From mid-March, fierce fighting on the west bank of the Maas River reached its climax. In the last two days of fierce fighting, the German army committed a total of five divisions on the west bank of the Maas River, and the German commander blindly ordered his troops to attack the east and west sides of the Morte-Orm Heights, despite the heavy artillery fire and machine-gun fire of the French defenders, and finally inflicted heavy losses on the German army.

After a few days of rest, the Germans suddenly launched an unusually fierce artillery attack on the defensive positions on the northeast and northwest slopes of the Morte-Orm Heights, and under the cover of artillery, an elite German army began to attack the northeastern slopes.

Together with the ordinary army that had been transferred to the north-west of the heights a few days earlier, this army launched a fierce attack on the neck of the heights.

Because of the fierce offensive of this elite German army, the offensive and defensive battles on the heights quickly came to fruition, and the French defenders on the heights could only retreat to the top of the hill after several defenses, leaving only a part of the machine gun detachment to defend.

The remaining machine-gun detachments were clearly unable to withstand the German attack, and the elite German troops quickly took control of the defensive positions halfway up the hill and converged to attack the top of the mountain.

In addition, the German army divided its forces, not only consolidating the defensive positions that had already been captured, but also attacking the rear of the Morte-Orm Heights on the premise of attacking the defensive positions on the top of the hill.

The Germans had intended to outflank the French defenders and try to encircle and annihilate this French army.

But the French troops were not stupid either, and once the rear of the defensive positions was outflanked, they had no room for retreat.

To this end, the defenders took out all their machine guns and artillery and declared their indomitable with dense and dense firepower.

Although the Germans attacked relatively smoothly, they also paid a lot of casualties.

Because the French army is located on the top of a hill and occupies a relatively good defensive terrain, it is often able to play a better battle loss ratio.

If the German army wanted to launch a strong attack on the French army on the top of the mountain, it could only mobilize artillery halfway up the mountain, surrounded on all sides, and launch artillery bombardment on the positions above.

There is bad news for both France and Germany, because the time has come to the second half of March, and the temperature in the Verdun area has gradually warmed.

As a result, the snow and ice have melted in many places, and the land near the fortress of Verdun has become very muddy, making logistics and transportation more difficult.

With the melting of snow and ice, the problem of disposing of a large number of corpses on the battlefield is also tricky.

Previously, because the temperature was relatively cold, the carcasses of people and livestock could be delayed for half a month before being disposed of.

But not now, if these corpses are not disposed of within a week, the stench of various corpses and the germs they bring will be enough to collapse the armies of both sides.

In this regard, France and Germany have also formed a tacit agreement. At the end of each round of assault and defense, Medics on both sides dispose of the corpses on the battlefield. During this time, the Franco-German sides entered into a temporary ceasefire.

It was precisely because of this unwritten rule that the large number of corpses on the battlefield of Verdun was dealt with so that it did not breed germs and pestilence.

Under heavy shelling and attacks by the French troops, the defenders on the heights began to move to the south, and the European troops thus occupied the fortresses and artillery positions at the top.

Although they succeeded in capturing the position on the top of the hill, the Germans also paid a lot of casualties.

A brigade of the Barfi Army, carrying the machine guns and artillery of the French army, bravely charged, and in the end the entire brigade was almost completely wiped out, with less than ten survivors.

To borrow from a retreating French officer in his diary what he described the tragic situation: "The fighting at Jacaris and Carrun was fierce, but I did not expect the fighting on the first line of Verdun to be more intense than in those places. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it would have been hard to believe that the battle would have reached such a fierce level.

From this point of view, the previous military texts and the teachings of famous generals are useless. In this fortress battle, even though the artillery shells on both sides rained down, the army still forged ahead without fear.

The will of the armies on both sides was terrible, and they remained unrelenting under heavy artillery fire.

On 20 March, all the ditches in our positions were destroyed by shelling. German cover artillery fire permeated the first line of defensive trenches and spread along the roads behind the battle line, spreading more than 2,000 meters. The German large-caliber artillery often extended the firing range, destroying our artillery positions and the communication trenches between them.

At 8 p.m. that night, we went to the rear of the second and third lines in a car, and during the ride, several bullets hit the car and injured people. We have seen that our troops are in high spirits and have no fear. The first to carry out the shelling was carried out by the Germans, but our artillery shelling was more intensive. The sound of shelling is deafening, and the closer we get to the front line, the louder the shells explode, and even feel the earth tremble, and our hearts are pounding in our chests.

