Chapter 473 How to Attack?

The French reinforcements to Drian were not as easy as expected. The German army had surrounded the fortress and occupied the surrounding commanding heights. The reinforcements would be blocked as soon as they entered the vicinity of the fortress.

Soon another scary thing happened. The Germans mixed poison gas bombs into the artillery shells. Some people were poisoned to death without knowing it, and the symptoms of poisoning were different from before. This meant that the Germans had invented a new type of poison gas. .

(The picture above shows the phosgene bomb, which was used by both warring parties during World War I. The amount used reached 100,000 tons.)

What's even more frightening is that this poisonous gas was contained in artillery shells and hit at the French army instead of being released from gas canisters as before.

The German army was obviously well prepared.

Regardless of whether the Germans used poison gas bombs, the French army needed to wear gas masks because no one knew whether the shells fired at them were mixed with poison gas.

If you don't wear a gas mask, it will be too late to know.

Wearing a gas mask will worsen your vision, making it almost impossible to fight at night.

There was no suspense about the result. The fortress of Douaumont fell around eleven o'clock that night.

After discovering that he was surrounded by German troops, Colonel DeLeon chose to break out, but a piece of shrapnel hit Colonel DeLeon in the back of the head, killing Colonel DeLeon on the spot.

(Note: Colonel Delion was the hero of Verdun. He led 750 soldiers to fight, and in the end only 94 survived, with a casualty rate of nearly 90%)

…

The news soon reached Paris, and the people of Paris, who had stayed up all night worried about the war, were angry.

They knew that Colonel Delion was the one who repeatedly warned but was ignored by Joffre, and now because of Joffre's incompetence, Delion and his men died in the hands of the Germans.

It can almost be said that Jia Fei killed them.

People took to the streets with flashlights and shouted over and over again:

"Xia Fei is responsible for this!"

"We don't need a commander in chief like this."

"Our soldiers are brave, but they have an incompetent commander!"

…

Xiafei, who was at a loss under the pressure of public opinion, made several mistakes in command.

After the fall of Douaumont Fortress, the 72nd Infantry Division stationed in Brabant abandoned its position and retreated to the second line of defense without permission.

It was wise to retreat from Brabant, which was almost surrounded by German troops.

(Note: Brabant is the red circle on the left side of the previous picture. It is the front line. After the German army breaks through the defense line, it is Brabant that is most likely to be surrounded.)

This was actually an oversight in Xiafei's command. He should have ordered the infantry division to retreat long ago.

However, when Xiafei learned that the infantry division had withdrawn without authorization, he angrily ordered:

"Order this unit to go back immediately and regain the lost position!"

“No inch of land can be given up at will!”

"We must try our best to get it back at all costs!"

…

The 72nd Infantry Division had no choice but to launch an attack, but broke into the enemy's encirclement and suffered heavy casualties.

That night was a disaster.

Joffre desperately ordered his troops to launch a counterattack against the German army. He may have believed that only by regaining the lost land could he satisfy the people who scolded him.

As for the German army, one of their purposes was to consume the effective strength of the French army and bleed the blood of the French people dry.

At this time, they stopped advancing and used the captured forts and trenches to set up guns, knocking down scores of French soldiers on the way to attack.

…

The sky was dim, and under the dim light, Gallieni lay undressed on the bed in the lounge and fell asleep.

He also wanted to participate in the war in Verdun, but Joffre's conceited temper did not want others to interfere, and Gallieni's city defense headquarters did not receive a few telegrams from beginning to end.

Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps coming from the direction of the corridor.

Gallieni opened his eyes, and Lieutenant Colonel Fernand's voice sounded outside the door: "General, Major Jules has just arrived from the front. He hopes to talk to you!"

"Major Jules?" Gallieni stood up slowly, fumbled on the bedside for a while to find his glasses and put them on, frowning and thinking for a while, do I know him? Or have you forgotten because of your age?

Lieutenant Colonel Fernand added: "He is a subordinate of Colonel De Leon."

Gallieni said "Oh": "Let him in, right now."

After a while, Major Jules appeared in front of Gallieni. Under the light, you could clearly see blood on his body and face. His eyes were red and swollen, but his military uniform was not damaged.

"I'm very sorry, Major." General Gallieni said: "I heard about the death of Colonel Drian, and the soldiers of the 19th Infantry Regiment who died. They are all heroes of France!"

Major Jules swallowed hard: "I'm not here for this, General."

"Then you are..." General Galieni was a little confused.

Major Jules took a deep breath, stood up and said: "I hope you can persuade the Parliament to remove Joffre from his position as Commander-in-Chief, General!"

Gallieni was so shocked that he suddenly stood up and his tone turned angry: "You should know that this is more serious than reporting to someone else. This behavior is simply rebellion, especially now that we are still fighting. I can even shoot you for it... …”

"I know, General." Major Jules interrupted Gallieni's words, tragic and firm: "You can shoot me, General. But please respond to my request: Replace the Commander-in-Chief!"

Gallieni was a little surprised and admired the young man's courage.

Being shot by one's own men on the execution ground and dying on the battlefield are two different things.

Although both are death, the former is shameful while the latter is glorious.

If you are not afraid of death with shame, you must have been greatly stimulated.

Then Gallieni seemed to understand, and he advised slowly:

"I understand, Major. You want to avenge Colonel De Leon and his comrades!"

"But I think this behavior is unwise and undesirable."

"War is like this. As a soldier, you should know that this is not entirely Joffre's responsibility..."

Major Jules interrupted Gallieni again: "No, General, I am not doing this for revenge. It is to prevent more people from dying at Joffre's hands."

Major Jules took out a piece of paper from his pocket with his bloody hands, handed it over and reported:

"Before coming here, I went to the field hospital to make a statistics."

"There are more than 3,000 people in the hospital."

"If you count those who fell on the battlefield and those who have not been transported back, there are at least tens of thousands of casualties."

Galieni was shocked: "Tens of thousands of casualties? One night?"

God, the French army is the defender, and there are fortifications, how could there be tens of thousands of casualties!

However, Jules answered firmly: "I am sure, General. Because we have been attacking all night!"

Galieni opened his mouth and was speechless.

How could he attack knowing that the Germans were using a new type of poison gas? !