Battlefield Priest's Diary

Chapter 3 The Veteran Soldier

Mosin-Nagant? And it's an old model from 1891?

This was a standard weapon of the Tsarist Russian army on the Eastern Front during World War I; he had even salvaged a few from a secondhand market.

The bleeding wound on his shoulder kept reminding him that he wasn't dreaming, so the conclusion was obvious.

He was dragged into a war by some inexplicable force!
It's still the Eastern Front!
It's the Russian army, for crying out loud!
More than 200 million Russian soldiers were killed in action, wiping out 19% of the young men of working age in the Russian army!
It seems that the Russians didn't achieve any major victories against Germany in World War I.
"You swine, don't just stand there! Fight back! Fight back at the Germans!" A man in an officer's uniform walked through the tunnel, urging the soldiers in a dialect slang-filled speech to pick up their weapons and fire at the other side.

The numb soldiers stirred like worker ants, while Qin Hao, who stood on the ground in a daze, quickly attracted the attention of the officers.

"You damned Tatar! Which unit are you from?! Why aren't you fighting?!" the officer demanded fiercely, his hand on his pistol. (At this time, some Asian soldiers in the Russian army were referred to as Tatars.)
"I...I don't have a gun..." Qin Hao swallowed hard and explained to the officer, even extending his dirty hands to prove it.

"Take this and stick with the guy with the gun! Damn it! Are the recruits these days so stupid that they even have to ask this kind of question?" The officer tossed something and ten bullets at him, then walked away cursing.

Qin Hao looked at the "weapon" in his hand. It turned out to be a spiked club studded with large iron nails. There were dried bloodstains on the rusty nails. He wondered which unlucky guy had left it behind.

The sight of this weapon, used in medieval melee combat, on a battlefield of firearms gave Qin Hao a distinct sense of disorientation.

However, Qin Hao knew the reason for this situation. During World War I, the Russian army suffered from a large shortage of weapons due to problems with industrial capacity and logistics, and had to adopt an early three-man soldier team tactic.

Only one soldier carried a gun, while the other two soldiers fought with melee weapons.

Holding the spiked club in his hand, Qin Hao endured the pain in his shoulder and joined the torrent of soldiers.

As he was walking, someone tugged at his clothes and asked, "Hey, which unit are you from?"

Qin Hao turned his head and saw a short, middle-aged soldier in a dirty military uniform talking to him. His teeth were so yellow they looked like boiled corn kernels.

Qin Hao ignored him and just walked forward silently, but the guy who was obviously a seasoned veteran kept bothering him again.

"A newcomer? He escaped from the front?"

"Don't worry, everyone's in the same boat. I won't report this to my superiors."

"Hey, did you bring any food? Cigarettes will do too."

Qin Hao's wound was burning with pain. In order to shut the other person up, he quickly searched his pockets and unexpectedly made a discovery.

Half a pack of Furongwang cigarettes!
He was holding this in his hand before he lost consciousness.

He hesitated for a moment, then handed the cigarette to the veteran.

The middle-aged soldier happily took the cigarette, sniffed it greedily, and then his eyes lit up. "Where did you get this good stuff! It's even better than the British's!"

He then put the cigarette in his pocket and patted it. "My name is Pavka. Here's your cigarette. You'll be with me from now on. I won't let you suffer any losses."

Qin Hao was in so much pain that he was sweating profusely, and could only nod casually in response.

The next second, an officer shouted, "Three in a group! Hurry! Gather together! Follow the armed men and prepare to fight back!"

Another charge?!
Recalling the fear he felt when facing Maxim just now, Qin Hao couldn't help but want to back down, but the officer was right next to them, holding his pistol and watching them.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead. It turned out that a horse-drawn cart carrying an old Russian-made M1902 infantry gun had gotten stuck in the mud.

The seasoned soldier Pavka's eyes lit up, and he pulled Qin Hao along, saying, "Come on, our chance has come!"

Pavka then rushed to the side of the carriage in an instant, gripping the wheels with all his might and lifting them outwards. At the same time, he was glancing at Qin Hao and giving him a meaningful look.

"What are you standing there for?! Come help push the cart!"

Qin Hao seemed to wake from a dream and followed along to push the cannon cart.

The officer glanced at it, seemingly nodding in satisfaction, and then shouted to the others, "Hurry up! Charge forward! Supervisory team, get ready!" While the two men were still pretending to be on the gun carriage, the sounds of artillery fire and the distant Maxim machine guns rose and fell, gradually fading away.

The German troops seemed to have temporarily retreated, and many of the soldiers who had just charged forward did not return.

Qin Hao could clearly feel the remaining people around him breathe a sigh of relief. Their dull eyes had a hint of life in them now that they could live for another half day. Pavka, who had been slacking off for a while, chuckled, hugged his gun, and shrank into a corner of the trench. Before leaving, he even pulled Qin Hao along.

"Hide it quickly, and remember to take an extra portion when we eat later!"

As the sky darkened completely, a light rain began to fall.

The soldiers were soaked to the bone like quails in a cage, and the autumn night wind mixed with the rain made Qin Hao shiver in a corner, clutching his wooden stick.

Just like that seasoned soldier said, it's time to eat.

A cook carried a large basket and roughly shoved the dark stuff into the soldiers' hands. Qin Hao also received two. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that they were potatoes the size of a baby's fist. Taking a bite, he found that the potatoes were not only unpeeled, but also raw inside.

Qin Hao could only eat half of it before he couldn't eat anymore.

His throat was very dry, he had difficulty swallowing, and the burning sensation in his shoulder had not subsided; instead, it continued to feel hot and swollen.

These are symptoms of wound inflammation.

He glanced at the soldier beside him, who was fast asleep in the tunnel, clutching his gun. He then poked him, startling him so much that he jumped up.

"What's going on?! What's going on?! Have the Germans come up?!" The dirty Pavka looked around in a panic.

"No, there are no Germans..." Qin Hao, who was running a fever, swallowed and whispered, "Where are the medics or healers...? I'm injured... and my condition is bad..."

The person opposite him tilted their head, looked him up and down, and then asked in confusion, "Where are you hurt?"

“Here…” Qin Hao pointed to the wound that was still oozing blood.

"Good heavens, you call this an injury? A toe hitting a table corner is worse than this." The other person curled their lip and said nonchalantly, "Just find something to pull it out, bandage it up, and you'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

"Oh, by the way, if you're really worried, you can pee on it."

"Or maybe you're out of stock right now? I can help you with that." The other person grinned, revealing a set of yellow teeth, and pulled up his pants in a somewhat lewd manner.

Qin Hao frowned. He really wanted to punch the other person in the face, but he didn't have the energy to argue with him right now.

After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and stuffed the remaining potato from his pocket into the other person's hand.

"Here, tell me where the medic is?"

"Oh? You actually have some stored food." The veteran was pleasantly surprised as he put away the potatoes, then gestured to the other side of the trench.

"You're lucky, the medic will be passing by soon, but honestly, I advise you not to count on him."

"why?"

The guy chuckled but didn't answer. He hugged his gun and shrank back into the shadows. After a while, a sound like a mouse gnawing on a table leg came from the other side, intermittently.

After handing out the food, Qin Hao felt a wave of dizziness, but he forced himself to keep staring at the passageway beside him.

Finally, as it was getting dark, a guy wearing green epaulettes, carrying a leather backpack, and wearing a leather apron walked past.

When Qin Hao stopped him, he found that the other person was excessively young.

(End of this chapter)