Chapter 424: Verdun Ambition

Although Nicholas II's large-scale orders made Russia stand out in the Allied Powers, it is obvious that the protagonist of the war is not the Eastern Front, but the Western Front battlefield that has been quiet for a long time.

After the plan of the German-Austrian coalition to annihilate the main force of the Russian army was shattered, the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to go south to support and resist the serious pressure brought to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Balkan army.

Germany's attention was temporarily placed on the Western Front, because in order to reduce the pressure of the Russian army on the Eastern Front, Britain and France decided to launch a new round of large-scale offensives and find an opportunity to break through the German defense line.

The current European war has entered a long stage of attrition war, and the situation has gradually become clear.

The Allies currently have a clear advantage. It is better to say that the Allies' more developed economy and richer resources defeated the Allies rather than the Allies' army defeating the Allied forces.

All countries have consumed a lot in the war. For this war, Germany supervised farms, levied income tax, and implemented a physical rationing system in some areas.

The same was true for Britain and France, who only raised more resources and food for the front, strengthened the militarization of the national economy, and fully served the war.

During this period, a new term was born, namely the so-called industrial mobilization.

In the one year and two months since the outbreak of the war, the arms industry of various countries expanded rapidly, and all factories entered the bottomless pit of war. Clothing factories changed to produce military uniforms, and various mechanical equipment factories changed to produce weapons and equipment, bullets, shells, etc.

A large number of women also went into factories to produce military helmets, uniforms and various bullets for the soldiers on the front line.

Some women stuffed written notes in their helmets and clothes to comfort the injured or tired souls of the soldiers on the front line.

But it must be admitted that this trick is really effective. Encouraged by the ladies in the rear, some soldiers on the front line did burst out with extraordinary fighting spirit.

The expansion of the military industry of various countries was very exaggerated, especially in Germany and Austria-Hungary.

By October, Germany's production of rifles and shells had increased by more than half, and the production of machine guns and cannons had nearly tripled.

Even the aircraft that has just been valued by countries around the world, Germany has been able to produce thousands of them annually.

Although the growth of weapons production in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not so exaggerated, the annual output of various types of weapons has also increased by more than half.

The overall growth of the military industry of the Allies is not so exaggerated. After all, except for Russia, Britain, France and Australasia are all major exporters of military products. Their weapons and equipment before the war have been sold well in many countries and regions around the world.

For the Allies, compared with the military industry, the expansion of the army is more exaggerated.

When the war just broke out, that is, in early August 1914, the country with the most soldiers in the Allies was Russia, but the total number of soldiers was less than 2 million.

But as of now, Russia has invested more than 4 million troops, France has also invested more than 3 million troops, Britain has 1.2 million, Australasia has 550,000, Italy has 600,000, Belgium has 350,000, Romania has 250,000, Serbia has 350,000, Greece has 150,000, and Montenegro has 80,000.

The total number of soldiers deployed by the Allies in this war has exceeded 10 million, with more than 1 million dead and 3 million injured (cumulative).

As for the Central Powers, Germany has deployed 3.5 million troops, Austria-Hungary 2 million, Bulgaria 300,000, and the Ottoman Empire 550,000, totaling more than 6 million troops.

At present, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire will also withdraw from the war, and the death toll of Germany and Austria-Hungary, which has a total of more than 5 million troops, has reached nearly 1 million, and the number of injured has reached more than 1.5 million.

Of course, a considerable part of this is the record contributed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated by Russia in a battle, with hundreds of thousands of casualties at the time, which almost made the Austro-Hungarian Empire unable to recover.

This war has caused more than 2 million deaths and nearly 5 million injuries in the participating countries, and the economic losses are incalculable.

Because of this, both the Central Powers and the Allies can no longer take a step back at this time.

This also cannot bear the consequences of the failure of the war, not only the anger of the people, but also the extortion and blackmail from the enemy after the war.

This also makes countries face the war more frantically. Germany has plans to continue to increase the intensity of conscription, and will continue to recruit at least 1 million troops in the new year to fight on the east and west fronts.

