On the night of May 9, 1917, the front line at Verdun.
At around 6:30, the artillery fire and attacks from both sides stopped in perfect agreement. This commuting mode of warfare was not at the behest of the big shots. It is a tacit understanding spontaneously formed by frontline soldiers.
They are real people, not the cold numbers reported by big shots. They need a rest, so many frontline commanders choose to turn a blind eye.
Under the cover of night, the two sides will draw a non-combatant zone in a tacit understanding. These areas are often in the middle of both sides' positions. Frontline officers would have a small unit walk into the non-combatant zone unarmed and with hands raised.
They came to collect the bodies.
This is what both sides of the war want to do. They hope to collect the bodies of their comrades. No one wants to be exposed in the wilderness after their death. On this point, the positions of the fighters on both sides are consistent. Any officer who dared to stop this behavior would be blacklisted the next day.
Therefore, later on, a unique battlefield culture was formed on all anxious fronts. For example, after both sides collected their own corpses, they would friendly send the corpses of enemy war dead close to their own front to the opposite side, and the opposite side would also Will do the same.
The two sides will even conduct some material exchanges in the center of the battlefield. This has also spawned many battlefield black markets. In fact, the senior leaders of both sides are more or less aware of these phenomena, but no one cares about it, because all the nosy fools have been killed by black guns.
It is too easy for a group of warriors to plot against their own commander on the battlefield. They don't even need to use black guns, they just need to expose their superiors during the battle, and the other side will handle it very cleanly for them.
By now, those dull-minded officers are dead. The top management has no way to deal with this. What can they do? Should we clean up those soldiers who committed crimes? Give me a break! That's a meat grinder! The soldiers here don't even know what their future will be like.
If you are lucky and receive some seemingly serious injuries that are not fatal or disabling, and return to the safety of the rear from the front line, the soldiers call these wounds 'kisses from the goddess of luck'. If you are a little unlucky, you will have to retreat from the battle line with missing arms and legs. But at least he saved his life. The worst thing is to become one of the many corpses.
So for the soldiers, there is actually no difference in life. Anyway, they never expected that the big bosses above would be kind enough to let them all go home early. In this case, many threats from high-level officials are not a deterrent to them at all.
When the war reaches this point, the higher-ups need to coax the soldiers to do many things. If you are really anxious, if others directly mutiny, the trouble will be even greater. Therefore, although the unique cultures derived from the battlefield are not of any benefit to the country, the top management can still only turn a blind eye.
It was the same today. A group of French and American soldiers walked into the battlefield without weapons and with their hands raised. The Germans on the opposite side did not shoot, but based on the principle of reciprocity, they sent an equal number of soldiers into the battlefield to clean the battlefield.
The group of people were silent at first, carrying each other's bodies. About an hour later, their bodies were almost finished moving, and the two sides began to tacitly agree to send the bodies of the other side's dead to the opposite side. During this process, soldiers from both sides can also start talking.
Some people took out some lighters, watches, cans, and fuel to exchange materials that each other liked.
But generally speaking, the German soldiers took out more valuable items such as watches, pens, jewelry, etc., and exchanged cans, cigarettes, wine, chocolate, etc. with the American and French soldiers for more daily necessities.
There is no way, for the current Germans, those valuables have very limited meaning to them. Prices in Germany have exploded, especially for food, where shortages have become extremely serious. ,
This also affected the German army.
According to some German soldiers, they had been eating kale for months. The life of French soldiers was actually not that good before, but in any case, they were fighting on the mainland, and their supplies were relatively good compared to Germany. Once the Americans arrived, things got better for the French.
Therefore, during this period of time, the Allied frontline soldiers have made a small fortune. For example, in the frontline exchange, a watch can be exchanged for only a pack of cigarettes.
One can imagine the shortage of supplies for the German army.
From here, it can also be seen that the Germans are at the end of their rope. If nothing else, the Allies could only consume Germany to death.
"Hans, we are here." Steve and his people mingled among the soldiers cleaning the battlefield. When the material exchange reached its climax, Steve and his people found a German soldier named Hans.
Hans is a name that goes to four out of ten people in Germany. It is said that this also spawned a joke. The US military shouted in the trench: Hey Hans, is that you? (Hans, is that you?) The Germans named Hans in the opposite trench all stuck their heads out. Americans only shoot one. Later, when the Germans learned about it, they also imitated Americans and shouted: Mike, is that you (Mike, is that you?) during the war. Because there are many Americans named Mike.
At first glance, this paragraph was made up by Americans, but there are indeed many Germans named Hans.
And this Hans is a man in his thirties, a typical German man, silent and serious. His temperament didn't match the lively exchange of supplies in front of him at all. But people should not be judged by their appearance. This man is the biggest second-rate dealer in the German army.
"Where's the chief?" The chief is Steve's friend and a member of the French International Legion. He should be considered an American, but I don't know how he got into the French army. He came to Europe very early to join the war. He is also a well-known figure in the black market of the battlefield and has a good reputation.
"He's injured...a stray bullet hit his butt. It will take at least a week to recover." Steve said helplessly. He didn't lie. The chief's luck has always been very good. In the several years since he participated in the war, he has never had any minor problems, not to mention injuries. But just before they set off, the guy got injured somehow.
"Well... I wish him a speedy recovery, although I'm not sure whether this is a blessing or not." In fact, it is a good thing to be slightly injured on the battlefield. At least you can hide in the rear hospital and recover as soon as possible in this specific situation. The time and place are not a good thing, because it means that the men in the rear will immediately kick them to the front line to die.
"Maybe, okay, Hans, can our previous transaction go ahead?" Steve didn't talk any more.
"Yes! But you must ensure that my comrades will not be treated unfairly." Hans obviously reached some kind of deal with the chief.
"Of course, they will receive amnesty and can receive special assistance from the Allied Powers. Once things go wrong, they can be transferred immediately and the Allied Powers will guarantee their treatment." Steve took out a stack of certification documents issued by the French government.
This was a deal that the chief and Hans had reached before. They needed some identity, some identity that could move freely in the German-occupied areas. This requires the cooperation of a group of German soldiers and even senior officers.
To put it mildly, I need help from Er Wu Zai.
I have to say, Steve and the others did a good job. All the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the intelligence services was done.
