troops, but the rest of the lieutenants were given similar orders, but many more could only go to the baggage team to pull people.

"Your name is Adolf. Hitler? Li Qi took the initiative to extend his hand to the person facing him, waiting for a handshake.

Adolph. Hitler was a little surprised that a lieutenant took the initiative to reach out his hand, he tensed his body, first raised his hand and gave a military salute touching his forehead, and then stretched out his hand, and his voice was a little loud: "Yes, lieutenant, I am Adolf. Hitler, from Braunau. ”

Li Qi looked at the slightly honored corporal in front of him and felt very complicated in his heart, he knew very well what kind of storm this corporal would roll up in the future and sweep the entire European continent.

"If nothing else, Lieutenant, allow me to carry out the commander's orders?" Adolph. Hitler turned to leave, he took a few steps and turned his head to look at Li Qi, who was standing there, probably wondering why the lieutenant was so strange.

Richie was standing there looking at Adolf. Hitler's figure disappeared around the corner of the trench before he took a step, and he needed to hurry to the field hospital in the rear, where the medical officer assisted the fifty-four soldiers selected to replenish his company. He was glad that he had gone to the field hospital instead of the baggage team to select the source of soldiers, and the soldiers in the field hospital were all wounded in battle and had already been on the battlefield at least once.

The field hospital is set up in a wooded area three kilometers behind, and Li Qi cannot go alone, he needs to return to the company first, find his non-commissioned officer to explain some matters after leaving, and also need to bring his adjutant with him, and it is better to find two bicycles to travel on his behalf.

It has not rained for a while, and the trench is still dry, but because the artillery on both sides will tilt the shells from time to time, the trenches in some sections will be covered by the soil and then dug again, and the soil on the ground will be splashed into the trench from time to time, and the soil on the foot is slightly soft when walking inside the trench.

In World War I, each German company was usually a hundred men, led by at least one lieutenant or higher lieutenant, and at least two second lieutenants or sergeants were needed as platoon commanders, and each company usually had one or two non-commissioned officers, and the rest of the squad was led by non-commissioned officers or first class officers.

Richie's company had already fought many battles, and after a few battles it had been reduced to forty-six men. The casualties of their company seem to be very serious, but in fact, they can only be said to be average, and there are many troops who are worse than this company. For example, in another company of the same battalion, from the captain and company commander to the private, all the 100 people lay on the battlefield as corpses in one charge.

It was a tragic thing that an entire company had been killed, and it would be a tragedy in which there was not even a single person who wrote a death notice. However, this was not unusual at the time.

On the road from the front line to the back, Li Qi, who was riding a bicycle with the adjutant, saw many teams marching towards the front line with goose steps. He couldn't read the insignia of each team, so he couldn't tell where the new troops came from.

During World War I, the reserve corps of the Second Empire was organized by state, and each state would have its own insignia, and even the military uniforms would be different, generally the uniforms of the Guards were the most ornate, and the uniforms of the reserve corps were relatively monotonous.

The adjutant took the military order issued by Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes to the head of the field hospital, and Li Qi stood by the side of the road and watched.

Li Qi looked at it for a while and found that there were two Guards troops. He knew from some people's small talk that the commander of the 2nd Army, General Galwitz, had come to the front. Feng. Hindenburg and Franz. Joseph I also came to the Somme front to inspect and offer condolences.