The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 893 The Longest Day

Sun Jimin, a war correspondent for the "Da Qi Military News", traveled thousands of miles to reach the Crimean Peninsula. During his first two days here, he witnessed the brutality of the fighting on the front lines.

The French continued to bombard with large-caliber artillery, and airships flew across the sky like ghosts, dropping bombs one after another.

The Qi army's transportation was destroyed by artillery fire, the trenches were muddy, and the supply of materials was terrible.

The wounded soldiers wailing in the mud, the strong stench of the corpses that had not been buried in time...
Everything reminds the survivor that he is not in the human world, but in hell.

In the military camp, Sun Jimin heard a lot of news that he had never heard in the country, or the truth about the war.

The truth is shocking.

Contrary to the domestic propaganda of "justice triumphs over evil", the soldiers on the Crimean front are not interested in this war and even show quite aversion to it. They are generally confused about the purpose of the war.

The Da Qi government grants citizens the greatest degree of freedom, but there is still control over public opinion.

Taizu Liu Zhaosun once said that whoever controls the present can control history.

No matter what era, it is necessary for the government to conceal and tamper with information to a certain extent.

Before going to the front, these soldiers from various provinces and regions were told that they were going to Europe to defend human freedom and justice and to fight back against the French provocation.

In short, it was Louis XIV and the hateful French who threatened the national security of Qi.

In reality, Qi and France were thousands of miles apart, and their relationship was completely foreign. Normally, the two countries kept to themselves, so to say that Louis XIV threatened Qi's security was far-fetched.

