Battlefield Priest's Diary

Chapter 121 The Priest's Dice

boom! boom! boom!
The sound of artillery fire came from not far away, and dust fell from the bunker.

Lieutenant Colonel Eugen dusted himself off and slammed a list on the table. "Easter. The remaining supplies will only last until Easter at the latest!"

"Ammunition is plentiful, and fuel is adequate, but we need to start planning our food and other rations from now on."

"What do you plan to do?" The priest in black robes naturally assumed the role of an advisor.

"Reduce the staple food rations of soldiers by at least one meal, reduce oil and fat to two-thirds, and stop all sugar intake," the lieutenant colonel stated his idea.

"You're essentially telling your own people that we're running low on food, and German spies will probably find out soon too."

"But now the roads are all blocked by German heavy artillery, and supplies can't get through. Do you have any better ideas?"

"Not yet, but it's not the right time to let the soldiers know the current situation."

Lieutenant Colonel Eugen was silent for a moment. "At most, we can delay for another week. Then we will have to implement material control measures."

He then paused for a moment, "But now, besides supplies, the soldiers' morale is also a major problem, and there are even..."

"I can handle that, but you have to promise me some things..."

At night, the Germans' relentless shelling from the daytime suddenly stopped, and for a moment the French positions were eerily silent.

At the front line, soldiers holding rifles huddled in trenches tightened their coats and involuntarily shivered.

Reaching for his cigarettes, he found only a few left. He hesitated for a moment before turning away and cautiously looking around. After walking a short distance, he ducked into a small bunker in the corner of the trench.

"Who's there! This is a supply warehouse, unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter!" A fierce voice rang out from inside.

“Hey, it’s me, Prilini. I brought something,” the man said in a low voice.

"So it's you. Come on in, no one's following you, is that right?"

The makeshift wooden door was opened, and someone let the soldiers in.

It was called a bunker, but it was actually just a wooden cover added to a deeper trench. Several soldiers were already waiting in this small space.

People sat together on the ground, with a jar in the middle containing several dice—they were gambling.

On the battlefield, where death could come at any moment, amidst the mud, the stench of corpses, and the lulls in the gunfire, the soldiers endured immense pressure.

Most people have the thought, "What's the use of leaving behind wealth if I'm going to die tomorrow?" Therefore, many people use gambling as a way to relieve mental stress.

"Prilini, come in quickly, what good things have you brought?" The organizer at the very back raised his hand to greet the newcomer.

The soldier reached into his pocket and took out the remaining cigarettes.

"Why is there only this much? Not enough for one game." The person on the other side was clearly disappointed, but still let him in.

"Hurry up, I need to make enough money from cigarettes to go back."

"Since you said so, then hurry up and place your bets."

The hand-carved bone dice were dropped into the spool that served as a dice holder, spun a few times, and then landed back on the wooden box.

Unsurprisingly, the newcomer lost all the cigarettes in his hand.

Not only that, but in his eagerness to win back his losses, he pulled out a few crumpled banknotes and bet them, only to lose them all again without any suspense.

Looking at his empty hands, the soldier reluctantly rummaged through his shirt pockets and eventually took off the ring on his hand.

"I'll bet one more time!" the man said, panting heavily as he lost.

"Prilini, is this really necessary? This is your wedding ring."

"It doesn't matter anymore, it doesn't matter at all," the man said, his eyes red. "We gamble with our lives during the day and with canned goods and cigarettes at night. Besides dice, what else can God do for us?"

Gua! ! !
A mournful cawing of crows rang out, startling all the soldiers. Then, a figure in a black robe stood outside the cover. "Someone was just calling for God? Shouldn't you be telling me now?" The man in the black robe looked around and slowly walked in.

The soldiers stood at attention; because the space was cramped, some pressed themselves against the wall, and others bumped their heads.

The man on the other side wasn't just any ordinary priest; he was a formidable figure who could lead a group of African soldiers to drive over 500 German soldiers out of their positions.

Moreover, the new commander placed him in the position of number two in this position.

“Father, we…” Someone stood up to explain, but was stopped by the other person’s wave.

“Mr. Prilini?” The priest in black robes walked up to the soldier and asked softly, his tone devoid of any emotion.

“Yes, Father.” The soldier straightened up.

"Lost?"

"Yes…"

The priest in the black robe shook his head, bent down and walked to the wooden table in front of him, pinching the dice on it with his hand.

"How do I play?"

“This…” The organizer hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “The rules are very simple; it’s just a matter of comparing the number of points.”

The next second, the dice were thrown, and after a few spins, they came to rest on the table.

The side showing number six is ​​all facing upwards.

"Did I win?" The priest in black robes looked at the crowd quietly. Some clever fellows packed their things into their helmets and handed them all to him.

The priest grabbed a handful of things from inside: cigarettes, candies, banknotes, and the ring he had just placed there…

The next second, the black-robed priest opened his hands and returned all the items in his hands to the guy who had just lost everything.

The wedding ring was placed in the soldier's palm.

“Even broken relationships shouldn’t be thrown away this way. Accept them; there are better people waiting for you,” the black-robed priest whispered in the other’s ear.

"You...you knew..." The soldier's face showed a mixture of shame and surprise, and tears welled up in his eyes.

The priest in black patted the soldier on the shoulder, stood up, and faced everyone again.
"Everyone, I won't tell the commander about what happened today, but please don't let yourselves go astray. There are still people waiting for you to return."

As the sound of flapping wings rang out, the priest in black robes vanished from sight; he had not punished anyone in the room from beginning to end.

The soldiers looked at each other, feeling as if they were dreaming.

The priest in black robes walked into the depths of the tunnel, passing through the winding trenches.

Gua! ! !
The crow cawed again, and Qin Hao turned around to find Lieutenant Colonel Eugen already waiting in the middle of the passage.

"There were five hiding spots in total. He hid them even better than the Germans. How did you find them?" the lieutenant colonel asked, standing at the end of the passage.

"It's just some experience; this kind of thing occasionally happened in my unit before," the priest in the black robe said noncommittally.

"Although I've agreed to give you full authority, are you sure you won't punish anyone?"

"Of course, didn't I agree to their request? Or are you really planning to put all the hundreds of people involved into solitary confinement at once when manpower is scarce?"

"Is that all? What about the soldiers' morale?"

"This is just the first step. To restore their morale, we need to make the soldiers truly believe that they are blessed by God."

"Is this even possible?!"

"Of course, do you want to recall what I do?" The man in the black robe turned around, the cross hanging around his neck swaying gently in the night breeze.

(End of this chapter)