Rise of Australia

Chapter 435 Poisonous Gas Battle

Beginning in mid-March, fierce fighting reached its climax on the west bank of the Meuse.In the last two days of fierce fighting, the German army invested a total of five divisions on the west bank of the Meuse River. The German commander ignored the heavy artillery fire and machine gun fire of the French defenders, and blindly ordered the troops to attack Molt-Aum. The strong attack on the east and west sides of the highland eventually caused heavy losses to the German army.

After resting for a few days, the German army suddenly launched an unusually violent artillery attack on the defensive positions on the northeast and northwest slopes of the Molt-Aum Heights. Under the cover of the artillery, an elite German army began to move northeastward. The ramp attacks.

This army cooperated with the ordinary army that had moved to the northwest of the highland a few days ago, and together launched a fierce attack on the neck of the highland.

Because of the fierce offensive of this elite German army, the offensive and defensive battle on the high ground quickly achieved results. After several rounds of guarding, the French defenders on the high ground had no choice but to retreat to the top of the mountain, leaving only a part of the machine gun unit for defense.

The remaining machine gun units were obviously unable to withstand the German attack. The elite German army quickly took control of the defensive position on the mountainside and converged to attack the top of the mountain.

In addition, the German army also divided its forces, not only consolidating the captured defensive positions, but also divided into two groups. On the premise of attacking the defensive positions on the top of the mountain, they launched an assault to the rear of the Molt-Aum Heights.

The Germans originally wanted to outflank the rear of the French defenders and strive to encircle and annihilate the French army.

But the French army is not stupid. Once the rear of the defensive position is outflanked, they have no room to retreat.

For this reason, the defenders took out all the machine guns and artillery, and declared their indomitableness with dense and dense firepower.

Although the Germans attacked relatively smoothly, they also paid a lot of casualties for this.

Because the French army is located on the top of the mountain and occupies a relatively good defensive terrain, it is often able to achieve a better battle loss ratio.

However, if the German army wanted to launch a strong attack on the French army on the top of the mountain, it could only mobilize its artillery to the middle of the mountain, surround it on all sides, and launch shelling on the positions above.

There is bad news for both France and Germany, because the time has come to the second half of March, and the temperature in Verdun has gradually become warmer.

As a result, the ice and snow in many places have melted, and the land near the Verdun Fortress has become very muddy, making logistics and transportation more difficult.

With the melting of ice and snow, the disposal of a large number of corpses on the battlefield is also difficult.

In the past, because the temperature was relatively cold, the corpses of people and livestock could be delayed for half a month before being processed.

But not now, if these corpses are not cleaned up within a week, the stench and germs from various corpses will be enough to collapse the armies of both sides.

In this regard, France and Germany also formed a tacit agreement.After each round of offensive and defensive battles, the medical soldiers of both sides will deal with the corpses on the battlefield.During this period, France and Germany entered into a temporary ceasefire.

It is precisely because of such unwritten regulations that a large number of corpses on the battlefield of Verdun were disposed of, so as not to breed germs and plagues.

Under the heavy shelling and attack of the French army, the defenders on the high ground began to move to the south, and the European army thus occupied the top forts and artillery positions.

Although the position on the top of the hill was successfully occupied, the Germans also suffered a large number of casualties.

A brigade of the Buffy Army charged bravely with the machine guns and artillery of the French army. In the end, the entire brigade was almost wiped out, and there were less than ten survivors.

Borrowing the tragic situation described in his diary by a retreating French officer: "The battles in Jacaris and Karense were considered fierce, but I did not expect that the battle on the front line of Verdun was more intense than those places. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it would be hard to believe that the battle would reach such a fierce level.

From this point of view, the previous military classics and the teachings of famous generals are useless.In this fortress battle, even though shells from both sides were raining like rain, the army still forged ahead without fear.

The fighting will of the armies of both sides is terrible, under the fierce artillery fire, they are still relentless.

On March 3, all the trenches in our position were destroyed by shelling.The covering artillery fire of the German army permeated the first defensive trench and scattered on the roads behind the front line, with a spreading area of ​​more than 20 meters.The large-caliber artillery of the German army often extended the shooting distance, destroying our artillery positions and the communication trenches between the positions.

At 8 o'clock that night, we took a car to the rear of the second and third lines. While driving, several bullets hit the car body and some people were injured.We have seen our troops in high spirits and without fear.It was the German army that launched the bombardment first, but our army bombarded it more intensively.The sound of shelling was deafening. The closer we were to the front line, the louder the shell explosion would be. We could even feel the ground trembling and our hearts beating in our chests.

