Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei's War Journey

Chapter 97: The Flag Planted at the Summit, Dumont Castle Falls

Lu Mingfei was the first to leap into the icy water. He then began to roll to dissipate the force. Thanks to the soft soil and water on top, he was not injured.

Otto, Henrik, and the other soldiers also jumped down. The heavy equipment made their landing somewhat awkward, but the effects of the skill Lu Mingfei had used on them were still in effect. With their adrenaline surging, they didn't feel much pain.

"How do we get in now?" Caesar's voice was unusually weak. His face was frighteningly pale, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his body swayed slightly, almost entirely supported by the wall.

Lu Mingfei glanced around and quickly spotted a small iron gate about four meters high: "Everyone, start forming a human ladder!"

Soon, the surrounding soldiers began to form a human ladder, which is a compulsory course in recruit training camp. Every skill learned in recruit training camp will benefit them for life.

The human ladder was quickly formed. The soldiers at the bottom used their shoulders and backs to support their companions, while the soldiers in the middle used their hands and feet to climb upwards. Lu Mingfei and Otto, as assault soldiers, were the first to be lifted up to a height close to the iron gate.

The iron gate was rusty and had no handle, only a disc-shaped latch with a keyhole in the center.

Otto slammed his bayonet against the iron gate, making a dull thud: "Damn, it's at least two inches thick!"

"Blow it up?"

"Making too much noise will attract all the garrison troops from other parts of the fortress." Lu Mingfei rejected the idea, feeling the edges of the iron gate and the seams of the wall with his hands.

"Caesar, can you hear something behind the door?"

Leaning against the trench wall, panting, Caesar managed to concentrate again, straining his senses with the Weasel's senses to probe behind the iron gate. However, the tinnitus and headache continued to pierce him like needles, but he gritted his teeth, filtering out the heavy breathing of his companions nearby and the muffled gunfire in the distance.

"Behind the door—it doesn't seem like there are guards, it's more like—a maintenance passage or—a junction of drainage pipes," Caesar said breathlessly.

A maintenance passage? Lu Mingfei's eyes narrowed. This might be the weak entry point they had been looking for, bypassing the main defense nodes.

He signaled the human ladder below to steady itself, then grabbed the door frame with one hand and drew his dagger with the other. Instead of picking the lock, he aimed directly at the door hinge and slammed it down with all his might.

One, two, and on the third strike, the hinge finally gave way, and the iron door tilted inward by an inch.

"Open it for me!" Lu Mingfei roared, then slammed his fist into the iron door with all his might. The entire door, along with the broken hinge, flipped inward and crashed heavily to the ground.

He was the first to vault into the passage, rolling once as he landed, his gun already raised and aimed at any enemy that might appear at any moment.

Soon, Otto, Henrik, and the other soldiers climbed in one by one. The last two soldiers pulled up the almost exhausted Caesar. They officially became the first Prussian army to step into the interior of the Dumont Castle.

The next task is to dismantle this steel behemoth from within.

Lu Mingfei led his platoon forward. There were four hundred men inside the fortress, forty against four hundred, giving him the advantage.

"Not far away—the sound of a machine gun turret's elevator shaft—and—the sound of a turret's rotating machinery—" Caesar leaned against the wall, his eyes closed, using the last of his strength to provide guidance.

"That's enough, Caesar. You've done enough. Leave the rest to me," Lu Mingfei interrupted him, walked up to him, and pressed down on his trembling shoulders.

Caesar wanted to say something, but a violent dizziness struck, causing him to sway and almost fall. Otto, who was next to him, quickly supported him. The prolonged use of the Kamaitachi, combined with the recent explosion, had completely exhausted him.

"Captain Henrik, find two reliable men to protect Caesar here," Lu Mingfei ordered Henrik.

"Understood." Henrik immediately pointed to two veterans.

Otto hesitated for a moment before looking at Lu Mingfei: "Platoon leader, what about ahead—"

"Leave the front to me," Lu Mingfei said firmly, but he could only be more cautious from now on, since Caesar's warning was no longer available.

