It would take another week for the Italian to prepare for a diversionary attack, and the officers and soldiers of the two camps in the Paris area would not wait, they were still engaged in fierce battles around the city of Paris.

As the attackers, Britain and France gathered heavy troops and attacked desperately, which of course put the German army under pressure, and also achieved some results.

For example, at the cost of 79,000 casualties, the British army overcame the Gevel Line, consisting of the German 7th and 11th armies, and after repulsing the enemy, they are now moving on to their next target, Bontailu.

At present, there are 13 divisions of 270,000 British attack groups, and they are rushing towards Bontailu. The Germans only had the defeated 7th Army and the 11th Army in Bontailu, as well as the 57th and 35th divisions sent by Admiral Clocker, and the 76th and 82nd divisions reinforced from the country.

In terms of number, the Germans also had no less than ten divisions at Bontailu, and they were on the defensive, so it should be very easy to hold, but this was ideal.

The real state was that the 7th and 11th armies had suffered a lot of losses on the previous Gevel front. And in order to smoothly withdraw from Gevier, they also used the tactic of breaking the tail. As a result, two armies can only be used as one. In addition, the two divisions reinforced by the country, as can be seen from the number, these two divisions were formed after the outbreak of the war, and there must be some gaps in combat effectiveness.

Therefore, in terms of actual combat effectiveness, the strength of the attacking side is twice that of the defending side, so the pressure on the German army in Bontailu will be very great.

Of course, the Germans were not without a slight advantage, that is, the position of Bontailu was well built.

Before the outbreak of the battle, Bontailu had already built a number of fortifications as a key point of the left wing of Paris. After the outbreak of the battle, Bontailu, which was also the key point of the western flank after Gevel, built fortifications on a large scale. Now there are many trenches in Bontailu, and there are also many barbed wire fences and pillboxes.

And in addition to the fortifications, there were a large number of weapons and ammunition brought with two divisions of reinforcements from Germany, the most important of which was more than six hundred light and heavy machine guns. It was sent by Moltke the Young, who had looted the ordnance warehouse. For this reason, several newly mobilized divisions had no machine guns available.

Needless to say, the role of machine guns was very useful in the attack, and in the defensive battle of Gevel, the continuous fire of the heavy machine guns brought a large number of casualties to the attacking British army.

However, due to the fact that the machine gun configuration on the first line of Gevel was only a conventional configuration, and the British artillery was particularly ferocious, the British army still conquered the position on the first line of Gevier after suffering huge casualties.

As for the Bontailu line, the Germans deployed thousands of light and heavy machine guns on the 30-kilometer defensive line, with a fire density of up to 4 per 100 meters.

And in this regard, the British army, which was preparing to attack, did not know about it. At this time, under the leadership of the British commander Hague, they were preparing to attack Bontailu in high spirits.

At this time, the roaring artillery subsided, and the Bontailu line, which had just been bombarded by British artillery for three days, was full of craters blown out by shells, which looked about the same as the surface of the moon. The German trenches, barbed wire, pillboxes and other fortifications have been bombed, and it is now time to launch an attack.

Although it had rained heavily and was still raining lightly, the muddy ground would be detrimental to the attack, but it could also affect the shooting accuracy of the defending enemy, so it didn't have much impact on the attack.

Of course, more importantly, they need to constantly break through the German positions along the line, and they can't give the Germans time to send reinforcements, so the British troops who launched the offensive cannot stop, but can only continue to attack, and strive to reach the most important node of the battle as soon as possible.

At this time, the British officers and soldiers waiting in the trenches were really waiting for the order to charge. The voices of the officers kept coming, and they were constantly calming the nervous soldiers. Of course, it is not enough to appease them, but at the same time, we must also tell them that the gendarmes are behind them, and if they dare to run back without permission, then in addition to death, there will be dishonorable deserters waiting for them, and their life's reputation will be in vain, and their parents, wives, children, younger brothers and sisters in their hometown will be looked down upon for this.

