May Day, also known as "Lily of the Valley Day" in France, is a day when people exchange lilies of the valley with friends and family to symbolize good luck.
(Note: The tradition of giving lilies of the valley on May Day in France began in 1561, when King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a symbol of good luck, and this tradition became popular in France from then on.)
Holidays were a mere fantasy for soldiers during the wartime.
During the war, all holidays were irrelevant to the soldiers; instead of rest, they would face more intense and brutal combat missions.
This was a fallout from the "Christmas Truce Incident."
After that, the high commands of both sides worried that a similar scene would recur during holidays, thus they deliberately launched intense bombardments or attacks to keep the soldiers "motivated" and harboring hatred for each other!
The 105th Infantry Regiment was fortunate enough to be in Paris.
Although they too did not have a holiday, they received countless lilies of the valley.
They came in all colors, white, purple, blue, etc. The training base was adorned with "little bells" everywhere, and the air was filled with a faint fragrance.
Shire received an overly extravagant amount of lilies. While others received them in handfuls or bunches, Shire had them delivered in trucks.
The reason was that the signalmen and orderlies couldn’t handle the volume, so they had to call Lauren to drive out with a car, shouting, "Gentlemen, please put the lilies for the General onto the car, we will deliver them to the General."
Even one car couldn’t hold them all, then came another car, and another...
Adrian initially planned to move the flowers into the living room, but soon realized that it would make the living room impassable, so they eventually arranged them along both sides of the walkway in front of the office building.
Shire looked at the flowers somewhat helplessly, as many of them had tags with blessings attached. If he were to read each one, it would take a whole day.
Compared to these, Shire preferred handling telegrams or checking supply lists.
However, on this morning, Shire didn’t stay in his office as usual; he strolled towards the training ground with his guards.
Shire found this enjoyable, wearing a neat uniform, walking proudly under the warm sunshine, without worrying about being hit by enemy bullets and shells...
The gunshot startled Shire, he reflexively lowered his body, and the guards quickly rushed in front of him, raising their guns.
During this period, the 105th Infantry Regiment was busy teaching frontline troops how to use gas masks, so there were basically no shooting practices.
Moreover, shooting practice wouldn’t involve just one or two gunshots.
The gunshots rang out again, accompanied by soldiers’ cheers and applause.
Shire understood that this might be some sort of shooting competition.
Indeed, Adrian went up to check the situation and ran back excitedly, shouting, "General, they are shooting pigeons, the competitors are the instructor and Shen Bili!"
"Shooting pigeons?" Shire was puzzled.
But his interest quickly shifted to the competitors.
The instructor Adrian mentioned was Dominic, whose shooting skills were as good as Shen Bili’s. Shire also wanted to know who would win.
With his guards, Shire approached the crowded range. Dominic and Shen Bili stood apart, holding their rifles, quietly aiming at the void of the range.
Suddenly, two pigeons were released, flapping their wings, trying to soar into the blue sky.
Two gunshots rang out nearly simultaneously, and the two pigeons fell.
The soldiers erupted in cheers again, some shook their fists in excitement, shouting encouragement, while others gestured provocatively like gamblers.
Later, Shire learned that this wasn’t just an ordinary competition, but a gambling match.
During this era, whether in the countryside or cities of Europe and America, pigeon shooting gambling was popular, just like horse racing. They would bet money on the shooters they believed would win.
(The original images may be unsuitable for public distribution, pigeon shooting was initially an Olympic shooting event, which used live pigeons in the early editions and later switched to clay targets.)
Gunshots echoed, and the final result ended with Dominic narrowly losing to Shen Bili by 8 pigeons to 9.
Both were exceptionally skilled, hitting 8 or 9 out of a total of 10 pigeons with rifles over a distance of more than 200 meters. Only a sharpshooter could achieve this.
As the crowd dispersed, Dominic and Shen Bili shook hands, then leaned back on chairs at the side of the range, staring at the targets in a daze.
"What’s the matter?" Shire asked as he sat beside Dominic.
Dominic turned his head to see it was Shire, and sighed lightly, shaking his head, "I could have done better, but..."
"I know," Shire nodded.
"I don’t understand why this happens," Dominic’s eyes showed some disappointment.
"I know," Shire repeated.
"You know?" Dominic looked at Shire, puzzled.
"It’s psychological, Dominic," Shire said, "Your shooting skill is no worse than Shen Bili’s, the problem is Shen Bili is a hunter, his shooting skill was honed by hunting kangaroos, even facing enemies on the battlefield."
Dominic instantly understood, "While I mostly face immobile targets, rarely training with pigeons, I’m not used to such bloodshed and killing!"
Shire voiced a confirmation, glancing around, "And there’s this place."
Dominic nodded slightly in understanding.
The environment was also a factor affecting his performance. Dominic mostly tested his shooting indoors, but here in the military camp, surrounded by rugged soldiers with murderous eyes, this was Shen Bili’s turf.
Dominic mumbled to himself, "So, I should train in the battlefield."
"Is that what you think?" Shire asked.
Shire wasn’t surprised at all; last time in the Ritz Hotel’s restaurant, when Dominic asked Shire what the battlefield felt like, Shire already knew he had the intention to experience it.
A person obsessed with guns and shooting, if he could never truly utilize the purpose of firearms in his lifetime, and even his shooting skills stagnated due to lack of real combat experience, he would naturally think about stepping onto the battlefield, despite knowing the dangers.
"Yes!" Dominic nodded, though his eyes still showed hesitation.
"You’re not suited for the battlefield," Shire concluded.
"No, you can’t be sure," Dominic refuted.
Shire repeated, "I can be sure."
Dominic’s gun couldn’t kill. Even when he shot a few pigeons, his eyes showed reluctance; when checking the results, he would tightly clench his jaw muscles if he had to finish off an injured pigeon.
Such a person, when facing a living human on the battlefield, might not be able to even pull the trigger.