Chapter 436: A Fight to the Death
After achieving good results in the poison gas war, the German army immediately devoted all its strength and launched the final attack on the remaining 304 Highlands and artillery defense positions.
All attacking German soldiers wore effective gas masks to avoid unnecessary damage caused by poisonous gas.
In fact, the French soldiers were also equipped with poison masks, but most of the tired French soldiers did not react at all and were enveloped by the poison gas.
A small number of French soldiers who had reacted quickly put on poison masks, but they had no effect on the rest of the battle.
In the end, the German army successfully occupied all areas of the Molt-Om Heights. From Hill 304, all areas of this defensive position were occupied by Germany.
In this extremely anxious tug-of-war, the entire mountainous terrain was severely damaged, and patches of woods were flattened or burned, just like fields with the ears of grain cut off.
All man-made obstacles are basically riddled with bullets, even those with three layers of sandbags stacked up.
Almost all the roads nearby have been plowed, and all the intersections have been washed away by the terrifying rain of blood. When walking through them, you can still smell the obvious smell of gunpowder smoke and blood.
The entire Molt-Ome Highlands are filled with vehicles, artillery, various wreckage and the corpses of soldiers, which seriously hinders traffic in this area.
However, the army rested in this area for several days before barely clearing the road and launching an attack on the Mimos area.
But here, the French army has re-established a solid defensive position, and this will be an arduous offensive and defensive battle.
By the end of March, Germany's general reserves in the Western Theater also rushed to the front. In order to cover the assault operations of the elite troops on the front line, the Germans mobilized the largest artillery group in the West Korean battlefield to bombard the French positions indiscriminately.
The intensity of the artillery bombing forced the German artillery troops to replenish their artillery shells every hour after bombing.
In an interview after the war, a French officer on the battlefield revealed the situation of the German attack to the media: "The German commandos were like a machine gun, and each soldier was like a bullet fired. This machine gun was like Shooting like this non-stop, they are like little strong men who cannot be killed." The
German artillery caused a lot of casualties to the defensive troops, but whenever the German bombing stopped, the French troops would emerge and start to resist tenaciously.
The Mimos area has been fought back and forth between Germany and France several times, and the German army's attempt to seize the entire prominent area around Mimos has never been successful.
In April 1916, a British force arrived on the west bank of the Meuse River to reinforce the French Tenth Army, which had been defending there for a long time.
The Times that day published a Paris correspondent's comments on the development of the situation on the Verdun battlefield: "In this battle, if the French army had not resisted bravely and tenaciously, it would have been impossible to hold on to the Verdun Fortress. The development of the Verdun battle , the French army's sacrifices in the last week were greater than ever before... Otherwise, why should the French 10th Army be replaced by the British army? Of course, it is not difficult to see from this that the unity of the Allied Powers on the Western Front battlefield lies in Gradually increasing, and the losses of the German army in the Verdun area are also increasing day by day."
Four months have passed since the outbreak of the Battle of Verdun. The losses of the main participating parties, Germany and France, can be described in one word. To sum it up simply, it is miserable.
So far, the Germans have invested nearly 40 divisions in the Verdun area, with a total number of soldiers of nearly 1 million.
The French were not weak at all, investing nearly 35 divisions, with a total number of soldiers as high as 800,000.
There are nearly 2 million troops on both sides, and the current total casualties have exceeded 700,000.
Among them, the German casualties were the most tragic. As the offensive side in the Battle of Verdun, even if the Germans mobilized a large number of artillery, they could not reduce the number of casualties among the soldiers at all.
As of early April, the Germans had suffered more than 400,000 casualties in the Battle of Verdun, including more than 150,000 dead.
The French casualties were as high as 350,000, and the death toll was close to 120,000.
The historical War of Verdun lasted for nearly ten months, and the total number of casualties was only about 1 million.
But now, in just over four months, the combined casualties of France and Germany have reached 750,000, and the death toll is close to 300,000, which is not much weaker than the Battle of Verdun in history.
You know, the current Battle of Verdun is still ongoing, France and Germany are still fighting fiercely, and the British have also sent reinforcements to join the battle.
It is no exaggeration to say that this new Battle of Verdun may be more cruel than the historical Battle of Verdun.
If the situation is allowed to develop like this, the Battle of Verdun may become a great war with more than one million deaths. When the time comes, no one knows who will be drained of blood.
