Aoki Zhouzang couldn't think of the real reason why Lin Yiqing let him go at this time.

And his nightmare is not over now, and it will not end in the future.

Metz, France.

When Napoleon IV Eugène, Emperor of the Second French Empire? Louis? When Bonaparte reached the boundary of the infantry company on the hill, he stopped and looked back at the barracks, where the barracks below came into view in the gray morning mist.

Napoleon IV remembers that he also left here on such a day. When they passed through it three months ago, it was covered with snow; And now, the young leaves that are first born in spring are budding. At that time, he thought, no matter how desolate the scenery would be when they opened, he would never be afraid of the weather there more unpleasantly than here.

Now Napoleon IV recalls that there were not many pleasant memories left for him here.

There was a train at the end of the line, so that soldiers who had returned to the barracks drunk from the city could nap in their seats until they reached the end and were woken up. There is still a long way to go from the railway station to the barracks gate; During the quarter-mile journey, there was still time to buckle up the jacket and straighten the military hat before passing the guardhouse, and the quarter-mile concrete road was replaced by weeds. This is the farthest boundary of the city. The rows, neat residential areas and cafes came to an end, and the remote countryside began.

The place where the barracks was stationed was not long ago pastures and cultivated land; The farmhouse, still located in the bosom of the hills, has been used as a battalion headquarters; The ruined walls of what used to be an orchard are covered with ivy, and behind the laundry room there are half an acre of broken old trees left behind from the orchard. The area was planned to be cleared before the troops moved in. If there had been another year of peace, the farmhouses, the fences and the apple trees would have disappeared. Half-mile stretches of asphalt road were built between the bare earthen embankments on either side. The gutters that crisscross the road indicate that the businessmen who contracted the municipal works had planned to build a drainage system there. In another year, the area would have been part of the suburbs. Now, the little houses where they used to spend the winter are waiting for their turn to be destroyed.

Located on the other side of the road, half-hidden by the surrounding woods even in winter, is a mental hospital. It was the subject of frequent ridicule and commentary, and its iron fence and tall gate overshadowed the camp's thick barbed wire. On warm days, Napoleon IV and his comrades-in-arms could see some lunatics hanging out and jumping among the neat gravel paths and beautiful artificial grass; This group of fortunate men who did not contribute to the country, having given up the battle they could not afford, have undoubtedly done their duty, are the undisputed and legitimate heirs of this century of development, and are enjoying their inheritance in peace. As they passed there, the soldiers used to shout at the sick through the fence.

"Good friend, warm up the bed for me, I'll be here soon-"

But their platoon commander was jealous of the comfortable life of those people, "Moltke would have burned them to death," he said, "and I think we can learn a thing or two from him." ”

Napoleon IV remembered that they had arrived in the middle of winter, and that he had been accompanied by a company of strong, hopeful soldiers. When they moved from the swampy area to this dock, it was said that they would eventually sail to Berlin. As the days passed, they cleared the snow and leveled the training grounds, and he saw the soldiers turn from disappointment to resignation. They greedily sniffed the scent of the fried fish shops and pricked up their ears to the familiar, peacetime whistles of the factories and the accompaniment of ballroom bands. Now, on holidays, they stand listlessly on the corner of the street, and when they see the officer approaching, they slip sideways, for fear that if they salute, the officer will be embarrassed to see them shopping on the street with their new lover. In the company headquarters, there are a large number of slips calling for small loans and taking care of holidays; As soon as the day dawned, the day began with the grumbling voices of sick soldiers and the grumbling gloomy faces and dull eyes.

And he, Crown Prince Eugène? Louie, the rules should have lifted their spirits, but how could he help them, when he was too busy to take care of himself? Here, the colonel, who had organized them, had been promoted and replaced by a young, not so amiable man, transferred from another regiment. The group of volunteers who trained together before the outbreak of the war are now not many left in the canteen; By one way or another, they were almost gone—some were discharged from the army because of wounds and sickness, some were promoted to other battalions, some went to the general staff, some volunteered as secret agents, one was accidentally killed by a bullet on a field range, and one was court-martialed - their places were taken by conscripts; Now, people drink a lot of beer before meals; That wasn't the case before.

At that time, every night Napoleon IV felt stiff and tired, and was reluctant to leave the camp; He developed the habit of owning certain chairs and certain types of newspapers; He often drank three glasses of gin before dinner, no more, no less, and went to bed immediately at nine o'clock in the evening. He always wakes up an hour before his wake-up number, restless.

