Chapter 546 "The Last Madness"

Foch, Pétain, Parliament, the British, and everyone else, including Charles, missed one thing.

The "final madness" would not only happen to the Germans who were surrounded, but also to their own people.

People only knew that Niveled was not worthy of the position, but they did not consider it from his perspective: if he continued like this, his future would be ruined, and he was afraid that he would never be able to make a difference in the future. A glimmer of life.

As a result, Nivelle desperately mobilized his troops to gather on the south bank of the Somme River. In just a few days, more than a dozen divisions and more than 300,000 people were gathered, including Christian's 3rd troops who were originally going to be transferred to Verdun. A special artillery division.

The 1st Special Artillery Division has been fully equipped with "Charre A1" tanks. Nivele thought, having been studying Charles' tactics during this period, and putting it into the battlefield, it should not be much different from Charles' troops, right?

What Nievelle didn't know was that he limited the 1st Special Artillery Division to attack the Somme defense line, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack. There was not much room for the tactics Christine learned to use.

Nivele still worries that these preparations are not enough.

As the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, he also asked the Russian army and the Italian army to counterattack, and negotiated with the British army to cooperate with the counterattack on the Somme River.

All of this was done secretly on the grounds of "military confidentiality".

This seemed to be Joffre's offensive plan. It had not been implemented before because of Charles's obstruction, but now it was realized in the hands of Nivele.

The only difference is that Romania also declares war in Joffre's plan.

But this is not because Nivelle does not want to, but this decision must be made by the British and French governments jointly contacting Romania. Nivelle, the commander-in-chief, cannot bypass Parliament and do it secretly.

…

In the early morning, it was rainy on the Somme defense line.

The air was filled with the stench of burning corpses, and the soldiers hiding in the trenches seemed to be used to it. They didn't even pull a napkin to cover their mouths and noses.

Some soldiers huddled on their treads, but the turbid and foul-smelling water still reached their ankles.

The soldiers who stepped on the ground had to endure the freezing cold feeling of being soaked in the water all night from the thighs down.

They stood shivering in the cold rain, holding a small piece of bread or expired and smelly cans in their hands, trying hard to put them into their mouths with trembling hands to prevent them from falling or getting wet by the rain. .

One soldier couldn't help complaining: "It's just December and the weather isn't too cold yet. What if the temperature continues to drop or even snows?"

Another soldier chuckled: "Our Dujar is optimistic. He says we can survive until it snows."

There was laughter all around, but the laughter was a little sad.

There were many new recruits in the army, and they were frightened by the veterans' calmness towards death.

Duyal was one of them. His face was pale. I don't know whether it was because of the cold or fear. His whole body was shivering uncontrollably: "You, you... don't do something?"

The veteran replied expressionlessly:

"What can we do? Look away, Dujarre! We won't survive long unless Char is here to command us."

"For France, for victory, isn't it? It's just that we don't see it."

"Look at the bodies lying in no man's land, that is our fate, the reality we must face!"

…

Duyal wanted to say something else, but suddenly three red flares rose into the air in his horrified eyes.

Artillery fire rang out immediately. Thousands of artillery roared almost simultaneously. The shells hit the German positions one after another, almost turning half of the sky red.

But unlike the previous week of continuous bombing, the artillery preparations lasted only half an hour.

To be precise, it didn't last for half an hour, but while the artillery shells were still pouring towards the enemy's defense lines, the charge whistle, which was like a life-destroying talisman, was blown.

The French soldiers crawled out of the trenches like ants, shouting and rushing towards the enemy positions.

…

Christian's 1st Special Artillery Division was in the offensive sequence, and his troops were placed on both wings of the attacking force.

He once protested: "Tanks should provide cover in front of the infantry, rather than being placed on the flanks like cavalry."

This is what Christine understood during this period of study and training. Tanks and infantry should cover each other so that they can exert their combat effectiveness.

However, Nivelle's reply was: "The infantry does not need cover, Major General. It is enough for them to have artillery cover."

"Covering artillery fire?" Christine objected: "We know what will happen. As soon as our artillery fire stops, the Germans will bring up the machine guns, and they will mow down the charging infantry like wheat."

"So." Nivele moved closer, his eyes fixed on Christine: "I have no intention of letting the artillery fire stop."

"What?" Christine thought she heard wrongly: "You plan to let the soldiers charge under artillery fire? Your own artillery fire? This will inevitably cause accidental damage..."

"I know." Nivele interrupted Christine: "But like you said, if you don't do this, they will die in large numbers under the enemy's machine guns, right?"

It is better to die under artillery fire than to let them die under the enemy's machine guns.

The latter would also give the French the opportunity to rush into the German trenches and engage in hand-to-hand combat, while the former was just a needless waste of lives.

Therefore, in the long run, it is of course better to choose the latter.

Christine was beyond shocked.

This sounds good for victory and for France, but in essence it is to use the lives of soldiers to pave a bloody road for Nivelle so that he can continue to hold the position of commander-in-chief.

He is simply crazy, Christine thought.

Nivelle didn't care about Christine's idea at all. He pointed to the map on the table and ordered coldly: "When the infantry rushed into the trenches and fought hand-to-hand with the enemy, you can find a way to penetrate the enemy's depth through the anti-tank trenches and trenches. Can you do it?"

"Yes, General." Christine replied helplessly: "We can do it."

He can do it. The trenches can be filled with sandbags and the anti-tank trenches can be bridged with steel beams.

This is the inspiration Christine got from the battle of Charnamur.

Charles used a high-end method to directly use the armored bridge-laying vehicle, and Christine could only let the engineers build the bridge: the tanks carried two thick steel beams and used manpower to build them before reaching the anti-tank trenches for the tanks to pass through.

"Very good." Nivelle straightened Christine's uniform: "It all depends on this battle. After the victory, you don't have to worry about promotion, understand?"

"Yes, General." Christine stepped forward to answer.

But his mind was in a mess: where are the infantrymen who will cooperate after the breakthrough? What about logistics? How to ensure fuel and ammunition?

He wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth and swallowed it back.

It's useless to say it, Nivelle doesn't understand these things at all.

Besides, the attack will start tomorrow, and there is no time to prepare.

Christine regretted not being able to express his support for Charles in time.

If he became a member of Charles's army, there would be no such a messy battle!