Lucien didn't agree with Claude's words, but Gabriel felt that Claude said it too well. He explained the whole thing clearly and concisely. The most important thing was to summarize the reasons for the failure of the soldiers in his regiment.
Very well done.
Obviously, the reason why his people failed was because the Russians were too strong and their defensive strength far exceeded expectations. It was not because his people were timid and had no fighting spirit!
Although Claude did not elaborate on this point, his meaning was very clear. Anyway, Gabriel believed that this was absolutely correct. Soldiers who are so smart on the road are too rare!
Gabriel disliked these soldiers under his command from the bottom of his heart. As a child of a top aristocratic family that had been active in the Palace of Versailles during the Bourbon dynasty, people like them who were born with golden keys always felt that those mud-legged people were inherently inferior.
It cannot be taught at all.
Take the soldiers he had seen as an example. Many of them had different characters and could not tell the difference between east, west and north. It would be a waste of energy to send such goods as cannon fodder.
Not only can Claude speak, but he also seems to be a little brave. At least he is much braver than the timid, stupid guy next to him. Such soldiers are too rare.
"Very good, you made it very clear!" Gabriel praised him for the first time, and even asked casually: "Besides these, what else do you think the Russians should pay attention to?"
Gabriel regretted it after asking. On the one hand, he felt that Claude was just a soldier and had no experience at all. On the other hand, he felt that asking such a question to a soldier was too low for him.
However, Claude quickly replied: "Reporting to the leader, from my previous experience, there are two reasons why the Russians are difficult to deal with. One is that they have deployed a large number of barbed wire fences, and we do not have the tools suitable to destroy them.
, causing many brothers to die unnecessarily under the obstruction of barbed wire. The other was the explosives they deployed, which have killed and injured many of our brothers. When they arrived at the front line, many brothers had to be careful about their legs for fear of being blown up.
Naturally, the movements are slow..."
Gabriel was stunned and couldn't believe his eyes. What did he hear just now? How could a little soldier say such a thing? This guy in front of him is really a little soldier?
"Oh?" Gabriel looked Claude up and down and asked, "Soldier, what is your name, place of origin and military age?"
Claude quickly raised his head and straightened his chest and belly and replied in a loud voice: "Reporting to the regiment leader, my name is Claude and I come from Gascony. I have been a soldier for two years!"
Gabriel nodded slowly, looked at Claude again, and said with a smile: "Very good, Claude, the answer you gave was of great help. In view of your ability, I decided to promote you to the post."
Corporal! Work hard, kid!"
Private Lucien and Corporal Claude walked out of the regiment headquarters together. At this time, Lucien's mind was still dizzy and he didn't understand what happened. How could Claude, who was still a private before, become a private in the blink of an eye?
He became a corporal. And not only was he not sent out this time, but he was promoted?
"You have to treat me, my friend, and you are so lucky!" Lucien shouted with great envy.
"I'm not lucky!" Claude explained with a smile, "If you were the one who answered those questions just now, we might really be punished! My giant man, you must learn to use your brain more!
"
Lucien still didn't understand what this had to do with using his brain. He only knew that he walked out of the regiment unscathed and even asked Bai Nu for a beer and barbecue. Isn't this kind of beautiful thing much more interesting than using his brain?
After returning to the company, it didn't take long for the acting company commander to be appointed. It turned out to be Second Lieutenant Bertrand, who had a good relationship with Lucien before. This second lieutenant was Lucien's fellow villager and even had a slight blood relationship.
.
Suddenly, Lucien felt that spring had arrived for him. In the blink of an eye, he completely forgot about Baudouin and the gendarmes. He was running around like a giant monkey.
"Assemble, the battalion commander ordered us to cooperate with the fifth company in the afternoon to seize the Russian position on the opposite side. This time we can only succeed and not fail..."
Second Lieutenant Bertrand kept talking and cheering the soldiers, as if he could easily defeat the Russians and win the victory.
From beginning to end, he never mentioned tactics or how to deal with barbed wire or underground explosives, which shocked Claude.
He asked Lucien dumbfounded: "I seem to have told the team battle about barbed wire and explosives, right?"
Lucien nodded seriously: "Yes, the regiment commander promoted you to a corporal for this reason!"
As he said this, he looked at Claude's epaulettes with envy. How he wished it was him who was promoted to corporal!
"But why didn't you mention this in the afternoon attack? You should tell us how to get over those hateful iron deaths!" Claude roared irritably.
Lucien was stunned. This was the first time he saw Claude so angry. Before, he thought that this guy wouldn't be angry and could see through everything!
All the way to the front line, Claude was cursing and taunting the regiment leader. Those vulgar but incisive words were an eye-opener for Lucien, and he wanted to find a small notebook to record them down.
"These damn officers have to be lined up and shot one by one!" Claude vomited crazily. "They have no brains at all, and they don't have ears either. They just want us to die! Damn it, no one in France is sober.
person?"
Lucien quickly poked him and reminded: "Keep your voice down, if the officer hears us, we will be in trouble!"
Claude smiled miserably and said: "We are in trouble if we didn't hear it. My friend, haven't you discovered it yet? We were pushed out to die again. It was pure luck that we came back intact in the morning. Do you think it's good luck?
Can you patronize us all the time?"
Lucien was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that he had to go to the front line. Thinking about the terrible experience in the morning, his legs suddenly became weak.
"Watch your step!"
Claude pulled him, and before he could finish his words, an explosion blew up his face. Just a dozen meters away, a poor Gallic chicken stepped on a landmine and was immediately blown up into the sky.
"We have entered the danger zone again!"
Lucien's legs suddenly became weak again. He could move his legs forward before, but now?
Now I really only dare to move forward a little bit, and even have a tendency to take one step forward or two steps back. This careless big man is really frightened...