With a capacity of 333 rounds and a theoretical rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, the Maxim heavy machine gun continued to reap the lives of British soldiers.

Although Williams spared no effort to order his soldiers to disperse their positions, using craters to counterattack and cover, the initial phalanx attack formation still cost the British army extremely heavily.

Zhou Yu led the Chinese workers of the C13 task force to continuously transport wounded soldiers in the rear and help the military doctors to treat them.

In this environment of gunfire, people are not aware of the fatigue and the speed of time passing, they only feel like a century has passed.

When the gunfire in the front position gradually became less dense, Zhou Yucai finally took the time to step on the ammunition box and look ahead.

However, he couldn't even see the German position on the opposite side at first glance, because the corpses of fallen British soldiers were stacked on top of each other in the central no-man's land, and even piled up into a hill, obscuring his view.

"...... Williams that idiot! Did he bring my words to the front? ”

Zhou Yu scolded and once again beckoned the Chinese workers of the C13 task force to rush out of the trench and enter the no-man's land to carry the wounded.

Only this time he noticed that the gunfire on the opposite side gradually stopped, and some people wearing German uniforms and wearing red cross badges on their arms appeared sporadically.

It seems that the military doctors and medical soldiers of the other side have also come out to fish for people.

There seemed to be some sort of tacit understanding between the two sides of the fighting, and before it became dark and night, both sides began to send medical troops into the central no-man's land to carry the bodies and the wounded.

It's just that as the defensive side, the German army had much fewer wounded and corpses than the British side, and soon disappeared into the smoke-filled position.

On the other hand, on the British side, Zhou Yu and them did not drag all the corpses back until it was all dark.

The first day of the assault finally stopped, and when the hearts of the people were relieved, a tidal wave of exhaustion and hunger instantly flooded them.

"My mother...... I felt that my hands and feet no longer belonged to me, and I was busy hitting the back of my head with my foot all day, and I didn't eat a mouthful of food......"

The fortune teller thrashed his calves and arms and complained.

Mu Dezhu rubbed his stomach, let out a thunderous roar, and said with a bitter face: "The emperor is not a hungry soldier, do these foreign devils understand the rules?" ”

Wu Xiaolong, the dart master, took off his hat angrily, and said hatefully: "Isn't it, letting the horses run and not giving the horses grazing, is this going to starve us to death or exhaust us?" ”

While everyone was complaining, Zhou Yu saw a young soldier sitting at the far end of the trench who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old.

He slowly walked over to the little warrior, who didn't seem to notice anyone approaching, just mechanically stuffing food into his mouth and not focusing his eyes.

"What's your name? What are the rows? Zhou Yu asked with a pure British accent.

The little soldier was stunned for a moment, then stood up reflexively, looked ahead and said:

"Sir! My name is Bill, and I'm in the ninth row of the sixth company! ”

"The ...... of the ninth platoon" Zhou Yu recalled that the ninth platoon should be one of the main forces responsible for the charge during the day.

"How many men are left in your platoon to retreat from their positions?"

Hearing this question, the little soldier's cheeks twitched slightly, and he replied in an extremely slight voice: "Let's platoon...... I'm left alone......"

The little warrior repeated the words in a tone similar to that of himself, until he was awakened by a voice.

"Bruce, what are you doing here? Go and get your people ready to eat! ”

Williams walked over to this side, glanced at Zhou Yu with complicated eyes, and then glanced at the little soldier.

The little soldier came back to his senses, but when he turned around, he saw Zhou Yu with an oriental appearance, and his face suddenly turned red.

"You...... You're not a chief at all! Why is a maggot-like laborer talking to me? What the hell! Bad luck! ”

He shouted angrily as he walked away from the trench where the Chinese workers were resting.

Williams frowned slightly, and stammered a little: "That kid should have been a miner before, and he didn't have much education. ”

After he finished speaking, he felt awkward, thinking that he was from a famous family and a lieutenant in the British army, so what was the need to explain to a Chinese worker?

