After repeated bombing and strafing, the trenches in the narrow triangle near Verdun Fortress were completely destroyed, the forest was burned out, the hilltops were flattened by cannons, and the entire French army was completely exposed. The battlefield was covered with thick smoke and fire. The artillery fire had just stopped. With the shouts, six German infantry divisions rushed to the French defense line from the 10-kilometer-wide front.

The 5th Army, commanded by the German Crown Prince, were all drawn from the long-standing troops of the German team, including the elite Brandenburg Third Army. The chargers were ready to die, with only one belief in their hearts: rush forward!

Although there was a sea of ​​fire on the French position, the soldiers still fought bravely with the remaining fortifications. The officers led the way, took the lead in rushing out of the trenches and launched close combat with the enemy. The French army was full of fighting spirit, not afraid of violence, and extremely brave, and suppressed the enemy back again and again.

By the night of February 14, the Germans had no new achievements. Although the number advantage was seven to one in artillery and three to one in the army, they advanced only two miles and captured only three thousand prisoners. The next day, they broke through France's main defense line and captured ten thousand prisoners, sixty-five cannons and a large number of machine guns. Meanwhile, a large number of German artillery wheels met, and before their infantry units, they fired continuous rolling shells, leveled the trenches, blew up bunkers, and blew the forest to pieces.

.........

Due to the fierce attack and the temperature below zero, the morale of the French army was numb. The light infantry recruited by France from Algeria, who were accustomed to the hot climate of Algeria, became fragile at minus fifteen degrees. In the early morning of February 15, a battalion of French light infantry was frozen to unconsciousness, and the major in command at that time also fell down. So a captain was commanded, but the soldiers ignored him and turned around and fled. Because a small team of machine gunners opened fire behind them, morale was "recovered".

The French Chief of Staff Noel de Castello was surprised by this growing crisis and directly intervened with Jafe to appoint General Henry Betton to command Verdun's defense to stop this serious danger. Betton took office on February 15, and Duomon was captured on the same day. On the inclined deck of the Duomon Fort, a light infantry division that dug the trench to defend against the steep slope of the 24-foot-wide dry trench river, was under continuous artillery

, had already collapsed. A nine-man patrol of Brandenburg, trekked to the abandoned and put down suspension bridge in the wind and snow and smoke. Other soldiers followed suit until three hundred shocked Germans wandered in the tunnel of the fort: all the French defenders were dead and bodies were everywhere! So the Germans captured the powerful Fort Duomont without a single shot: but it had endured 120,000 German shells three days ago.

The fall of the Duomon Fortress severely hit the morale of the French army, because Duomon is called "the hope of the entire Verdun defense system."

After Betton, who was shouldering heavy responsibilities, came to Verdun and inspected the entire defense system first. Looking at the front line filled with corpses, Betton felt that the situation was critical and Verdun was in danger of being surrounded. So he immediately drew a supervision line on the front line and ordered the soldiers to withstand the German attack. Who dared to retreat to this line and kill regardless!

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

But without supplies, defense is impossible, and now, German cannons cut off all the roads.

On February 17, Beden urgently held a front-line military meeting to discuss how to ensure the rapid arrival of reinforcements and arms in the rear.

"The current situation is very dangerous. I have contacted Commander Xiafei and asked him to send large troops to reinforce him quickly. He mobilized about 200,000 people and more than 20,000 tons of arms and materials within a week, so as to ensure that Verdun does not fall into the hands of Germany. "Bethan said, "So, let's talk about which transportation line can complete the transportation of so many personnel and materials?"

"Except for the Palestinian Highway leading to the southwest - Verdun has not been completely destroyed, everything else has been cut off by German cannons." A commander in charge of logistics said with a frown.

"How wide is the road?" Baidang asked hurriedly.

"6 meters."

"How is the road surface? Can it withstand the passage of a large number of load-loading vehicles?"

"The road surface is not very good, it depends on how many vehicles are passing through?"

Beden pondered his head and calculated, and after a while, he said, "To transport so many troops and arms, it takes 6,000 cars to drive day and night."

The commanders looked at each other without saying a word. The commander in charge of logistics said: "I'm afraid this won't work! It must be repaired, otherwise, so many cars will travel and pass by, which will cause many car accidents."

Beidang immediately ordered: "Immediately organize an emergency repair team to pave and widen the road surface with the assistance of civilians along the way to ensure safe passage of vehicles. Verdun's gains and losses will be achieved in one fell swoop!"

Then, he entrusted the commander to supervise the road construction and ensure that it will be opened to traffic from the 18th. The commander was ordered to leave.

Soon, a quarry was opened next to the highway, and thousands of French soldiers and groups of civilians worked together to broaden and pave the pavement with picks and shovels.

At the same time, Beden divided the front line into several defense zones to allocate heavy artillery, bullets and other supplies. Six thousand trucks can pass through this highway every twenty-four hours, that is, there is an average of one truck every fourteen seconds. After two days, 6 thousand cars passed through this road, continuously transporting 190,000 reinforcements and more than 20,000 tons of arms to Verdun Fortress.

Now, the military forces of the hostile sides gradually tend to balance. Although the German army gained some benefits for the first attack, the arrival of a large number of reinforcements and artillery made it difficult for the German army to move forward, and the two sides temporarily confronted each other.

Falgenhan, who received the war report, never dreamed that in just one week, the French army sent so many reinforcements to come. On the one hand, he was surprised, and on the other hand, he was secretly happy. This was the same as he had estimated in advance, and a ferocious smile appeared on his face: "Okay? I want the French to drain the blood here!"

So he made a new arrangement to let the German army rest and prepare for a larger-scale rush.

General Betan was also nervously making arrangements. He ordered the reinforcements to go to the front line immediately, repair the trenches, set up cannons, and prepare to fight against the German army.

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Chapter completed!