In any case, under the operation of the public opinion machine, the Qi people also began their "special military operations" in Europe.

~~~~~~~~~
"Do you hate the French?"

"Do you want to hear the truth or lies?"

"What is truth? What is falsehood?"

"The truth is there's no hatred. Before coming to Crimea, I didn't even know what the French looked like, so how could I hate them? Reporter Sun, you're from Tianxin City, right? Do you have any connections in Beijing? Can you transfer me back..."

The conversation between the reporter and the soldier often begins like this and ends as soon as it begins.

Such a conversation is obviously unacceptable, at least it cannot be published on the front page of the "Great Qi Military News" without any changes. Although Qi State does not have a news censorship system, making a news report like this "unpatriotic" one public is enough to ruin the career prospects of the journalist.

Like all battlefields, all that was seen was grayness and death.

Since he was unable to interview the material he wanted, Sun Jimin finally had to find the commander-in-chief, General Wang Xiaofu, hoping to get the answer from the general.

Wang Xiaofu was Kang Guangxu's confidant and also Jiang Bailing's best friend. Although he was over 60 years old, he was brave in combat, capable and open-minded. He had commanded several large-scale battles and had a high reputation in the imperial military.

On the morning of December 18, the seventh year of Jingyan, war correspondent Sun Jimin arrived at the reception room of the front-line headquarters according to the pre-arranged time.

He waited on the bench in the reception room for a while, but General Wang did not come. Finally, he heard the guards shouting outside.

"The Commander-in-Chief is here!"

Sun Jimin hurried out to greet him.

General Wang was riding a tall horse, wearing a thick felt hat on his head, and his facial expression looked particularly resolute. The weather in Crimea was already very cold at this time.

Sun Jimin immediately recalled the scene of accompanying Prime Minister Kang to Crimea to sign the Yalta Agreement.

At that time, Crimea was sunny and windy, making it a perfect holiday destination. People would not have imagined that it would be as cold as it is today.

The guard ran in front of the horse, grabbed the stirrup, and helped the old general dismount.

The old general shook off the guards and dismounted.

He steadied himself, drew his saber, and walked straight towards the tent with a joyful and determined expression as if no one was around.

The guards held their breath and remained motionless.

Just sat down in the tent.

A tall, sky-blue British sedan-style carriage, drawn in tandem by several horses, came galloping along the wide, unpaved road bordered by trees, its springs making a slight rumbling sound.

A messenger wearing a red hat quickly came to the general and whispered a few words.

The old general narrowed his eyes and said thoughtfully:

"Are the French coming?"

The messenger whispered, "Yes, they are unarmed."

The old general's eyes were gleaming: "They can't get what they want on the battlefield, so they want to make up for it here..."

He turned and looked at Sun Jimin who had been waiting for a long time: "Are you the reporter?"

"Exactly. My name is Sun Jimin. I currently work for the Imperial Military Newspaper and hold the position of editor-in-chief. Our president recently came up with a column dedicated to depicting the heroic deeds of soldiers on the front lines..."

The old general clapped his hands and laughed: "I remember now, Prime Minister Kang mentioned you, you helped him in Yalta!"

The four-wheeled carriage stopped outside the barracks in the regiment's column. Several Frenchmen jumped out of the carriage and soon there was a commotion outside.

The messenger in a red hat came running in, lowered his head and whispered a few words in the general's ear.

The old general nodded: "It's him, an acquaintance, please let him in! Fire a gun to welcome him!"

Sun Jimin had no choice but to remain silent. The guards at the camp gate raised their guns in salute, making a clanging sound as a welcome to the French envoy.

The French were frightened and thought that the Qi people were going to kill the envoy. Only after he was sure that the bullet was not aimed at him did he wipe the sweat from his forehead and continue moving forward.

General Wang stood with his chest straight and dressed neatly. From his appearance, you couldn't tell that he was an old man over 60 years old.

Sun Jiming yawned listlessly and quickly covered his mouth with his hands.

He was used to seeing blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners in Tianxin City, and he didn't care at all about the Frenchman who interrupted his interview.

"Ah, Robespierre! Long time no see, how are you doing in Paris?"

"I'm fine, God bless you, General Wang, you look younger than you did twenty years ago!"

Robespierre extended his hand to shake hands with the commander-in-chief and kissed his right hand.

"What brings you here?"

A barely perceptible smile crossed the Frenchman's face, which had become ugly and round due to alcoholism.

"By order of the Sun King," he said, "I have come to renew our friendship with Da Qi, to clear up the misunderstandings that have led to this horrific war, resulting in unnecessary casualties on both sides, and to open a new chapter for both nations."

Wang Xiaofu quickly replied, "What conditions are you willing to offer?"

The Frenchman said without hesitation: "Divide Australia and America equally, and if conditions are ripe, divide Europe equally."

"Divide Europe equally?"

"Correct."

The old general thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Da Qi is not interested in invading other countries' lands."

Wang Xiaofu looked the Frenchman up and down.

"For the sake of our old friendship, I'm letting you say so much. Now I want to know how many of you die on the battlefield every day?"

Bill shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he had no right to disclose such military secrets.

"How much does Louis XIV plan to expand his army?"

Bill shook his head again.

General Wang laughed and said, "Didn't the Sun King want to conquer Europe? How come he couldn't even take down a tiny Crimea?"

The guards all laughed.

Robespierre shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, "That's because the Sun King is kind-hearted. His Majesty the Emperor couldn't bear to see so many people die on the battlefield, especially those from Qi."

"Kindness?"

"Yes, if we continue to fight like this, I'm afraid both our countries will suffer losses, and the British will gain the upper hand in the end!"

The guards laughed.

The old general suppressed his smile and said, "I'm afraid your Sun King cannot accommodate our emperor. Let's not talk about anything else. Let's meet on the battlefield."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two armies faced each other across the river.

On the other side of the river, the French army and their artillery batteries could be seen with the naked eye. Milky white smoke was rising from the artillery batteries, and behind the smoke came the sound of artillery fire in the distance. The Qi army could be seen crossing the river in a hurry.

Sun Jimin, protected by a soldier, stood up, panting, and walked towards the commander-in-chief with a smile on his face.

The reporter took out his notebook and wrote down the information while asking, "General, what is the number of the army crossing the river? What glorious achievements have they made in the past?"

"cannon fodder."

"Ah? What did you say just now?" Sun Jimin blocked the general's sight.

"Cannon fodder! Just write this in the newspaper. These people are cannon fodder, cannon fodder to satisfy the imperial ambitions!"

Sun Jimin was speechless.

In an instant he had listed the headlines in his mind: "A Twisted Pacifist - Monologue of the Commander of the Tenth Corps"

The old general was furious and pushed away the people in front of him.

"Get out of the way!"

After saying that, he stood up, mounted his horse, took the reins from the guard, and prepared to leave.

He turned to a messenger and repeated the detailed instructions he had just given. "Tell the dragoons, according to the pre-arranged battle plan, that they will be the last to cross the river and burn the bridge after they are done. They must first check that the fuel for the ignition is intact on the bridge."

"Yes!"

The messenger agreed and rode his horse towards the river.

The general raised his whip, looked back at Sun Jimin, and ordered the soldier beside him:

"You, protect this pen holder and don't let him get too close to the battle line. The French artillery has no eyes!"

(End of this chapter)