The Battle of the Somme was the largest battle of the First World War, beginning on 24 June 1916 and ending on 18 November 1916.

The British and French forces paid the price of more than 620,000 casualties in order to break through the German defenses and push them back to the Franco-German border. During the war, the British and French forces killed and wounded almost equal numbers of German troops, and caused 130,000 German troops to be lost and 300,000 to escape, but the purpose of the campaign was not achieved.

When Qin Zhiyuan and his team arrived in France, the Battle of the Somme had been going on for more than two months, and in these two months, Britain and France suffered heavy casualties, of which on the first day of the campaign, the British army suffered nearly 60,000 casualties.

In all the wars before this, no side had ever lost 60,000 men in a single day, which shows the cruelty of the battle.

Since the beginning of the war, the French army has not suffered casualties below the British army. Therefore, the French are accustomed to death, to farewell ceremonies, and life is only a number on paper for them.

The French second lieutenant in front of Qin Zhiyuan was obviously the same.

At this time, the sky is getting dark, the distant artillery fire is shining brightly and darkly, and from time to time there is a faint sound of "rumbling" explosions, the earth is trembling, the air is burning, the sky is not seeing the sun and moon, and even the night stars cannot bear to witness.

Walking on the road, the army is still endless, and the strange thing is that almost everyone is silent, and they are silently walking towards death and home.

"What do you want to do? Shoot me? Can you kill everyone here? Can you guarantee that your conscience will not be condemned? Qin Zhiyuan took a step forward again with the muzzle of the gun, as if he couldn't feel the muzzle on his chest, pointed to the bright and dark explosive flames in the distance and continued to ask viciously: "Look over there, your compatriots are enduring the shelling of the Germans, they are cowering in the trenches, holding the German shells, holding the rifles that may have run out of bullets, praying for God to bless, crying and wanting to return to their mothers, waiting for the artillery brothers to support the artillery......"

Qin Zhiyuan said as he approached forward, and the poor ensign was forced by Qin Zhiyuan's might to retreat step by step, gradually retreating to the edge of the crater.

"And you, you damned, stupid, incompetent fat pig, are here to shoot your allies because of your ridiculous discrimination, your humble self-esteem. Is your self-esteem greater than the lives of your brothers on the front line? Qin Zhiyuan is not afraid at all, because the safety of the pistol on his chest has not been opened yet, even if the second lieutenant wants to shoot, he must first open the pistol safety, with Qin Zhiyuan's reaction speed, it is enough to stop such behavior.

"You...... You ......" The second lieutenant's face turned red as if he were mad. Qin Zhiyuan's angry rebuke was like pulling out the second lieutenant's military uniform, exposing him naked in front of everyone, accepting everyone's onlookers and ridicule. He couldn't stand this, so the second lieutenant tried to open the safety with his thumb, wanting to kill Qin Zhiyuan and regain control of the situation.

"Hmph......" Qin Zhiyuan sneered, reached out like lightning and grabbed the pistol wheel so that it could not be fired, and then pulled it one by one, and had already released the second lieutenant's pistol, and then controlled the second lieutenant in his arms, holding the gun against the second lieutenant's head.

"Stop!"

"Let him go!"

"It's too late for you to turn back!"

The surrounding French soldiers loaded their bullets one after another, aiming their guns at Qin Zhiyuan.

"Put the gun down!"

"Who dares to shoot!"

", come on!"

The laborers immediately picked up shovels and swarmed around Qin Zhiyuan, protecting Qin Zhiyuan tightly in the middle.

"Don't be impulsive, put the gun down first." A French soldier with the rank of sergeant major stepped out of the crowd and stood between the two groups with outstretched hands.

"Sir, please let Lieutenant Neil go, I can vouch for him not to do anything against you." The sergeant major was very prestigious, and after he finished speaking, most of the soldiers lowered their rifles and stopped aiming at the laborers.

Sergeant Major is a very special existence in the Western army, and this position is generally filled by veterans with high prestige and experience in the army. A sergeant major is different from a non-commissioned officer major, and is not considered an officer, but in general, junior officers such as company platoon commanders in the general army will consult with the sergeant major if they want to make a decision.

"Okay, as you wish." Qin Zhiyuan stepped out of the crowd, pushed the second lieutenant in his hand to the sergeant major, and turned the second lieutenant's pistol to the handle and handed it over: "He seems to have been stimulated by something, maybe it's veteran syndrome, maybe it's something else." In short, he is no longer fit to serve on the front line, nor is it suitable to return to his hometown, it is better to find him a psychiatric expert, otherwise he will have a hard time in the future. ”

Veteran's syndrome is a psychotic symptom caused by the fact that during the war, because of the high concentration of the mind, and the daily face of crazy enemies and dead comrades, and the mental guidance is not received in time.

"Damn it, you yellow-skinned monkey, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, go back to your country, this is not yours, go back to Berlin." As soon as the second lieutenant was let go, he turned around and rushed towards Qin Zhiyuan, his mouth was inverted and invective, and he looked like he was crazy.

"His brothers died in battle a month ago, and all three brothers died in battle, the same day." The sergeant major called two soldiers, restrained the second lieutenant, who was already in a state of madness, and explained with a gloomy face.

"It's so sympathetic." Qin Zhiyuan shook his head and sighed, war is always cruel; "I can understand Neil, thank you for the explanation, Mr. Sergeant, it doesn't make me feel too bad."

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. 10086, please begin your work now." Not all Westerners discriminate against Chinese. It's like in later generations, not all Chinese discriminate against Indians.

Of course, one yard is one yard, when the accident is resolved, Qin Zhiyuan and they still have to fill the pit, and the French, led by the sergeant major, will still not help.

Westerners have always insisted on the point of "each according to his own responsibility".

Now that the problem was solved, Qin Zhiyuan also picked up a shovel and began to dig and fill the pit from the side of the road.

This crater is estimated to have been shelled by heavy artillery of more than 200 millimeters, and it was so large and deep that 100 laborers filled it for 10 minutes before the bottom of the crater could be filled.

Qin Zhiyuan dug a few times, and began to change the method, more than half of the people dug the soil, and the rest of the people found raincoats, cloaks, canvases or something to make containers for special transportation, the speed was really a lot faster, about half an hour later, the crater was filled, and the convoy continued to move forward.

Not long after the convoy stopped, this time the crater was larger and deeper......

Qin Zhiyuan looked into the distance through the pillar of light of the headlights, one after another craters were layered and densely packed, and one extended to the end of the pillar of light.

It's not a hole, it's a way to rebuild.

(PS: Ask for collections, ask for recommendations, just a little bit, no money, no effort, your encouragement is the greatest encouragement to the writer.) ）