Obviously, this combination of grace and power let the British soldiers who were preparing to attack know that they could only charge and not retreat privately.

At this time, a sharp whistle sounded, and at the same time the melodious sound of Scottish bagpipes was heard. Amid the shouts of attack from the officers, the soldiers rushed out of the trenches. At this time, figures jumped out of the trenches and rushed towards the German positions in dense formation.

Its dense number numbered in the tens of thousands, led by aristocratic officers in the British army. These British nobles were indeed brave, they wore gorgeous military uniforms, and led the charge towards the German positions with sabers in their hands. At this moment, the pride of the nobles also inspired the soldiers they led to rush towards the German positions with the officers.

On the side of the defensive position, watching the dense sea of British soldiers charging, the German officers and soldiers defending the position were stunned.

Although the British offensive formation looked very oppressive, it was not to look down on their firepower.

At this time, on the German positions, dense machine-gun positions were ready, just waiting for the British officers and soldiers to enter the firing range.

"Fire!"

At the order of the officer, machine guns from the positions opened fire. Maxim and Reverie, who were constantly spewing tongues of fire, formed a network of light and heavy machine-gun fire on the battlefield, and they constantly harvested the lives of British officers and soldiers.

And these attacking British troops are constantly being knocked down like wheat.

"Attack!"

At this time, a British officer held a saber alof, inspiring the soldiers to attack. But then he shook his body a few times, and a few streams of blood came out, and then he collapsed in the mire. At the moment when his consciousness dissipated, his eyes looked at the pocket watch that had fallen to the side, which contained pictures of his wife and daughter, and in the last moments of his life, he remembered his wife and daughter.

And the tragedy of the killing did not stop because of his death, the continuous machine gun knockdown, the corpses of the fallen and the screams of the wounded soldiers, turned this place into a hellish place.

And the British officers and soldiers continued to jump out of the trenches and rush towards the German positions, as if they were going to use the sea of men to break the German positions.

That's right, this was indeed the idea of the British commander, General Rawlinson, who, like a gambler, was trying to break through the German positions on the front line of Bontailu by means of a sea of people.

And this is also a reflection of the fact that the offensive tactics have not been transformed after the defensive ability has been greatly enhanced. More precisely, in the face of the enemy's modern defense system composed of trenches, barbed wire, machine guns, artillery, etc., it is not known how to attack.

And such a mindless human offensive lasted from the morning until after the sun set.

When the battle is over, a spectacular and brutal scene emerges. Between the two positions, the corpses on the ground were lined up from the British side to the German position. In the afternoon, there were even so many corpses in some sections that the attack could not be grounded.

In the evening, when General Rawlinson, who was in charge of the offensive command, received a casualty report, his whole hand was shaking.

He made history with more than 80,000 casualties, and even the officer in charge of statistics even thought that the other party was making a false report after repeatedly contacting the front line.

"Send it to General Haig."

It was too late to say anything at this moment, and General Rawlinson knew that he could not hide it, so he could only hand in the report, because the other party was still waiting for his telegram.

Soon the news was transmitted to the commander of the expeditionary force, Admiral Haig, and when he saw the casualty figures on the airwaves, Haig's eyes went black. With such huge casualties, he almost didn't mention it in one breath.

"Send it to London."

As for the London side, after receiving a telegram from the headquarters of the expeditionary force, it repeatedly asked if it had written an extra zero in the casualty figure. When it was confirmed that it was not, it was equally shocked.

It wasn't just the British who were shocked, the whole world was shocked. A staff officer, dissatisfied with General Rawlinson, revealed the news.

So, the next day, the news was widely reported in major newspapers. And this news made the British people angry, and they angrily questioned the government, this is not war, this is murder.

As a result, General Rawlinson, who was directly responsible, was directly dismissed the next day, and at the same time ordered to retire immediately, and at the same time let him be questioned by Parliament.

What awaits him will be the dark moments of his life.

(End of chapter)