I weave fate in parallel time and space

Chapter 395: A grain of sand in the times.

In fact, the reason why Joan of Arc was able to enter the upper echelons of the army in the first place was not because of her own abilities.

At that time, the people in West France had very little confidence in defeating Germany, because in their view, the combination of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Tsarist Russia was almost unbeatable.

After all, this era does not yet have such advanced networks, and not everyone can understand the international situation.

Germany borders West France. In recent years, their strong industrial capabilities have deeply impressed the people of West France.

At this time, Joan of Arc's existence happened to come into their sight.

The name of the general who met Joan in the village was Laman Arnold, the adopted son of the French commander Joseph.

After meeting him, Joan of Arc chose to join the army and accompanied them.

At first, they thought Joan of Arc was just a girl who happened to be as famous as the saint in the past.

But later, after she made several judgments that were almost prophetic, and all of them were correct, Raman began to gradually pay attention to her opinions.

With the victory in several battles, her name gradually spread among the army, and soon reached Joseph.

Joseph was keenly aware of the label attached to Joan of Arc.

Claiming to be a Joan of Arc, a woman, and possessing some kind of special intuition, it perfectly poked the heroic fantasy in the hearts of West French people.

So they publicized her name in the country.

Who knew that her abilities exceeded Joseph's imagination, and the subsequent battles she commanded were enough to be recorded in the annals of war.

With the performance on the front line as a basis, her name became louder and louder in West France for a while, and many supporters appeared.

Many people say that she is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc, who saved West France hundreds of years ago.

And this time, she came to West France again.

She will also save the country again.

"The enemy's purpose is not to occupy Verdun." Joan of Arc made a definite conclusion on the sand table in front of her.

She glanced at everyone present.

"Instead, they use large-scale firepower to consume our physical strength. The enemy wants to make Verdun our graveyard."

The expressions of the generals around him changed and gradually became serious. In fact, they also noticed something.

The firepower of these waves of offensives by the Allied Powers is really too terrifying.

"Then should we retreat now?" Raman asked.

"How to retreat and where to retreat?" Jeanne asked.

They fell silent.

"Behind us is Paris, and we have no way to retreat." Joan of Arc's voice was low.

"The souls of the 240 children who died in the Paris bombing are still crying. We will not let this happen again."

"They made a big mistake. After breaking through our defenses, they did not immediately attack the weakly defended west bank of the Meuse River and occupy Verdun.

Probably because they were afraid that we would give up the attack on Verdun.

Moreover, this style of heavy firepower coverage has too high requirements for logistical support. This is also the direction in which we are making breakthroughs. "

Joan of Arc placed her hands on the edge of the sand table, leaning forward slightly, overlooking the sand table in front of her, as if the entire battlefield was under her control.

The location and situation of the German army at this moment also appeared in her mind.

Her eyes flashed.

"They will pay for their arrogance"

Under Joan's order, the entire army on the front line began to move at an alarming speed.

The existence of engineer mechas greatly increases the speed of frontline position construction.

In a very short period of time, the Allied forces quickly built a defensive position in Verdun spanning both sides of the Meuse River, with a frontal width of 112 kilometers and a depth of 15 to 18 kilometers.

There are four defensive positions in total, the first three are field defensive positions, and the fourth is a solid position composed of the fortifications and two fortification zones. It is condescending and easy to defend but difficult to attack.

West France mobilized the 3rd Army, which has 11 divisions, more than 630 artillery pieces, and [-] mechas.

Five divisions defended the area north of Verdun, three divisions defended the area east and southeast of Verdun, and the other three divisions were deployed as reserves on the west bank of the Meuse River south of Verdun.

After that, the French army used the Bardique-Verdun road, which was the only road that maintained contact with the rear, to continuously transport troops and supplies to Verdun. Within a week, they organized 3900 trucks, 19 transport mechas, and transported 2.5 personnel. , [-] tons of materials.

This was the first large-scale automobile transport in the history of war.

Joan of Arc keenly grasped the arrogance of the Allied forces, and before they occupied Verdun, she fully strengthened Verdun's defenses and chose to engage in positional warfare with them.

A large number of reinforcements from the Allied Powers entered the battle in time, which strengthened the defense in depth and had a significant impact on the course of the entire battle.

