German disposition: The 7th, 18th, and 3rd armies (6 and a half divisions, 879 artillery pieces, including 522 heavy artillery and 202 mortars) carried out the main assault on a 15-kilometer-wide frontage from Konsanwa to the Orn, with the 5th Army covering its left flank; The 15th Army carried out an auxiliary assault 6 km south of the Orne River, and the 6th Army carried out diversionary operations on the west bank of the Meuse. In the direction of the main outburst, the French had only 2 divisions, and the German infantry was twice as numerous as the French infantry, with 3.5 times more artillery, and the artillery density reached 50-110 guns per kilometer of frontage. In order to achieve the suddenness of the battle, the Germans carried out a series of feints on the Western Front in January of the same year.

French army deployment: The French Verdun fortification area spans both sides of the Meuse River, with a frontal width of 112 kilometers and a depth of 15~18 kilometers; There are four defensive positions, the first three are field defensive positions, and the fourth is a strong position composed of permanent fortifications of the fortress and two fortified areas, which is condescending, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The French 3rd Army (11 divisions, more than 630 artillery pieces, commanded by General F. El; later increased to 69 divisions, accounting for about 2/3 of the total strength of the French army) had 5 divisions to defend the area north of Verdun, 3 divisions to the east and southeast of Verdun, and the other 3 divisions to be deployed as reserves in the area south of Verdun on the west bank of the Meuse River.

After two years of attrition, Germany launched the Battle of Verdun in early 1916 to break the stalemate.

On February 21, 1916, in order not to expose the main direction of the assault, the German army carried out an eight-and-a-half-hour concentrated bombardment of the 40-kilometer front with 1,200 cannons, firing a million shells, and then attacked with the forces of three armies (the third, seventh, and eighteenth armies), and the vanguard cleared the trenches with *****, and by the 23rd, the German army had advanced nearly 5 kilometers, and the French army was forced to retreat.

The Germans began artillery preparations. In order to conceal the direction of the main outburst, the German artillery was 40 kilometers wide

Simultaneous artillery bombardment was carried out on the front, and for the first time, the aviation bombarded the French positions, destroying part of the defensive positions and killing and wounding a large number of living forces. At 16:45, the German infantry launched an assault and occupied the first defensive position that day. Over the next four days, the second and third lines of defense were captured, and the advance was 5 kilometers to occupy the important support point Fort Douaumont. When the infantry attacked, they used a deep battle formation to advance in waves in a skirmish line, with a strong attack group at the front.

The French High Command appointed H.P. Pétain, commander of the 2nd Army, as commander of the Verdun front (succeeded by Robert Nivelle on 1 May) and mobilized all available forces in a decisive battle with the Germans in the Verdun area. On the 26th, Beyne ordered the recapture of Fort Douaumont. After four days of fierce fighting, the French army suffered heavy losses and was unsuccessful. Since February 27, the French army has used the Bal-Dijk-Verdun road (also known as the "Holy Road"), the only one to maintain contact with the rear, to continuously transfer troops and supplies to Verdun, organizing 3,900 trucks to transport 190,000 personnel and 25,000 tons of supplies in a week.

A large number of French reinforcements were put into battle in time, strengthening the defense in depth and having a significant impact on the course of the campaign. By the end of the month, the Germans were depleted of ammunition and the strategic reserves did not arrive in time, and their attack power was sharply reduced, thus losing the opportunity to break through the French lines.

From March 5, the German offensive was expanded to 30 kilometers, and the direction of the main attack was shifted to the west bank of the Meuse, changing from a rapid attack to a steady attack, in an attempt to capture Heights 304 and 295, relieve the threat of French artillery on the west bank, and encircle Verdun from the west; At the same time, the offensive on the east bank continued to be strengthened, changing from a hasty attack to a steady attack, but the French army resisted stubbornly, and only captured a few small strongholds after paying heavy casualties.

In April ~ May, the German army concentrated its forces and weapons, including the use of flamethrowers, asphyxiating poison gas and bombers, to carry out key assaults on the French army on the west bank, but after the infantry reached the first line of 304 heights and 295 heights, they were fiercely counterattacked by French artillery and stopped the offensive at the end of May. On the east bank, the French army frequently rotated combat units, constantly carried out counterattacks, and repeatedly fought with the German army, delaying the German offensive.

At the beginning of June, the Germans launched another large-scale offensive, and after seven days of fierce fighting, they cut off Vauburg from other French positions, forcing the defenders of Vauburg to surrender on the 7th. In late June, the Germans used phosgene asphyxiation gas bombs for the first time and stormed Fort Soviet, firing 110,000 rounds of gas bombs on a 4-kilometer-wide frontage, inflicting heavy casualties on the French army, once reaching less than 3 kilometers from Verdun, but was finally repulsed.

On the 24th, the French army was forced to abandon the second line of defense, and on the 25th, the Germans attacked and occupied the fortress of Douaumont with a strong fire attack.

The commander-in-chief of the French army, Chauffeur, appointed Henri Philippe Pétain (He

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The general was the commander-in-chief of the Verdun region, and on the day that the 20th Army under the command of General Pétain entered Verdun, he received a report of the fall of the fortress of Douaumont, due to the stubborn resistance of the 33rd French regiment, and the day at that time

Heavy snow fell, the German attack on the village of Douaumont was blocked, the French army used the only link to the rear of the Bal-Dij-Verdun road (the French called the "Holy Road") to seize the time to send personnel supplies to Verdun, organized 3,900 trucks in a week, transported 190,000 personnel and 25,000 tons of supplies, this is the first large-scale automobile transportation in the history of human warfare. A large number of French reinforcements arrived in time, strengthened the defense in depth, reversed the unfavorable situation at the beginning of the campaign, and plunged the campaign into a tug-of-war.

The Germans had lost the advantage of artillery support due to the rapid advance, and instead exposed themselves to the range of French artillery fire on the west bank of the Meuse, and the battlefield had become a quagmire due to continuous artillery fire, and it was difficult for the artillery to move forward, and by the time the Germans finally occupied the village of Duaumont, they had lost four regiments.