Immediately after the good results of the gas warfare, the German troops threw all their strength into the final offensive against the remaining 304 heights and artillery defensive positions.

All attacking German soldiers wore effective gas masks to prevent unnecessary damage from poison gas.

In fact, the French soldiers were also equipped with poison masks, but most of the tired French soldiers were already covered in poison gas before they could react at all.

A small number of French soldiers who had already reacted hurriedly put on poisoning masks, but they had no effect on the rest of the battle.

In the end, German troops succeeded in capturing all areas of the Morte-Orm Heights, and all areas of this defensive position, including the 304 heights, were occupied by the Germans.

In this extremely anxious tug-of-war, the entire mountainous terrain was so badly damaged that patches of woods were flattened or burned like fields with ears of grain cut off.

All man-made obstacles are almost bullet-ridden, even those stacked with three layers of sandbags.

Almost all the nearby roads had been plowed over, and all the intersections had been washed by a terrible rain of blood, and the smell of gunsmoke and blood could be heard very clearly when walking through them.

The entire Morte-Orm Heights is littered with vehicles, cannons and wreckage of all kinds, as well as the corpses of soldiers, which seriously hampers traffic in this area.

However, the army rested in the area for a few days before they were able to clear the road and launch an attack on the area around Mimos.

But here, the French re-established a strong defensive position, and it will be a difficult offensive and defensive battle.

By the end of March, the German General Reserve in the Western Theater was also rushing to the front. In order to cover the assault of the elite troops on the front line, the Germans mobilized the largest artillery group in the Xixian battlefield to bombard the positions of the French indiscriminately.

The intensity of the artillery bombardment was such that the German artillery units had to be replenished with shells after every hour of bombardment.

In a post-war interview, a French officer on the battlefield revealed to the media the situation of the German offensive at that time: "The German assault team was like a machine gun, and each soldier was like a bullet fired. The machine gun continued to fire like this, and they were like Xiao Qiang who couldn't be killed. ”

German artillery inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders, but whenever the German bombardment stopped, the French army would rise up again and begin to resist stubbornly.

The Mimos area was fought back and forth several times by Germany and France, and the German army's attempts to seize the entire prominent area around Mimos never came to fruition.

And in April 1916, a British unit arrived on the west bank of the Maas River to reinforce the French Tenth Army, which had been defending there for a long time.

The Times of the same day carried a Paris correspondent's comment on the development of the situation on the battlefield of Verdun: "In this battle, if the French army had not put up a heroic and stubborn resistance, it would never have been possible to hold the fortress of Verdun...... Otherwise, why would the French 10th Army be replaced by the British? Of course, it is not difficult to see from this that the unity of the Entente side on the Western Front is gradually increasing, and the losses of the German army in the Verdun area are also increasing day by day. ”

Four months have passed since the Battle of Verdun broke out, and the losses of Germany and France, the main two sides involved in the war, can be summed up in one word, that is, miserable.

So far, the Germans have committed almost 40 divisions in the Verdun area, with a total number of almost 1 million soldiers.

And the French were not weak at all, committing nearly 35 divisions and a total of 800,000 soldiers.

With nearly 2 million troops on both sides, the total number of dead and wounded has now exceeded 700,000.

Among them, the German casualties were the most severe. As the attacking side in the Battle of Verdun, even if the Germans mobilized a large number of artillery, it could not reduce the casualties of the soldiers.

By early April, the Germans had suffered more than 400,000 casualties at Verdun, including more than 150,000 dead.

The French also suffered 350,000 casualties, with nearly 120,000 dead.

The Verdun War lasted nearly ten months, and the total number of casualties was only about 1 million.

But now, in just over four months, the combined casualties of France and Germany are as high as 750,000, and the death toll is close to 300,000, which is not much weaker than the historical Battle of Verdun.

You must know that the current Battle of Verdun is still going on, France and Germany are still engaged in fierce fighting, and the British have already sent reinforcements to join the battle.

It is no exaggeration to say that this new Battle of Verdun may be even more brutal than the historical Battle of Verdun.

If the situation is allowed to continue like this, the Battle of Verdun could turn into a great war with more than a million dead. When the time comes, the blood will be drained, but I don't know who it is.

