100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 92 9 "The Verdun Meat Grinder"

Chapter 99 "The Meat Grinder of Verdun" - Violence is the most costly competition
It is not wise to use violence at every turn.Because the loss it causes will make us lose more than we gain.

In early 1916, the First World War entered its third year.With the bankruptcy of the "Schlieffen" plan, the German army changed its deployment and planned to defend on the eastern front, while focusing on the "Verdun salient" on the western front where the French right-wing troops relied.This strategic deployment was proposed by Falgenhan, the new Chief of Staff of the German Army.He called this action plan "Execution Site", and the purpose was to attack a military point that France was unwilling to give up, let France invest all its troops there, and then annihilate it, causing France to collapse militarily, thereby forcing it to surrender.Falgenheim publicly clamored: "Let France bleed!"

The Verdun Fortress of the French army is extremely strong. Its fortification area is 112 kilometers wide in front and consists of four defensive positions. At that time, the garrison had four divisions and more than 10 people.

In order to overwhelm the opponent in terms of the number and strength of the army, Falgenhain ordered that the German army's artillery on the front lines of Russia, the Balkan Peninsula, and the Krupp arsenal be concentrated on the front line of attack.On the 12-kilometer-long front, nearly a thousand cannons are lined up, and the forward positions are equipped with more than 5000 mine-throwing devices.There were 10 divisions and 27 offensive troops, nearly three times the French army defending Verdun. On the morning of February 21, the German army began a fierce offensive.Nearly a thousand cannons rose into the sky with a string of flashing flares, roaring together, and pouring overwhelming shells on the French defensive positions at Verdun at a firing rate of 10 rounds per hour.In an instant, the French position was ablaze.Immediately afterwards, the German army used 13 165-inch siege howitzers to shoot heavy shells at the fourth permanent fortification, the strongest fortress. Entire sections of trenches became level ground.

After 12 hours of violent bombing, the German army used 52-inch small-caliber high-velocity guns to straf the panicked, running and screaming French army, and used flamethrowers to turn the French army's forward positions into a sea of ​​flames.

After such repeated bombing and strafing, the trenches in the narrow triangle near the fortress of Verdun were completely destroyed, the forest was burned, the hills were flattened by cannons, and the entire French army was completely exposed.The artillery fire had just ceased, and following bursts of shouts, six infantry divisions of the German army attacked the French defense line from a front line 1 kilometers wide.After two days of fierce fighting, the French army was finally outnumbered. More than [-] people were captured by the German army, and the frontier field defense positions were basically occupied.

News of the defeat of the French army at Verdun quickly reached the French headquarters.Commander-in-Chief Xia Fei was taken aback, and hurriedly called a military meeting, ordering the Chief of Staff to rush to Verdun immediately, and hold on to the position at all costs, waiting for reinforcements from follow-up troops.Subsequently, General Petain was appointed as the commander of the Verdun area, and troops were assembled to prepare for reinforcements.

After Petain came to Verdun, he first inspected the entire defense system.Looking at the forward position full of corpses, Petain felt that the situation was critical, and Verdun was in danger of being surrounded.Feeling that the situation was not good, Petain immediately drew a supervisory line on the front line, and strictly ordered the soldiers to withstand the German attack. Anyone who dared to retreat across this line would be shot to death.

Immediately afterwards, a front-line military meeting was held to discuss how to ensure the rapid arrival of rear reinforcements and munitions.Pétain said: "The current situation is very critical. I have already contacted Commander-in-Chief Joffre and asked him to send a large force for reinforcements as soon as possible, and mobilize about 20 people and more than 2 tons of supplies within a week. Will it fall into the hands of Germany? Let’s discuss, which line of communication can complete the transportation of so many people and materials?”

"Except for the Baaleduk-Verdun road leading to the southwest, which has not been completely destroyed, the others have all been cut off by German artillery." A commander in charge of logistics said with a frown.

"How wide is the road?" Petain asked hastily.

"[-] meters."

"How is the condition of the road surface, can it withstand the passage of a large number of trucks?"

"The road surface is not very good, it depends on how many vehicles are passing."

Petain calculated and said: "To transport so many troops and supplies, 6000 vehicles need to travel day and night."

Everyone looked at each other after hearing this, and the commander in charge of logistics said: "I'm afraid this is not possible! It must be repaired, otherwise, so many cars going back and forth will cause many accidents."

Petain immediately ordered: "Immediately organize a repair team, and with the assistance of civilians along the way, pave and widen the road surface to ensure the safe passage of vehicles. The gains and losses of Verdun are here!" Soon, 6000 vehicles passed through this road. On the road, 19 reinforcements and more than 2 tons of munitions were continuously transported to the Fortress of Verdun.The road was dubbed the "Holy Road" by the French because it accomplished the transportation tasks of the Battle of Verdun.

Now, the military strength of the two sides on the front gradually tended to balance. Although the German army gained some benefits from the first attack, the arrival of a large number of French reinforcements prevented them from continuing to advance, and the two sides temporarily faced off.

Both Falgenheim and Petain made tense arrangements. On March 30, a large-scale battle began.Under the cover of heavy artillery fire, the German infantry simultaneously attacked the French positions from a front 20 kilometers wide.Pétain ordered all French artillery and more than [-] infantry to fire back at the same time.

In this way, the two sides see-saw until October 1916, 10, when the French army turned to counterattack and quickly regained the lost positions. The German army failed and withdrew from the Battle of Verdun.

In this battle of unprecedented scale, the two sides invested a total of more than 100 divisions, with more than 70 casualties. While France shed its blood, it also caused Germany to shed its blood.Therefore, this battle is called "Verdun Meat Grinder".

Wisdom Interpretation:

The Battle of Verdun resulted in more than 70 casualties on both sides.It can be seen that resorting to violence has caused great losses to both competitors.Such heavy losses in the war tell us that competition should be done in a peaceful way, and the words spoken with fists are often not worth the loss.

(End of this chapter)