Massive Allied bombing could not go on forever because the industrial capabilities were there, and this was when positional warfare came into play.

In the first few days of the second week, Joan of Arc even led the army in a large detour blitzkrieg, destroying several railways built by Germany.

By the end of the month, the German army had consumed a lot of ammunition, and because the railway was destroyed, the strategic reserves did not arrive in time. Their attack power dropped sharply, and the two sides began to fall into a stalemate.

It can be said that the Allies did not choose to occupy Verdun, which was definitely a huge mistake, which caused them to lose the best opportunity to break through the Allied defense lines. .

In early March, the Confederates began to shift tactics.First, the frontal attack width was expanded to [-] kilometers.

Immediately afterwards, the attack direction began to be shifted to the west bank of the Meuse River, in an attempt to encircle Verdun from the west, while eliminating the threat of French artillery on the west bank, and continue to strengthen the attack on the east bank.

The difference was that the German army no longer launched a hasty attack, but began to advance steadily.

However, this strategy also met with stubborn resistance from the French army. In the end, they only occupied a few small strongholds. They did not achieve the strategic purpose and instead paid greater sacrifices.

At this moment, in the camp of the German army,

Malfoy, the commander of the German army responsible for attacking Verdun, began to roar angrily at the general beside him.

"If you can't even break through the first line of defense, what use does the empire have for a general like you!?"

Malfoy also has an identity as the eldest son of William II, the Crown Prince.

Compared with governing the country, military merit is the easiest way to gain prestige, so many princes have military ranks.

But if this battle ends in the defeat of the German army.

Then not only will his status be unsafe, but even the throne of his father who is far away in his own country will be challenged.

So he was feeling very irritable at the moment.

"We missed the best opportunity to attack. The enemy has many defensive methods, and there is also a guerrilla team wandering near our logistics line." The general said slowly.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Malfoy continued to ask.The general was silent for a moment, "It's not like nothing."

Hearing the sound, Malfoy raised his head and looked at him.

"Last year, we used a weapon on the battlefield of Saiguo, and the effect was very good." The general's eyes exuded a faint glimmer, "However, some people in the country stopped it because it was too inhumane."

"Now is the time, why do you care about inhumanity? If Germany loses, the entire empire will collapse!" Malfoy suppressed his emotions and said, "Go and mobilize all the weapons in stock in the country to the front line! Also, use all your strength Restore logistical supplies!”

"Yes!"

The battlefield was filled with smoke. As time passed, the patience of both sides gradually wore away, and the intensity of the battle increased exponentially.

Germany began to concentrate its domestic superior forces, and even the mechas and battleships on the Eastern Front battlefield were mobilizing here.

West France has also been constantly mobilizing troops from the rear, from the past 56th division to the current [-] divisions, which includes almost one-half of the entire West France army.

The entire battlefield is like a large "meat grinder", and all the soldiers sent up will be minced into minced meat.

Under the rainy sky, there is a dark scorched earth and a cemetery strewn with corpses.

Death and fear gradually spread on the battlefield.
"Leo, do you have fire?"

In the trenches of the Verdun defense line, an old man with gray hair who looked to be in his 40s had a cigarette in his mouth and spoke to a young man named Leo on one side.

He was holding a gun and wrapping his coat tightly, shaking slightly.

Hearing this, Leo groped around quickly, then took out a box of matches and handed them to him.

The old man took the match tremblingly. He seemed to have no strength in his hand, and even struck the match several times without success.

Leo reached out and took back the match from his hand, and struck one for him. The flame burned instantly, lighting up the dim trench.

The old man stretched out his head, put the cigarette in his mouth on the burning flame and tried to light it, but he couldn't burn it no matter what. Until the match burned out, it only burned a little black.

"It's too wet," Leo said.

The old man took off the cigarette and stuffed it into his coat pocket.

"It doesn't matter if he can't light it. A few days ago, Bligh was lighting up a cigarette in the trench, and was fired from a cold cannon, blowing him up into minced meat. These bastards are really getting more and more accurate." The old man's eyes were deep. explain.

"Leo, tell me, when will this war end?"

Leo didn't speak. He slowly raised his head and looked at the sky. Gloomy dark clouds covered the sky, and it was as dark as his heart at the moment.

