Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 495 Verdun

For countries like Spain that did not participate in the World War, 1913 was no different from 1912; in fact, the country's economy and industry even experienced a more prosperous period because of the war.

However, for countries like Germany and France, which were participating in World War I, neither 1912 nor 1913 were easy years to get through.

Because the war broke out in the second half of 1912, the remaining months of 1912 were more like a familiarization process for European countries with the world war. Although the battles were intense, they were far less fierce than the war in 1913.

With the arrival of 1913, the offensive plans that Germany and France had devised before the war failed one after another, which led to the situation on the Western Front changing from the original gradual progress to a somewhat impatient and fierce offensive.

On July 26, 1913, due to the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, the original German Chief of the General Staff, Moltke the Younger, resigned in disgrace, and Kaiser Wilhelm II replaced him with a new military scion, Falkingham, who was more supportive of the Western Front plan.

The biggest impact on the western front for Germany and France was that casualties on the front lines became even more severe.

7月26日到9月1日这一个月出头的时间里，德军的伤亡人数就达到了夸张的36.1万人，死亡士兵11.7万人。

Such a level of casualties is equivalent to an entire German army group. If the casualties are calculated at this rate, the German army on the Western Front can only hold out for a maximum of 7 months.

Of course, these sacrifices by the German troops were not without merit.

In an effort to resist the German offensive, France mobilized its troops domestically and purchased large quantities of weapons, equipment, and medical supplies from Spain, but ultimately only managed to barely hold off the German advance.

Although they halted the German advance, the French army also suffered heavy losses during this period. Because the French army was not purely on the defensive, they were unable to leverage their defensive advantages to inflict greater casualties on the German forces.

The French army suffered even more casualties than the German army, reaching an astonishing 42.7, of which 15.6 were French soldiers who died. The area north of Paris was devastated.

Amid the protracted tug-of-war between the French and German armies, the German forces found it difficult to make significant progress in the area north of Paris, and their dream of capturing Paris in a short period of time was shattered.

Knowing that capturing Paris would not be a quick task, the German army no longer focused solely on Paris, but instead set its sights on the entire front line between Germany and France.

By now, German troops have almost completely invaded French territory, and the area of ​​lost French land is quite large, exceeding the size of Belgium.

Although Germany held a certain advantage on the battlefield, this slight advantage was not enough to translate into victory, which was the biggest headache for the German government.

The French defenses, built with their lives, were remarkably solid. Coupled with the continuous supply of materials from Spain, they became virtually impregnable. Even with heavy casualties, the German army only made slow progress.

The French defensive line built north of the Marne River and east of Amiens was perfectly connected with the defensive lines in Alsace and Lorraine through Verdun, which made the advance of the German army quite difficult.

Even under the fierce resistance of the French army, the German army lost some of the territory it had already occupied, which was not good news for German Chief of the General Staff Falkenhahn, who had once vowed to conquer Paris.

Fortunately, Falkenham, through this period of intense attack, finally found the key to breaking the deadlock: Verdun, which connects the two defensive lines.

Verdun's role as the connecting point between the two lines of defense is beyond question.

The Verdun fortress firmly guarded the Alsace-Lorraine defense line south of the Meuse River and served as a salient east of Paris, tenaciously protecting the city's security.

If the German army gets too close to Paris, the defenders of Verdun can go up the Meuse River and launch a surprise attack on the rear of the German army in France.

The garrison here could also continue north to threaten the Belgian region, thereby completely cutting off the German army's logistical supply lines in Belgium and France.

Faced with such a thorn in their side, the German army was united in its determination to take down Verdun at all costs.

After German Chief of the General Staff Falkingham devised a plan to capture Verdun, he confidently approached Kaiser Wilhelm II and stated that if the German army could capture Verdun, the subsequent offensive on the Western Front would become much easier.

Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had not heard good news for a long time, was naturally overjoyed. He ordered his guards to bring him a rough map of the front lines, and after examining it carefully for a long time, he concluded that attacking Verdun Fortress was a pretty good plan.

Verdun's geographical location was so important that the German army had ample reason to occupy it.

Although Verdun Fortress is located on the banks of the Meuse River and has a large number of French troops stationed there, the surrounding French troops can quickly support the fortress.

But for Kaiser Wilhelm II and German Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn, none of this mattered.

They had great faith in the fighting capabilities of the German army and firmly believed that the plan to attack Verdun was just one important part of the battlefield and would not be delayed for long.

After half a month of preparation, under the orders of German Chief of the General Staff Falkenhahn, Germany launched a massive attack on the Verdun fortress.

In fact, at the beginning, Falkingham's goal was simply to capture Verdun fortress in a short period of time and open a breach in the French defenses.

However, as the war progressed, Falkenhayn suddenly changed his plans.

The attack on Verdun was launched by the 5th Army, commanded by Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, which consisted of 7 corps and 17 divisions, with a total strength of 41.6 men.

According to German intelligence, the French garrison in and around Verdun numbered less than 20. Given this overwhelming disparity in troop strength, Falkingham had no belief that the German army would be unable to capture Verdun.

In order to create more opportunities for the troops at the front, Falkenhayn also used a little cleverness.

He ordered the German 1st Army, which had already completed its repairs, to advance towards Compiègne, feigning an attack on the city, thus forcing the French army to continuously send reinforcements north of Paris.

Compiègne was an important defensive stronghold north of Paris and the city closest to Paris in the French defense line.