The stragglers and communication trenches on the positions were completely destroyed by artillery fire, and there was little shelter for the soldiers. The state of the ground is constantly changing as a result of shelling. As we marched, sometimes lying around, sometimes leaping forward, the only thing we could cover our bodies was the craters. Most of the defending troops used bomb craters to hide, and soldiers who could not find a place to hide hurried to the remnants of the trenches.

When the German artillery fire extended the distance, many of our soldiers who were hiding took the opportunity to quickly crawl out of the crater and rush into position. The attacking German army was in a dense formation, with 5000~6000 people as a column, and the infantry was divided into two squads when advancing. At this time, only machine guns and fast guns in our army could play a role, and 75 times the caliber artillery was no longer convenient for shooting. Fortunately, the field artillery on the flanks was able to suppress the German attacking troops, and the Germans who continued to attack were also not spared, and the corpses of the dead and wounded under machine gun, rifle and artillery fire were scattered everywhere. It can be seen that the German attack did not take into account the cost of human life. ”

As time went on, the German front line and the French positions were getting closer and closer. If both sides want to attack the enemy with artillery fire, they will have to consider the possibility of accidentally injuring their own troops.

In order to ensure an offensive in the Verdun area, Germany had to mobilize forces from Russia and the Balkans.

Even the transfer of troops from various fronts in northern France could barely maintain a local advantage in the Verdun area.

For this reason, the Paris News Agency of France also published a special news to announce to the French people that four of the seven divisions in the newly launched German campaign in the Verdun area were transferred from other parts of the battlefield on the Western Front.

Although the German army has suffered heavy casualties in recent times, the bravery and discipline of the German army are absolutely not to be underestimated.

No matter how many dead and wounded there were, the remnants of the German soldiers would still risk their lives to assault. The German soldiers firmly believed that only by passing through the danger zone as soon as possible would it be possible to break through the trenches and disable the heavy artillery of the French army.

This also caused the German assault army to charge the French defensive positions again and again.

Even if the soldiers in front fell, the troops following behind still stepped over the bodies of their comrades without the slightest hesitation and continued to advance.

Because the artillery of the French army was not weak, and a large number of artillery pieces were mobilized in the Verdun area, the formation of the German army was often scattered.

But this still did not stop the German soldiers from charging, and after the French shelling, the German troops soon regrouped and attacked the French positions.

Although, due to the heavy losses, the German soldiers who were able to storm the French positions were significantly less numerous than the French defenders.

However, the Germans adopted the strategy of dropping bombs, and as soon as a commando entered the French line, the bomb team following closely behind them would immediately rush up and throw a large number of bombs into the trenches, leaving the French defenders in the trenches unguarded.

Because the sneak attack of this bomb was temporary, the French soldiers did not have time to get into the fortifications, and under this sneak attack, the French army suffered heavy casualties for a while, and the defensive positions were also occupied by the Germans.

By the night of March 23, the Morte-Aum Heights had largely fallen into the hands of the Germans, with only 304 Heights and a few nearby batteries fighting fiercely until dawn.

Although the current situation of the defenders is already very dangerous, the French army has been prepared, and even wrote a suicide note under the organization of the commander, ready to live with the position and live together.

As the day dawned, the French soldiers, who had fought fiercely all night, were finally able to rest for a while. They snuggled up to each other and snooze in their positions.

On a spring morning, there was a hint of coolness in the breeze, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder to which the soldiers had long accustomed, mixed with a hint of burnt earth and blood.

Suddenly, a strange yellow-green cloud drifted along the ground towards the highlands. Most of the French soldiers had already fallen asleep and had not noticed the strangely colored cloud.

It was only when the mist drifted to the position that the French defenders noticed a strange smell. Some people feel burning pain in their eyes, nose and throat, and the pain becomes more intense when they open their eyes.

Many of the soldiers began to let out a roar of pain, tearing open their shirts with both hands, grabbing their throats, and rolling and stumbling desperately.

But such struggles only make them more uncomfortable, and frequent and violent breathing will cause them to inhale more poisonous gases, and eventually suffocate or even die.

Germany once again dropped poison gas on the Verdun area for the first time in more than a month, and the sneak attack of poison gas had a very good effect at a time when the French army was very tired.

During the entire Battle of Verdun, the Germans dropped poison gas more than a dozen times, but due to the influence of the wind direction, only three or four effective casualties were actually caused.

Obviously, this gas attack was also a one-off attack, and the killing effect was the best of the last few gas releases.

In less than half an hour, the French soldiers holding their positions and batteries had completely lost their resistance.

A small number of soldiers, who were not greatly affected by the gas, hurriedly struggled out of the trenches and ran madly towards the rear.

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(End of chapter)