Chapter 481 Crown Prince William's Decision
The sky gradually darkened, and the sound of artillery fire in Verdun stopped for a while, which was very rare, as if in preparation for the upcoming "darkness".
The commander of the German Fifth Army, also the German Crown Prince Wilhelm, stood majestically on the high ground in military uniform, holding a telescope and looking in the direction of the French army.
Although he could only see a little floating smoke in the dim moonlight, he still pretended to say: "The bombing effect looks very good. The French have been blown away without a trace."
(The first on the left in the above picture is Crown Prince Wilhelm, his full name is omitted because it is too long. The one in the middle is Kaiser Wilhelm II)
Chief of Staff Lieutenant General von Ernst replied: "Perhaps we can despise the French bureaucracy, Your Highness, but we must never underestimate the fighting spirit of the French soldiers. They are much more tenacious than we think."
Crown Prince William laughed: "All I see is death, escape and defeat. Is it my illusion?"
Lieutenant General Ernst did not answer.
That’s because the German army had a huge advantage, he thought to himself, as the crown prince, you have never seen a real war!
Lieutenant General Ernst was somewhat dissatisfied with Crown Prince William.
He was actually the actual organizer and commander of this battle, and Crown Prince William was just a figurehead as the commander to gain credit.
If it was just this, Lieutenant General Ernst would have accepted it, as it was the need of the heir to the empire. However, Crown Prince William, who did not know much about military affairs, liked to interfere with his command.
Crown Prince Wilhelm did not notice Lieutenant General Ernst's dissatisfaction at all. He thought that Lieutenant General Ernst agreed with his statement.
He turned and walked down the mountain path, complaining, "I don't understand, General, why don't we attack with all our strength? Why do we have to wait for them?"
Crown Prince William felt that the German attack was too conservative. They had always been on the defensive and only attacked when the enemy did not attack.
Ernst replied: "Because we do not wish to fail, Your Highness."
"What?" Crown Prince William stopped and looked back at Ernst in confusion: "You mean, if we leave Verdun, we will fail?"
Without waiting for Ernst to answer, Crown Prince William spread his hands around and said, "Look at the fortifications here, General. There are countless fortresses and trenches here. If we can easily win here, nothing can stop us."
Ernst replied calmly:
"Quite the contrary, Your Highness."
"We have gathered a large number of artillery and supplies here to surround the Verdun salient on three sides."
"As soon as we started the war we destroyed all the railroads and roads leading to Verdun."
"The only road connecting Verdun is a secondary road barely wide enough for two cars to pass side by side."
…
Crown Prince William continued to walk forward and interrupted Ernst impatiently: "This does not conflict with what I said. We can solve this problem and move forward, and then create such conditions."
Ernst shook his head slightly and followed Crown Prince William:
"The focus is on Ciel's troops, Your Highness."
"Char's armored and mechanized forces cannot enter this area to fight."
"It's not just that the terrain is unsuitable, nor is it just because it is surrounded by our artillery, but also because the French secondary road is not enough to support the troops' supplies and tanks' fuel at the same time."
Crown Prince William said "Oh" and fell silent.
After a while, he asked thoughtfully, "Charles, is he really as amazing as people say?"
There was a hint of helplessness on Ernst's face.
He knew what Crown Prince William meant by asking this question, and he hoped to compete with Charles one day.
The more ignorant he was, the less he took Charles seriously and thought he could defeat him easily.
"You'd better not have such thoughts, Your Highness." Ernst replied coldly: "Many people don't want to meet Charles on the battlefield, and this is right."
This is not just about saving lives, but also about respecting war and opponents!
Crown Prince William raised his eyebrows disapprovingly and turned his head to glance in the direction of the French army. He hoped that Charles was just opposite.
Because as long as he defeats Charles, the whole of Germany will cheer for his victory, and certainly no one will doubt his ability to lead the country!
…
The German headquarters was located in the Beaumont Fortress, a flat fortress far away from the defense line. It was occupied two days ago and there were even bloodstains inside that had not been cleaned up yet.
As usual, Crown Prince William had dinner, read the newspaper for a while, and then prepared to go to bed.
The war on the front line had little to do with him. All he had to do was stay here and wait for news of victory.
However, that night was unusually quiet. At nine o'clock, there was still no sound of gunfire or artillery fire from the French charge.
Crown Prince William, who was not asleep, seemed to have thought of something. He sat up suddenly from the bed, was stunned for a moment, got up, quickly changed into military uniform, opened the door and walked towards Ernst's command post.
Ernst was reading telegrams at the headquarters when he saw Crown Prince William come in. He handed him a telegram and said, "There may be something that can satisfy your wishes, Your Highness. There is news that the French intend to send Charles up, but only for one day."
"Really?" Crown Prince William's eyes lit up.
"We are verifying it," Ernst replied, "but it should be true."
Then Ernst raised his head in the direction of the French army: "They haven't attacked yet, maybe they are waiting for Charles."
"Yes." Crown Prince William agreed, and then he asked calmly: "Well, since the enemy is not attacking, is it time for us to attack?"
"certainly."
"Let me give the order," Crown Prince William said hastily, "Major General Bennett's Seventh Army, right?"
"Yes." Ernst nodded.
Ernst thought that Crown Prince William just wanted to satisfy his addiction to giving orders, so he didn't take it seriously.
He didn't notice that Crown Prince William had a smug smile on his face as he turned around.
…
In a field fortification built of logs and trenches, Crown Prince William found Major General Bennett, commander of the Seventh Army.
Crown Prince William straightened the Major General's army and ordered: "Tonight's battle will be different from usual. Major General, you must keep attacking until you can't move anymore. Do you understand?"
Major General Bennett became excited immediately after hearing this. They had never understood why Lieutenant General Ernst ordered the troops to launch a "limited attack". He thought this was a waste of soldiers' lives.
Now, this day has finally come!
"Understood, Your Highness." Major General Bennett stepped forward and repeated the words of Crown Prince William: "Keep attacking until you can't move anymore!"
(Note: Falkenhayn's strategic intention of using Verdun as a meat grinder was known only to high-ranking officers, because he believed that the grassroots soldiers were unwilling to risk their lives to fight the French army, and was worried that the soldiers' morale would be affected if they knew about it.)
(End of this chapter)
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