Rise of Australia

Chapter 436

After the poison gas battle achieved good results, the German army immediately went all out and launched a 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 poison gas to their own side.

In fact, the French soldiers were also equipped with poison masks, but most of the exhausted French soldiers were already shrouded in poisonous gas without reacting at all.

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, German forces succeeded in capturing all of the area of ​​the Molt-Aum Heights, from Height 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 stretches of woods were blown up or burned, just like fields that had been cut off of ears of corn.

All man-made obstacles are basically bullet-riddled, even those places where three layers of sandbags are stacked are no exception.

Almost all the nearby roads have been plowed, and all the intersections have been washed by the terrifying rain of blood. Walking through them, you can still smell the very obvious smell of gunpowder smoke and blood.

The entire Molt-Aum Heights are full of vehicles, cannons, various wreckage, and the corpses of soldiers, which seriously hinder the traffic in this area.

However, the army rested in this area for a few days, and then barely cleared the road, and launched an attack on Mimos.

But here, the French army has rebuilt a solid defensive position, which will be a difficult offensive and defensive battle.

By the end of March, Germany's general reserves in the West had 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 on the Western Korean battlefield to bombard the French positions indiscriminately.

The intensity of the artillery bombardment forced the German artillery to replenish shells after every hour of bombing.

In an interview after the war, a French officer on the ground revealed to the media the German offensive situation at that time: "The German commando is like a machine gun, and every soldier is like a bullet fired. This machine gun is like a machine gun. Such non-stop continuous shooting, they are like Xiaoqiang who can't be killed."

The German artillery caused a lot of casualties to the defensive troops, but whenever the German bombing stopped, the French army would rise up again and start to resist tenaciously.

The Mimos area was fought back and forth by Germany and France several times, and the German army's attempt to seize the entire Mimos prominent area has never been successful.

And in April 1916, a British force arrived on the west bank of the Meuse to reinforce the French Tenth Army, which had been defending there for a long time.

The Times of the day published a Paris correspondent's comment on the development of the Verdun battlefield: "In this battle, if the French army did not resist bravely and tenaciously, it would be impossible to hold on to the Verdun fortress. The development of the Verdun battle , the sacrifice of the French army in the last week was greater than ever... Otherwise, why did 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 Allies on the Western Front 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 Germany and France, the main participating parties, can be summed up in one word, that is miserable.

So far, the Germans have invested nearly 40 divisions in the Verdun area, with a total number of nearly 100 million soldiers.

The French are not weak at all, investing nearly 35 divisions, and the total number of soldiers is as high as 80.

With nearly 200 million troops on both sides, the current total casualties have exceeded 70.

Among them, the German casualties were the most tragic.As the attacker in the Battle of Verdun, even if the Germans mobilized a large number of artillery, they could not reduce the number of casualties of the soldiers at all.

As of early April, the Germans had suffered more than 40 casualties in the Battle of Verdun, of which more than 15 died.

The French casualties were as high as 35, and the death toll was close to 12.

The historical Verdun War lasted nearly ten months, and the total number of casualties was only about 100 million.

But now, in just over four months, the combined casualties of France and Germany are as high as 75, and the death toll is close to 30, which is not much weaker than the historical Battle of Verdun.

You must know that the current Battle of Verdun is still going on, 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 brutal than the historical Battle of Verdun.

If the situation is allowed to continue like this, the Battle of Verdun may become a great battle with more than one million deaths.At that time, the one whose blood has been exhausted will not know who it is.

Just because the Germans had more exaggerated casualties than the French, the Germans' attempt to exhaust the blood of the French by launching a campaign in the Verdun area has completely failed.

At present, the Germans may die of anemia before the French have lost their blood.

Such a large-scale casualty made the German high-level very dissatisfied, and William II was also dissatisfied with the planning of the German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn.

When the German strategy was shifted again, the top German military had two different opinions.

One opinion is that it is a better choice to continue to attack the Eastern Front.Compared with the elite French army, the Russian army is a soft persimmon.

As long as they can stand firm on the western front, the German army on the eastern front can invade Russia's territory unscrupulously, forcing Russia to withdraw from the war, and relieve the pressure of fighting on the two fronts.

Falkenhayn, the chief of staff at the time, rejected all opinions and firmly believed that only by defeating France first could the pressure of the two-line battle be completely relieved.

This caused the German army to turn to defense on the Eastern Front, and re-launched an offensive on the Western Front, provoking the Battle of Verdun, which currently seems to have worse German casualties.

According to the news from the German intelligence agency, the preparations for the battle of the British and French forces on the Somme River are nearing completion, and 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 offensive in Verdun not only failed to stop the French's campaign planning 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 by Britain and France, William II personally issued an order to the front line and the staff, requiring the Verdun army to achieve a decisive victory before April 4.

Judging from the current situation, this order is impossible. 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 in this half a month. It's done.

But there is no way, this is an order from William II, and the German army must obey it.

Under the order of William II, the exhausted German army regrouped and launched a new round of onslaught on the French positions on the line from Fergesling to the Souvier Fort.

Because of the urging of William II's order, the German generals became reckless again, and like crazy gamblers, they put all their bets.

For these German generals, their best choice at present is to capture the front positions regardless of casualties.

As long as they can capture the position, no matter how heavy the casualties are, they will not be able to cover up their merits in capturing the position.

But if they can't 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 battles lasted for several days. The German army used everything, machine guns, artillery, poison gas, flame guns, even airships and airplanes. As long as they could cause damage to the enemy, the German army used them all.

Borrowing the feelings of a British news representative after arriving in the Verdun area to express the current situation in the Verdun area: "This fort was destroyed by explosive bombs. Desperate resistance on the like fortress. Near the fort, the trenches that had just been formed were quickly destroyed by artillery fire."

Because the battle lasted for a long time, frequent heavy bombing and various weapons made the French army seriously short of water.

Logistics is difficult to transport materials up, food is okay, water resources have become an extremely scarce material on the battlefield.

Because of the high temperature of the artillery explosion and the high-temperature flame guns used by the German army, the French army's impatience caused by the fierce fighting became 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 calm down and find a way to break the situation.

Because the forts and defensive positions have become besieged islands, in exchange for a little limited drinking water, French soldiers must brave the hail of bullets and bombardment, and try to find water sources and logistics while avoiding the discovery of the German army as much as possible. .

There are about 400 French soldiers standing in the Fergus Fort, and the minimum daily drinking water consumption must reach about 150 liters.

Under the long-term attack of the German army, drinking water has become a more important life-saving material than bullets, medical supplies, and food resources.

Even with the suppression of the top turret 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 firepower, it is difficult to transport water resources to the inside of the fort, no matter how heavy the casualties are.

　The second update of 3000 words, ask for a monthly ticket, ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)