The skirmish grounds and traffic trenches on the position were completely destroyed by artillery fire, and the soldiers had almost no shelter.The state of the ground's surface was constantly being altered by bombardment.As we advance, we sometimes lie around and sometimes leap forward. The only thing we can cover to cover our bodies is the bomb crater.Most of the defensive troops took shelter in the bomb craters, and the soldiers who could not find a place to hide rushed to the remnants of the trenches.

When the dense artillery fire of the German army extended the distance, many soldiers who were hiding in our army took the opportunity to quickly climb out of the bomb crater and rush into the position.The attacking German army formed a dense formation, with 5000 to 6000 people forming a column. When advancing, the infantry was divided into two squads and leaped forward.At this time, our army only had machine guns and fast guns that could play a role, and artillery with a caliber of 75 times was no longer convenient for shooting.Fortunately, the field artillery on the side was able to suppress the German attacking troops, and none of the German troops who continued to attack was spared. The bodies of casualties from machine guns, fast guns and artillery fire lay everywhere.It can be seen that the German attack did not consider the cost of life. "

With the passage of time, the front lines of the German army and the positions of the French army have become closer and closer.If the two sides want to attack the enemy with artillery fire, they have to consider the possibility of accidentally injuring their own troops.

In order to ensure the offensive in the Verdun area, Germany had to mobilize troops from Russia and the Balkans.

Even by drawing troops from various fronts in northern France, it is possible to barely maintain a local advantage in the Verdun area.

For this reason, the Paris News Agency also released a special news, announcing to the French people that four of the seven divisions in the new campaign launched by Germany in the Verdun area were transferred from other places on the Western Front.

Although the German army has suffered heavy casualties in the recent period, the bravery and discipline of the German army cannot be underestimated.

No matter how many casualties there are, the remaining German soldiers will still attack desperately.The German soldiers firmly believed that only by passing through the dangerous area as soon as possible could it be possible to break into the trenches and disable the heavy artillery of the French army.

This also caused the German assault troops to charge towards the French defensive positions time and time again like a lake.

Even if the soldiers in front fell down, the troops following behind still stepped over their companions without any hesitation and continued to move forward.

Because the artillery power of the French army is not weak, coupled with the mobilization of a large number of artillery in the Verdun area, the formation of the German army is often beaten to pieces.

But this still couldn't stop the German soldiers from charging. After the French shelling, the German army quickly reorganized and attacked the French army's position.

Although due to excessive losses, there were obviously not as many German soldiers who could rush into the French positions as the French defenders.

However, the Germans adopted a bomb-throwing strategy. Once a commando entered the French line, the bomb team behind it would immediately rush up and drop a large number of bombs into the trench, making it impossible for the French defenders in the trench to defend themselves.

Because the sneak attack of this bomb was temporary, the French soldiers had no time to get into the fortifications. Under this sneak attack, the French army suffered heavy casualties for a while, and the defensive positions were also occupied by the German army.

As of the night of March 3, the Molt-Aum Heights basically fell into the hands of the German army. Only Height 23 and a few nearby forts fought fiercely until dawn.

Although the current situation of the defenders is very dangerous, the French army is ready, and even wrote a suicide note under the organization of the commander, ready to stay with the position and survive together.

When the sky was about to light up, the French soldiers who had fought fiercely all night were finally able to rest for a while.They cuddled up against each other and dozed off in positions.

On a spring morning, there was a hint of coolness in the breeze, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder smoke that the soldiers had long been used to, mixed with the smell of burnt earth and blood.

Suddenly, a strange yellow-green cloud slowly floated along the ground towards the highland.Most of the French soldiers had fallen asleep and did not notice this strangely colored cloud.

When this cloud and mist drifted over the position, the French defenders discovered the strange smell.Some people experience burning pain in the eyes, nose and throat, which gets worse when they open their eyes.

Many soldiers began to howl in pain, tearing open their skirts with both hands, grabbing their throats, rolling and tumbling desperately.

But this kind of struggle will only make them more uncomfortable. Frequent and violent breathing will cause them to inhale more poisonous gas, and eventually they will shrink and suffocate or even die.

Germany dropped poison gas to the Verdun area again after more than a month. When the French army was very tired, the poison gas sneak attack had a very good effect.

During the entire Battle of Verdun, the Germans dropped poison gas more than a dozen times, but because of the influence of the wind direction, only three or four times actually caused effective damage.

Obviously, this poison gas attack is also counted as one, and the killing effect is the best among the recent poison gas releases.

In less than half an hour, the French soldiers standing on the positions and forts had completely lost their resistance.

A few soldiers who were not much affected by the poisonous gas struggled to jump out of the trench, and ran to the rear like crazy.

　The first update of 3000 characters, please support, ask for a monthly ticket!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)