Lu Mingfei led his men forward, and before they had gone far, they could hear the sound of empty shell casings being ejected from the gun barrel. He raised his hand to signal the team to stop, then suddenly flung open a door to a room and shouted in the few French words he knew.

"Hands up!"

The four French artillerymen inside, their faces blackened by smoke, were immediately too frightened to move. Clearly, they had no idea that the enemy would suddenly appear from the passageway inside the fortress.

The room was filled with the strong smell of gunpowder. The breech of a 75mm cannon was half-open, and the hot barrel glowed slightly red in the dim light. Empty shell casings were scattered on the floor.

"Don't move! Anyone who dares to move, I guarantee you'll die even faster than those people outside." Lu Mingfei's gun was steadily pointed at the artillerymen.

Otto and two other soldiers quickly closed in, using their rifle butts to corner the gunners against the wall, skillfully disarming them. The four French soldiers exchanged glances and ultimately chose to obey. They knew very well what resistance meant in such a confined space.

"Tie them up, gag them, leave one person to watch them, the rest of you come with me." Lu Mingfei quickly gave the order, and that's how they took down a 75mm cannon.

The team continued to advance.

The passageways became increasingly complex, with more branching paths. Numbers and arrows on the walls pointed to different functional areas: ammunition depots, power generation rooms, turret elevator shafts—

They began cleaning room by room, and machine guns began to fall silent. None of the French soldiers expected that Prussian soldiers would sneak in.

Finally, they arrived at the end of a relatively wide passage. A heavy double wooden door was ajar, and dim light and noisy voices shone through the crack. Lu Mingfei signaled the group to stop, and quietly approached the crack to peek inside.

Inside was a huge barracks. Double-decker iron bunk beds were packed tightly together, accommodating at least a hundred French soldiers. Most of them were not resting, but were dressed neatly, standing with their guns at the ready, listening intently to the faint sounds of artillery and gunfire outside. They were clearly on standby, ready to reinforce the gaps in various places or carry out an internal mopping-up operation at any time.

Lu Mingfei's heart sank. With so many people, it was impossible for them to subdue or capture them all silently. Once a direct conflict broke out, it would alert the entire fortress, and their small force would soon be overwhelmed.

We have to resort to some extraordinary measures.

"Otto—remember the power distribution room we saw when we came here? Go there now and cut off the power," Lu Mingfei said, then took the flamethrower from the soldier next to him.

Otto understood Lu Mingfei's intention. He nodded and beckoned to the two quick-witted soldiers beside him:

'

Follow me!

The three quickly turned around and stealthily made their way back towards the electrical substation they remembered.

Lu Mingfei led the remaining soldiers to silently disperse in the shadows of the corridor outside the barracks, waiting quietly. He gripped the handle of the flamethrower tightly, taking deep breaths to mentally prepare himself.

Flamethrowers—this weapon brings not only death, but also extreme pain and unbearable horror. Using it on an open battlefield is a completely different matter from using it in a confined space against a dense crowd. This is no longer combat, but slaughter.

Although he had killed many, many people, the next thing he was about to do still made his hands tremble slightly, but that was war, and there was no room for mercy.

Suddenly, all the light shining through the cracks in the barracks doors in the corridor went out abruptly, and a commotion and exclamations immediately erupted inside the barracks!

"What's going on?!"

"Is there a power outage?"

"What about the backup generator?!"

"Who's going to take a look?!"

"Stay alert! Don't panic!"

In the darkness, the French soldiers were in complete chaos. Some groped for candles, some instinctively reached for their weapons, and others shouted in panic.

Just as the chaos reached its peak, Lu Mingfei kicked open the heavy wooden door of the barracks. He could vaguely see shadowy, panicked figures inside.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Mingfei pulled the trigger of the flamethrower.

A ferocious fire dragon, blazing white with orange-yellow hues and viscous like liquid flames, roared as it charged into the dark barracks. Instantly, terrifying heat and blinding light filled the entire space.

"Fire! It's fire!"

"My God!"

"Help!!"

A piercing scream, almost inhuman, filled the entire barracks. Flames, like demons, frantically licked at the beds, clothes, wooden furniture, and the soldiers who had no time to escape.

