Chapter 523 An Easy Battle

The bombing lasted for a whole week, with a total of 1.738 million shells being fired at the German positions in 7 days, an average of nearly 250,000 shells per day.

This was one of the most intense bombardments in history, and the total intensity even exceeded the German bombardment of Verdun with 2,000 artillery pieces.

The British and French forces made adequate preparations for this bombing:

A large amount of ammunition and various supplies were continuously transported to the front line and stored in underground warehouses at various artillery positions.

In addition to building roads and railways, they also reinforced the roads in all directions.

Then dozens of miles of shallow trenches for laying telephone lines and deep trenches were built.

Most importantly, trenches were built for troop assembly and raids.

(Note: It is mainly a raid trench built for cavalry. Cavalry can gather in this trench. Every section of the trench has a slope for attack. Through it, cavalry can ride horses to quickly rush to the position and then rush to the enemy.)

However, the British and French coalition forces only saw their own preparations. They had no interest in collecting intelligence on the German positions.

...

The German army noticed the actions of the Allies on the Somme River very early.

As Charles said, building a large number of roads and railways leading to the Somme River clearly told the enemy's strategic intentions.

Therefore, the German army spared no effort to strengthen its fortifications. They carefully built an underground tunnel network in the solid chalk soil, the deepest of which reached 12 meters below the ground.

The facilities in the tunnel are complete, including kitchens, laundry rooms, first aid stations and other facilities, as well as huge ammunition reserves.

They even equipped diesel generators to provide electricity, so that electric lighting was realized in the tunnel.

Most importantly, the Germans built forward positions and hidden positions.

When the enemy launched an artillery bombardment, they retreated to the hidden positions behind along the communication trenches, leaving only a small number of observers stationed.

When the enemy launched an attack, they entered the frontline positions from the hidden positions to fight back.

Haig and Nivelle didn't know this at all. They only saw their own strengths but didn't realize that their shells were bombarding the frontline positions where almost no one was stationed.

More than 1.7 million shells, in fact, most of them were doing useless work.

...

This day was the first day of December, and the bombardment finally stopped.

The rising sun shone on the battlefield where the smoke had dissipated, and the German positions that had experienced a week of artillery bombardment were dead silent.

This made the British and French coalition forces very excited.

For seven days, they could feel the sound and vibration of the artillery exploding on the enemy's positions when they slept at night.

Although it was noisy, it made them feel at ease.

Because every shell exploding on the enemy's position could make them less dangerous.

In the cavalry raid trench, the 12th Cavalry Regiment was making final preparations for the charge.

"My ears are almost deafened, and they are still buzzing!" Colonel Albert, the regiment commander, soothed his horse while comforting his nervous and pale subordinates: "Guess what the Germans will be like?"

Without waiting for his subordinates to answer, Colonel Albert asked himself and answered: "I'm just worried that they can't hear my shouts."

Then he performed a double act:

"Hey, drop your rifles and surrender!"

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Bang, bang, now they can't hear it at all!"

The subordinates were amused by Colonel Albert's performance, and the tense atmosphere eased a lot in an instant.

"Don't worry, guys!" Albert concluded: "Look at the German position, there is no way anyone can survive there. This is an easy battle, we are lucky, we can get a medal without much effort!"

"Yes, Colonel." The subordinates agreed.

They believed this, and the evidence was right in front of them: the land opposite had been plowed all over, with layers of craters, like the craters on the moon squeezed together and formed a bunch of strange shapes.

At this time, the order came down: "Prepare for battle!"

"Prepare for battle!"

...

Colonel Albert gave an order: "Get on the horse!"

The cavalrymen rode on their horses one after another. Some of them checked their equipment, some loaded bullets into their muskets, and some whispered to comfort their horses.

"Attention." Colonel Albert reiterated: "The infantry will advance first, and it will be our turn after they break the breakthrough!"

"Yes, Colonel."

Time seemed to freeze, and the cold wind blew on the trenches, blowing bursts of gunpowder smoke.

Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded, and countless British soldiers shouted and climbed out of the trenches. They wore hat-shaped steel helmets, khaki uniforms, and rifles in their hands, and rushed towards the no-man's land between the enemy and our trenches like ants.

(The above picture shows British soldiers and equipment in the Battle of the Somme)

They rushed to the German defense line a few hundred meters away at the speed of a 100-meter sprint. If nothing unexpected happens, they will occupy the German defense line in a few minutes and lay wooden boards on the trenches for the cavalry to pass smoothly.

Albert continued to shout to his men in the trench:

"Hold on!"

"Hold... on!"

"Keep relaxed and focus!"

...

Suddenly, the dense sound of machine guns startled everyone, and even the war horses screamed in shock.

Colonel Albert's face changed. What happened?

Didn't they say that there were no enemies?

Why was there such a dense sound of gunfire, and they were all heavy machine guns!

However, Colonel Albert did not panic. He immediately found an excuse to appease his subordinates: "This is our heavy machine gun!"

The subordinates were half-believing and half-doubting. They clearly heard the sound of machine guns coming from the direction of the enemy's position. The bullets flew over their heads with a whistling sound, and there were screams and wails from British soldiers.

The troops were noisy, and several cavalrymen poked their heads out to try to see what was going on outside.

Seeing that they could not suppress it, the whistle for the cavalry attack sounded at this time.

Colonel Albert showed a trace of fear in his eyes. This was different from the plan. It should not be time for the cavalry to attack now.

There is only one possibility for this situation: the infantry has determined that it cannot capture the enemy trenches, and the superiors hope to rely on the high mobility of the cavalry to rush through the enemy trenches to create opportunities for war.

This means that this will be a bloody battle, not the "easy victory" that was previously believed.

Without thinking too much, Colonel Albert shouted: "Attack!"

Then Colonel Albert quickly added: "Cross the enemy trenches, pay attention, cross the enemy trenches!"

The cavalrymen who had long wanted to find out the truth shouted, stabbed their spurs, and rushed out on their horses.

The sabers were pulled out of the scabbards with a "swoosh" sound. The veterans knew that in close combat on the back of a galloping horse, the lance was far less useful than the saber.

However, the first batch of cavalrymen had just rushed out when they were hit back by a hurricane of bullets, with pieces of blood and minced meat...