Chapter 196: The Verdun Meat Grinder (5)

 As the sun dipped below the horizon, the once bustling battlefield gradually fell into an eerie silence. During the first half of the night, the moon was absent, leaving the entire battlefield shrouded in darkness, with only the hushed whispers of the night wind.

Between the French and Prussian trenches lay communication trenches. These passages not only ensured the retreat of the French army but also served as routes for reinforcements. However, during the night, these communication trenches became a critical point heavily guarded by both sides against potential enemy attacks.

Soldiers from both sides periodically tossed torches into these communication trenches to serve as illumination, ensuring that anyone attempting to pass through would be noticed. The ground on both sides of these trenches had been a minefield during the daytime battles. However, thanks to the efficient work of Prussian and British troops in clearing the mines during the day, these minefields had diminished substantially.

In the cover of darkness, French sappers quietly left their trenches, carrying baskets filled with landmines, to plant them in the minefields. Although the Prussian and British soldiers had efficiently cleared the mines during the daytime battles, it was uncertain whether they had missed any. In the pitch-black night, the French sappers could only rely on the faint starlight to see anything, making it impossible to detect undetonated mines. They were at the mercy of fate.

So, for the first half of the night, the battlefield remained eerily quiet, punctuated only by occasional explosions – the French sappers accidentally stumbling upon unexploded mines that had survived beneath the iron boots of the Prussian and British forces.

As the moon rose, the French engineers retreated. In the latter half of the night, the battlefield came alive once more.

Some British and Prussian soldiers, including drafted Prussian conscripts, after undergoing a half-hour crash course, were armed with shovels and probes. They were dispatched to the minefields – it had become apparent that the crafty French had been up to something devious in the darkness.

Initially, both Prussian and British forces feared that the French might launch a night assault. Though launching an assault in such moonless conditions was challenging and likely a waste of ammunition, the French had always been crafty, and their intentions were unclear. Consequently, the British and Prussians maintained a vigilant watch for most of the night, but the French did not launch a night attack.

Since the French had not come out for a night assault, they must not be out for a leisurely nighttime stroll and pondering the meaning of life. Therefore, the British and Prussian soldiers concluded, "Those devious French must have planted mines in the minefield!"

If the French could plant mines at night, then naturally, the British and Prussians could dig them up at night. Thus, the British engineers and Prussian conscripts who drew the short straws were hurried out of their trenches to venture into the moonlit minefields.

So, during this night, the sounds of explosions – some initiated by the French during the first half of the night and more by the British and Prussians during the latter half – continued steadily.

The following day, just as the sun began to rise, the British and Prussian forces initiated a fresh attack. The method remained the same: bombardment with artillery followed by a bayonet charge. However, there was a slight change. When a group of Prussian conscripts rushed forward to clear mines, a group of fully armed soldiers, led by an officer, stood behind them, aiming their guns at their backs.

After a night of contemplation, the Prussians had finally found a way to motivate their soldiers – the officer's guns pointed at their backs. Under the threat of rifles, the Prussian conscripts displayed exceptional courage, disregarding the possibility of mines beneath their feet. They charged forward, knowing that the soldiers behind them would indeed open fire.

Amid the rumbling detonations of landmines, the Prussian army charged through the minefields towards the freshly repaired French barbed wire.

As per usual, they endured rifle fire and shrapnel from French artillery. They weathered the explosion of French "little melons" and the sweeping fire from the French "wide swords." What remained of the Prussian conscripts was then systematically killed by the Prussian officers.

Following the breakthrough of the third trench, the Prussian forces stopped their advance and began consolidating their positions, planning to continue gradually.

The British, on the other hand, fought more intensely. The battle for the third trench continued until the sun set. After the British repelled the final French countercharge, the night had fallen.

The British and Prussians both decided to consolidate their positions for the night and planned to continue the next day. In these two days, the casualties on both sides had been alarmingly high, numbering over thirty thousand. Such losses were rarely seen in European history. However, they were now very close to their "key objective." With a little more effort, it seemed that they could secure that high ground. Both the British and the Prussians thought, "We can hold on a bit longer."

What they did not know was that the third trench and the first trench had a significant difference – a hidden underground tunnel connecting the two, aside from the communication trenches.

These underground tunnels were originally communication trenches, covered with wooden planks on top and concealed under a thick layer of earth at the exits. The repeated French counterattacks prevented the Prussians from checking these tunnels properly.

The exchange of gunfire between both sides only gradually subsided after the sun had set, and, naturally, the previous night's performance continued: in the first half of the night, the French planted landmines, followed by thunderous explosions; in the latter half of the night, the British and Prussians came out to dig up mines, resulting in more explosions.

Just as the British and Prussians were triggering their own set of explosions, groups of French soldiers were making their way to the third trench through these underground passages.

As daybreak neared, the "explosions" scenario for the British and Prussians was approaching its climax. However, at this moment, French artillery suddenly opened fire on the third trench, now occupied by the British and Prussians.

While French artillery's impact on trenches was limited, the cannon fire served as a signal. Upon hearing the cannons, French soldiers brandishing bayonets climbed over the iron wire barriers along the communication trenches, then jumped onto the ground and charged towards the enemy trench.

The British and Prussians did not anticipate that the day's battle would commence with a French assault. They scrambled to organize a counterattack, planning to play defensively first, but suddenly, chunks of soil collapsed in their trenches, revealing numerous tunnel entrances. A multitude of French soldiers rushed out, bayonets ready.

With the combination of internal and external pressure, both the British and Prussian forces quickly crumbled. The French took advantage of the situation, even momentarily recapturing the second trench, expending considerable effort on dragging back several cannons intended for supporting today's offensive.

Furthermore, the French artillery had become more formidable, with larger cannons, notably those above twelve pounds, joining their ranks. Shrapnel shells made their debut on the Verdun battlefield. When the British and Prussian forces launched their counterattack, their soldiers were massacred by this type of shell.

After enduring significant casualties, the British regained the third trench they had just lost. However, the Prussians came dangerously close to losing the second trench.

At the end of the day's battle, the British tallied their losses. Over the past three days, the British forces had suffered losses amounting to twenty thousand men. Even considering the recent arrival of thirty thousand non-English-speaking English troops from Hanover, these losses affected their core elite forces, which the drafted troops couldn't replace.

The Prussian losses, in terms of numbers, were even greater, particularly during today's operation, where they lost twenty thousand men. In total, the Prussians had lost forty thousand men over these three days.

Although the "critical objective" didn't seem far away, many began questioning whether it was worth continuing the fight in this manner.