Chapter 473 How to attack?
It was not as easy as expected for the French army to reinforce Drion. The German army had surrounded the fortress and occupied the surrounding commanding heights. The reinforcements would be blocked as soon as they entered the vicinity of the fortress.
Soon, another panic-stricken incident occurred. The Germans mixed poison gas bombs into the artillery shells. Some people were poisoned to death without knowing it, and the symptoms of poisoning were different from before, which meant that the Germans had invented a new type of poison gas.
(The picture above shows phosgene bombs, which were used by both sides in World War I, with a usage of up to 100,000 tons.)
Even more terrifying was that the poison gas was loaded into artillery shells and fired at the French army instead of being released using gas canisters as before.
The German army was obviously well prepared.
Regardless of whether the Germans fired poison gas shells or not, the French needed to wear gas masks because no one knew whether the shells fired at them were mixed with poison gas.
If you don't wear a gas mask, it will be too late by the time you know it.
Wearing a gas mask would reduce your vision and make it almost impossible to fight at night.
The result was no surprise. Fort Douaumont fell at around 11 o'clock that night.
After discovering that he was surrounded by German troops, Colonel De Leon chose to break out, but a shrapnel hit the back of Colonel De Leon's head and he died on the spot.
(Note: Colonel De Leon was a hero of Verdun. He led 750 soldiers to fight, but only 94 survived, with a casualty rate of nearly 90%)
…
The news soon reached Paris, and the people of Paris, who had not slept all night because of worrying about the war, were angry.
They knew that Colonel De Leon was the man who had issued repeated warnings but had been ignored by Joffre, and now because of Joffre's incompetence, De Leon and his men had died at the hands of the Germans.
It could almost be said that Joffre had killed them.
People took to the streets with flashlights, shouting over and over again:
"Xiafei is responsible for this!"
"We don't need a commander-in-chief like this."
"Our soldiers are brave, but they have an incompetent commander!"
…
Joffre, helpless under the pressure of public opinion, made several mistakes in his command.
After the fall of Fort Douaumont, the 72nd Infantry Division stationed in Brabant abandoned its positions and withdrew to the second line of defense without permission.
It was wise to retreat from Brabant, which was almost surrounded by German troops.
(Note: Brabant is the red circle on the left side of the previous picture. It is the front line. Brabant is the easiest place to be surrounded after the German army breaks through the defense line.)
This was actually an oversight in Joffre's command. He should have ordered the infantry division to retreat long ago.
However, when Joffre learned that the infantry division had withdrawn without authorization, he angrily ordered:
"Immediately order this unit to go back and retake the lost position!"
"No inch of land can be given up at will!"
"We must do our best to take it back at all costs!"
…
The 72nd Infantry Division was forced to launch an attack, but ended up running into the enemy's encirclement and suffering heavy casualties.
This night was a disaster.
Joffre desperately ordered his troops to launch a counterattack against the German army. Perhaps he thought that only by taking back the lost land could he satisfy those who scolded him.
As for the German army, one of their goals was to consume the French army's manpower and drain the blood of the French.
At this time, they stopped advancing, set up guns with the help of captured fortresses and trenches, and knocked down large numbers of French soldiers during the attack.
…
It was dawn, and under the dim light, Gallieni fell asleep on the bed in the lounge with his clothes on.
He also wanted to participate in the battle of Verdun, but Joffre's conceited temper did not want others to interfere, and Gallieni's city defense headquarters received only a few telegrams from beginning to end.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard coming from the corridor.
Gallieni opened his eyes and the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Fernand sounded outside the door: "General, Major Jules has just arrived from the front line. He hopes to talk to you!"
"Major Jules?" Gallieni slowly stood up, fumbled around the bedside for a while, found his glasses and put them on. He frowned and thought for a while. Do I know him? Or have you forgotten because of your age?
Lieutenant Colonel Fernan added: "He is a subordinate of Colonel De Leon."
Gallieni said, "Oh!" "Let him in, right now."
After a while, Major Jules appeared in front of Gallieni. Under the light, he could clearly see that there was blood on his body and face, his eyes were red and swollen, but his military uniform was not damaged.
"I'm so sorry, Major," said General Gallieni. "I heard about the death of Colonel Derian and the fallen soldiers of the 19th Infantry Regiment. They are all heroes of France!"
Major Jules swallowed hard and said, "That's not why I came here, General."
"Then you are..." General Gallieni was a little confused.
Major Jules took a deep breath, stood up and said, "I hope you can convince the parliament to remove Commander-in-Chief Joffre, General!"
Gallieni was so shocked that he suddenly stood up and said angrily, "You should know that this is more serious than reporting to a higher level. This behavior is simply treason, especially when we are still fighting. I can even shoot you for this..."
"I know, General." Major Jules interrupted Gallieni and said solemnly and firmly: "You can shoot me, General. But please respond to my request: replace the commander-in-chief!"
Gallieni was a little surprised and admired the young man's courage.
Being shot by your own people on the execution ground is different from dying on the battlefield.
Although both result in death, the former is accompanied by shame while the latter is glorious.
If one is not afraid of even the shameful death, he must have been greatly stimulated.
Then Gallieni seemed to understand, and he said slowly:
"I understand, Major. You want to avenge Colonel De Leon and your comrades!"
"But I think this behavior is unwise and undesirable."
"That's what war is like. As a soldier, you should know that this is not all Xiafei's fault..."
Major Jules interrupted Gallieni again: "No, General, I am not doing this for revenge. I am doing this to prevent more people from dying at the hands of Joffre."
Major Jules took out a piece of paper from his pocket with his blood-stained hands, handed it forward and reported:
"Before coming here, I went to the field hospital to do a statistics."
"There are more than 3,000 people in the hospital alone."
"If we count those who fell on the battlefield and those who have not yet been transported back, there are at least tens of thousands of casualties."
Gallieni was shocked. "Tens of thousands of casualties? In one night?"
God, the French army was the defending side and had fortifications, how could there be tens of thousands of casualties!
However, Jules responded with a firm answer: "I am sure, General. Because we have been attacking all night!"
Gallieni opened his mouth and was speechless for a moment.
How could we attack knowing that the Germans were using a new type of poison gas? !
(End of this chapter)
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