In 1915, throughout the autumn, the German army in Lithuania tried to break through the Russian defense line, and then headed north to attack Petersburg, forcing Russia to surrender. However, more than 400,000 German troops were blocked by a large number of Russian troops. Even if they occupied some positions during the day, at night, the Russian assault squads infiltrated in every possible way. They continued to break into the German weak positions. The bloody battles of the attacks on the night can often regain the positions lost during the day.

The commando armed with Tokarev pistols and bayonets and equipped with grenades seemed extremely flexible in the narrow trenches, while the German soldiers holding Mauser rifles could not display their power, so they had to use the bayonets to fight with the Russian army in hand-to-hand combat.

With the arrival of winter, the German offensive gradually weakened. When the first snow in 1915 came, Hindenburg stopped the attack at the suggestion of Rudendolf. In fact, Hindenburg also understood that it would be impossible to conquer the huge Russia without more reinforcements and supplies alone with hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands.

On November 3, in the command center of Cornisburg, Hindenburg was listening to the report of Chief of Staff Rudendolf. After 20 minutes, Hindenburg opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Mr. Chief of Staff, what are you good ways to do in this stalemate?"

"Report to Marshal, I think the current situation is similar to that in 1812. The Russians obviously want to destroy our army's will with the cold winter. You have also seen those war reports. The Russians looted and completely destroyed Poland. The situation in Lithuania is slightly better, but it is not optimistic. The troops cannot obtain supplies on the spot. In addition, the roads in Russia are stolen and the replenishment of military supplies is a little nervous. I think that even if we really enter Petersburg, the Russians will have a Petersburg fire and implement a thorough scorched earth policy. By then, our army will have to face the ubiquitous Russian team." Rudendolph paused, looked at the old marshal who seemed to be asleep, and suddenly raised his voice.

"Dear Marshal! What worries me the most is that the summer offensive has not wiped out the main force of the Russian army at all, no! I am sure that the Russians are retreating in an orderly manner, and only a few defenders are resisting us..."

"So, our army must retreat? Or defend on the spot?" Hindenburg suddenly spoke.

",,,,,,,Yes, Your Excellency Marshal, I think our army can give up some places without military value, shrink the defense line, consolidate the existing positions, restore economic production in the Polish region, and make plans a year later."

"Oh! I had to do this... "Hindenburg slowly stood up, "I am easily tired when I get older. Then, dear Chief of Staff, please give me the specific instructions for me. I'm going to take a nap..."

"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal!" Ludendolf stood attentively and watched the 68-year-old Marshal walk out of the room tremblingly, and silently recite in his heart: Have a good sleep, respected Marshal!

.............

At the end of the year, the Supreme German Command agreed to Hindenburg's defense strategy on the Eastern Front. The German senior leaders, including German Emperor William II and Chief of Staff Falgenhan, were very clear: the plan to force Russia to surrender failed! Ordinary German civilians and soldiers were full of fanaticism about Germany's great victory on the Eastern Front, but only Falgenhan and others understood that apart from occupying a large area of ​​destroyed towns, the remaining ones were more than 100,000 Russian prisoners and more than 100,000 people, which seemed quite large, but compared with the Russian army's total of 20 to 3 million troops, it was nothing.

Russia is not suitable for continuing to fight in winter, so Falgenhan had to turn his attention to the western front, especially Verdun, which is the protruding part of the French defense line. It is like a sharp tooth that poses a serious threat to the German flank deep into northern France. Moreover, it is a strong stronghold to Paris and a hub for the French front, and is known as the "key for Paris".

This was not Falgenhan's first idea to attack Verdun. In 1915, the German army attacked Verdun many times, but there was no result. Falgenhan believed that this was due to insufficient firepower. For this reason, he had been brewing a combat plan against Verdun throughout December. Finally, a combat plan code-named "Execution Land" was born. Falgenhan explained to William II and other generals that "Valden is a military important place that France would not want to give up. Mobilizing heavy troops to attack there will make France invest all its forces there, and then annihilate it, causing France to collapse militaryally, and thus force it to surrender. France will shed the last drop of blood in Verdun, and Verdun will become the execution ground for France!"

............

Starting from January 1916, Falgenhan quietly gathered troops to prepare to attack Verdun. At the same time, Germany blatantly increased troops to Chambeni and made an attitude of launching an offensive at Chambeni. The French commander-in-chief Xiafei was indeed fooled. Since the German army was unable to conquer Verdun and moved the direction of the attack in 1915, the French believed that the Verdun Fortress was extremely strong. The front of its fortifications of the Verdun Fortress was 112 kilometers wide and composed of four defensive positions. The fourth defensive position was composed of the permanent fortifications of the Verdun Fortress and two defending areas, and the garrison had more than 100,000 troops. At this time, the movement of the German army towards Chambeni made Xiafei extremely alert. He believed that the German army would attack Chambeni and then march into Paris from here.

In order to overwhelm the opponent in terms of the number and strength of the army, Fergenhan ordered the cannons from Russia, the Balkans and the Krupp Arsenal to be concentrated around the attack site. On the 12-kilometer-long front line, nearly a thousand cannons were arranged, and the front positions were equipped with more than 5,000 lightning throwing weapons.

In February, the Germans continued to gather troops in the direction of Verdun. As the signs of gathering gradually became obvious and exposed, the British and French coalition forces finally understood the true intentions of the German army. Xia Fei was panicked and quickly ordered the increase of troops to Verdun. By February 12, only one division arrived at Verdun.

On the morning of February 12, the German army began a fierce attack. Nearly a thousand cannons exploded at high altitude with a string of flashing signal flares, and at a firing speed of 100,000 rounds per hour, poured overwhelming shells on Verdun's field defense position. In an instant, the French position was in a sea of ​​fire.

Immediately afterwards, the German army used 13 16.5-inch siege howitzers to shoot heavy shells at the fortress's strongest fourth permanent fortification. As the lightning thrower fired grenade shots equipped with more than 100 pounds of high-explosion** and metal fragments. Amid the deafening explosions, the entire section of the French army's trenches turned flat.

After 12 hours of fierce bombing, the German army used 5.2-inch small-caliber high-speed cannons to fire shotguns at the speed of rifle bullets, strafing the panic-running and screaming French troops, and used flamethrowers to turn the frontier positions of the French army into a sea of ​​fire.

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