"Huh~~" The sharp whistling sound penetrated the thick concrete, and even if you stay inside the strong fortress, such a sharp whistling sound is still terrifying. Then a huge explosion was heard not far away, and the walls and ceilings of the fortress were shaken and dust was constantly falling.

"How can these damn Germans have so many heavy artillery?!" In Fort Aumont, Major Vauban cursed through gritted teeth. Looking out from the firing port of the 37 mm Hatch Gun Bunker at the top of the fort, the outside of the bunker where I was stationed was filled with gunsmoke, accompanied by the sharp whistle of shells, the green grass was now like being ploughed, the green was gone, the brown earth was splashing everywhere, and the potholed surface was like the surface of the moon.

The Germans came so fast that on August 12, Germany and France had just declared war, and on the 14th the Germans' shells had already fallen on their heads!

Although Verdun was indeed on the German-French border, and the Germans would not encounter any resistance all the way in, the Germans launched an attack on the Verdun fortress group in just 2 days! What's more, this non-stop shelling meant that the Germans had a lot of artillery and ammunition, and the loud explosions and strong vibrations meant that there were a considerable number of heavy guns of more than 152 mm in them!

The fact that such a large number of heavy artillery could be deployed in just 2 days, and the shelling of the fortress regardless of consumption, shows that the Germans were ready to attack for a long time! The incessant shelling made Vauban feel like it was in hell.

Since the construction of the Vauban began in 1885, the fortress on the eastern side of the right bank of the Maas River has been strengthened, and at this time it was already a behemoth with a circumference of 400 meters and an area of 30,000 square meters. The main building is deep underground, with two layers of steel cladding on the top. Above it is a 12-meter-thick sand and gravel slope, which can resist even 420 mm heavy artillery shelling for a long time.

But even so, the French officers and soldiers inside the fortress were terrified by the seemingly never-ending shelling, surrounded by the sound of a loud explosion, which shook the fortress and the hearts of the French officers and soldiers. The delay in the German attack made it impossible for the French officers and soldiers to vent their fears with a return fire, and silently endured the pressure to spread in their hearts.

"It's a tough nut to crack. If we were to storm it, we don't know how many people we would have to fill it in. The commander of the 6th Army, Admiral Ruprecht, listened to the sound of artillery in the sky, looked at the map in the makeshift headquarters and frowned, and said: "According to the information fed back by the observation planes of the calibration, even after such intensive shelling, the French fortress did not suffer any serious damage, and it is impossible to occupy the fortress before the arrival of French reinforcements." ”

"Your Excellency, our mission is not to capture these fortresses in the first place, but to make the French think that we are about to break through Verdun and attract French reinforcements. And we're still on our feet. It is too risky to launch an offensive rashly. "Bernhard, chief of staff of the 6th Army? Cal? Adolph? Feng? Lieutenant General Dimlin persuaded.

"I understand, it's just that now is the time when the French garrison is at its weakest, and now this opportunity has been missed, and there has been no more opportunity for a long time." Ruprecht sighed, with some regret.

Ruprecht knew the mission of the 6th Army: to deceive the French and make the Allies think that the Germans were attacking the defensive line in the Verdun area, building a defensive system to block the French attack. And to the maximum extent of the consumption of the French army's vital forces, but giving up the opportunity really made him really regretful.

"Still. I am afraid that the French will not feel much pressure by shelling alone, and since we want the French to think that we are the main attack here, then we have to act a little more like it. The French had a well-developed defense system on the right bank of the Maas, but there were holes on the left bank. Ruprecht looked at the map and muttered, "Dead Man's Ridge is the commanding height of this area, but the French have no fortifications here, and the same is true of Heights 304 on the southwest side. We can attack here first. ”

The French believed that the city of Verdun was too far away from the Ridge of the Dead and that no fortress had been built here, so it became a hole in the entire defense system. Historically, the Germans had made good progress in the northeast attack on the two fortresses of Duaumont and Vaux, the first layer of the Verdun fortress group, so they had been strengthening their offensive forces on the northeast flank, and then the attack was blocked. Only after 2 weeks turned to the northwest to attack Dead Man's Ridge. At this time, Ruprecht knew that he would not be able to take Aumontburg in a short time, so he decided to attack the Dead Man's Ridge from the beginning.

However, as Dimlin said, the German army is now on a firm foothold, and even if it breaks through the French defense, there is no extra strength to continue to penetrate, so the strong attack is just a waste of soldiers' lives. Therefore, it will be easier to resist French attacks by attracting the attention of the French army on the side of Fort Duaumont, then taking the commanding heights of the Dead Man's Ridge, and then establishing flank cover on Heights 304, occupying the commanding heights and building fortifications around this place.

