At the Verdun Command, 15 kilometers away from the battlefield, it was already a busy scene. The correspondents translated the received garbled telegrams into plain text in a password book, and the staff immediately adjusted the map and the signs on the sand table based on these reports. Since the situation on the front line cannot be judged with 100% accurate, reports of errors or conflicts are often sent to the command post. Whenever facing these situations, the staff either shook the phone to ask the front line about the whole story; or jumped into a small car and went to the front line to find out the reason. The crowds were crowded with telegrams, and staff officers were in and out from time to time, bringing various good and bad news to Qingying.

"Report that the 37th Army captured Somodiyo and had broken through the first line of defense of the French army. The army killed, captured more than 600 enemy troops, and destroyed three cannons; it suffered casualties, more than 1,200 missing people, and two tanks were destroyed!" A young officer hurried into the command room, bowed to Qingying and said loudly,

After hearing this news, Qingying had not reacted. Sicket, who was pondering in front of the map, suddenly turned around and said loudly in disbelief: "Lieutenant, are you sure your information is the truth on the battlefield?" The young officer opened the black folder in his hand and handed a telegram to Sicket. He replied without hesitation: "Chief of Staff, this is a telegram signed directly by the commander of the army General Warfield. Before the next message is sent back, I think we can only use it."

Qingying nodded slightly, indicating that he had already understood. After another military salute, the young officer turned around and left Sickett's shocked and shocked eyes. Sickett was stunned for a while, then quickly walked to Qingying, stuffed the telegram into Qingying's arms, and said, "Your Highness. Is this a mistake in the statistics by Warfield? Our infantry has just started charging for less than three hours. Why did the 37th Army have such serious casualties? This is more than three times higher than the loss we lost in the border battle!"

"There may be major mistakes in the judgment of the enemy's losses, but there will be almost no mistakes in counting their own casualties. In addition, the two destroyed tanks can also be used as evidence of Warfield's report. After all, the number of such guys is difficult to count the wrong numbers." Qingying said after reading the telegram.

Sicket's face was solemn and said in a deep voice: "This is another problem that I don't understand. These iron boxes are obviously not afraid of any bullet attacks, and have always been the core of our souls that our army has invincible in offensive operations. They only have one enemy, that is, their super high failure and anchorage frequency. This time, two tanks were actually destroyed, and the amount of losses is by no means accidental!"

Of course it was not an accident. Qingying said silently in his heart. When he heard the news, he was only surprised for a moment and understood the reasons for the destruction of the tank and the large number of casualties. In fact, this was not that the German attack spear tip was no longer sharp, but that the defense of the French position was enhanced unprecedentedly.

In another plane, in order to break the stalemate on the Western Front, the British army used the new weapon of tanks for the first time in the Battle of the Somme; but the final effect can only be said to be unsatisfactory at most. The reason is very simple. Tanks of this era are not invincible: although they can withstand machine gun bullets in trenches, they have no capital to resist in front of cannons. Even the shrapnel that exploded at close range may penetrate the thin armor, let alone be directly hit by the shells. On the narrow front of the Western Front, the dense group of artillery laid by the top European industrial powers is enough to drive these huge and slow-moving first-generation tanks into burning scrap iron!

The tank losses suffered by the German army undoubtedly fall into this category. Although the overall artillery firepower of the French army is far less than that of the German army, they have unique advantages in anti-tanks: the Schneider 1897 75mm rapid-fire cannon currently installed in the French army is the most ideal anti-tank weapon in the entire Europe and even the world.

As the pride of the French Army, the barrel length of this rapid-fire gun is 36 times the caliber; its cannon attributes make the shells it fire have the conditions for high initial speed necessary for anti-tanks. Although the weight of 1.5 tons is a bit bulky, its ability to be regarded by the French Army, which advocates "deadly attack" and purchases it in large quantities, also proves that it can have a good maneuver - all weapons that cannot keep up with the footsteps of the infantry offensive are almost nowhere in the ranks of the French Army's pre-war procurement.