The dark clouds have not dispersed these days, and he has not seen the sun for a long time. He doesn't know whether it is day or night, but it doesn't matter anymore. They have no time to sleep.

But the night-long battle was not actually the most painful. What was most painful was the continuous heavy rain.

The rain turned this battlefield into a hell that even the most imaginative writer could not describe:
There were no toilets, no dormitories, and no beds. The only thing that kept them warm was a military uniform that could not be changed for hundreds of days. After it rained, all the rainwater would accumulate in the trenches, and they could not go out because they would be attacked by enemy artillery fire. .

So they only had to soak in the water of the trenches, with their bodies soaked in the water, as well as massive amounts of feces and urine, and countless corpse remains. They slept in the soaking of feces and corpses.

Every time the enemy's artillery fires, the ground shakes for several hours. It feels like your whole body will be blown into the ground, accompanied by flying shrapnel and the bloody mud of your comrades falling in the air.

This would be okay if it were summer, but it was March now, and it was still rainy and terribly cold.

Some of their comrades even had their legs necrotic and amputated due to long-term immersion in water.

It would be fine if it was just soaked, but how could it not be injured on the battlefield? When the wound is soaked in water, it will almost inevitably deteriorate rapidly and even become necrotic.

Those who are lucky will only have their limbs amputated, while those who are unlucky will die directly from various diseases.

Leo actually envied these people, because it was all over, and they still had to survive in this purgatory-like environment.

He had not had a good rest for many days, which made his brain very confused and his thoughts a little confused. In the most painful time, he even wondered why he appeared on this battlefield.

A gust of cold wind looked from Leo to the old man on one side, "Old Dick, why did you go to this battlefield? West France hasn't raised the conscription age yet, right?"

Old Dick silently wiped the rifle in his hand. It would not be good for the gun if it gets wet.

A piercing cold wind passed through the trenches, carrying a biting chill. Leo subconsciously wrapped his coat tightly.

Although the coat was already wet, it was the only thing they had to survive the cold night.

They didn't dare to light a fire, because the billowing smoke was equivalent to telling the enemy their position. Leo had no doubt that as long as the fire was lit, a cannonball would fly over the next moment.

Leo can no longer imagine how stinky he is, because everyone around him is the same, and he can't tell the difference.

Old Dick wiped his gun and slowly said, "I am a Parisian. I own a cafe. I have a wife, a 23-year-old son, and a 19-year-old son. The eldest is studying at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, and the other is at the Polytechnic. Attended the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.”

"That's the best school in West France." Leo said in surprise.

"Well, they worked hard for a long time." Old Dick said in a low voice.

He was in a very depressed mood, and Leo finally noticed something strange about him.

Then, he slowly said, "A few years ago, during the bombing of Paris, my cafe was bombed into rubble, and my wife also died inside. In order to take revenge, my eldest son chose to drop out of school and join the army, and died in The front line, then, my younger son went too, and I received his death notice a few months ago.

Now, I'm here too. "

Leo fell silent, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up this topic."

"It doesn't matter, this is the truth." Dick whispered softly, "It won't disappear just because you don't ask."

Leo fell silent, and silently took out a book from his arms.

"That's the book you've been reading lately, and keep it with you." Dick said solemnly.

"Keep it in mind, isn't it like this in many novels? The protagonist was shot, and then it was blocked by a pocket watch or something like that."

"Can it block the artillery fire?" Old Dick smiled, "On this battlefield, more people will be killed by bombs than shot."

Leo shrugged, "Better than nothing."

He looked at the book in his hand. Although the coat was full of water vapor, the book was surprisingly well preserved, and there were no wrinkles caused by water.

"There is a sentence in this book that impressed me deeply." Leo murmured in a low voice, "A grain of sand of the times becomes a mountain when it falls on a person's head."

"Sounds reasonable."

"What story is this book about?" Dick asked curiously.

Leo thought for a moment, "It tells the story of a black magician and a white magician. They used to be friends, but they parted ways because of different ideas. They finally had a decisive battle on an important occasion, and the white magician won in the end."

"Sounds like a very simple story."

"But it looks different," Leo said.

"Why did they part ways?" Dick asked.

"In the world in the book, magic is not allowed to appear in the human world, and the black magician wants to break this rule, use magic to rule mankind, build a huge magic empire, and ultimately prevent war."

(End of this chapter)