One day, shortly before his last day in the camp, when he woke up before blowing the bugle and lay in the barracks, staring into the darkness, listening to the deep snoring and dreaming of four roommates, while thinking about what he was going to do that day—had he already put the names of the two squadron leaders on the list of participants in weapons training? On the day of returning to the team after the full holiday, will the number of super fake people under him be the largest? Can he entrust a good candidate to take a class of candidates out to survey the terrain? -- When he lay down in the darkness, he was astonished to realize that there was something in his heart, that he had been ill for a long time, and had died quietly, as a husband might feel, who, in the fourth year of marriage, suddenly realized that he had no more passion, tenderness, or respect for the wife whom he had once loved, that he did not feel pleasure in her company, that he had no desire to please her, and that he had no interest in what she might do, say, or think; There is no desire to improve relations, and there is no self-condemnation of misfortune. He was well aware of the monotonous and tedious realm of marital disillusionment, and he went through it with the army, from the early days of hard pursuit to the present day, and now there was nothing left between them except the cold obligations imposed by law, duty, and custom. He personally performed every scene of this family tragedy, and found that the early little quarrels became more frequent, the tears were less contagious, and the reconciliation was no longer sweet, until a cold mood and cold criticism arose, which made him more and more convinced that it was not him who was at fault, but his original lover. He heard dishonest tones in her voice, and he had learned to listen with concern for it; He saw a blank, resentful, incomprehensible look in her eyes, and he saw the corners of her selfish, pursed lips. He understands her as one understands a woman who has lived together day after day for three and a half years: he understands her sloppy habits, her means of exercising her charms, her jealousy and selfishness, and the neurotic movements of her fingers when she lies. She had now lost all charm power, and he could see that she was a stranger with whom he was not like-minded, and that his past obsession with her was inseparably united.

So, on the morning of the army's departure, he didn't care at all where the destination was. He will continue to serve, but he will only accept it silently, without enthusiasm. They were ordered to get on the train at a nearby railroad branch at a quarter past nine in the morning and put the rest of their rations in their military backpacks; That's all he had to know. The deputy company commander had already led a small advance team away. The company's things had been packed up the first day. The whole company assembled in a formation at half-past seven, and the canvas military backpacks were placed in front of the barracks. It was a very exciting morning, and they mistakenly thought they had been sent to defend the border. From that time on, they had to change their guard three or four times a year; This time, their new commander was putting on an unusual "security" show, even going so far as to get them to take off the emblems on their uniforms and transports. It was "extremely useful training for the state of war," he said, "and if I found a camp prostitute waiting for us over there, then I would know that there was a leak." ”

Kitchen smoke floated in the morning mist, and the barracks were stationed there like a labyrinth, made up of many lines, depicted on an unfinished architectural plan of a house, as if recently excavated by a group of archaeologists.

After that, the smoke was replaced by gunsmoke.

The bloody Franco-Prussian War was a veritable nightmare for Napoleon IV.

I remember that day, the sun was still rising happily, indicating that it must be hot at noon. A golden glow floated over the trees, and a white mist rose from the low-lying pastures. Clean and beautiful villages, waking up in coolness, fields with rivers and springs, as charming as bouquets with dew. But this beautiful day did not bring laughter to anyone. For the people had just seen the emperor and the crown prince circling the fortress, and he looked at the neighbouring houses, and then went to the other side of the river, and from there he observed the terrain with a telescope; A general accompanied him, as if to explain something to him. The general then set up sentry posts behind the walls, behind the trees, and in the caves.

He was always nervous that day, biting his lip, a wrinkle of indignation appeared on his forehead, and from time to time he stood on tiptoe, his eyes fixed on the direction of the woods, as if he wanted to see the Prussian army coming. His adjutant was pale and walked around solemnly, giving them what the soldiers needed. They were cooking thick soup in a corner of the yard, some were joking and joking, waiting to eat.

"This is a real fortress," he said, "and we can hold on......... The robbers can't get in. ”

The emperor listened to him and did not say a word. He was still sitting, his saber between his legs, and his eyes were fixed into the distance, as if in a dream.

It's ten o'clock. It's hot. There was a dreary silence. The soldiers were already drinking thick soup in the shadow of the open canopy in the courtyard. There was not a sound in the village, and the residents all blocked their doors and windows. A dog was left alone on the road, barking non-stop. From the drowsy heat of the woods and the neighboring pastures, there was a distant, long sound, synthesized by a diffuse breeze. A cuckoo chirped a few times. Then there was even more silence.

