Chapter 479 No One Would Fight Like This!

Almost all the soldiers were cheering for Charles' arrival, but Major General Lacoste was deeply worried.

It's not that he doesn't believe in Charles' ability, but Joffre added a sentence after agreeing to the command's telegram: "Charlie can only stay on the front line for one day, starting from the time he changes defense."

What can you do in a day?

The arrival of Charles can indeed boost the morale of the frontline soldiers, but when he leaves one day later, there will be a backlash. By then, the soldiers' morale will be completely gone or even worse than before, just like after the effects of stimulants have worn off. The powerlessness.

However, Major General Lacoste still tried hard to do his job well. He analyzed the current situation in Verdun to Charles on the map:

"We have no retreat, and the Sewell Defense Line is our last effort."

"But this line of defense seems useless because we are always attacking the enemy. People who don't know think we are winning the battle..."

Charles interrupted Major General Lacoste: "That was Joffre, not me. General, you don't have to worry about that."

"But." Major General Lacoste looked at Charles in confusion: "I heard that you only have one day."

Major General Lacoste lowered his voice when he said this. He was worried that others would hear it.

"I do only have one day." Ciel nodded: "But that doesn't mean I will launch a counterattack."

Major General Lacoste still didn't understand: "If you don't launch a counterattack, how can you change the situation of the war in one day?"

Charles's answer was simple: "I will let you hold it, make the attacking Germans pay the price, and if possible, recapture some forts. Does this count as changing the situation of the war?"

Major General Lacoste was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile: "You may not understand our current situation, Brigadier."

Charles spread his hands to show that he was all ears.

Major General Lacoste pointed at the map and said: "The most serious thing is that our defense line is divided into two by the Marne River. The Germans concentrate their main force to attack the right bank, while our 30th Army deployed on the left bank can only stay in place and is almost unable to function. effect."

(The red circle in the picture above is the Fortress of Seville, which was the last line of defense for the French army against the Germans at that time. Further south is the city of Verdun with a population of 10,000 people. The Marne River is on its left, flowing from south to north. Belgium)

Ciel stared at the map and asked, "How many more of you are there?"

"There are still more than 7,000 people." Major General Lacoste replied with difficulty: "There are still many wounded among them."

If Charles hadn't come, the 2nd Army would have completely collapsed due to the final attack tonight.

In this regard, Major General Lacoste is still very grateful to Charles for his arrival. He bought a day of life for the 2nd Army, although it was only one day.

"Where are the Germans?" Charles asked again.

"It's not certain yet. It is estimated that there will be at least one army group with more than 100,000 people." Major General Lacoste replied: "They don't seem to be in a hurry to attack, otherwise they would have entered the city of Verdun long ago."

Ciel nodded slightly in agreement.

Major General Lacoste's feeling was correct. Falkenhayn's purpose was not to capture Verdun, but to use Verdun to consume the French army's effective forces and use it as a flesh-and-blood mill.

In other words, they surrounded the point to gather reinforcements, waiting for more and more French reinforcements to arrive here, and then be consumed.

Of course, this requires the cooperation of Xiafei's offensive tactics.

Major General Lacoste suddenly thought of something, and his eyes were suddenly filled with hope: "You brought your armored troops?"

Ciel shook his head.

"That is... aviation, we will get aviation reinforcements."

Ciel shook his head again.

Major General Lacoste's newly ignited enthusiasm cooled down again. There was nothing left. Only Charles could bring only a short-term morale!

"Talk about the German offensive characteristics." Charles brought the topic back to Verdun.

Major General Lacoste pointed feebly at the map and said:

"The Germans mostly used heavy artillery to bombard our fortresses during the day."

"Once it gets dark it becomes active, and if we don't attack, they will."

"They first fired several rounds of gas bombs to force us to put on gas masks."

"Then it becomes much easier for them to attack. We can only vaguely see a few figures wearing gas masks, and sometimes the enemy rushes in front of us without even noticing."

…

Having said this, Major General Lacoste turned his attention to Charles.

He suddenly remembered that the gas mask was also invented by Charles. Could he improve the gas mask so that it would have better visibility?

However, he immediately rejected this idea. It was not practical, and even if he could do it, he would not be able to deliver it in time.

"How is the artillery situation?" Charles asked again.

"The gap in artillery is even greater." Major General Lacoste said with a painful look on his face.

"We now only have a total of more than 200 guns, and most of them are small-caliber 75mm guns, while the enemy has at least more than 2,000 guns, with various calibers and various ranges."

"But that's not the point. The point is that we can't even exploit them."

"Move them into the fortress, and the range will not be as good as the enemy's. If they are placed on high ground, they will be knocked down by the Germans as targets."

"Once night comes, the Germans will attack our artillery positions with poison gas bombs, and they will become scrap metal again."

Ciel nodded in understanding.

What the 75 gun is best at is firing directly at the enemy at visual distance, so that its advantage of fast rate of fire can be maximized.

However, during the day, the artillery was suppressed because of its inferior range to the enemy, and at night, the artillery was forced to wear gas masks and could only see targets of dozens or even tens of meters. As a result, these guns became decorations.

This may be the reason why more than 200 artillery pieces survived.

Charles did not hesitate, pointed his finger on the defense map, and ordered: "Give up the top of the mountain position and move the defense line back."

Major General Lacoste was stunned: "Give up the top of the mountain position?"

"Yes."

"But where can we go after giving up the top of the mountain position? Retreat?" Major General Lacoste's eyes flashed with anger, and his tone became excited.

He didn't expect Charles to make such a stupid move right at the beginning, and all the soldiers regarded him as a savior.

"It's not a retreat, General." Charles ignored Major General Lacoste and drew a line about 30 meters behind the fortress: "Build a new line of defense here."

"But this, this is impossible!" Major General Lacoste looked at the so-called "new line of defense" in disbelief: "No one would do this, it's simply..."

"Seeking death?" Charles asked back.

"Yes, yes." Major General Lacoste replied: "This is giving up our geographical advantage of being high above, Brigadier General!"

Major General Lacoste glanced at Klein behind him.

Colonel Klein was also confused. No one would fight like this, giving up the high ground to the enemy? !