The clock's hand swings slowly towards the bottom of the scale at any time. The winter light finally came late. The Crimean Peninsula finally woke up slightly in the cold wind, ushering in another weak morning. .

With dawn, the sky gradually became brighter, but the sunlight in winter was weak and pale, so it was difficult to cut a clear dividing line in the earth for a long time, and there was still a blurry shadow between the sky and the earth. Thick clouds enveloped the sky gloomy, and there was no sign of dissipation. It seemed that the winter wind that had never stopped was also whistling freely, walking through the gaps between valleys and hills. The almost bare branches in the forests everywhere were swept away the only few dry leaves.

The bare hills and valleys, soil and stones form a dark gray-black picture. Everything is so cold and bleak that you can no longer see the vitality that is originally found in this field.

The bodies of the soldiers lying across the corridor, as well as the trenches as dense as spider webs on both sides that are almost parallel to each other, and the dark barrels and gun barrels hidden in the dark corners everywhere add a bit of terror and murderousness to this field.

When the pale sunlight finally illuminated the trenches on the French side, the cold wind suddenly became even heavier. Colonel Lucien-Levelle, who was located in the frontier position, couldn't help but shivered, tucked his military coat and shrank his neck.

But even so, his gaze did not move, and he kept staring at the enemy's positions opposite, the bastions on the hills, the narrow valleys, and the trenches hidden behind them, all seemed to be displayed in his sight like living things.

These days, he often stays in various positions on the front line and observes the defensive positions on the opposite side, but today the meaning is very different, because it is about to start the French army's general attack.

The gloomy pictures made him feel very solemn, but now that it is now, he can only hold on to the end. After the command issued the order, they have been preparing for this offensive for a long time. No matter what the consequences, they must cooperate with other troops to fight to the end, no matter what the casualties they have to pay.

As the sky became brighter and brighter, Lucien took out his pocket watch and waited for the arrival of that scheduled moment.

Since joining the army, he has served as a commander for many years, and has experienced almost every major battle in participating in this war. However, whenever a new war is approaching, he still can't help feeling nervous, as if blood is burning, and this may be the instinct of that warrior.

Perhaps it was because of psychological effects that he felt his heartbeat was getting faster and faster, and the pointer was getting slower and slower. Just as he was looking at it, the pointer finally reached the predetermined moment.

He took a deep breath, then raised his head and looked at the ridges of the hills in the distance.

Almost at this moment, a dazzling light suddenly emanated from behind him, as if he had added a halo to him in an instant. The roar of the cannon behind the hidden frontier position suddenly sounded, and the deafening howling sound made Lucien feel pain in his eardrums and almost instantly deaf.

With the roar of cannons, the entire earth was shaking slightly, and the support wooden boards of the trench made a squeaking cry. Heavy shells roared and tore through the still gloomy sky in the overwhelming momentum, and crashed into the opposite position, causing the light to shine again between the sky and the earth, just as dawn arrived early.

These cannons are no longer the light and easy-to-transfer field cannons used by the British and French forces and the Russian army during several battles, but are siege cannons specially used to bombard the fortress. The power of heavy artillery is a world of difference compared to light field cannons. Only by relying on the unquestionable advantages of sea transportation and sea, can the British and French forces gather these heavy artillery in the Crimean Peninsula so quickly and devote themselves to the fierce fortress offensive battle.

During this offensive, these heavy artillery also carried great hopes from the coalition forces. They must rely on them to blast the gap in the Russian defense line, kill their officers and soldiers, and at the same time consume their will to resist.

And as they hoped, the bombardment of heavy artillery soon had obvious consequences on the ground. Large groups of soil and stones were smashed into the air, and the flames soon burned at the front and deep positions of the enemy. The prism, which was directly hit by the shells, began to peel off the brick walls on the surface, and even a large gap was exposed.

Although there was thick smoke everywhere and dust and mud everywhere obstructing the view, Lucien and some other French officers continued to approach, trying to judge the losses of the Russian positions and the weakness of their defense.

