Since the war, the Germans have made some progress on the Eastern Front. However, due to the inconvenient transportation and cold climate in Russia, if they continue to approach Moscow, the Germans are likely to "fall into the sea of Wang Yang". Therefore, the German staff headquarters decided to shift its focus to the western front. On Christmas Eve, 19 15, Falgen Han, Minister of the Army and Chief of Staff, submitted a memorandum to the German Emperor, pointing out that the main enemy of Germany is still Britain, and the "sword" that Britain faces in the European continent is the French army. So as long as France is completely defeated, Britain and Russia will collapse in one fell swoop. In this way, in 19 16, Germany launched the battle of Verdun, known as the "meat grinder".
Verdun is the avant-garde of the northeast border of Paris, France, and the fulcrum of the whole French army, which is of great political and strategic significance to France. As early as August of 19 15, the French government equipped Verdun fortress with 1 1 division and 362 guns, thus constructing Verdun's defense system.
1965438+February 2 1 Sunday morning, 270,000 elite German troops and 1500 cannons, under the command of Prince William, rushed at the 65,438+10,000 French troops in Verdun fortress with absolute superiority. At 07:00, 15:00, the concealed German artillery group launched a fierce bombing on the fortress complex around Verdun at the speed of 65,438+one million shells per hour. In just half a day, more than 2 million shells were dumped in the narrow triangle of Verdun. At that time, steel fragments, shrapnel and poison gas were overwhelming in forests, valleys, trenches and bunkers. The French army was in a desperate situation in Verdun. Defending Verdun is defending France! The French high command issued an urgent order: General Petain ordered the Second Army to reinforce quickly and hold the fortress at all costs.
After receiving the order, Petain ordered you to use all available means to hold the area. At first, he divided the front line into four cluster troop defense zones, and organized a huge transport team to transport 28,000 tons of ammunition, 25,500 tons of various materials and 9000 soldiers to the front line at the speed of passing a car every 15 seconds. Under the slogan "Never let the Germans pass through Verdun", the French army fought tenaciously for five days and nights, and finally stopped the crazy attack of the Germans, and the two sides entered a state of tug-of-war.
Seeing that the plan to seize Verdun was about to go bankrupt, the German high command decided to continue the battle of Verdun with the strategy of gradual attack. In May and June, the Germans used 100 heavy artillery company and new quick-acting asphyxiating gas bombs to launch indiscriminate bombing several times, but they still failed to grasp the initiative in the campaign. In July, the British and French allied forces launched the Battle of the Somme to contain the Germans. At the same time, Russian troops on the Eastern Front attacked Galicia on a large scale and won a great victory. On August 27th, Romania took part in the battle between Britain, France and Russia. The German offensive in Verdun has lost its meaning. On August 28th, Falgen Han resigned, and the new Chief of Staff, Hindenburg, ordered to stop the attack. The battle of Verdun, which lasted more than six months, ended.
The Battle of Verdun was the largest and longest-lasting battle in the First World War. In this battle, which was called "meat grinder" by Falgen Han, the casualties on both sides were nearly 6,543,800,000, but the German attempt to "make a quick decision on the western front" was stopped. The Battle of Verdun became a turning point in the First World War.