As for the attitude of the little soldier, Zhou Yu had seen too much after arriving at the Somme war zone, and at the moment he just nodded tiredly, turned around and waved his hand to the other Chinese workers and said, "Line up, prepare to eat." ”

The first day of fighting was over, and with the exception of the sentries who had stayed in the front-line trenches to guard against enemy attacks, the other soldiers had already received their food for the day, and they had found a corner to sit there and chew and swallow mechanically.

They don't even know what they're eating, they just instinctively fill their stomachs.

And Zhou Yu and the others received the black bread that was as hard as a stone, and they snorted and ate these soups three or two times, although the food didn't seem to be much, but when it came to the stomach, it magically gave birth to a feeling of fullness.

The screams and wails of the night are still heard in the camp, and the soldiers who were shot during the day are experiencing the most painful first night, and the crucial night that will determine whether they can save their lives.

When they were finally able to rest, no one spoke to the laborers sitting in the trenches, and they were all shocked by the hellish scene of the day.

I didn't feel anything when I was busy during the day, but when I relaxed, my head was full of blood, broken limbs, internal organs, and exploding brains.

Suddenly, a laborer held on to the trench and vomited all the bread he had just eaten in his stomach.

Mu Dezhu looked at this scene and said to himself regretfully: "This guy has wasted all the food, it is better to let me help him eat ......"

"Task Force C13 obeys!"

At this time, Williams, who had already changed his clothes, walked over.

Although he shouted Task Force C13, he actually said it to Zhou Yu alone.

"It's sir!"

Zhou Yu didn't make any outrageous moves like during the day, but stood up straight and replied respectfully.

Williams coughed dryly and said, "Take your men back to the station, and launch a second round of shocks early tomorrow morning!" Your task force is going to go along, too! During the day, a company of soldiers under my command broke through the enemy's machine-gun blockade and entered the enemy's first line.

They saw that it had been almost flattened by our artillery fire, and that the Germans had retreated to the second line of positions. So...... Tomorrow during the day we will advance with all our troops and drive the enemy out of the Somme in one fell swoop! ”

"It's sir!"

Zhou Yu agreed, but he didn't believe in his heart that they would be able to drive the enemy away tomorrow.

If the upper echelons of the British army do not adjust their offensive strategy as soon as possible and continue to choose to attack intensively, then they will only die more, delay this tug-of-war for a longer time, and it will be impossible to achieve the pre-planned plan.

After the sky was completely dark, both sides seemed to have tacitly chosen a truce.

While counting the number of casualties, the two sides prepared an offensive and defensive plan for the next day.

Although Zhou Yu's C13 team was only responsible for digging trenches and transporting the wounded and corpses, it still lost sixteen companions and seven others were wounded on the battlefield during the day.

These poor creatures were hit by stray bullets, and they were not treated in time and effectively, so they dried their blood to death.

In the Huagong Cave, Zhou Yu asked everyone to dig a small hole next to the side that led to the outside, and then lit a fire and began to dry the clothes that were wet during the day.

It is important to know that the trenches have almost no drainage function, and in case of rain, the water in the trenches is often waist-deep, often forcing both opposing sides to abandon the trenches and retreat to higher ground.

And even if the trenches are not soaked in water, the very viscous cannon fodder will be stuck with thin mud on your feet, and it will be difficult for people to walk an inch.

If your feet are soaked in water for a long time, it won't take long for them to become infected with the fungus, first turning red, then blue, then itching, and emitting a foul smell.

If these small problems are not taken seriously, the condition will gradually worsen, causing minor damage to the skin and blood vessels on the surface of the feet, and even facing amputation.

"Remember, our feet must be dry as long as we can, take off our socks and shoes and bake them."

In order to prevent the same problem from appearing in his own people, Zhou Yu has been telling everyone to try to dry shoes and socks whenever they are free, and to bring a few more pairs of dry socks to replace them.

Although everyone was tired, the inhumane scenes of the day's massacre still filled their brains and kept them awake.

Zhou Yu sighed lightly, glanced at everyone and said, "You will get used to it slowly...... If you want to live, you can force yourself to sleep for a while, which is very important. ”