What is important is its rate of fire, and its maximum rate of fire actually reaches a crazy 15 rounds per minute; even if it decreases in actual combat, it can fully fire a series of shells in a short time. As long as more than two firepower is concentrated, it is comparable to the strike density of a pounding cannon. It is enough to ensure effective hits on the target tank! It can be imagined that once these cannons are loaded with armor-piercing shells such as bunkers and then aim their muzzles at German tanks, their anti-tank ability is simply astonishing!

In fact, even if these cannons do not fire armor-piercing shells, ordinary grenades alone are enough to cause fatal damage to German tanks. The current first-generation tanks are originally constantly malfunctioning, and non-combat reductions are more losses than combat reductions. When a grenade filled with explosives explodes on the tank armor, the huge vibration will undoubtedly shatter the various delicate instruments and equipment in the tank. The turret is stuck, the artillery is damaged, the tracks are broken, and the engine stops... The setting can be restored by pressing the repair box with a small hand. Only exists in the game. On the battlefield where bullets are eyeless bloody, these piles and pieces are fatal damage!

The extremely high casualties that followed was also expected by him: as long as the French began to carefully build trenches, no matter how fierce the German army prepared for artillery fire, the casualties could not be reduced. Historically, the British carried out thunder bombardment for seven days before the outbreak of the Somme Battle. However, in the subsequent infantry charge, they were still beaten into blood by the German army, and 60,000 people were killed or injured on the first day!

From the day when Qingying compromised in front of Schliffen, he knew that this day of heavy casualties was destined to come. In order to gain as much advantage in this Western Front offensive as possible, he invested a large number of advanced technical weapons on the battlefield. While achieving great success in the border battle that far exceeded history, the French army that fought with them also gained rapid advances in combat skills through the painful tuition fees they handed over again and again. The French trenches were digging deeper and deeper, and their defense against artillery was increasing day by day. The combat power survived under the bombardment of German artillery; and today they even learned to use 75mm rapid-fire cannons to attack tanks. These Panzell I-type tanks with only 15mm thickest armor were undoubtedly far from competing with them!

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When Qingying sorted out the sentences and told Sickett about this reason, the Ming Su general who was like Schliffen's rebirth had a heavy expression on his face at this moment. Although the headquarters had not received any reports from the other two attacking corpses, judging from the situation of the 37th Army, their losses were impossible to be much better. The cruel side of the war was revealed in front of the German high-level for the first time; in the current era when the shield was firm on the spear, they could not always beat the French to the point of running away!

"Although these changes have occurred, the overall situation on the battlefield is still beneficial to us. While our personnel suffered heavy losses, the French also suffered considerable casualties, and this exchange ratio is obviously fully acceptable to us!" Looking at Sikte, who was in a heavy mood, Qingying couldn't help but speak up and cheer, "In order to prepare for this battle, we have the Fourth Army of the Duke of Württemberg as support, and use two complete army to attack a broken army. Our army has an absolute advantage several times that of the enemy in terms of military strength and firepower. The most important thing is that we have not been strategically blocked, and the French army has withdrawn from Somodijo! As long as we can advance to Langre on time and surround the French First and Second Army, then no matter how much losses are, it is worth it!"

Sicket nodded slightly, and the expression on his face gradually relaxed, saying, "Your Highness, you are right. Although the French's resistance suddenly became much more tenacious, they could not have expected that we would have the help of the Fourth Army. When they found that there were two German armies on this 35-kilometer-long front, they would definitely scare their eyes out! But I don't know if the nearby French Fourth Army will send troops to reinforce. The Duke of Württemberg is next to us, and transferring the front of the troops to fight with us in coordination with us does not require any mobilization; and the Fourth Army of the French is also next to the Third Army, and their reinforcements will be extremely effective and swift."

"In the current French battlefield, the armies of the two sides are facing each other, which has long been a situation where one move is a sway. Since we have all started to take action, how could General Haus's Third Army sit still?" Qingying looked up at the clock on the wall and said, "According to the new plan formulated by the commander-in-chief, General Hausse has launched an offensive against Vitrile François; this will greatly restrain the strength of the Fourth French Army and create opportunities for us to break through in the middle."

Sicket's eyes flashed with surprise. As the chief of staff of the Fifth Army, he had not received any news about this in advance. He was surprised, but he heard the young man next to him mutter: "Is it possible to end the Western Front war in one fell swoop? It will be the next few days."
Chapter completed!