"In early January, the Second Bureau began to point out Verdun as the location where the German army was about to attack. In the area north of Montfaucon and on both sides of the Meuse River, the German artillery and troops were increasing, and there were clear signs that the "Assault" Division was in Afghanistan.

Appeared near Tonchâtel, and the Austrian large howitzer had arrived... General Dupont, the director of the Second Bureau, firmly declared that Verdun would become the target of an imminent large-scale attack... In this regard, the General Headquarters believed that the German attack on Verdun

The possibility is zero, it is most likely a signal flare released by the German General Staff for a new offensive..."

french army ministry

Ta-ta-ta... There was a rush of footsteps in the Versailles-like Hall of Mirrors corridor of the Army Headquarters built in the era of Napoleon III. A major wearing a tube hat looked fearfully toward the commander at the end of the corridor.

Walking to the office, when he was walking around like this, the generals and officers in the first office cast surprised looks at him, because they had never seen Major Yeneni so nervous. He was Xiafei.

When the marshal's attendant showed such a look of fear, it was obvious that there was only one possibility: a major change had occurred on the front line.

For Xiafei, who had just entered the office, he would habitually drink a cup of tea first every morning. When drinking cheap and earthy-smelling tea from the French Central South with other people in the army headquarters, as a French

At the Army Headquarters, he still drank the black tea from Wuyi Mountain as he had done for many years. For him, the black tea from Dajilin, India, was far from comparable to the black tea from Wuyi Mountain.

When the black tea from Wuyi Mountain was delivered to him as usual, Xiafei picked up the teacup first. This set of teacups was a gift given to Xiafei by the Chinese Prime Minister on his birthday last year. It is a treasure from the official kiln in Jingdezhen, and its grade is equivalent to

In the past, it was used by the royal family and was also Xiafei’s favorite tea set.

After savoring the aroma of tea, Xiafei used the lid of the cup to remove the tea leaves on the surface of the tea. Just as he was about to drink tea, his office door was pushed open very unreasonably, and the person who entered was a frightened Major Yeneni.

"Your Majesty Marshal, Verdun is under attack by the Germans!"

When he heard that Verdun was being attacked, Xiafei was only slightly startled. Unlike the fear shown by Major Yeneny, his reaction was extremely cold.

"oh!"

With a slight response, Xiafei took a sip of tea, then looked at Major Yeneni and said.

"Pay attention to your etiquette in the future, and remember that the reason why France is proud comes from our culture. And French etiquette is part of French culture!"

After training his subordinates in this way, Xiafei held a tea cup and spoke in an extremely calm tone.

"Now, tell me, what happened there?"

Major Yeneni did not find it strange that the Marshal had such a calm and almost numb reaction, but after witnessing the Marshal's calmness, he actually calmed down along with the Marshal's calmness.

"At 6:30 in the morning on February 21st, a large 30-inch shell hit the Bishop's Palace of Verdun..."

"What? Thirty-inch shells? Are there any shells that big?"

At this moment, Xiafei lost his previous calmness. Thirty inches, as far as he knew. Now even the largest caliber artillery in the world is only eighteen inches. If a thirty-inch heavy artillery really existed,

So……

"Yes, Marshal, the first shell almost reduced the entire Bishop's Palace to the ground. The height of the explosion smoke column was more than 800 meters, and the explosion was felt in a radius of ten kilometers. This sent the signal for the German army to attack Verdun. In

After a short but powerful artillery bombardment, the German super cannon fired six shells back and forth, two of which hit the forward position, causing a gap with a radius of 500 meters..."

As Major Yeneni narrated, Xiafei, who originally seemed calm, became nervous. The German army launched a surprise attack in the most unexpected place. In his opinion, there was not much of a threat. He had enough

He has time to mobilize the army, and he also has full trust in the front line. They will buy him enough time. But now, the unprecedented super artillery invested by the Germans is very likely to change this war and will not even give him any

time.

"Then the three German troops advanced to the highest point of our front on the right bank of the Meuse River. The troops under attack in the forward positions were bombarded by thousands of artillery pieces, including super cannons, and high-intensity attacks. In addition to attacking

If you move to the east, you will be forced to retreat towards the fortress..."

Although subtle changes occurred in his heart, Joffre still sat there, drinking his tea and listening to Major Yeneni's report. After Major Yeneni finished his report, he stood up and said.

"Now, please invite the generals from the staff to the war room!"

A few minutes later, in the war room of the Army Headquarters, the staff officers were all talking about "Verdun", "Super Cannon", and the latest German offensive with fearful expressions.

"...If the Germans really use the 30-inch cannon, then the front line must withdraw across the Meuse River. Only in this way can we take advantage..."

Amidst the discussion of the staff officers, Xiafei walked into the war room. The staff officers did not see even a trace of panic in Xiafei's expression. He always maintained the kind of attitude that attracted attention during the Battle of the Marne.

He was admirably calm. After he entered the battle map room, although he remained silent for several minutes, his calmness finally calmed everyone down.

"Okay, gentlemen!"

After seeing everyone calm down, Xiafei said.

"Please remember that panic cannot solve any problems, it will only aggravate them. Now, the question we need to think about is why the Germans chose Verdun, and whether this attack was a detailed attack?"

After raising two questions in succession, Xiafei once again chose silence. In the next hour, he listened attentively to everyone's opinions, and then silently stared at Verdun on the map.

