Chapter 229

The preparation stage for the Battle of Verdun in this time and space is similar to that of parallel time and space. The Germans blatantly increased their troops to Shambani, and the Anglo-French forces were fooled. Xia Fei, a general who was blown into the sky by the French, was quite clumsy before this battle. Of course, the French army made a lot of jokes, and there were a lot of whimsical battle plans before the war, and it was taken for granted that the Germans would be defeated in two months at most.

The fact that the French army was able to withstand the German army in World War I cannot but be said to be the luck of the French, or that the development of weapons helped France. Even so, France, which is parallel to time and space, almost didn't stand it. The French army in this time and space, because of Fang Dashuai's troubles, can be said to have suffered much more losses than in parallel time and space. The acceleration of the historical process is already a bit unusual.

A large-scale build-up of troops will certainly not be able to hide for too long. The French finally discovered the intentions of the Germans, but it was too late. On New Year's Day 1916, the German army began the Battle of Verdun. Fifteen hundred artillery pieces bombarded the French army's 40-kilometer front. After nine hours of fire preparation, 1.5 million rounds were fired, and the Germans began a tank group charge. In parallel history, flamethrowers were used to sweep trenches, and the Germans in this plane had more advanced gadgets.

However, the Germans did not seem to have gotten rid of the traditional tactic of tanks covering infantry, and Bob, who had shined on the Eastern Front, although he had recently been promoted to major general, did not appear in the Battle of Verdun, but remained on the Eastern Front.

It was precisely because the Germans failed to adopt more advanced tactics that the result was a flat push on the front. Still, the progress of the German army was smoother than in parallel history. Within 24 hours of the charge, the Germans achieved brilliant results, overcoming the fortress of Douaumont, a support point that took four days to capture in parallel history. At this time, the French army was completely in disarray, as in parallel history. The French army was no more than 100,000 men and more than 200 cannons. In the face of such a powerful offensive of the German army, the beaten wolf bèi was unbearable. On June 2, the Germans played a new trick and actually bombed the French positions with aircraft. This trick was learned from the Chinese, and the bombs used were also modified from mortar shells. In general, the Germans made some improvements, and the adopted aircraft was also a new type of aircraft, with a bomb load of five hundred kilograms.

More than 200 planes bombed French artillery positions indiscriminately. The French artillery suffered heavy casualties, and the German army advanced too fast in parallel history, and the tragedy of being hit by French artillery fire was not repeated. Then the Germans again launched a bombardment with heavy artillery fire, or a tactic of opening the way with tanks, and the French army mobilized a force that could be mobilized to reinforce it. But it's too late in time. The Germans moved too fast. On the 3rd, the Germans occupied the Holm Heights, on the 4th, the fortress of Wo surrendered, and on the 5th, the fortress of Soviets fell.

On 7 June, Pétain took over as commander of the Verdun front. Before the first order was issued, the Germans slaughtered in front of the fortress of Verdun. The French army was defeated, and the defenders of Verdun were no more than two infantry divisions, and the fortress could not be defended. Paris is at stake. At this moment of crisis, God helped the French again, and it snowed heavily, and it rained for two whole days.

The French made the most of these two days. Large numbers of troops and equipment were delivered to Verdun, and defensive positions were built along the road. Strengthen the depth of defense.

The French efforts did some work, and on June 10, when the weather finally cleared, the Germans attacked again. However, this time the attack was not so smooth, the roads were muddy after the heavy snowfall, and the heavy artillery fire washed away the enemy troops at the same time, and the land was loosened, and under the moisture of the snow, it became a muddy quagmire.

The muddy battlefield caused huge problems for the German army. The power of the German tanks was greatly restricted, and after advancing less than a few hundred meters, more than half of the tanks were trapped in the quagmire. The helpless German tanks could only be used as a fire support point one by one, and at the same time became the target of the French artillery.

After three days of fierce fighting, by January 13, the Germans still failed to take the fortress of Verdun, and at the same time paid a huge price. At the critical moment, the Germans made a big move. Gas bombs!

The number 13 is an ominous symbol in Europe, and at noon on January 13, the Germans suddenly fired poison gas bombs. The unprepared French suffered heavy casualties, and the Germans again sent their air forces to bombard French artillery positions, and then launched the deadliest blow. The two armies fought until dark, and the French army at Verdun finally could not stand it, and the remaining 30,000 men surrendered after being surrounded.

Paris, right before the eyes of the Germans, saw for the first time hope of an end to the war in Europe.

The fall of Verdun meant that a huge hole had been torn open in the French defense, and the Germans could calmly attack the flank of the French army in Shambani to the west. What's worse is that there is no danger to defend this line. Petain is here

At a moment of crisis, once again a good thing happened, the great inertia of history moved forward at this moment, and a shell hit the German arsenal. A huge explosion was triggered, and the German artillery shells were cut off from supply.

