"As the hand pointed to the time of the attack, thousands of German troops opened the chlorine cylinders almost simultaneously as three red rockets pierced the sky. The poison demon finally broke free, and in an instant, a yellow-green cloud of smoke more than one person high rolled in like a ghost, engulfing the British and French positions in an instant. Poison is everywhere, even the people in bunkers, shelters, and various fortifications. At the same time as the poison gas attack, the Germans, in order to strengthen the effect, also fired tear gas canisters from 105 mm caliber guns on the flanks of the position. The unsuspecting Anglo-French troops were in disarray, and they began to be in pain, suffocating, screaming, and unconscious. ”

"Defending directly opposite were the 17th company of the French Volunteer Army and the two Algerian battalions of the 45th Division, which had just been transferred to the 2nd Army of the French Army. These troops had no combat experience and were even more panicked. According to an eyewitness at the time: 'When the first smoke covered the ground, and the people were breathless and struggling desperately, the first feeling was surprise, then fear, and finally confusion in the army. Those who could move fled, trying to run in front of the chlorine gas that was coming straight at them, but most of them were in vain. ’”

"The German troops, wearing gauze masks soaked in the agent on the 6-kilometer frontage between Bixshet and Langemark, followed the poison cloud with fear and met little resistance. Within 1 hour, they captured a 4-kilometer deep position and broke through the defensive line that the coalition forces had held for months. ”

"This was the famous 'Ipre gas warfare', the first large-scale chemical attack in the history of warfare. In this gas attack, a total of 15,000 Anglo-French troops were poisoned, of which 5,000 died and 2,410 were captured. The Germans captured 60 artillery pieces and 70 heavy machine guns. On the German side, thousands of people were also poisoned because of their poor protection and relatively rapid occupation of positions. ”

"This successful chemical weapons attack gave the German high command euphoria. Since then, the demon of chemical weapons has officially descended on the world. ”

Following this attack, on April 24 and 25, the Germans carried out two more poison-blowing attacks on the adjacent Canadian troops. On 26 April and 12 May, the Germans launched another offensive in the direction of Ypre, slightly widening the breach to both flanks. However, until the end of the campaign, it was not possible to level the arc and capture Ypre. From April 22 to May 24, the Germans released a total of 20,000 cylinders of about 500 tons of chlorine. ”

"On 22 April, the Allies were greatly alarmed by the German attack on chlorine gas, and the Anglo-French forces immediately took emergency measures. On the second or third day after the attack, France and Britain sent chemical experts to the site. Based on the symptoms of poisoning and the availability of German respiratory protective equipment, they concluded that it was chlorine or bromine poisoning. On the 25th, the British command informed the troops that the Germans were using a suffocating poison, which was determined to be a mixture of chlorine or inphylin and hydrochloric acid. A simple mask made of gauze or bandage cloth soaked in sodium thiosulfate with a solution of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide can be placed on the nose and mouth for effective protection. In fact, on the 23rd, the British medical corps placed many buckets of sodium bicarbonate in the trenches for the troops to soak in handkerchiefs or cloths. When a gas alarm is heard, soldiers cover their mouths and noses with soaked handkerchiefs or cloths. When sodium bicarbonate is not available, other absorbents can be used, even using a cloth bag soaked in urine or soil in a bottle. These are the earliest methods of protection. ”

On April 28, Britain mobilized thousands of women to copy German gas masks. The 'black gauze mask' was made, soaked in an aqueous solution of sodium thiosulfate, sodium carbonate and glycerin. In June, another 2.5 million 'Hypo helmets' were produced. It is a flannel bag soaked in stagnation liquid, with clear acetate glasses, and when used, wear it on the head and tuck it inside the collar. At that time, it was a suitable and reliable gas mask. The French army also began to distribute gas masks to troops on April 26, and added gas glasses a few days later, and by the end of August, the French army had produced three types of gas masks, a total of 4.5 million. ”

"Thousands of chlorine poisoning casualties place a heavy burden on the health sector. The city of Boulogne, near the seafront, was crowded with poisoned wounded. The famous playground in Letougay and the Palace of Entertainment at the head of the breakwater have been converted into makeshift hospitals. It was so crowded with the wounded that it was almost impossible to move between them. All the beds were occupied with the wounded, and there were no gaps in the floor. All other hospitals are just as overcrowded. ”

"The German poison blowing attack at Ypres had so severe consequences and enormous impact that it has gone down in the annals of war as the beginning of chemical warfare. The German chemical attack with a lethal agent for the first time showed the characteristics of mass destruction, and although the Germans failed to take full advantage of the effects of the chemical attack, they still achieved tactical success. The chemical attack spurred on both warring sides, and since then, both sides have used chemical weapons on the battlefield as an important means of warfare, and they have become more widespread and larger. ”

"The first use of chemical weapons in the Ypre region was a great success, which aroused widespread concern in all countries in the world, and chemical weapons as a special and effective weapon quickly sprung up and entered its most 'glorious' era, and various countries developed and improved it one after another, and then both warring sides used chemical weapons in large quantities in the war, and chemical warfare was in full swing."