In the sleeping air, a gunshot suddenly rang out. The general hurriedly stood up, and the soldiers put down the soup pot that was still half left. In less than a few seconds, all of them were on their combat posts; The fort was full of people. The general was now on the road, and he could see nothing; The road stretched out to the left and right, and it was white, and there was no one. The second gunshot rang out again, and still nothing could be seen. There was not even a figure, but when he turned around, he saw a small cloud of smoke rising from the woods, between the two trees, like a gossamer floating in the air, and the woods were still so deep and quiet.

Between the French soldiers defending the area and the Prussian troops hiding behind the trees, they opened fire on each other, and the gunfire became more and more intense. Yu Dan swooped across the river, but there were no casualties on either side. There are no rules for the sound of gunfire, and there are gunshots coming out of every bush. But all you could see was the light smoke that was blown slowly by the wind. Nearly two hours passed like this. The Emperor stood on tiptoe and peered out through a low wall. They were particularly interested in the little soldier, who stood behind an old hull by the river, who lay on the ground and watched, shot at every opportunity, and then crawled into a ditch not far behind him to load his bullets, and his movements were so funny, so cunning, so nimble, so nimble that no one could help but smile when he saw them. He must have seen the head of a Prussian soldier, for he was scrambled to his feet, and put his gun to his shoulder to aim, but before he could shoot, an enemy shell flew and exploded not far from him, and he screamed, and rolled over and fell into the ditch, and twitched stiffly like the paws of a freshly slaughtered chick. He was hit by shrapnel in the chest. This is the first person the emperor has seen killed today.

"Your Majesty, you'd better not stay here any longer." The general said with some concern, "The enemy's shells will come in a while." ”

As if to confirm his words, sure enough, just as he finished speaking, with the sound of whistling, one shell after another flew over, and exploded in the distance in the surrounding French positions.

You don't need a telescope to see that the Prussian shells drowned the French positions on the ground in smoke and splashes of dirt. Many French soldiers were hit, some were blown to pieces, they died on the spot, some fell to the ground screaming, and he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart when he saw a Prussian shell fall on a platoon of guns, blowing up the ammunition wagons and the platoon gunners.

He remembered the suggestion made by Lin Yizhe, a Qianguo man, in his letter about the use of the Lifei Platoon gun.

“…… If the Flying Platoon Gun is used against the enemy's rifle fire, it will definitely be successful, because the Platoon Gun fires rifle ammunition and has the same range as small arms. But if you insist on using it against the enemy's field artillery, you will inevitably fail, because this work is not at all what a platoon gun is capable of......"

In fact, in the Battle of Saarbrügen, the French army used the rifle for the first time, although it was only a skirmish, but the French thought that the rifle would be a weapon that would help them win. But later battles showed that the results of this confidence were catastrophic. The platoon guns in the same open position as the French artillery immediately became a striking target, and were destroyed by the Prussian artillery at the beginning.

In fact, with the exception of the French themselves, most European countries knew the details of the platoon of guns, and the Prussians were no exception, and they quickly found a way to deal with the platoon. In the first confrontation with the platoon guns, the Prussians had only a few hundred soldiers hiding in bunkers along the entire route of the French infantry division, while many more soldiers were scattered to form a defensive line, which made it extremely difficult for the platoon guns to exert their power. During the battle, the French used platoon guns against the field artillery of the Prussian avant-garde. After the French positions were bombarded by the Prussian army, in order to return fire, they immediately mobilized a platoon gun battalion to move to the front and set up on some unprotected earthen platforms. The Prussian artillery soon discovered the French platoon gun positions, and in the ensuing shelling, the French platoon guns were almost completely destroyed by Prussian artillery fire and had to be forced to retreat.

Despite a string of defeats, the stubborn French did not learn their lesson and continued to engage their platoon guns and artillery at the same time, while the Prussian Krupp artillery could destroy them without much difficulty. The French stubbornly used the platoon guns as artillery, with disastrous results, but there was also a hidden reason - the platoon guns were too heavy to fight with the infantry.

The Prussian artillery was still firing, and some of the poorly concealed French troops were dealt terrible blows, and in less than ten minutes he saw almost a hundred French soldiers killed and wounded, but to his relief, many French soldiers remained calm in their positions, waiting for the enemy to attack and give the enemy a fierce return fire.

Another shell flew and exploded on the ground, causing the leaves of the big elm tree to fall. Fortunately, the Prussians aimed too high. The guards were almost dragging the emperor and themselves. The general followed them and shouted, "Please go inside the fortress!" The walls there are strong. ”

They walked into a bunker where a dozen or so French soldiers were waiting silently. The window guards were closed, and they peered out through the cracks. He saw that there were three flying platoons set up here. (To be continued.) )