The Germans who took Verdun were forced to stop the attack, and the French took advantage of the German army to stop the offensive and desperately mobilized their troops. But instead of carrying out the order to counterattack, Petain built a new line of defense on the line of Saint-Meneold, while continuing to gather forces. Petain said that with only 100,000 troops at hand, it was unrealistic to counterattack Verdun, and more troops had to be gathered.

Xia Fei agreed to Pétain's construction, and on the one hand, continued to mobilize troops, and on the other hand, urged the British to complete the preparations for the battle, launched the Battle of the Somme, and pinned down the Verdun direction.

The ammunition reserves for the resumption of the German offensive were not until the end of January. By this time, the French defense line had been relatively formed, and at the same time launched two powerful counterattacks against Verdun. The French counterattack was met with stubborn resistance from the Germans, and the war did not go as Falkingham had envisioned, and the capture of Verdun meant the defeat of the French army.

The French counterattack contained the German offensive and once reached the fortress of Verdun. At the critical moment, the Germans again launched a surprise attack with a tank group, and the French army was caught off guard and repulsed by this move. The Germans did not immediately launch a new attack.

The changes in the German army came from the top of the German army. Although Verdun was captured, Falkingham still lost the trust of Wilhelm II. The reason is that the Battle of Verdun allocated more than half of the tanks that the Germans had worked so hard to save. Even so, the Germans only wiped out more than 200,000 French troops, which was too costly. Unlike the German army on the Eastern Front, more than 300 tanks can make the Russian army jump, and its own losses are small.

Wilhelm II believed that Falkingham was incompetent, and decided to remove him from his post and let Hindenburg be the chief of the General Staff and Ludendorff as the deputy chief of the General Staff, hoping that the cooperation of the two would restore the glory of the German army on the Eastern Front.

When Hindenburg took office, he ordered the Germans to defend themselves on the Verdun front, while planning a larger campaign with the aim of reaching Paris in one fell swoop. Hindenburg's new plan came from Ludendorff's construction. Based on the experience of the Eastern Front, Ludendorff believes that the results achieved by Major General Bob in the use of tanks verify his correctness.

Ludendorff believed that it was entirely possible to replicate a brilliant victory on the Western Front. Hindenburg recognized this construction, and the Germans began to accumulate tank assault forces, mobilize automobiles and cavalry, and prepare to launch an irregular "blitzkrieg".

It was against this background that the squadron landed in Europe.

The Wehrmacht expeditionary force began on New Year's Day, the day the Germans fought the Battle of Verdun. At first, Britain and France were not in a hurry, but as the Battle of Verdun progressed, the French Minister Kant was on fire under his buttocks. Every day, I am urging the ** team to load the ship faster. At this time, Fang Dashuai was not in a hurry, and served wine to the troops who boarded the ship every day to see them off. It was not until the middle of the month that the expeditionary force was all boarded, when the advance team of the French side called and said that all the heavy artillery promised by Britain and France had been delivered. At the same time, news was reported that Verdun had fallen.

This news thundered Fang Dashuai fiercely, how could this be? There is a saying for choosing to send troops at this time. The troops were transported to France, which took at least a month. Subsequent acclimatization training was necessary, and it would be nice to be able to catch up with the Battle of the Somme. Anyway, it must have staggered the Verdun meat grinder. Now I suddenly found out that Verdun was lost, and this is in France, is it difficult to fight the battle for the defense of Paris? Why is the French army so ineffective?

Fang Jianxiong hurriedly sent a telegram to Cai Yi, informing him of the news, and said: After our army arrives in France, we should use adaptation as an excuse to rest for at least a month, and do not rush to participate in the war.

Fang Jianxiong's most new thing happened, that is, history has been changed, once Paris is lost, can the French still fight? Germany became the victor in the First World War, and that was really a big problem.

When Marshal Fang was worried that the French army might not be able to withstand it, far away in Europe, Bob and Biel were also troubled. Quite simply, China joined the Entente and declared war on Germany. Fang Jianxiong, the boss, is treacherous!

Although both of them are very clear, in the face of national interests, they are all scum. It's still hard to accept this reality. The brothers had a table of wine and food in a Berlin farmstead, and when they were depressed, a herald arrived and interrupted their drinking. The soldier brought an order, and Bob immediately went to the Verdun front to report.

Bob set off in a hurry, and when he arrived at Verdun, it was early February. At this time, the Germans had just repelled another French counterattack. Bob reported to the headquarters and met with Ludendorff, the deputy chief of the German General Staff.