The news of the successful attack on the Ipre gas cylinders made the German commanders on the Eastern Front eager to try this new weapon. At 2 o'clock on May 31, 1915, the Germans on the Eastern Front opened 12,000 poison gas cylinders containing 264 tons of chlorine gas at the same time. From April 19 to June 9, 1915, the Germans launched the Battle of Gollitzer between the Vistula River and the Khalbahu Mountains in order to ease the situation of the Austro-Hungarian army and eliminate the threat of the Russian army to the Hungarian plain. The Germans also decided to use this weapon frontally in the 9th Army, in the auxiliary direction of the campaign, that is, on the left flank of the front. At the beginning of May, the Germans chose Polymo, near Skelnewiice, about 45 kilometers southwest of Warsaw, and laid 12,000 poison gas cylinders containing about 264 tons of chlorine on a 12-kilometer front. However, it was unusable due to the constant east wind, and the buried cylinders waited for three weeks. On May 31, the wind turned favorable, and the Germans carried out a poison gas blowing attack on the two infantry divisions of the Russian 2nd Army from 2 to 3 o'clock as planned. Subsequently, the infantry attacked. At first, the Germans thought that the poison cloud could eliminate all resistance, but later, when some areas were attacked by Russian artillery and infantry fire, they mistakenly believed that the effect of the poison gas blowing had failed, so the attack slowed down and did not achieve great results. In fact, the Russian army was poorly prepared, although the Russian High Command had learned the lessons of their allies on the Western Front and had given instructions to take protective measures. But the only protection they had taken was a cloth face covering soaked in a thiosulfate solution, and the production of such face shields was not accelerated. At the same time, the Russian troops on the front line were ignorant of the new chemical weapons and the effects of their use, and although they had discovered the information and preparations for the German chemical attack, they were not on guard, so when the Germans launched a chemical weapons attack, the Russian troops were almost completely unprotected. At the time of the German poison gas attack, 9,100 Russian troops had been poisoned and 5,000 had died, and the 53rd and 54th Siberian wings were almost completely wounded. On June 6, the Germans carried out a second poison gas blowing attack in this area, and due to the sudden change in the direction of the wind, part of the poison cloud turned back, and the Germans themselves suffered heavy losses. ”

"The German army on the Eastern Front used it for the first time, but due to lack of experience and insufficient education on the effects of the use of poison gas attacks by the troops, they failed to give full play to the power of poison gas, and at the same time did not have a good grasp of the meteorological laws, but they suffered certain losses. As a result, they were prompted to research and improve chemical weapons, the projectile. ”

"The Germans used poison gas on the Ypre front to make the British commander-in-chief, Johan? Sir Ferrench was furious, and the day after the gassed attack, he sent a telegram to London, demanding retaliation against Germany. Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for Defence, decided to refer the question of the same approach to the political axe in order to obtain the authorization of the political axe. ”

"In fact, as early as 1899, the Hague Declaration was signed internationally, which clearly stipulated that the use of methods of warfare other than 'civilized warfare' was prohibited. Now, however, Germany is the first to use chlorine and other toxic gases in Ypre, which is a clear violation of international law. Even more infuriating is the cynical claim of the Germans: they did not use 'projectiles', but gas fumes placed in cylinders. Not only did they refuse to admit that they had violated the Hague Agreement, but they also claimed that it was an extraordinarily mild method of warfare. ”

The sophistries of the Germans infuriated the British, and the British cabinet began to urgently discuss the attitude towards the use of poison gas, but there were internal disagreements, and for a time the decision was not made. On May 24, a month after the first use of poison gas, the Germans launched their last and heaviest attack of the summer. At dawn, under the cover of dense artillery fire, the Germans again released chlorine gas on the defending British 1st Cavalry, 4th and 28th Divisions along a 3-kilometer front, southwest of Ypre. Faced with billowing clouds of yellow-green poison gas, the Allied soldiers did not seem as frightened and helpless as they had been in the previous attacks. They grabbed their freshly dispensed double-flannel gas masks, soaked them in soda water, and tied them with straps and put them over their mouths. However, unexpectedly, the concentration of poison gas released by the Germans this time was surprisingly high. Death can be caused by 2 km from the front of the position, and vomiting and stinging of the eye at 15 km from the front of the position. Just 5 kilometres back is the city of Ypre. By this time, the poisonous cloud had engulfed the historic city, and the buildings, trees, and hospital wards in the city seemed to float in the clouds. One can imagine what kind of tragedy will occur at the forward front. In the beginning, the soldiers all used gas masks correctly. But the gas was so high that the soldiers suffocated, so they took off their masks and soaked it in soda water again. The soldiers were restless due to the constant influx of poison gas, and they hurriedly put their gas masks over their mouths without waiting to squeeze out the soda. As a result, they were unable to breathe through the gas masks of saturated soda, and thought they were suffocating from the gas, so they soaked the masks again in a short time. During the immersion, instead of holding their breath, they gasped for breath with difficulty, so the inevitable result was that the poison gas caused them to lose consciousness. ”

When talking about these tragic events, Tao Zhiguo's mood seemed to be a little unstable, tears may have oozed from the corners of his eyes, he took off his glasses, wiped the corners of his eyes, and a female college student sitting in the front row got up to refill his teacup with hot water. He put his glasses back on, politely smiled at the schoolgirl with a thankful smile, coughed lightly, and continued the story.

