Durin's Diary

Chapter 84 Fire and Ashes

Yes, draw it.

The power of words is great, but in the eyes of many people, it is weaker than the power of pictures.

It’s not because the words aren’t great enough, but because the human brain is often unable to translate the images depicted by the words.

This is the sorrow of all living beings.

So Dulin took Big Bear to find Duke Alkin. The old man smiled and nodded, then motioned Dulin to follow his granddaughter.

Tanya brought Elaine, Dulin and Duterte to the studio.

Several nobles who claimed to be proficient in art followed behind, apparently wanting to see what other superpowers the most popular card player of the day had.

After all, Dulin's performance in the last game was no different from that of the goddess of luck's illegitimate son.

Du Lin didn't care.

Tanya opened the door of the studio and turned on the light. She prepared charcoal pencils and a drawing board for Du Lin.

Du Lin carried a stack of papers and placed them on the drawing board.

First, draw two people.

One was Robert Walter, who was still young at the time.

There is also a faceless man wearing a helmet.

"Your Majesty, he was the star of the Battle of Long Beach. He was the first to lead a charge into the enemy lines, and it was his troops who ultimately took the lead in capturing Long Beach."

"The Faceless Man, the protagonist of the film I mentioned, is the one through whose perspective we will watch the entire war, and through which we will highlight the glory of Your Majesty."

After saying that, Du Lin quickly drew the entire Long Beach on a large piece of drawing paper and marked several important battle points.

"Your painting is good. It's almost the same as the Long Beach I remembered." Sir Rousseau said.

"Sir Rousseau, would you be willing to serve as a battlefield consultant for the film?" Mr. Duterte asked.

"No, I don't want to. You guys who make movies are either filming girls' thighs or making those idiotic so-called war movies. You're the ones who can jump around like nothing happened even after being hit by a dozen bullets, and you treat soldiers as clowns." Sir Rousseau rejected the invitation and made a "Pah" sound.

Du Lin smiled and continued to paint, while asking Sir Rousseau: "Sir, which group of people are you in when you go ashore?"

"The second batch, the first batch of brothers who went ashore failed to break through the first line of defense. Although those Yankees were opponents, their fighting will was very determined... Only fifteen minutes after my company went ashore, there was only one squad and a pile of wounded." At this point, the old man sighed: "Many wounded could not be sent down, and the subsequent ones could not come up. Even if we and the Yankees had no intention of shooting at the medical staff, a piece of shrapnel or a stray bullet would kill them." Long Beach at that time was as cruel as purgatory.

Du Lin thought about it and drew several shots in succession.

"Our protagonist disembarks from a troop transport and approaches the shore in a small boat. One of the small boats is shattered by artillery fire, and the boat he's on is capsized by the waves. He drags his comrades ashore... Was this artillery fire? Ah, his comrade's lower body is shattered, but he drags him along for a while, only to find out after he falls that his comrade is dead." Watching the paintings unfold, Duterte slapped his thigh and said, "This is a really good idea! It presents the images directly to me. You give me the script, and I still have to think on my own."

"It would be great if this scene could be made into a movie, Mr. Du Lin. You are more suitable for the film industry than many film directors." Sir Rousseau looked at Du Lin and nodded.

"I'm just a kid and haven't passed the first monthly exam at the Art Academy yet." Du Lin smiled and continued discussing the plot with Duterte.

At this time, the first wave of landing troops were suppressed under the breakwater. The two sides were engaged in a brutal exchange of fire, and the Northern Army, which was in a dominant position, had the advantage.

The Union Army's only chance of victory was to charge forward and destroy or defeat the outnumbered Northern Army in hand-to-hand combat.

At this time, Robert stood up. When the commanders of the first and second waves of landing troops were either killed or seriously injured, he led the troops under the embankment to attack from above and completed the miracle of breaking through the central defense line.

"I remember His Majesty Robert said that it's better to rush forward and give those who come after you a chance to survive than to be shot at below the embankment."

"Yes, His Majesty said this, and then those of us who were still able to move followed him and rushed forward." Sir Rousseau was silent for a moment, then he sighed and said, "Many people fell along the way, but even more died in bayonet battles with the Yankees. The Yankees launched a counterattack just as we were about to charge. They fought resolutely until the very last moment."

"I heard from my grandfather that the Northern Army is full of lunatics," said Lord Sebastian.

"Your grandfather is right. Compared with us, they are indeed like lunatics, because they are not afraid of death. They believe that they are serving a higher being than the country." Sir Rousseau sighed as he looked at Dulin's new painting. In the huge drawing paper, the two sides collided at the top of the embankment, and there were many people hugging each other and falling down with the enemy.

"In the ensuing battle, both sides engaged in even greater and more brutal hand-to-hand combat around this breakthrough point. To drive the coalition forces from the central breakthrough point, the Northern Army commander risked withdrawing troops from other positions. This led to the three-point breakthrough after the fourth wave of reinforcements landed, and also laid the groundwork for the Northern Army's defeat." Having drawn this point, Durin turned and looked at everyone. "In the war history, I saw His Majesty personally admit that it was the absence of Northern Army Commander Jean Meyer, the continuous defeats, and the defections from various regions that reduced the number of troops truly loyal to the Northern Front to a pitiful number. Otherwise, it would have taken them at least several years to defeat the enemy, and they might not even have been able to reach Copenhagen."

"Yes, I think so too. Unless all the troops who are truly loyal to the Northern Movement are dead, you will not be able to cross their defense lines." Sir Rousseau fell silent at this point. "My three brothers all died in the war."

"We won, didn't we?" Lord Sebastian looked at Sir Rousseau and smiled.

"Yeah, we won." Jazz smiled and said nothing more.

Du Lin drew another paragraph, and then the old butler standing at the door looked at everyone present with a smile: "Master, please put down your papers and pens for now. After all, good food waits for no one, and you gentlemen have been busy for so long, you must be hungry."

So Mr. Duterte was too embarrassed to pester Dulin, so he stood up and said, "Let's continue after we finish eating, or you can finish the rest of the painting and give it to me."

"It doesn't matter. Today is the day to do it. Let's finish drawing the storyboards for the important shots first." Du Lin answered as he started washing his hands.

"That's great." Mr. Duterte nodded happily.

(End of this chapter)