The stench of burning flesh, the acrid smell of burning fabric, and the pungent odor of fuel oil mixed together to create a hellish smell.

In the firelight, countless twisted and tumbling figures could be seen, trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies or find an exit, colliding and trampling each other.

Lu Mingfei watched all this expressionlessly, but upon closer inspection, his body was trembling, and the screams were still imprinted in his mind.

"Platoon leader, are you alright?" Otto returned and stood behind Lu Mingfei, asking with some concern.

"I'm fine—let's go—" Lu Mingfei shook his head, threw down the flamethrower in his hand, and continued to lead his men to sweep through the machine gun positions, no longer looking at the hellish map.

It was impossible for Lu Mingfei and his team to clear the fortress in a short time; they simply didn't have enough manpower, and the interior of the fortress was like a maze. However, clearing out most of the turrets and machine gun positions would be enough to decide the outcome of the battle.

Big Bertha's cannonballs continued to fall above Fort Dumont. At this moment, Lu Mingfei finally felt the power of the giant cannon. Although the cannonballs did not penetrate the fortress, the inside of the fortress still felt like an earthquake.

Everyone inside felt dizzy, as if the fortress was about to collapse at any moment, and the explosion was accompanied by a violent ringing in their ears.

"Alright—we should go plant the flag—" Lu Mingfei leaned against the wall and barely managed to stand up straight. The bombardment had just ended, and now was the best time to head to the top of Dumont. The feeling of being bombarded by Big Bertha was just too unbearable; he felt like his internal organs were about to be shattered.

Lu Mingfei's words invigorated the surviving soldiers around him.

Plant the flag! This means they will personally end the resistance of this fortress, put an end to this bloody raid, and win unparalleled honor.

"Hurry! The shelling has just stopped, and our friendly forces outside will definitely launch an attack! We need to plant the flag before they come in!" Although Lu Mingfei didn't care about honor, he had worked so hard to take this fortress, and he certainly didn't want to hand it over to someone else.

They climbed up the indicated path, the stairwell filled with dust and smoke, the walls cracked, and some steps broken.

The sound of falling rubble echoed overhead, and the fortress seemed to be on the verge of collapse under Bertha's repeated onslaught.

Along the way, they encountered sporadic French soldiers. These defenders were also disoriented and demoralized by the shelling. Faced with this suddenly appearing Prussian squad, which seemed to have crawled out of hell, they put up almost no effective resistance and were quickly defeated or scattered.

Finally, they climbed the last flight of stairs and pushed open a badly deformed iron door.

They arrived at the top platform of the Dumont Castle.

The platform was a mess, the solid concrete surface riddled with jagged craters and spiderweb-like cracks left by Big Bertha.

Standing here, you can see the battlefield below, which is like a huge painting of death. Smoke rises like pillars, fires flicker, and countless gray dots surge like a tide, once again rushing towards this already riddled fortress.

At that moment, Lu Mingfei suddenly had a feeling of unreality.

This fortress, once hailed as impregnable, now lies at his feet.

"The flag—" Otto handed a rolled-up military flag to Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei took it and walked step by step to the highest point of the fortress. He aimed the spike at the bottom of the flagpole at a wide crack on the edge of the platform and, with all his might, plunged it in.

He then swung the flag forcefully, and the black, white, and red flag unfurled in the gale, fluttering high above the gunfire and smoke.

For a moment, it was as if the entire battlefield fell silent.

Immediately afterwards, deafening cheers erupted from the Prussian positions in the distance.

"The flag! Our flag! On top of the fortress!"

"Dumont Fortress! We've taken it!"

"Long live Prussia! Long live Prussia!"

When Crown Prince William saw this scene through his binoculars, he was so excited that he got goosebumps.

Dumont d'Aumont, fell.

Under his personal command, this point, considered the most crucial and fortified in the Battle of Verdun, was captured! This was an unparalleled victory! It was the cornerstone that established his reputation and status!

At the same time, the figure raising the flag was deeply imprinted in his mind.

"Find him! I need to know the name of that flag-raising soldier! Immediately! He will be the greatest hero of this battle!" Crown Prince William put down his binoculars, his face flushed with excitement, and shouted at his advisor beside him.