"The attack, which lasted more than four hours, poisoned 3,500 members of the Entente [***] team, while at least half of them needed to return home for treatment, and the death toll is unknown. Due to the repeated gassing attacks by the German army on the front line, the British political axe finally made up its mind: to retaliate against the German army, a tooth for a tooth. After a great deal of dangerous and complex research, British scientists designed and produced chemical weapons in just five months, and recruited, trained and found the best way to use them. ”

"Because Britain's weak chemical industry at that time was far from meeting the needs of chemical warfare, and fighting a poison gas war required a large amount of poison, it was obviously impossible to do without efficient mass production. At that time, Britain produced only one-tenth of what it needed. In the early years of the European War, the production capacity of the chemical industry in Britain and the rest of the world was far from rivaling that of the Farben Industrial Trust, a large German chemical conglomerate. It is estimated that the Farben Chemical Industry Trust had a capital of $400 million at the time, which was more than enough to meet the needs of the war effort. With the usual machinery and methods for the production of dyes, it was possible to produce most of the poison gases needed for the First World War in large quantities. At that time, Germany had a de facto monopoly on the production of dyes all over the world. The imbalance in production capacity seriously affected the chemical warfare capabilities of the Entente countries. Even by the end of the war, Britain lagged behind Germany in chemical capabilities. ”

Nevertheless, just five months after the first use of poison gas by the Germans, the British carried out a retaliatory gas attack on the Germans in Luce. Because the weather was still early and it was not clear to see, the Germans mistakenly thought it was just morning fog, and it turned out that when the poison cloud reached the front trench of the German army, the drums of the alarm sounded on the German position. But it was too late, and on the German positions, the tragic situation of the British gas attack at Ypre in April was repeated. ”

"The German officers and soldiers were equally unprepared, and the gas masks were lost and ineffective. They did not think at all that the British would also use poison gas to fight, and their own poison gas troops were on the eastern front, thinking that there would be no poison gas warfare on the western front, so they were not prepared for poison prevention. Coupled with the continuous shelling of the Allies for several days, the German army had run out of food rations for four days, and they could not supply it for the time being, so they were weak and exhausted. Some of the soldiers cowered in the trenches, they were able to avoid the poison gas at first, but the poison gas became thicker and thicker, and they were breathless, although some of the German troops wore diver-like hoods, equipped with oxygen cylinders, and were better equipped, but their oxygen could only last for 30 minutes, while the British used poison gas for 40 minutes, and finally these troops could not hold on. The poison gas used by the British was still pouring into the German positions, and mixed with the fog of the autumn morning, filling the sky, and even 6 to 7 meters behind the German lines. ”

"The defending German troops suffered a great blow physically and mentally, and completely lost their combat effectiveness. Just one hour after the first round of poison gas was applied, the British infantry began to follow the gas smoke billowing forward and launched the first charge at the German position. The German survivors, who were in a state of panic and anguish, suddenly saw a dense column of infantry and columns appearing in front of them from the thinning smoke clouds, as if they had come out of the ground, their faces wearing gas masks, and they did not look like soldiers, but like ghosts from hell. The British captured the first line of German defence with almost no resistance. The corpses of the German soldiers were strewn all over the field, their bodies twisted, and their faces were pale; Some were squeezed together, and the trenches were littered with German corpses, more than a meter high, all of which had been poisoned. The tragic situation made the charging British troops chill when they saw it. ”

"The British continued to advance, and when charging the second line of German defense, they were met only by small groups of recalcitrant German troops, and in the roar of machine guns, although many of the charging British soldiers fell. But the British quickly solved it. The British broke through German positions for 2 km, and in some places up to 5 km. The Battle of Luce, launched by the British, gave the Germans the first time since the beginning of the war that they suffered from poison gas, and achieved great results. In this campaign, the British broke through German positions, captured 18 artillery pieces and captured 3,000 prisoners of war. But the British themselves suffered more than 5,000 casualties. As in the case of the Battle of Ypre, the poison gas was too affected by the weather, and the battle did not result in a decisive victory. A week later, in the absence of poison gas, the enemy positions that the British had just captured were recaptured by the Germans. ”

"The poison gas attack in the Battle of Luce was the revenge of the British against the German army, and it also marked the full-scale start of chemical warfare in this world war, and chemical warfare gradually became a means that war commanders were enthusiastic about, it was ubiquitous, and it became an indispensable part of the war."

(To be continued)