“Boris, what time is it now?”
Andrei looked at the sky. Because of the smoke lingering on the battlefield, he couldn’t quite see the sun, so he could only ask Boris.
Hearing this, Boris couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
“Officer, I’m just a common NCO, where would I get a pocket watch? You’re a noble, don’t you have a watch on you?”
Boris said with a hint of self-mockery, glancing at the gold chain around Andrei’s neck.
Such a valuable item was not something a common Soldier like him could obtain; even his entire year’s salary wouldn’t buy such a watch!
Hearing this, although Andrei felt a bit awkward, he still said calmly on the surface:
“No choice, I wanted to check my own pocket watch, but this thing is broken!”
“This damned shelling, I should have known not to bring such a delicate item to the battlefield. It got damaged in two shakes!”
As he spoke, he pulled out his pocket watch to show it. Although the exterior didn’t look damaged, the gears inside were completely jammed. Perhaps it could be fixed with a repair.
“If you can’t tell me the exact time, telling me roughly how long until dark would also work. I’m so disoriented from the shelling that I don’t know when it will get dark!”
However, Andrei also found it strange. Usually, on the cover of other people’s pocket watches, there would be a photo of their lover. American Soldiers in war movies always liked to do this, expressing their emotions along the way.
But for some reason, the design on his own pocket watch was an ice-blue hexagonal snowflake with a cross-shaped longsword inserted into it. The pattern was very complex and seemed to carry some symbolic meaning.
He hadn’t figured out whether it was his family crest or something else. Anyway, based on some previous observations and guesses, he had roughly deduced that he should be a noble.
Otherwise, putting everything else aside, although he didn’t have a mirror to look at his face, he could be sure that this body was only in its early twenties, considered young among this group of recruits.
So why was it that while others were ordinary Soldiers, he could be a Captain?
Without some family background, how could this be possible?
Boris didn’t know that Andrei was still pondering his own identity. Hearing Andrei ask how long until dark, he estimated and said:
“Soon, it shouldn’t take long. It’s not summer yet, so it doesn’t get dark that late!”
Damn it, how long is “not long”?
Although Andrei really wanted to ask him how many hours and minutes, considering he didn’t know the time measurement units of this world, he decided to keep quiet. He’d just assume it would be dark in an hour!
Andrei nodded, feigning calmness, then pointed at the extremely crude hand-drawn map on his body and said:
“Next, we’ll try our best to break through to the north, aiming to get into the nearby woods first, and then find a way to cross the woods to reach the road on the other side!”
“As long as it’s dark, if the enemy Soldiers aren’t crazy, they most likely won’t enter the woods to pursue us. This way, we’ll have a chance to escape successfully!”
After hearing Andrei’s plan, Boris frowned, finding the plan unreliable.
Running into the woods was indeed safer; enemy armored units couldn’t enter the woods, and their infantry wouldn’t be so reckless as to enter unfamiliar woods in the dark.
But the problem was, how were they going to break through the encirclement and get into the woods?
There was still a considerable distance from this trench to the distant woodland!
However, after Andrei spoke a few words to Boris, he turned his head and began speaking to the Players.
“Soldiers, does anyone have smoke grenades? Take them out!”
“Next, we’ll hide in the northern trench. When the enemy approaches, throw smoke grenades as soon as they come up, and then engage them in close quarters combat!”
“As long as we can engage them in close quarters combat, their artillery won’t be effective, and machine gun fire won’t dare to shoot indiscriminately. If we have enough smoke grenades, we will definitely be able to break out!”
Hearing Andrei’s words, the surrounding Soldiers looked confused, wondering who would carry smoke grenades?
Although smoke grenades were cheap, it was clear that they were not standard infantry equipment. None of these reinforcements carried smoke grenades!
However, when the Players heard Andrei’s words, they immediately broke into excited smiles, taking out their smoke grenades one after another and saying in the chat area:
“Hehehe, everyone, our important NPC here has some tricks up his sleeve, he even knows about the Smoke Demon!”
“Smoke grenades are good, I’m very familiar with smoke grenades! A five-year veteran of the battlefield says I have a lot of say in this area!”
Although not all Players carried smoke grenades, a large number of Players did.
After all, the Player template Andrei chose was based on the Battlefield 1 template, and how could these veteran Players with battlefield experience not know the Smoke Demon tactic?
Watching a group of Players pulling out smoke grenades, the other ordinary Soldiers were momentarily stunned, not understanding what was happening?
What’s going on? Why do all these people have smoke grenades on them? Could it be that this item has already become widespread?
Seeing the others looking confused, Andrei just waved his hand and said:
“Don’t be surprised. I had thought of a smoke grenade tactic before, so I specifically got a batch of smoke grenades from the rear. I didn’t expect to have so many left when we retreated!”
But as soon as Andrei finished speaking, the other Officer remaining in the team looked at Andrei suspiciously and asked:
“So, Captain, when you were at the military academy, you were unconventional, not following textbooks, but instead theorizing and creating your own tactics, and even got held back because of it. Was it all for this smoke grenade tactic?”
What the hell, what do you mean held back?
Andrei blinked. How did he not know he had such a glorious record at the military academy? He had even attended the military academy?
But Andrei just waved his hand dismissively, saying with some embarrassment:
“Enough, that’s not important! Second Lieutenant, if you have any doubts about my tactics, then you can present your own plan!”
“If you have a plan that can lead everyone to a safe breakthrough, by all means, present it!”
Hearing this, the Second Lieutenant who had just spoken waved his hands repeatedly and said:
“Sorry, Officer, I just said it casually. This was also a rumor I heard from somewhere else!”
Just then, the artillery bombardment that had enveloped the entire battlefield in the distance ceased. The sudden silence, instead, made Andrei’s heart rate instantly soar.
He quickly shouted to the people around him:
“Soldiers, get ready! Next, everyone with smoke grenades will charge at the very front, using smoke to cover our assault!”
“Whether we live or die depends on this battle!”