Fox of France

Now that the focus of the attack has been determined, the necessary work will be done overnight. For example, demining work, in order to ensure the attack early tomorrow morning, the demining work must be done overnight.

Fortunately, it was sunny in Verdun for the past two days, and there was still a good half moon in the second half of the night. With this moonlight, there are still things to do.

Only at this time, Joseph also locked the thesis on electromagnetic induction in the safe, and then locked the safe that locked the thesis into a larger safe. This is not because Joseph likes to play with Russian dolls, but because he thinks that the safe in which he puts his papers is worth using a safe in itself, because that safe is a man surnamed Bo who lost his head in the Great Revolution. Works of other masters.

There was no discovery of electromagnetic induction, and they failed to seize mine detectors in Ireland, so the British mine clearance method is still very clumsy. They lie on the ground and look for it with the naked eye. The only auxiliary tool is a long steel detector. It's just a needle.

Demining in this way is slow, inefficient, and dangerous. If it’s daytime, maybe it’s okay, but at night, you can’t light up the lights, (the minefield itself is within the range of the Mini rifle), you can only rely on the moon for lighting, and the speed of mine clearance is naturally slower, and the danger also increases. rise.

So at the front of the French position, there was an explosion from time to time-it was the British deminers who detonated the mines due to careless actions. Every explosion made the hearts of the British ache—in this explosion, the losses were all British elites, not Prussian soldiers.

And the explosion also attracted the attention of the French. The moonlight was brighter that night, and the moonlight was beautiful, which was good for mine clearance, but it was also good for the French to shoot. As a result, the British demining troops, in addition to the losses of being hit by mines, added a lot of losses from being shot. And as their demining process progressed, the closer they were to the French trenches, the higher the chances of the French finding them and hitting them. So after removing most of the landmines at a distance, there is really no way to go further to the front mines. We can only wait for dawn to let the conscripts in Britain and Prussia deal with them in a more efficient way.

Naturally, the demining troops were not evenly distributed. More well-trained deminers were sent to the real attack direction, while more novices were sent to the feint attack direction, and some novices even trained for less than a month. These people have a higher probability of triggering the "boom" plot, but this is actually beneficial-it can better reflect that this is the focus of the attack.

After a rumbling night like this, the blood-red dawn finally appeared in the east of the Fortress of Verdun.

The day's offense still started with a feint across the board. The demining operation last night still had a lot of effect, coupled with the efficient demining of the current conscripts, so the British and Prussian troops quickly passed through the first minefield, in front of which was the first barbed wire fence and The first trenches of the French army. Here the feinting army retreated before the French volleys and cannon fire after a short attack.

Of course, if they retreat completely, they will not be able to contain the French army. So in these places, the way of fighting has become: bombardment, artillery bombardment, the infantry pretended to charge after the artillery bombarded, the infantry pretended to charge, and the artillery continued to bombard slowly.

But even so, the focus of the British and Prussian attacks was revealed. Because it was only in these two directions that they were able to break through the first barbed wire fence and trench, and created two small gaps in the front.

Between the first barbed wire fence and the first trench, there is another minefield, and the only way to efficiently clear mines here is to mobilize troops. This naturally brought a lot of casualties. Fortunately, as expected, the French army did not have enough personnel and firepower in these two areas, so after paying a certain sacrifice, the British and Prussians stepped on The corpses of his comrades finally crossed the first barbed wire. and then? Then what happened to the Russians after they entered the French trenches in Italy was repeated, and the British and Prussians were taught to be human again by artillery and mines in the traffic trenches and trenches.

It may be because of the strength and morale of the French army that the French army did not launch a counterattack immediately, and the British and Prussians were able to continue the attack after a slight adjustment, but only after a slight adjustment, they found that the French army in front of them The firepower has begun to increase significantly. Although there are still no heavy artillery, the number of 8-pound guns firing at them has increased significantly. The number of small melons thrown by the enemy and the frequency of using "broadsword" mines are also obvious of increased.

"The enemy is mobilizing reserve troops or troops from other areas to strengthen the defense. We must get ahead of the enemy and take down key targets." The Duke of Brunswick immediately made such a decision.

