Verdun Meat Grinder (4)

Now that the attack targets have been identified, the necessary work must begin overnight. For example, mine clearance must be carried out to ensure the success of the attack tomorrow morning.

Fortunately, Verdun has been sunny for the past day or two, and there's a nice half-moon late at night. With that moonlight, we can still get some things done.

At this point, Joseph still kept his thesis on electromagnetic induction locked in a safe, and then locked that safe inside an even larger safe. This wasn't because Joseph liked playing with Russia nesting dolls, but because he felt that the safe containing his thesis deserved to be stored in a safe, since that safe was the work of a master named Bourbon who had lost his head during the French Revolution.

Without the discovery of electromagnetic induction, and without the capture of mine detectors in Ireland, the Britain still relied on a very clumsy method of mine clearance: lying on the ground and searching with the naked eye, with only a long steel probe as an auxiliary tool.

This method of mine clearance is slow, inefficient, and highly dangerous. It might work during the day, but at night, since lights can't be used (the minefield is within the range of Minié Rifle), and they can only rely on moonlight, the clearance speed is naturally even slower, and the danger increases rapidly.

So every now and then, an explosion would rang out from the France front lines—it was Britain mine-clearing personnel accidentally detonating a landmine. Each explosion caused the Britain a pang of pain—the casualties were Britain elites, not Prussia conscripts.

The explosions also attracted the attention of the France. The moonlight was bright that night, a beautiful sight, which was advantageous for mine clearance but also for France firing. As a result, the Britain mine clearance troops suffered not only losses from triggered mines but also significant casualties from gunfire. Furthermore, as they advanced, they got closer to the France trenches, increasing the likelihood of the France spotting and hitting them. Therefore, after clearing most of the mines, there was simply no way to deal with the mines further ahead. They could only wait until dawn for Britain and Prussia conscripts to handle them more efficiently.

The mine-clearing forces were not evenly distributed. The main attack direction was assigned more well-trained mine-clearing personnel, while the feint attack direction was assigned more rookies, some of whom had not even been trained for a month. These people were naturally more likely to trigger the "boom" event, but this actually had its advantages—it better demonstrated that this was the main target of the attack.

The rumbling continued all night, and finally, a blood-red dawn appeared in the east of the Verdun Fortress Zone.

The day's attack, as usual, began with a feint across the entire front. The mine-clearing operation the previous night had been quite effective, and with the current efficient mine-clearing by the conscripted troops, both British Army and Prussian troops quickly crossed the first minefield. Ahead lay the first barbed wire fence and the first French Army trench. Here, the feinting troops launched a brief attack, only to be forced to retreat by the French Army volleys of gunfire and the shrapnel of artillery.

Of course, if they retreated completely, they would no longer be able to contain the French Army. So in these areas, the method of combat became: artillery bombardment, artillery bombardment, after the artillery bombardment, the infantry would feign a charge, the infantry would feign a charge, and then the artillery would continue to bombard slowly.

Even so, the main focus of the British Army and Prussian attacks became clear. It was only in these two directions that they were able to break through the first line of barbed wire and trenches, and create two small gaps in the front line.

Between the first barbed wire and the first trench lay a minefield, requiring efficient mine clearance by conscripted soldiers. This naturally resulted in numerous casualties. Fortunately, as expected, the French Army in these two areas lacked sufficient personnel and firepower. So, after paying a price, the Britain and Prussia, stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades, finally crossed the first barbed wire. And then? The Russian army's fate after breaching the French Army trenches in Italy was repeated. The Britain and Prussia were once again taught a lesson by artillery and mines in the trenches and communication trenches.

Perhaps due to reasons related to troop strength and morale, the French Army did not immediately launch a counterattack, allowing the Britain and Prussia to continue their offensive after a brief reorganization. However, after only a short reorganization, they discovered that the firepower of the France army in front of them had begun to increase significantly. Although there were still no heavy artillery pieces, the number of 8-pound cannons firing at them had increased noticeably, and the number of Little Melon thrown by the enemy and the frequency of using Claymore mines had also increased significantly.