In that position, at the same time, I repeatedly thought about the importance and significance of Verdun, an importance that has been ignored by everyone.

Finally, after everyone present expressed their opinions,

"Gentlemen!"

While breaking the silence, Xiafei pressed his hand heavily towards Verdun, and then said.

"We must defend this place, not because it is very close to Paris, nor because it is known as the "Key to Paris." But because it has extraordinary significance to France and Europe!"

Looking at the crowd, Xiafei slowly spoke out his opinion, to be precise, it was the opinion of the entire French nation.

"For the French nation, our nation has an attachment to Verdun. It is a great fortress that proudly faces Metz. It has never been conquered by the enemies of France, and the Prussians have never conquered it.

Passing there, in history, whether it was the Napoleonic era or the Third Reich era, the Prussians had never conquered it. Its name has been lingering in the minds of Germans for many centuries. It is the most progressive castle in France.

, is the main fortress on the eastern border of France. Once Versailles falls, its fall will have repercussions throughout Europe. Our previous victories on the Marne and Iser rivers will forever be eclipsed. Therefore, we must defend

There. The Germans must not be allowed to occupy Verdun. History requires us to stay there. France requires us to stay there. Gentlemen."

After a pause, Xiafei emphasized again in an extremely affirmative tone.

"Now, the only question we need to think about is how we can hold it there. As for withdrawing across the Meuse River, this is something that the headquarters will never consider. Please tell the frontline commanders immediately and tell them to hold it there! Until

The last person!"

When Xiafei issued this order, he was immediately opposed.

"Your Excellency, Commander. If we stay there, Verdun will become an anvil, where the French will be hammered to death by German artillery. Even if the French army sticks to the station with patriotic passion

The position may be blown to pieces by artillery fire there. This will..."

"Then it will fall, and the whole of France will be filled with defeatism!"

Interrupting the chief of staff's question, Xiafei emphasized again.

"Perhaps the Germans have spotted the psychology of the French nation, but I don't want to go too far here. For France, Verdun is a monument to victory. To face the challenge of the German army, we must use all our human and material resources

to cope with it; however, if the sole purpose of each stage is to make the enemy pay the highest price, we should sacrifice land in the conflict just like sacrificing soldiers. And providing the defense with a larger room for maneuver can enable our army to move throughout the war.

The sacrifice will be greatly reduced. I think we can hold it there! Just like holding the Marne River, hold it there, sir, the whole of France is watching us! Tell every infantry company on the front line this decision, France needs their persistence!"

"France needs everyone's sacrifice!"

Amidst the dense explosions, after ordering most of his subordinates to evacuate, in the woods in front of the mountains near Douaumont, Colonel De Leon, the Congressman officer, looked at the hundreds of soldiers in front of him and spoke with a very tragic and solemn expression.

He gave them orders in a tone of voice.

"Now, we have suffered an air attack from the Germans. The German artillery can easily destroy our defense lines, but none of this can stop our determination to defend France. Yes, I ordered the other battalions to retreat, but, sir

We must defend here. We must use our sacrifices here to win time for them and for France. Time, even one second, is extremely precious to France now. We must use it to let the Germans

We have to pay the price and stay here. As long as we stay here, then our troops, Commander Langre de Cary, will be able to rebuild the defense line in the mountainous area and stop the German attack!"

After Colonel Delion, who was standing in the forest, finished his speech, he looked at the soldiers who had retreated for more than ten kilometers. The previous panicked look on each of their faces disappeared and was replaced by

It was an unprecedented tragedy. They all understood what they were going to face, and they also understood that they had to do this.

"Sir, will France remember us?"

Facing the soldiers' questions, Colonel Delion was silent for a while, then looked at the soldiers and said.

"France will remember the sacrifices that every Frenchman made for him, and from now on, every Frenchman will be grateful for our sacrifices! Well, gentlemen, let us make our own sacrifices for France!"

While the soldiers were silently building trenches with engineer shovels, Colonel DeLeon leaned under a big tree, picked up his notepad, and wrote a long letter on the notepad with a pen.

"I accuse!"

At the beginning of the letter, he imitated the beginning of the letter Zola wrote to the president 18 years ago. In fact, even after making the decision to cover the retreat of his subordinate light infantry, he still felt that he had to do it for

What more can France do?

"Your Excellency Prime Minister:

In order to thank you for your kindness and cordiality when you received me, and for giving me the opportunity to defend France as a Frenchman on the battlefield, you allow me to join the army. Will you allow me to act as an ordinary Frenchman and a French Congress?

As a member of the House of Representatives, I express due concern for France..."

In the long letter that followed, Colonel Delion truthfully described how he alerted the headquarters to the anomalies in Verdun and how the headquarters, especially Marshal Joffre, who "saved Paris", ignored the warning and was tyrannical.

His words are full of a Frenchman's concern for the future of France.

"...It is true that Marshal Joffre saved Paris and France with his extraordinary composure, but in my opinion, this extraordinary composure is not due to his own merits, but to his own merits.

It comes from its numb and sluggish nerves. Now, France is paying the price for its numbness and sluggishness. This price will undoubtedly be extremely heavy. As a French..."

Just when he was about to continue writing this letter, a young soldier ran to the tree where he was leaning and reported softly.

"Colonel, we have found the German vanguard. It is about a company, two kilometers away from us..."

"Okay, I know!"

While nodding, Colonel Delion hurriedly concluded the letter.
To be continued...