And Vauban thought that the Germans were making rapid progress and that they could mobilize a large number of heavy artillery to bombard their fortress in just two days was actually an illusion.

At this time, the 6th Army was not all in position at all, at this time only 5 divisions were located in the northeast of the Verdun fortress group, and there were less than 400 barreled artillery pieces engaged in the indiscriminate bombardment of Fort Duaumont, and most of them were 75 mm and 105 mm guns, and the number of heavy guns above 150 mm caliber was actually not much.

The illusion that the Germans in Vaubana concentrated a large number of heavy artillery came entirely from the large number of large-caliber mortars that the Germans were equipped with. It is different from the situation in history when the Battle of Verdun broke out, when the Germans concentrated 1,201 barreled guns, but only 542 mine-throwing machines (the German name for curved guns at that time). At this time, the Germans, who deployed mortars to platoons, had a large number of large-caliber mortars, and the heavy mortar brigade of the division alone was armed with 32 150-mm mortars, while the more powerful artillery bombardment that Vauban believed came from 240-mm mortars. Compared with the barreled artillery, the mortar is lighter, so it can be deployed in place relatively quickly, and the large-caliber barreled artillery specially used to bombard the fortress is still slowly moving here at this time.

However, the massive ammunition consumption of mortars also made ammunition supply a nightmare for quartermasters from day one, and the Germans had to concentrate all the trucks in their troops to transport them back and forth from the railway station more than ten kilometers away to barely support such a huge ammunition consumption. When the shells arrived, they were immediately depleted, and they could not be saved at all.

With such strength and firepower, it is a fool's dream to take the most important capital in the northeast of the Verdun fortress group, Fort Ormont, and now it is not the Battle of Verdun in 1916. Historically, due to the rapid fall of the fortress of Liège, the French military leaders represented by Xia Fei believed that the fortress defense system was outdated, so they reduced the number of troops and armaments in the Verdun area on a large scale, and in August 1915, they ordered the demolition of all fortresses in the Verdun area.

Therefore, when the German army attacked in 1916, most of the guns in Fort Aumont were dismantled, leaving only 2 rotating turrets that could not be dismantled because of their weight, and there were only 155 mm and 1 75 mm howitzers in the 2 turrets, and there were only 60 middle-aged reservists in the fortress, these soldiers were still locals, so when the war broke out, some people even stayed at home and refused to go to the fortress to duty. This is also the reason why the strongest fortress on the northeast side of Verdun was easily occupied by a squad of 10 engineers from the German Military District. But now, as Ruprecht said, it's a tough nut to crack.

"Your Majesty doesn't want you to take any risks, Your Excellency." Dembling smiled and said, "If it weren't for this damn war, you might have prepared a dowry for Princess Ilmingard by now." ”

"That girl's dowry has been prepared for a long time, and this matter has always been Elaine's concern, and I never care." Speaking of his daughter, Ruprecht showed a smile on his face: "But you are right, I, as a father, should probably prepare a more glorious dowry for my daughter." ”

Ruprecht understood that His Majesty the Emperor had arranged for himself to carry out such a task. According to the plan, the 6th Army would be the first German unit to invade the borders of other countries, and then it would be transferred to defensive operations, and it would not be difficult to continuously consume the living forces of the French army by building a well-established defensive system. Obviously, his future in-laws want to make his star even brighter, and the daughter of the German crown princess who will become the future can also share the glory she has achieved on the battlefield.

"Let the troops hurry up and build fortifications, and urge the remaining troops to get in place as quickly as possible." Ruprecht ordered: "And let all the French people behind us go to my aid!" We had to build more roads and more railways from the station to the position, build temporary stations, build concealed unloading yards, and dig shelters along the railway lines.

Instead of letting those French stay at home and think about how to make trouble for us, let them work under our watch! Any refusal and defiance is considered an attack on the Imperial army and shot on the spot! "Ruprecht did not care what the French, who were now considered to be in the territory of German occupation, did not care how many violations of military discipline would occur under this order, and it was now the first thing to use all means to complete the construction of the fortifications.

"So what are we going to do with the Aumontburg in front of us?" Dimrin asked: "It is too much to continue to sustain such a high level of artillery shelling. ”

"Don't worry." Ruprecht smiled and said, "Tomorrow I will give a great gift to the French people in Duaumontburg." (To be continued.) )