"The enemy is bringing in reserve troops or forces from other areas to strengthen their defenses. We must seize the key targets before they do," the Duke of Brunswick immediately decided.

The so-called "key target" referred to a hill about 200 meters high behind five layers of trenches. Capturing this target would be like driving a large steel spike into the French Army defense system, risking tearing it apart. Conversely, failing to capture French Army would render the area they had fought so hard to occupy largely ineffective in disrupting the defenses, and they risked being pushed back or even outflanked and cut off by the French Army.

We must seize this objective as quickly as possible, before the France can react.

The Prussian and British Army then intensified their attacks on this "key target" from two directions.

What? Too many enemy mines ahead? No time to dawdle, let's charge! Otherwise, the France will realize what's happening. Haven't you seen France firepower getting stronger? The longer we drag this out, the more people will die! Let's use the most efficient method—the conscript mine-clearing tactic!

However, the Prussian army was stopped at the third barbed wire fence. The number of the French Army on the other side had increased significantly, and bullets kept coming. To make matters worse, the "Bonaparte's Little Melon" were also being hurled at them. The Prussia army was also equipped with similar weapons, but now the French Army trenches were at least fifty meters away from the barbed wire. Unless you were a superhuman, no one could throw the Little Melon that far.

But the France, using some unknown method, were able to easily throw the Little Melon so far. And it wasn't just one or two France who could throw the Little Melon fifty or sixty meters away; they could throw Little Melon like rain.

A barrage of Little Melon quickly cleared out the Prussia soldiers near the barbed wire. The morale of the remaining soldiers was also dampened by this shower of Little Melon. Those Prussian soldiers who had miraculously survived were initially terrified by the continuous explosions and lost their minds. They ignored their officers' shouts and turned to flee. Even many junior officers, frightened by the casualties, also ran back.

On the other side, the British Army performed somewhat better than the Prussians. They too were hit by a hail of Little Melon at the third barbed wire fence. But even after that, they still had the courage to continue their assault. These Lobsterbacks threw the bodies of the dead onto the barbed wire and then attempted to climb over it. At that moment, a long stream of fire erupted from the opposite position, covering a distance of fifty meters, and accurately struck the Lobsterbacks trying to scale the barbed wire. The British Army were instantly engulfed in flames.

Those engulfed in flames rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire on their bodies. But the flames were impossible to extinguish, and soon the burning British Army were reduced to charred remains. The rising flames also prevented those behind from advancing. Then, another round of "Little Melon" rained down. Finally, the Britain fled back in disarray.

Overall, however, the Britain performed far better than the Prussia. Although both sides retreated, the Britain only went back to the first French Army trench they had painstakingly captured before stopping; while the Prussians, although the French Army didn't launch a counterattack, ran straight back to their starting positions. This even worried Joseph, who had been overseeing the battle. "Did we go too far? Did we scare them all away? If so, it will disrupt their plans..."

The performance of the Prussia army infuriated the Duke of Brunswick and General Blücher. Fortunately, the French Army seemed unprepared for the Prussian retreat and failed to launch a counterattack to recapture the lost territory. By the time the France realized what was happening and began sending troops to retake the land, the Prussia, at least the high command, finally came to their senses. General Blücher personally led his cavalry to defend the first trench, while the second trench fell to the France.

On the Britain side, the France reacted even faster, quickly seizing the opportunity of the Britain retreat to recapture the second trench. So although the Britain didn't run as far as the Prussia, the final result was actually quite similar: both sides fought for a whole day before finally capturing a trench.

By this time, it was already three or four in the afternoon. Both the Prussian army and the British Army, which had performed better on the battlefield, had lost the courage to continue their assault. So the Anglo-Prussian Allied Forces began to consolidate their captured positions. The French Army, on the other hand, seemed to have exhausted too much strength in the previous fierce fighting and did not launch a counterattack during this period. This long and bloody day seemed to have passed just like that.