The massive shelling has been ongoing, which has also opened a grand prelude to the offensive. Now Lucien and other front-line troops scheduled to participate in the offensive are ready to go and are ready to commit to the next step of combat as planned.

Just after the artillery lasted for more than ten minutes, the Russian army finally began to counterattack with cannons, but their momentum was much smaller than that of the French army. Although the shells fell between the open space and valleys between the two armies for a while, they did not bring much deterrence to the French army that was about to attack.

At the beginning of the siege, every time the coalition forces started bombarding, the Russians would immediately use artillery fire to counterattack as if they were showing their determination, without any intention of showing weakness. However, after a period of time, perhaps because the reserves of artillery shells began to get urgent, every time the British and French coalition launched artillery on the fortress, although the Russian army still launched artillery to counterattack, it was very restrained and very small, and it only showed a spirit of indomitable resistance.

Just as the two armies were bombarded, the French soldiers on the frontier positions began to slowly move from trenches and covert fortifications everywhere under the leadership of the officers, and came to the wilderness between the positions of the two armies.

The climate was already very cold at this time, so they were all wearing thick military coats, bulging uniforms, and various stains on their clothes. They could no longer see the gorgeous image they had when they first came to Crimea. On everyone's face, they were more solemn and bored due to long-term combat, and they could no longer see the previous high spirits.

The long-term battle, the arduous environment, and often insufficient material supply have long wiped out their original high morale, but even so, these officers and soldiers are still ready to execute orders to fight until the last moment.

Amid the loud military horns and the spontaneous shouts of soldiers, a large number of gray-blue figures quickly filled the positions of the two armies, and rushed towards the opposite position like a tide.

Slowly, they got closer and closer to the trench at the other side and came to the trench between the valleys. This was the only way for their attack and the place where they fought with the Russian army many times. There were countless officers and soldiers of the two armies sleeping forever here, and a large part of the mud under their feet was transformed from these poor people.

However, no one had any time to worry about these things. Countless feet trampled on these colorful mud blocks, got stuck in the mud and pulled them out and continued to advance. At this moment, the dense sound of gunfire sounded again from the Russian positions.

The originally scattered French army front suddenly seemed to pause under such a counterattack. Many people lay down on the ground to avoid oncoming bullets, while many people directly covered their chests or limbs, struggled to fall to the ground, mixed with the colorful mud under their feet.

The overwhelming offensive stopped briefly under the strong artillery counterattack, but soon, at the top of the officers' shouts, the officers and soldiers immediately got up again, then roared and continued to rush forward with guns. Their eyes were already red, and they even forgot about their own safety.

In the trenches of the French position, as the brigade commander of the main attacking force, Lucien has been paying close attention to the situation of the frontier positions. When the Russian army launched a counterattack, his heart couldn't help but tighten, but he tried hard to control his emotions and prevent himself from showing any negative state.

The Russian artillery counterattack was more intense than he had originally expected, but it was not beyond his imagination. Obviously, after seeing the insufficient reserve of artillery fire, the Russian army consciously saved ammunition in normal artillery fire attacks and deliberately showed weakness.

Although the French army had already considered the remaining strength of the Russian army when formulating the plan and made due estimates of their combat will, the counterattack strength shown in the initial battle still made him feel a little nervous.

However, he also knew that from the moment the soldiers jumped out of the trenches to launch an offensive, the entire battle had no way to go. Even if it was not going well, he had to bite the bullet and go to the end. It was impossible to stop in the middle.

"At least, we consumed more of their resources, and they couldn't replenish manpower and ammunition, and we could." Lucien thought to himself. "Even if this time is not successful, we can still continue to launch an offensive in the future."

At this time, it was not just the front-line troops, but also the commotion in the command center in the rear. One by one, the officers and commanders walked in and out of the command center. The atmosphere was serious and tense, and almost everyone was in a hurry.

Commander-in-chief Marshal Treville was walking calmly in the tent, as if listening to the sound of artillery fire on the front line and judging the current situation.

Just as he was pondering, a staff officer walked up to him and handed over a document. "Your Excellency, this is the casualties reported by the frontline troops at present."
Chapter completed!