At this time, Germany has nearly 2 million soldiers available for combat, but the Western Front Army currently has only a little over 1 million.

The Germans adhere to the principle that better defense is offense, and decided to take the lead in launching a surprise attack on the strategic strongholds of the French before Britain and France launch a large-scale campaign. Under the unpreparedness of the British and French coalition forces, it may achieve miraculous results.

Speaking of the Germans' upcoming raid, we have to mention Falkenhayn's determination to put the focus of the attack back on the Western Front.

Falkenhayn believes that Russia on the Eastern Front has a vast territory, cold climate, inconvenient transportation, and Russia has sufficient reserve troops, and it is impossible to defeat it in a short time.

An attack like the one in St. Petersburg would not have a decisive result. In fact, if we rush forward rashly, we will easily repeat Napoleon's mistakes and suffer a different kind of Waterloo.

The depth of the French battlefield on the Western Front is even shallower. The British and French coalition forces have directly threatened the heartland of Germany, which is the biggest threat to Germany at present.

You should know that Germany had only a little over 1 million troops on the Western Front, while the British and French coalition had nearly 3 million combat troops. Although a considerable part of them were colonial troops, it still cannot be denied that the British and French troops had an overwhelming advantage over the German troops.

In Falkenhayn's letter to William II, Falkenhayn specifically mentioned that the Russian army was now dizzy after the defeat, and the new Russian commander-in-chief Nicholas II was incompetent and could not launch an attack in a short time.

Taking this opportunity, the main force of 500,000 troops should be transferred to the Western Front, and some reserve troops should be summoned from the country to gather 2 million troops to fight a decisive battle with the British and French armies.

As long as France can be defeated and the British and French coalition forces can be forced to surrender, Russia will lose the financial and military equipment support from the West and can only succumb to Germany.

Because William II was worried about repeating Napoleon's mistakes, and Russia was getting colder and colder, the winter in the northern hemisphere was coming soon.

As well as the large-scale campaign that Britain and France were about to launch on the Western Front, William II agreed to Falkenhayn's proposal to mobilize at least 500,000 main forces to the Western Front to fight a decisive battle with the British and French coalition forces on the Western Front.

If he could gather 2 million troops, 2 million versus 3 million, William II thought that the advantage was on the German side.

After defeating Britain and France, even if Russia had the support of Australasia, it would definitely not be a match for Germany.

But if the stalemate with Russia continued, Britain and France had stronger industrial strength and rich colonial resources, and could completely use the Mediterranean to Black Sea route to recover Russia like a wet nurse.

Although Germany launched a large number of attacks on the supply ships between Britain and France and their homeland and colonies through submarine warfare, it caused a lot of economic losses to Britain and France.

But Britain and France are big and powerful after all, and they are not comparable to Germany, which only has a barren colony.

Falkenhayn strongly advocated attacking France because he believed that the foundation of the Allied Powers was Britain and France, and the foundation of Britain and France against Germany was France.

As long as France is defeated on land, it is equivalent to defeating at least one-third of the Allied Powers.

At the same time, France can be used to restore Germany's blood. After turning around and defeating Russia, the British Isles can only surrender.

As for Australasia, which is far away from the mainland and Europe, Falkenhayn thinks it is not a big deal.

After all, Australasia does not have many interests in Europe, so there is no need to fight to the death with Germany. As long as Germany has enough advantages, relying on the good relationship between William II and Arthur, it is completely possible to make Australasia withdraw from the war.

In this way, Germany, which has solved France and Russia, only needs to madly explode the navy and the Royal Fleet to fight to the death, and it can complete the plan to destroy the entire Allied Powers.

As for Italy, Falkenhayn did not mention it in the plan, and William II did not have the slightest intention to ask.

Judging from the combat effectiveness shown by Italy, without the help of other Allied countries, Italy cannot put any pressure on Germany in terms of army and navy. It only needs 100,000 German troops, in conjunction with a part of the Austro-Hungarian army, to easily destroy this country from land.

