Chapter 436: Fighting to the Death

After the gas warfare achieved good results, the German army immediately made every effort to launch the final attack on the remaining 304 highland and artillery defense positions.

All the attacking German soldiers wore effective gas masks to prevent the gas from causing unnecessary casualties to their own side.

In fact, the French soldiers were also equipped with gas masks, but most of the exhausted French soldiers had no time to react and were already covered by the gas.

A small number of French soldiers who had reacted hurriedly put on gas masks, but they were no longer effective for the rest of the battle.

In the end, the German army successfully occupied all areas of the Morte-Om Highland, including the 304 highland, and all areas of this defense position were occupied by Germany.

In this extremely tense tug-of-war, the entire mountain terrain was severely damaged, and large tracts of woods were flattened or burned, like fields with ears of corn cut off.

All man-made obstacles were basically riddled with bullet holes, even those with three layers of sandbags stacked.

Almost all the roads nearby were plowed, and all the crossroads were washed by the horrible blood rain. Walking through them, you can still smell the obvious smell of gunpowder and blood.

The entire Morte-Orme Plateau was full of vehicles, cannons, various wreckages and soldiers' bodies, which seriously hindered the traffic in this area.

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

But here, the French army rebuilt a solid defensive position, which would be a tough offensive and defensive battle.

By the end of March, Germany's general reserve on the Western Front also rushed to the front line. In order to cover the assault of the elite troops on the front line, the Germans mobilized the largest artillery group on the Western Xian battlefield to bombard the French positions.

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

A French officer on the battlefield revealed the German offensive to the media in a post-war interview: "The German commandos were like a machine gun, and each soldier was like a bullet fired. This machine gun kept firing continuously, and they were like indestructible cockroaches."

The German artillery caused heavy casualties to the defensive forces, but whenever the German bombing stopped, the French army would emerge and begin to resist stubbornly.

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 salient area was never fulfilled.

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 of the day published a comment by a Paris correspondent on the development of the situation on the Verdun battlefield: "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 sacrifice in the last week was greater than ever before... Otherwise, why would 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 is gradually increasing, and the losses of the German army in the Verdun area are also increasing day by day."

It has been four months since the outbreak of the Battle of Verdun. The losses of the two main combatants, Germany and France, can be simply summarized in one word, that is, miserable.

So far, the Germans have deployed nearly 40 divisions in the Verdun area, with a total number of nearly 1 million soldiers.

The French are not weak at all, with nearly 35 divisions, and a total number of 800,000 soldiers.

The total number of casualties on both sides, with nearly 2 million troops, has now exceeded 700,000.

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

As of the beginning of April, the Germans had suffered more than 400,000 casualties in the Battle of Verdun, of which more than 150,000 died.

The French casualties were as high as 350,000, and the death toll was close to 120,000.

The historical Battle of Verdun lasted for nearly ten months, and the total casualties were only about 1 million.

But now, in just over four months, the casualties of both France and Germany have added up to 750,000, and the death toll is close to 300,000, which is not much weaker than the historical Battle of Verdun.

You know, the current Battle of Verdun is still in progress, and the French and German sides are still engaged in fierce fighting, 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 Battle of Verdun in history.

If the situation continues to develop like this, the Battle of Verdun may become a great war with more than one million deaths. By then, it will be unknown who will be the one whose blood is exhausted.

Because the German casualties were even more exaggerated than those of the French, the German 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 bleed out.

Such a large-scale casualties made the German top leaders very dissatisfied, and William II was also dissatisfied with the plan of the German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn.

Originally, when Germany's strategy shifted again, the German military had two different opinions.

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

As long as they could hold on to the Western Front, the German army on the Eastern Front could unscrupulously invade Russian territory and force Russia to withdraw from the war to ease the pressure of fighting on two fronts.

The then Chief of Staff Falkenhayn rejected all opinions and firmly believed that only by defeating France first could the pressure of fighting on two fronts be completely eased.

This led to the German army turning to defense on the Eastern Front and re-launching the offensive on the Western Front, provoking the Battle of Verdun, which currently seems to have caused more casualties in Germany.

According to the news from the German intelligence department, the British and French coalition forces were nearing the end of their preparations for the battle on the Somme River, and they could 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 from planning the battle on the Somme River, but also delayed many German elites in the Verdun area.

In order to get out of the Verdun area as soon as possible and guard against the possible Battle of the Somme launched by Britain and France, William II personally issued orders to the front line and the staff, requiring the army in Verdun to achieve a decisive victory before April 15.

This order is impossible according to 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 do it in half a month.

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

Under the order of William II, the exhausted German army regrouped and launched a new round of fierce attacks on the French positions from Ferguslin to the Souville Battery.

Because of the urging of William II's order, the German generals began to become indifferent to gains and losses, like crazy gamblers, and put all their bets.

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

As long as they can capture the position, no matter how much casualties they suffer, the merits will not be overshadowed.

But if they fail to complete the order 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 everything, including machine guns, artillery, poison gas, flame guns, and even airships and airplanes. As long as the weapons can cause casualties to the enemy, the German army will use them.

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 like hell. The fort commander Major Runard and his men fought desperately on this hellish 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, the frequent bombings and various weapons caused the French army to be seriously short of water.

It was difficult for logistics to transport supplies. Food was okay, but water resources had 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 battle became more serious.

The severe bleeding of the wounded led to a shortage of drinking water, and the wailing of the wounded made the anxiety within the French army even more serious. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for anyone to calm down and find a way out.

Because the artillery and defensive positions have become isolated islands under siege, in order to exchange a little limited drinking water, French soldiers must brave the bombardment of gunfire and artillery shells and try to avoid being discovered by the German army to find water sources and logistics.

There are about 400 French soldiers holding on in the Fergus Battery, and the minimum daily drinking water consumption is about 150 liters.

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

Even with the suppression of the highest-level artillery commander, many soldiers will 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 between the forts.

Despite the cover of firepower, it is difficult to transport water resources to the interior of the fort, even if there are heavy casualties.

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