Chapter 471 This Is the "French Tranquilizer"

Colonel De Leon was wrong about one thing. The Germans used more than 2,000 cannons to bomb Verdun.

On the front of Verdun, which was nearly 10 kilometers away, the Germans deployed a total of 2,000 howitzers, 500 mortars, and more than a dozen powerful 210MM howitzers.

(The above picture shows a German 1 howitzer with a range of 9,400 meters and a projectile weight of 120 kilograms)

During the preparation period for the attack, the German army not only stored a large amount of ammunition, but also invested 30 engineering companies and more than 20 railway companies to improve transportation. The total number of construction workers reached more than 20,000, and there were more than 200 rounds of artillery shells sent to the front line.

Ironically, while the German army was busy improving various facilities, the French army on the opposite side was busy dismantling artillery and transferring troops.

…

At nine o'clock in the evening on September 3, the French soldiers hid in the tunnels and fortresses bored and prepared to end the day with sleep.

At this time, three red flares suddenly rose in the sky.

French soldiers who noticed the light came out curiously and looked in the direction of the light source. They hadn't seen this thing for a long time.

Was it the Germans' attack signal?

They must be crazy!

This is Verdun!

The next second, the whole area was suddenly shaken.

All the large and small caliber artillery on the front and deep artillery positions of the German army opened fire at the same time, and countless shells fell on the French positions. The fire reflected the positions of both sides and the sky above the positions.

And all this was just the beginning.

One after another, the shells continued to cross the sky with a sharp whistle, flying quickly from the German position to the French position.

Then there was another ups and downs of explosions, and clouds of smoke spread out in a radial shape in the fire, forming a dark cloud of smoke together with the dust lifted into the air.

The French soldiers were not mentally prepared for this.

The only one who thought the Germans would attack was Colonel De Leon, and Colonel De Leon was ordered not to spread the word that "the Germans are about to attack" because it would "disrupt the morale of the army."

The soldiers were stunned by the sudden artillery fire. They stared at it blankly, and when they reacted, they screamed and looked for shelter everywhere.

But they didn't know where to hide in the darkness. The tunnels had either collapsed or were falling down. They didn't look safe at all, but more like dark graves.

Even those seemingly indestructible fortresses collapsed and became a mess under the bombardment of artillery shells.

Colonel De Leon was dizzy and tinnitus in the fortress. He couldn't help but cover his ears and shout. The dim light swayed above his head, flickering and extinguishing, and finally fell into complete darkness.

He stumbled open the door and came to the combat zone, and saw the soldiers set up machine guns at the mouth of the machine gun.

"Get out of there!" Colonel De Leon shouted.

The German artillery preparations would not be over so soon, and it was impossible for the enemy to come up at this time. Setting up a machine gun would only put oneself in danger.

But the machine gunner could not hear his shout.

Just as Colonel De Leon was about to pull them down, there was a loud "bang" with flames, and the two machine gunners were suddenly thrown to the back. They hit the wall behind them like wooden stakes and then slid down and collapsed to the ground.

Colonel De Leon went forward and saw that their mouths, noses and ears were bleeding, and their faces were cracked one after another, like a mirror falling to the ground and breaking.

The lights came on again, and someone should have turned on the backup power supply.

Colonel De Leon gritted his teeth, left the two wounded and ran along the corridor to the headquarters.

As soon as he entered the door, he ordered the signalman: "Send a telegram to the headquarters..."

"The radio station was damaged, Colonel."

"Then call." Colonel De Leon shouted angrily.

"The call is not connected!" The signalman answered loudly: "Maybe too many people are talking at this time!"

At this time, the phone miraculously rang, and Colonel De Leon rushed forward to grab the phone, regardless of who was on the other end, and shouted into the microphone:

"They opened fire, the artillery fire is unprecedentedly fierce, report to the commander-in-chief immediately..."

The call was disconnected before he finished speaking.

Colonel De Leon stared at the artillery fire outside for a while, took a deep breath and ordered in a cold voice: "The final moment has come, gentlemen, get ready for battle!"

...

Joffre didn't get the news until an hour later. Major Jules found Deputy Commander-in-Chief Kanais, and then woke up Joffre through Kanais.

Before waking up Joffre, Kanais hesitated.

He asked Major Jules: "Are you sure that the German army is launching a full-scale attack? I am more inclined to believe that it was a feint!"

"No, General, I am sure." Major Jules replied anxiously: "I heard the sound of artillery on the phone. It was very fierce. Colonel De Leon said that at least thousands of artillery were firing at Verdun!"

Major Jules felt a chill while speaking, just like drinking a glass of ice water, and the chill went straight to the bottom of his heart.

They seemed to think that this military situation was not worth waking up Joffre!

Shouldn't any military situation be worth reporting? Even if it was just a small battle!

And now it is urgent, such a big thing happened on the front line, but they are still evaluating whether it is higher than Joffre's sleep!

What happened next stunned Major Jules.

Canais took Major Jules to Joffre's lounge and knocked on the door carefully.

After waiting for a while and seeing no response, he knocked a few more times.

This time I finally heard Xiafei's voice: "What's going on?"

"General." Kanais reported: "It's the staff officer sent by Colonel Drian. He said that the Germans are already attacking Verdun!"

"It's Colonel Delion again." Xiafei complained dissatisfiedly: "Can't he just stop for a moment? Tell him that it was a feint attack by the Germans..."

"General!" Major Jules suppressed his anger and shouted towards the closed door: "Thousands of artillery are bombing Verdun. Shouldn't you be concerned? At least you should also think about the possibility that Colonel De Leon will Report to the government like last time!"

"Major!" Kanais spoke to stop Jules, but when he saw the murderous anger in his eyes, he swallowed the rest of his words.

The lights in the house finally came on.

Then there was the sound of slowly changing clothes.

After a while, Xiafei came out with a neat military appearance. He even wore his military cap properly. He had obviously corrected himself in front of the mirror.

He slowly raised his head towards Major Jules:

"Okay, Major. Let's go see what's going on."

"I should warn you, though."

"It's probably not what you think!"

The veins on Major Jules' forehead jumped. Is this the "French Tranquilizer"?

Why did he have the urge to take out the pistol from his waist and kill this guy? !