After William II nodded, under Falkenhayn's order, the German General Staff quickly formulated a plan for a new round of offensives, and placed the main direction of the new round of offensives on the Western Front.

According to Falkenhayn's request, the German army did not have to implement a large-scale breakthrough, and obtained results by encircling the enemy's main force.

It only needed to occupy a special area that was emotionally sacred to the French, forcing the French to invest every soldier of their army in order to protect this area.

In this way, Germany could achieve the goal of making the French bleed in this area, achieve success in one battle, and effectively kill French soldiers.

In this way, there were not many places that met Falkenhayn's intentions, and there were only two that were most suitable.

After comprehensive consideration, Falkenhayn chose Verdun between Belfort and Verdun, because he felt that Verdun was more important to the French, which made the French willing to shed their last drop of blood.

In fact, Verdun is just a small town on the Meuse River in northeastern France, with a population of just over 10,000.

But in terms of military, Verdun is one of the most famous fortresses in France. It has appeared many times in French history and is related to many major events in France.

In terms of geographical location, Verdun is the gateway to Paris and the hub of the French defense line, with a dangerous terrain.

The Verdun Fortress is the support point of the French Eastern Front, located in the salient part of the Allied defense line.

The existence of Verdun will pose a great flank threat to the Western Front troops deep into France and Belgium.

But if Verdun falls, the German army will be able to quickly reach several strategic locations in France by rail and open up the passage to Paris.

You know, Verdun is only 200 kilometers away from the city of Paris, and it is known as the key to Paris and the eastern gateway of France.

In the eyes of the French, the Verdun Fortress is a sacred and insurmountable place, a symbol of the strength and courage of the French.

If Verdun falls, let alone the huge impact on the French Eastern Defense Line. The heavy blow caused to the French people alone is enough to reduce the French people's optimism about the war by one level.

After Verdun was captured, the entire Paris would be in danger. In French history, the day when the enemy captured Paris was often the day when the French government surrendered.

Therefore, Falkenhayn believed that conquering Verdun was equivalent to conquering Paris. And conquering Paris was equivalent to conquering most of France.

Although after the outbreak of the war, the French government built a new defense system in the Verdun area, combining the fortress construction and field fortresses.

But only more than a year has passed since then, and some fortress fortifications have not yet been completed, which is also the hope that Falkenhayn sees to conquer the Verdun Fortress.

Of course, although this is said, the Verdun Fortress is definitely not easy to conquer. The most basic defense fortification system has been formed. Verdun is definitely one of the strongest fortresses in France and the most difficult to conquer.

There are four defense positions in the Verdun Fortress area, three of which were built in 1914.

If you look down from the air, the depth of these four fortresses is nearly 50 kilometers, and large and small official bunkers are scattered around the fortress area, most of which protrude northward into the Weir Valley and the plains.

Almost all the defensive positions were cleverly arranged in the undulating hills and forests full of deep trenches and highlands, which also increased the difficulty of breaking through the fortress.

The original fortress fortifications, the newly added field fortifications and the rear supply base were closely connected, making the Verdun fortress system almost without any shortcomings, becoming a solid, deep and echelon configuration, enough to daunt any opponent.

The French army deployed thousands of machine guns and large and small artillery positions in the Verdun Fortress, which greatly enhanced the firepower of the fortress.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a tough bone for the Germans.

However, Falkenhayn chose Verdun for this reason.

Precisely because the Verdun Fortress is so difficult to bite, the French will be more willing to pay all the price to defend the fortress.

Falkenhayn believes that for Verdun, the French will devote all their strength to it, and this is exactly Falkenhayn's purpose.

At the mobilization meeting within the German army, Falkenhayn even ambitiously declared that Verdun would become a millstone to crush the French army and make all the French shed their last drop of blood.

As for Falkenhayn's specific plan to attack Verdun, it was also very simple, that is, to destroy the French fortifications with powerful firepower, and then break through from the east bank of the Meuse River, and strive to capture the fortress before the French react.

The French army that reacted would inevitably send a large number of reinforcements. Germany only needed to attack Verdun, which was equivalent to attacking all French troops.

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