Chapter 444 There is a realm called the sky beyond the sky
Chapter 444 There is a Realm Beyond Heaven
The fierce battle of Verdun is in full swing.
This showdown involving more than 2.3 million people has been going on for nine months and is still extremely fierce.
Today seemed no different from any other day, with the Krupp cannons roaring to the sky.
The German army had 1204 artillery pieces, far outnumbering the French, but the French soldiers were not afraid.
The French open-hearth steelmaking method was finally used in artillery. The material performance was not inferior to Krupp crucible steel. The 90mm artillery produced by Schneider Company used a partition screw locking machine and a compression tightener. Its range was not shorter than that of the 150mm caliber Krupp gun, but its rate of fire was far higher.
At the beginning of the battle, there was no such ability, but at the critical moment, French chemist Paul Weir developed the French version of smokeless gunpowder...
France also had dozens of 220mm, 270mm, and 280mm giant howitzers with extremely long ranges. The rear even had the latest 400mm fortress guns shipped in.
Although the 220mm cannon could fire one round per minute and the larger caliber ones could fire one round every three minutes, the enemy did not have such large cannons and could only take the beating.
This is the advantage for the defender. When the Germans attack, it is difficult to transport the large-caliber cannons to the front line.
After the bombardment of the Krupp artillery cluster, the French troops emerged from the trenches, shook off the rubble and soil above their heads, and prepared to meet a new round of enemy charge.
Sure enough, a large number of German troops crouched and rushed towards the French trenches in a skirmish line formation.
Here it comes again. Are you tired of it?
Because France was fighting on the inside and on the defensive, it had ample supply lines behind it, and in order to maintain morale, it fought in turns.
In the past nine months, 70% of the French army had participated in the battle of Verdun. The German army was more determined to fight, with only 20% participating in the battle.
The morale of the French troops newly transferred to the battlefield was good. The giant artillery behind them was destroying the enemy's newly exposed artillery positions, which gave the French army great confidence.
Countless rapid-fire cannons and Maxim firing points roared, and ordinary soldiers aimed at the enemy and fired. Some had already prepared grenade launchers and shotguns, ready for close-range fire strikes, followed by trench hand-to-hand combat.
Suddenly, the soldiers noticed that the sky was overcast. They looked up and wondered what was that?
More than fifty huge airships flew over from the opposite side and flew towards behind them. The soldiers were speechless and for a moment forgot about the enemies rushing towards them.
"Boom! Boom!"
The bombing from the sky caught the French army off guard, and they suddenly discovered that the heavy artillery behind them had misfired.
The morale of the German army was greatly boosted, and they rushed into the trenches holding pistols that the French had never seen before. The M18 submachine gun with its -round burst showed its power for the first time.
German Crown Prince Friedrich held a telescope and saw his soldiers quickly eliminating the soldiers in the enemy trenches and breaking through one trench after another, with a smile on his face.
After rushing through these three trenches, the main body of the Verdun Fortress is behind.
The width of the Verdun fortress group is 112 kilometers, but as long as one point is broken through, the enemy can be divided and surrounded...
"Vive la France!"
Cheers suddenly broke out from the last French position on the opposite side.
Friedrich raised his telescope and saw a group of new French reinforcements arriving.
Humph, reinforcements can't change your low morale.
Suddenly, a bright red flag was hoisted on the opposite side. A bearded officer stood under the flag. The soldiers were cheering him, "Varlan! Varlan!"
Who is this? Even if Alfonso I led the army in person, it might not have achieved this result.
The French soldiers on the opposite side suddenly started singing together, and the sound became louder and louder. It was not "The Return of the French Prince to Paris" or even "The Marseillaise". The low melody made Friedrich tremble suddenly.
The French officers shouted in unison, and the new soldiers suddenly took out red cloth, wrapped it around their arms, and rushed towards the victorious German army with bayonets. The charging German army had new machine guns, and the French army suffered heavy casualties. Seeing the French army fall down row by row, Friedrich touched his chest and felt relieved.
Given the character of the French army, they would surely retreat again if they sacrificed 20% of their troops. It would just be a last-ditch effort.
Something that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince couldn't understand happened. The French troops charging in the opposite direction continued to fight one after another. Obviously, the losses were more than 50%, but not a single one retreated. When did the French become so fierce?
The French army, bearing huge losses, rushed to the German army, and the German army was defeated.
They were carrying a secret weapon, submachine guns, which gave them an absolute advantage in close combat. Submachine guns did not need to be equipped with bayonets. As a result, despite this absolute firepower advantage, they were actually rushed in front of the enemy.
Are you using a submachine gun as an iron rod? Faced with an opponent in a very abnormal state, the iron-willed German army was also frightened, and the charge that was sure to win was actually suppressed.
The French troops behind also discovered the flaw in the airship. Several people worked together to raise their rapid-fire cannons and replace them with shrapnel shells. The airship's airbag was broken, and with a spark, the hydrogen bag immediately turned into a huge fireball.
The other airships did not dare to stay and immediately rose high and returned.
The airship's first bombing operation was quite successful, successfully launching a surprise attack on the French super-heavy artillery position, with only the loss of one airship.
But the Germans' long-planned raid, which used airship bombing and submachine guns to clear trenches, failed to create a breakthrough.
The charging German army was chased by the French army who were fighting desperately like crazy, and all three field trenches were recaptured.
The French army recaptured the trenches and immediately rearranged their defenses, but of course they did not dare to charge into the front line of hundreds of thousands of German troops.
The German army counted the results of the battle and actually, this was a great victory.
The German army charged with two regiments and lost only one, while the French army charged under fierce submachine gun fire and lost four regiments.
However, the use of secret new weapons did not achieve the combat goal of breaking through the Verdun fortress, which was a failure.
Alas, next time the enemy is prepared, the airship will not be useful. This thing, if it is too low, it will be hit, and if it is too high, it will not be able to drop bombs accurately. It seems that it has limited use on the battlefield.
Friedrich called back the General Staff to report the shortcomings of the airship.
It is recommended to use it for a nighttime surprise attack on London to undermine the enemy's morale, rather than on a large-scale battlefield.
At the same time, more submachine guns are required. This thing can really kill a large number of enemies.
However, he just couldn't figure out why the enemy suddenly became so fearless and brave.
"Your Highness, the enemy's attack on the Somme is very fierce. General Schlieffen has requested troop support. Chief of the General Staff Moltke has approved it and ordered our Fifth Army to switch to a defensive position if today's surprise attack does not go well."
Friedrich sighed, "Follow the orders from your superiors."
Two days later, Frederick received news from the reconnaissance that French Emperor Alfonso I, under the joint advice of Interior Minister Gustav and Foreign Minister Blanqui, changed his generals at the last minute and replaced General Paladin, who was originally defending Verdun, with the people they recommended.
"So they changed their generals. Is this person prestigious? I haven't heard that Varlan fought any famous battles."
"However, he seems to be very good at boosting morale. Verdun is not going to be easy to fight."
In fact, it is not that the other side is good at boosting morale, and they are not even good at military tactics.
But what the other side is good at is indeed suitable for defending a place like Verdun and maintaining morale. This is something that Prince Frederick cannot understand...
Sometimes, powerful weapons are not the only factor in winning a war. Shao Quanzhong's superior air and firepower support to the Germans was offset by a certain advantage of the French.
(End of this chapter)