The Germans realized that fierce bombardment was the prelude to the final infantry attack, so the soldiers in the bunker were ready to wait for orders. They wore armed belts full of grenades, held rifles, and listened to the bombardment extending from the frontier fortifications to the rear fortifications. It was crucial that they raced against time to set up a formation in the open space to face the British infantry advancing immediately after the cannon fire.

The British soldiers were getting closer and closer. They lined up in long rows, each carrying up to 220 rounds of bullets and two bombs, and many soldiers also carried field telephone equipment, pickaxes, shovels and communication pigeon boxes, each carrying a weight of 30 kilograms, so they acted very slowly. Under the leadership of the officer holding traditional whips, they launched attacks in several waves. The soldiers of each wave were almost lined up in an orderly manner, holding rifles obliquely, and advancing slowly towards the German positions.

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The command "Preparation!" was transmitted from one crater to another along the German defense line. The machine gunners dragged heavy bullet boxes up along the steps and placed them next to the machine gun, occupying the last position with the best observation and fixing the machine gun, their heads exposed the edge of the crater.

A few minutes later, when the leading British troops entered within 100 yards, the Germans burst into a raft of machine guns and rifles along the entire row of craters: some soldiers shot on their knees in order to better hit targets on uneven grounds; others were extremely active at the time, regardless of their own safety, and stood up and fired at the crowd on the surface. The dense bullets were like a sharp scythe, instantly swept down the British troops in groups like cutting wheat.

Accompanied by the sound of machine guns, red tracer bombs flew into the blue sky to send a signal to the artillery team. In an instant, countless shells were sent out in the sky and exploded on the way to the enemy. A large number of British soldiers fell down one after another, and the British troops in dense formations quickly dispersed, but under the whistling of the shells, the propulsion was quickly paralyzed. The British troops along the way threw away their weapons, then fell down and never moved again: the seriously injured rolled in pain, and the slightly injured crawled into the nearest crater to avoid.

However, the British, especially the Canadians, were brave. Once they entered the battle, they insisted on the end. Although the front line of the team had been severely shaken and many gaps appeared, they rushed towards the German positions faster. They accelerated their pace and sprinted in a running manner. Within a few minutes, the vanguard troops were only one stone away from the front trenches of the German army. Some of the Germans continued to shoot at them at close range, and others threw grenades at them.

The British bombers fought back, while the infantry mounted bayonets to charge. The sound of fighting was indescribable. The British army shouted at the top of their lungs while charging. The sound was clearly audible, which overshadowed the rapid and dense volley of machine guns and rifles and bomb explosions, and overshadowed the rumbling of cannons and the explosion of shells. These deafening sounds were mixed with the sound of the wounded, the cry of help and the final screams of the seriously injured.

The German machine gunners held the trigger tightly and fired desperately regardless of the severely hot barrel. The infantrymen threw all kinds of explosives equipped with, such as hand grenades, ** bags, and grenades, towards the influx of enemy troops. As a result, the British infantry's team stretched forward was broken in front of the German fortifications, just like waves hitting on a cliff and could only be knocked back.

This is an amazing and tragic scene of unprecedented courage and tenacious determination! The three British brigade commanders who were hiding in the trench behind and observing the situation of the war thought so.

.............

The courage of Canadian soldiers finally paid off. The British army, who survived the fierce artillery fire, attacked several places in the German trenches. However, their strength at any location was not enough to maintain their positions; by 9 o'clock, some of the alive uninjured troops returned to the trenches of their fronts, some hid in the craters, and some were cut off from their way back and tried desperately to defend themselves in the captured German trenches.

At noon, everything calmed down. The British army that had not yet withdrawn was either killed or captured. At 1 pm, the three British brigade commanders received an order from the division headquarters: launch a new attack immediately!

The brigade commanders did not immediately execute the order, but instead conducted casualties on the troops. Soon, the division command received a telegram: In a slightly more than two hours, 218 of the 300 officers participating in the battle were lost, and 5,274 of the 8,500 soldiers were lost... No force attacked again!

The same situation also happened on other fronts. That night, all the casualties statistics report were collected at the British commander-in-chief General Hege. "In one day, 56,000 people were killed, injured, captured or missing." Looking at the report in his hand, the flesh on Hege's face twitched violently: He could not accept such heavy casualties, and the British Army was completely embarrassed!

"Stop attacking at all costs! All reserves, go up!" Hege issued an order angrily, while the telegrapher silently sent out a series of radio signals.

............

The military orders were as high as mountains. That night, the British army launched a second attack in the main direction north of the Somme. After a fierce night of fierce fighting, although two armies of the British 4th Army occupied the first frontier German defensive frontline, the attacks of the remaining three armies and the 7th Army of the 3rd Army were repelled and suffered major casualties.

Perhaps the French army died too much in Verdun, so God favored the French army on the Somme. In the direction south of the Somme, the French army made some progress. The French army's extremely fierce artillery fire overwhelmed the opponent, and the infantry took the opportunity to launch a rapid and sudden attack. Before the German soldiers climbed out of the shelter, the French soldiers arrived at the forefront of the German position. In just two hours of fighting, the French Second Army occupied the German position and the support point.

On May 24, the British and French troops continued to attack. After two days of bloody battles, the British 4th Army occupied the village of Frikur and continued to assault the intermediate positions; the direction of the attack of the French 6th Army happened to be a weak area of ​​the German defense. The German army did not expect the French army to attack here before the war, so the defense power was very weak. On May 25, the French 6th Army broke through the defensive position of the German 17th Army with a fierce assault, causing serious casualties to the German army. Soon, the German 17th Army gathered forces again and organized many counterattacks, but in the face of the powerful firepower of the French army, not only did not regain the position, but the casualties were even more severe and they were unable to fight again.

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Chapter completed!