Chapter 482 The enemy changed its tactics!
Crown Prince William's order soon reached the front line, and the morale of the frontline troops was instantly boosted.
Colonel Witold, the commander of the 51st Infantry Regiment, who was in charge of the main attack, excitedly high-fived his staff and then shouted to his men in the trenches: "Gentlemen, it's time to end this battle. Taking Verdun means we have survived successfully! Do you understand?"
The subordinates responded cheerfully: "Understood, Colonel!"
They did understand that victory in a particular battle meant the end of the war.
The next step is to reward them based on their merits, and they may be transferred back to the rear to rest for a period of time.
No one would want to stay on this battlefield filled with blood, death and stench for even a moment.
Delicious food, comfortable environment, and women...all beckoning them.
As long as we persist in fighting this battle, all the good things will no longer be a distant dream!
Colonel Witold took out his pocket watch and watched the hands moving on the dial in the faint starlight.
Finally, the hands pointed to half past nine.
The originally quiet world suddenly became noisy. The cannons that had been silent for a long time roared again. One shell after another streaked across the sky and slammed heavily into the French fortresses and fortifications.
In the dark night, these shells seemed to be bombarding aimlessly, but Colonel Witold knew that they were carefully grouped:
Large-caliber heavy artillery was responsible for bombarding the fortress;
Small and medium caliber howitzers bombarded trench fortifications and enemy artillery positions;
The indirect fire mortars were responsible for hitting targets hidden behind the fortress.
All the parameters of all these guns were calculated and even test-fired during the day so that they could attack better at night.
Of course, the shells were mixed with poison gas bombs, the purpose of which was to cause panic among the French soldiers and force them to fight wearing gas masks.
The artillery fire lasted for more than half an hour. The air was filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder. The dust raised covered the few starlights, and the world fell into darkness again.
Colonel Witold thought this was a good thing.
If even they can't see clearly, the enemies wearing gas masks are no different from blind people.
Seeing that the time was almost up, Colonel Witold blew his whistle and the soldiers crawled out of the trenches in rows, holding their guns and crouching down to climb towards the high ground where the Suville Fort was located in front of them.
The sound of artillery fire was still going on from time to time. It was the artillerymen indicating the direction for the attacking German troops to prevent them from getting lost in the dark.
This was also a deliberate attempt to create confusion: as long as shells were exploding on the position, the French soldiers would not dare to take off their gas masks.
These fools, Colonel Witold felt proud for a while, but by the time they realized it, it was too late, the bayonets had already pierced their chests!
However, what can they do?
If they dared to take off their gas masks, the artillery might actually fire a few poison gas bombs.
Colonel Witold began to sympathize with the French soldiers, who had no choice but to be defeated.
To Colonel Witold's surprise, this attack was easier than any previous one, and the troops had approached the top of the mountain without encountering any resistance.
They must have escaped, Colonel Witold was a little anxious.
This is not a good thing. If they are allowed to escape back to Verdun and fight street battles, it will be troublesome.
Thinking of this, Colonel Witold waved the Luger pistol in his hand and shouted, "Speed up and don't let them get away!"
(The picture above shows the German-made Luger P08 pistol, which was successfully developed in 1899 and selected as the standard pistol by the German army in 1908)
The soldiers responded by rushing to the top of the mountain at their fastest speed with bayonets pointed.
There was still no one there, even the trenches were empty, left completely to them.
The German army cheered. They didn't expect to break through the last line of defense of the French army so easily. This almost meant the defeat of the French army. Now they only needed to follow them and kill them to win.
"Keep moving!" Colonel Witold felt something was wrong, things shouldn't be like this.
The soldiers followed orders and crossed the hilltop positions with their guns in hand. Some of them circled around Fort Suville, apparently trying to find its entrance.
Suddenly, a burst of gunfire rang out, and dozens of German soldiers in the front fell down. The soldiers following behind were so scared that they fell to the ground one after another.
But before they could react, one smoking grenade after another rolled to the position on the top of the mountain and exploded amid the German army's screams.
"They're below." The soldiers shouted to Colonel Witold, their voices full of fear. They didn't like this surprise.
Colonel Witold responded without thinking: "They are just remnants, kill them..."
Before he finished speaking, Colonel Witold realized that he was wrong.
The French 75mm gun fired shells at the position on the top of the mountain one after another, blowing the German soldiers lying on the ground into the air one by one.
Colonel Witold struggled forward amid the artillery fire, and then he saw flames coming out of the muzzles of guns. There were at least dozens of them, all deployed at the foot of the mountain, in the blind spot of the German howitzers.
What's going on?
Colonel Witold felt a chill run down his spine. Have they changed their tactics?
It's impossible. No one will give up the high ground, not to mention that their fortress is here!
At this time, several Molotov cocktails were thrown below by the German army. Colonel Witold finally saw clearly in the firelight that the French army had dug trenches below to build a line of defense!
Although Colonel Witold was quite surprised by this, he still secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The distance was only more than 30 meters, there was not even a barbed wire, and the German army was in a dominant position, so they could break into the defense line and wipe them all out with one charge.
Stupid French people, Colonel Witold did not hesitate, took the whistle hanging around his neck and blew it with all his strength.
“Beep…”
The sound of the whistle penetrated the sound of artillery and explosions and reached the soldiers' ears. The soldiers shouted, got up from the ground, and charged towards the enemy line with bayonets in hand.
They were moving very fast and their ranks were very dense, like a group of ants rushing towards the French defense line.
Just as they were about to charge into the trenches, there were sudden loud "booms" and the air was filled with "whoosh" sounds made by small objects flying by.
At the same time, the screams of German soldiers were heard one after another.
Colonel Witold looked closely and saw that the soldiers who had just been charging towards the enemy so majestically had fallen to the ground in large numbers. Some of them were covering their faces, some were holding their heads, and others were rolling on the ground and scratching their bodies, each of them in great pain.
"What is that?" Colonel Witold was horrified.
It was able to knock down all the charging soldiers in an instant, there were at least several hundred of them, and Colonel Witold couldn't even see them clearly.
Colonel Witold was unwilling to accept this and did not believe that such a thing could exist.
He blew the whistle again and personally led the remaining soldiers down...
"Boom boom"
"BOOM BOOM BOOM"
…
There was a loud bang.
This time Colonel Witold believed it.
At least dozens of small objects hit him, covering his face, body, and legs. He felt severe pain all over his body and instantly lost his ability to fight, but none of them were fatal!
(End of this chapter)
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