If this area falls to the German army, then the area north of Paris will be completely indefensible.

Falkingham believed that as long as the German army feigned an attack on the fortress at Compiègne, the French government would obediently send troops to Paris. And that was indeed the case.

From the moment the German 1st Army began to frequently appear on the Compiègne front, the French army was led by the nose by the German army.

To ensure the safety of the capital, Paris, the French army had to deploy a large number of troops north of Paris to ensure they could support the front in Compiègne at any time.

Upon realizing that a large number of French troops had been moved north of Paris, Falkingham immediately and excitedly issued orders to the German 5th Army, thus beginning a battle that the Germans would regret.

Verdun Fortress was not simply a defensive fortification based on Verdun, but rather a vast defensive line that integrated several surrounding towns.

The 17 divisions of the German 5th Army were divided into two parts. The western front was located west of the Meuse River, with the main force consisting of 6 infantry divisions. Its mission was relatively simple: to harass the French-controlled regions of Avocourt and Agone to the south, forcing the French army to be unable to attend to both the east and the west.

The Eastern Front, located east of the Meuse River, comprised the remaining 11 divisions of the 5th Army and was the main force attacking Verdun.

These 11 divisions launched continuous attacks on the French army to the south along the line from Consanvois to Morgenmoran, forcing the French army to retreat to the Verdun fortress on the Meuse River, where they were then trapped.

To achieve this plan, German Chief of the General Staff Falkenhahn spent several days racking his brains in his office, eventually integrating the opinions of several staff officers before formulating such a plan.

In Falkingham's view, this plan was quite perfect. Moreover, it had already drawn most of the French army's attention to Paris, while the Verdun fortress further east was largely ignored. The German army had a great chance of capturing Verdun in a short time and then plotting to take over Paris or the Alsace-Lorraine defense line.

that's the truth.

The French army had long forgotten about Verdun, because the German army had attempted to attack Verdun last year, but ultimately failed.

Since 1913, the French army had stubbornly resisted the German offensive, and the Verdun fortress had not been set foot in by the German army for a long time.

Even the appointment of Falkenhayn as the new Chief of the General Staff of Germany failed to change the direction of the German offensive. The fact that the German army always wanted to capture Paris was clear to almost every Frenchman.

This is why the French army's main defensive objective was always Paris, which is also why the French army was led by the nose by the German army.

When the French government received news of the German offensive against the Verdun fortress, the Battle of Verdun had already been raging for several hours.

In order to quickly resolve the battle, Crown Prince Wilhelm's 5th Army was equipped with more than 1200 artillery pieces, 680 of which were heavy, large-caliber guns, specifically to counter the strong fortifications of Verdun.

To transport supplies to the front lines and conduct reconnaissance missions, the German army also equipped the 5th Army with dozens of airships, which was uncommon in the German army.

Since the outbreak of World War I, Germany has equipped itself with hundreds of airships, of which hundreds have crashed during the war.

Because of the important role of airships on the battlefield, Germany attached great importance to them. The number of airships that each army group could be allocated was very limited. Some of these airships were also responsible for transport missions, which meant that the number of airships in each army group was basically in the single digits.

The fact that Falkingham equipped the 5th Army with dozens of airships at once demonstrates the importance he attached to the Battle of Verdun and the German army's desire for a resounding victory on the Western Front.

The German army launched an attack on the French positions from two fronts, east and west. In order to confuse the French army about which army was the main force, the German army spared no expense and deployed all 1200 artillery pieces of the 5th Army to bombard the French defenses for 12 hours without interruption.

According to rough estimates by the German army, this round of bombing has consumed nearly 1 million shells, averaging nearly 1,000 shells fired by each artillery piece.

Compared to the wealthy German army, which was indifferent to the consumption of artillery shells, the French army did not have such abundant resources.

In terms of industrial scale, France is far inferior to Germany today. German military factories produce far more weapons than France. If it weren't for the large quantities of weapons and equipment transported from Spain, France would be far behind Germany in terms of weapon supply alone.

After the German troops on the front lines launched a massive artillery bombardment, the French artillery also launched a counterattack.

The ability to retaliate was extremely limited, as the French artillery could only retaliate for every few shells fired by the German artillery.

The good news is that the German army wasted over a million shells, while the French army consumed fewer than 20 shells.

The bad news was that the French army was essentially powerless to resist the intense bombardment by German artillery.

Germany also pushed its front line several kilometers south, and was not far from the Verdun fortress further south.

The French defenders of Verdun immediately realized that the German attack was not a probe, but a premeditated assault.

The commander of Verdun fortress dared not be careless and immediately sent a letter to the French government, which had already withdrawn from Paris, requesting reinforcements to be sent to Verdun to prevent such an important defensive hub from being occupied by the German army.

When French Chief of the General Staff Joffre learned that Verdun had been attacked by Germany, the battle had already been raging for several hours.

By the time the French troops received orders from the General Staff to gradually move eastward to support the Verdun fortress, more than ten hours had already passed.

At this time, the closest force to the Verdun fortress was the French 3rd Army's reserve force stationed south of the Marne River.

This reserve force consists of five divisions and has just withdrawn from the front lines to rest and recuperate.

Upon learning of the large-scale German offensive against Verdun, this reserve force did not hesitate and immediately headed east towards Verdun.

However, this place is quite a distance from Verdun Fortress, and before the reinforcements arrive at Verdun Fortress, they must first pray that the French garrison at Verdun can hold it.

(End of this chapter)