Precisely because the German casualties were even more exaggerated than the French, the Germans' attempt to use up the battle in the Verdun area to drain the blood of the French had completely failed.
At present, the Germans may die of anemia before the French run out of blood. Such large-scale casualties made Germany's top leaders very dissatisfied, and Wilhelm II was also dissatisfied with the plan of German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn.
When Germany's strategy shifted again, the top brass of the German military had two different opinions.
One opinion is that continuing to attack the eastern front is a better choice. Compared with the elite French army, the Russian army is weak.
As long as they can hold on to the Western Front, the German troops on the Eastern Front can invade Russian territory unscrupulously and force Russia to withdraw from the war to relieve the pressure of fighting on the two fronts.
Falkenhan, the Chief of General Staff at the time, opposed all opinions and firmly believed that only by defeating France first could the pressure of two-front operations be completely relieved.
This led to the German army turning to defense on the eastern front and relaunching the offensive on the western front, provoking the Battle of Verdun, which currently seems to have more tragic German casualties.
According to the news from the German intelligence agency, preparations for the battle of the Somme River by the British and French coalition forces are nearing completion. They may launch a large-scale battle similar to Verdun on the Somme River at any time.
This was a huge blow to Germany. The German attack at Verdun not only failed to prevent the French from planning a battle on the Somme, but also delayed many German elites in the Verdun area.
In order to escape from the Verdun area as soon as possible and prepare for the possible Battle of the Somme launched by Britain and France, William II personally issued orders to the front line and staff, requiring the army in Verdun to achieve a decisive victory before April 15.
This order is impossible based on the current situation. The German offensive in the Verdun area has lasted for more than four months, and they have not been able to gain an absolute advantage, let alone half a month. Done within.
But there is no way, this is an order from Wilhelm II, and the German army must obey.
Under the orders of William II, the exhausted German army regrouped and launched a new round of fierce attack on the French positions from Ferguslin to Sewell Fort.
Because of the urging of William II's order, the German generals began to become regardless of gains and losses again, like crazy gamblers, investing all their bets.
For these German generals, their best choice at the moment is to capture the front positions regardless of casualties.
As long as they can capture the position, no matter how heavy the casualties they pay, their shortcomings will not be able to cover up their achievements in capturing the position.
But if they fail to complete the orders issued by William II, even if they minimize the casualties of the German army, they will definitely be liquidated by William II.
The new round of fighting lasted for several days. The German army used all kinds of weapons, including machine guns, artillery, poison gas, flame guns, and even airships and aircraft. As long as they could cause damage to the enemy, the German army used all weapons.
A British press representative’s feelings after arriving in the Verdun area were used to express the current situation in the Verdun area: “This fort was destroyed by exploding bombs and it was like hell. The fort commander, Major Jonard, and his men were in this hell. They fought desperately on the fortress. Near the fort, the newly formed trenches were quickly destroyed by artillery fire."
Because the battle lasted for a long time, frequent bombings and various weapons caused the French army to be seriously short of water.
It is difficult for logistics to transport supplies. Food is okay, but water resources have become an extremely scarce resource on the battlefield.
Because of the high temperature of artillery explosions and the high-temperature flame guns used by the German army, the French army's irritability caused by the fierce battle was even more serious.
The severe bleeding of the wounded led to a shortage of drinking water. Coupled with the wailing of the wounded, the anxiety within the French army became more serious. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for anyone to become calm and find a way to break the situation.
Because the forts and defensive positions have become besieged islands, in order to exchange for a little limited drinking water, French soldiers must brave the hail of bullets and bombings to find water sources and logistics without being discovered by the German army as much as possible. .
There are about 400 French soldiers standing in the Fergus Fort, and their daily minimum drinking water consumption reaches about 150 liters.
Under the long-term offensive of the German army, drinking water became a more important life-saving material than bullets, artillery shells, medical supplies, and food resources.
Even with the suppression of the top fort commander, many soldiers would still fight over the distribution of water resources, and even turn against their comrades.
Although the situation of the defenders outside the fort is slightly better, it is difficult for them to transport resources to and from the fort.
Despite the cover of fire, it would be difficult to transport water resources to the interior of the fort, no matter how heavy the casualties were.
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(End of chapter)