In October 1918 AD, the "Allied Powers" with Britain, France, and the United States as the core had achieved successive military victories and began a major counterattack; with the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire as the core The "Allied Powers", like a gambler with a red eye, did not hesitate to make desperate bets with the lives and property of millions of people. This "dog-eat-dog" war between imperialists is drawing to an end.
General Pershing, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army, ordered the 77th Division of the First Army to continue advancing and launch an attack on the rugged Argonne Forest in France. At this time, the friendly French had already pulled some distance away. Pershing concluded that it would be difficult to maintain communications in the woods, and he asked each unit to move forward "without regard to losses, or to the circumstances facing each flank."
In this case, it is particularly important to rely on military pigeons to deliver letters. The British Pigeon Fans Association gave 600 pigeons to the US military. These pigeons have made great contributions to the communication between the US military.
At 6:30 in the morning on October 2, Whittlesey, commander of the 1st Battalion of the US 308th Infantry Division, and George, commander of the 2nd Battalion, led their troops into the Schalvo Valley. But within two hours of marching, they came under heavy fire from German artillery. 90 American soldiers lost their lives, and 2 companies disappeared in the forest. After several more fierce battles, the 2nd Battalion and the 1st Battalion were separated again. Whittlesey, commander of the 1st Battalion, wrote a letter asking for help and asked his men to tie the letter to the leg of a military pigeon and let it fly back.
After receiving the request for help, the division headquarters immediately sent troops for reinforcements. But only Captain Nelson's Company K managed to make it through the dark forest terrain to Whittlesey's camp. Battalion Commander Whittlesey asked Nelson to lead K Company to check whether the hill they had just crossed was occupied by German troops again. As soon as K Company went up the mountain, it came under heavy machine gun fire from both sides and from snipers in the forest behind. The enemy not only occupied Hill 198, but also built fortifications.
At the same time, Whittlesey sent Lieutenant Carr and 50 soldiers to find the two missing companies. They encountered strong German firepower, and only 20 soldiers survived. By the morning of the 3rd, they were convinced that they were all surrounded. At this time, the 2nd Battalion had joined the 1st Battalion, but only 550 men remained. Whittlesey drafted a letter requesting assistance to Division Commander Alexander, which was signed by Battalion Commander George. They placed the letter in a metal box tied around the neck of a military pigeon. Soldier Richards kept 8 military pigeons.
The military pigeon flew safely to the division headquarters, but General Alexander was unable to do anything. All his reserves were fighting. The German army stepped up its attack. Whittlesey ordered the distribution of the last bit of food and led his troops to repel another German attack. He released another military pigeon and asked for a plane to airdrop food and XX.
A third of his troops were killed or seriously injured, and they had run out of medicine. That night, 2nd Battalion Commander George crawled from company to company to cheer up the soldiers.
According to the battle plan scheduled by the "Allied Powers", the Battle of Argonne began at 5:30 in the morning on October 4.
This time, in order to catch the German army off guard, artillery was not used. The battle was extremely brutal. The Germans fired continuously with machine guns from the trenches. The American infantry fell in droves, and their bodies piled up like mountains! All along the front, American troops advanced inch by inch. But Whittlesey and George's troops, who were alone in the deep, were still surrounded.
That morning, Whittlesey selected two of the remaining military pigeons and sent a letter, reporting that his two companies were still missing and that he was in urgent need of medical supplies and food. At the end of the letter, he said: "The situation has caused us to rapidly reduce our numbers. The soldiers are starving and freezing, and the injuries of the wounded are getting worse. Please provide support as soon as possible!"
Alexander received another letter asking for help from the military pigeon. Afterwards, artillery was ordered to attack the German troops around Whittlesey and George. A few hours later, a plane flew over the U.S. military positions in the besieged area. When the pilot fired a rocket, the beleaguered soldiers jumped for joy. They were discovered by their own people.
After a while, there was an explosion nearby. Someone yelled, "It's our plane!" They cheered until the shells moved towards them. Then, the shells fell directly on their small position.
In order to calm everyone's panic, Whittlesey calmly strode out of the trench, raised his rifle and danced in the air. George kept comforting everyone and said: "Don't be nervous, it won't last long!"
However, the cannonballs did not have eyes and kept pouring down on their own positions. A shell hit Whittlesey's messenger, Sergeant Gaedeke of the 1st Battalion, and his body was blown to pieces. All his comrades found were his helmet and XX.
Whittlesey quickly wrote another letter: "Our own artillery is firing at us! Please stop firing immediately!" When Private Richards grabbed a military pigeon from the pigeon cage Suddenly, it broke free from his hand and ran away. As a result, there was only one black cock named Chel Ami. This is an ordinary one among the 600 military pigeons.
Richards tied the letter from Whittlesey securely around Cher Ami's neck and threw it into the air. After flying several times in the air, it landed on a nearby tree.
Whittlesey, George and their men were furious! They waved their rifles and helmets to let them fly, but Cher Ami ignored them and began to peck at his own feathers.
Whittlesey shouted: "Ho! Ho ho..." But the stubborn pigeon remained indifferent.
They threw sticks and stones, and Chel Ami finally spread his wings, but fell into another tree. Charlize muttered, "What the hell..." and climbed up the tree, shaking the branches until Cher Ami flew away. But it began to hover over them again. The Germans began shooting at the pigeon as Richards shouted commands to it. After flying around for a few times, Chel Ami finally flew away.
It seems like a miracle that this military pigeon successfully flew through the hail of bullets. It swayed once, beating its wings desperately, then fluttered again and continued flying. One of its legs was hit by a bullet, but it continued to perform its mission, and finally, it flew to its destination. It dropped like a stone, left chest first. It swayed, swayed from side to side, and finally jumped to the door on one bloody leg.
A soldier who kept pigeons caught Cher Ami at the door and untied the small metal box tied around his neck. The same bullet penetrated its sternum, and the feathers on its chest were stuck together with blood. The soldier quickly took some bread crumbs and water to feed it, and it cooed, as if to say: "I have completed my mission!" Cher Ami was immediately sent to a military doctor for treatment. General Alexander ordered that its wounds be treated at all costs. Later, Cher Amibi was sent back to the United States, where he died a year later. Its body was filled with antiseptic materials, made into a specimen, and displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. To this day, it is still admired as a national hero.
Besides, thanks to Chel Ami, the U.S. artillery immediately stopped firing on its own people. But this did not end the suffering for the two battalions. The German army launched another infantry attack. At about 9 o'clock in the evening, grenades flying from all directions fell on the surrounded area. In the moment of silence, the Germans shouted: "Surrender!" The U.S. military immediately responded: "XX, surrender to us!" Then came a more intense battle.
The next day, October 5, the U.S. reinforcements finally defeated the German troops surrounding the 1st and 2nd Battalions. After joining forces with friendly forces, the first thing Whittlesey was eager to inquire about was how was Chel Ami? When he heard that Cher Ami, despite being seriously injured, still braved a hail of bullets to deliver the letter, this battle-experienced major, this man who never shed tears easily, could not help but shed tears. burst into tears.