The so-called "key target" refers to a high ground with a relative height of about 200 meters behind the five-story trench. If this goal can be won, it is equivalent to smashing a large steel nail into the French army's defense system, and the entire French army's defense system is in danger of being torn apart. On the contrary, if they can't take this place, then the place they have shed so much blood to occupy is basically useless to shake the entire defense system, and there is a danger of being pushed back or even outflanked and cut off by the French army at any time.

This goal must be achieved as quickly as possible, before the French react.

So the Prussian and British troops stepped up their attacks on this "key target" from two directions.

Why are there too many mines in front of the enemy? There is no time to dawdle slowly, so hurry up, otherwise, the French will react. Didn't you see that the firepower of the French on the opposite side is getting stronger and stronger? If you keep going, more people will die! Directly use the most efficient way - mobilize troops to demine Dafa!

However, the Prussian army was still blocked in front of the third barbed wire fence, and the number of French troops on the opposite side increased significantly. Bullets kept coming, and what's more terrible, "Bonaparte's little melon" also kept throwing them. . The Prussian army was also equipped with similar weapons, but now the trenches of the French army are at least 50 meters away from the barbed wire fence. Unless it is a strong man, no one can throw the little melon so far.

But the French didn't know what method they used to easily throw the "little melon" so far. And it's not that one or two Frenchmen can throw the "little melon" fifty or sixty meters away, but they can throw the little melon over like it's raining.

A burst of "little melon" rain immediately cleared the Prussian soldiers close to the barbed wire. The morale of the remaining soldiers was also watered down by this round of "little melon" rain. Following behind, the Prussian soldiers who were lucky enough not to be killed were first frightened by the explosions and lost their minds for a while, and then they didn't care. The officers shouted and turned around and fled. Even many low-level officers were frightened by such casualties and ran back together.

On the other side, the performance of the British army was still better than that of the Prussian army. They also suffered a round of "little melon" rain in front of the third barbed wire. But after that, they still had the courage to continue the assault. The lobster soldiers threw the bodies of the dead onto the barbed wire, and then tried to jump over the barbed wire in this way. At this time, a long fire dragon sprayed out from the opposite position, crossed a distance of fifty meters, and accurately sprayed on the lobster soldiers who were trying to climb over the barbed wire. Those British troops were immediately engulfed in flames.

Those surrounded by the flames rolled on the ground, trying to suppress the flames on their bodies. But these flames could not be extinguished no matter how they were suppressed. Soon, the British soldiers who were ignited were burned to charcoal, and the flames rising into the sky also prevented the people behind from moving forward. Then, another round of "little melon" rain. Then, the British also fled back throwing away their armor and armor.

But in general, the performance of the British is still much better than that of the Prussians. Although everyone fled in defeat, the British just ran back to the first trench of the French army that they finally captured and stopped; as for the Prussian army, although the French army did not take advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, they did. He ran back to the starting position in one breath. So much so that Joseph, who has been supervising the battle, was a little worried: "Is it too dark for us to start? Don't scare them into coming? If so, then the plan to consume them..."

The performance of the Prussian army also made the Duke of Brunswick and General Blücher very angry. Fortunately, the French army seemed to be insufficiently prepared for the defeat of the Prussian army, and they did not take advantage of the trend to counterattack and regain lost ground. When the French reacted and began to send troops to recover the lost ground, the Prussians, at least the top leaders of the Prussian army, finally came to their senses. General Blücher led the cavalry in person and rushed to secure the first trench. As for the second trench, it became the French again.

On the British side, the French reacted a little faster, and they quickly took advantage of the opportunity of the British retreat to regain the second trench. Therefore, although the British did not run as far as the Prussians, the final effect was actually not too different. It took a whole day of fighting before finally capturing a trench.

By this time, it was three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Whether it is the Prussian army or the British army that performed better on the battlefield, they have lost the courage to continue the assault at this time. So the Anglo-Prussian coalition began to turn to the defense work of consolidating the captured positions. As for the French army, it seems that they also consumed too much power in the previous fierce battle, and did not launch a counterattack during this period of time. This long and bloody day seemed to pass like this.