Precisely because the Germans had an even more exaggerated casualty figure than the French, the Germans' attempt to drain the blood of the French by launching a campaign in the Verdun area had completely failed.

For now, the Germans may die of anemia before the French run out of blood.

Such massive casualties displeased the German leadership, and Wilhelm II was also dissatisfied with the plans of the German chief of staff, Falkingham.

Originally, when Germany's strategy shifted again, there were two different opinions at the top of the German military.

One opinion is that continuing the offensive on the Eastern Front is the better option. Compared to the elite French army, the Russian army is a soft persimmon.

As long as they could hold on to the Western Front, the German army on the Eastern Front could invade Russian territory with impunity and force Russia to withdraw from the war to relieve the pressure of fighting on two fronts.

The chief of the general staff at that time, Fa Jin Hanli, defied public opinion and firmly believed that only by taking the lead in defeating France could the pressure of the two-front war be completely relieved.

This led the German army to go on the defensive on the Eastern Front and relaunch the offensive on the Western Front, provoking the Battle of Verdun, which now looks like Germany suffering even heavier casualties.

According to information from German intelligence, the Anglo-French forces were nearing the end of their preparations for the battle on the Somme, and they could launch a large-scale campaign similar to Verdun on the Somme at any time.

This was a huge blow to Germany, whose attack at Verdun not only failed to stop the French from planning the battle on the Somme, but also delayed many German elites in the Verdun area.

In order to get out of the Verdun area as soon as possible and prepare for a possible Battle of the Somme by Britain and France, Wilhelm II personally issued an order to the front and the General Staff that Verdun's army must achieve a decisive victory by April 15.

This order is impossible in the light of the current situation, and the German offensive in the Verdun area has been going on for more than four months, and it has not been able to gain absolute superiority, let alone in half a month.

But there was no way, this was an order from Wilhelm II, which the German army had to obey.

Under the orders of Wilhelm II, the exhausted German troops regrouped and launched a new onslaught on the French positions on the line from Fergusling to Souville.

At the urging of Wilhelm II's orders, the German generals began to become unconcerned again, and like crazy gamblers, they put all their bets into it.

For these German generals, their best option at the moment was to capture the positions in front regardless of casualties.

As long as they can capture the position, no matter how heavy the casualties are, they will not be able to hide their flaws after all, and they cannot hide the credit of capturing the position.

But if they could not fulfill the orders given by Wilhelm II, even if they did their best to minimize the casualties of the German army, they would definitely be liquidated by Wilhelm II.

The new round of fighting lasted for several days, and the German army used everything at its disposal, machine guns, artillery, poison gas, flame guns, and even airships and planes, as long as they could inflict lethal damage on the enemy.

To paraphrase the feelings of a British press representative upon his arrival in the Verdun area: "The battery was destroyed like hell by a blasting shell, and the commander of the battery, Major Jonar, and his men put up desperate resistance on this hellish fortress. In the vicinity of the battery, the trenches that had just been formed were quickly destroyed by artillery fire. ”

Because the battle lasted for a long time, the frequent bombardment and various weapons made the French army seriously short of water.

It is difficult to transport supplies with logistics, food is fine, and water resources have become extremely scarce on the battlefield.

Because of the high temperature of the artillery explosion and the high temperature flame guns used by the German army, the mood of the French army due to the fierce battle was even more serious.

The severe bleeding of the wounded further contributed to the shortage of drinking water, which, combined with the wailing of the wounded, exacerbated the sense of anxiety within the French army. In this case, it is difficult for someone to become calm and look for a way to break the situation.

Because the batteries and defensive positions had become besieged islands, in exchange for a little limited drinking water, the French soldiers had to brave the rain of bullets and shells, and try to find water and logistics without the Germans being discovered.

There were about 400 French soldiers in the Fergus battery, and the minimum daily consumption of drinking water was about 150 litres.

Under the prolonged offensive of the German army, drinking water became a more important life-saving material than bullets and shells, medical supplies, and food resources.

Even if there is the suppression of the highest-level battery commander, many soldiers will still fight because of the distribution of water resources, and even turn against their comrades.

Although the defenders outside the battery fared slightly better, they had a hard time transporting resources to and from the battery.

Despite the cover of firepower, it was difficult to transport water to the inside of the battery, no matter how heavy the casualties were paid.

3000 words for the second update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)