The east and west banks of the Somme River, dozens of square kilometers of land, are covered with the corpses of the expeditionary force and the German army. On the battlefield, two groups of soldiers pulled horses and carried horse bones, helmets, saddles, ammunition boxes, poison

Gas pumps, gas masks and other miscellaneous items are readily available.

On the battlefield that was blown up like a moon by artillery shells, many corpses were scattered randomly. Among them, those wearing gray military uniforms were obviously the corpses of German soldiers. Some of the corpses were rotted by large piles of maggots, and the maggots turned into pupae.

The pupa turned into a fly, and the pupa shells piled up on the skeleton were as tall as a foot.

Here, the yellow-brown soil has turned into reddish brown. In the past two weeks, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and millions of artillery shells have churned the endless soil into blood-red mud, replacing the dust raised by the explosion.

, in the encirclement on the west bank of the Somme, whether it is the expeditionary force soldiers or the German soldiers, after fourteen days of fighting, everything here is changing, whether it is the landscape or everything else.

.

After fourteen days of fighting, as the battle progressed, the conditions for attack and defense became more balanced. The German trenches on the west bank of the Somme were flattened by artillery, and the dense barbed wire was completely destroyed. The battle became more and more in-depth.

As two weeks passed, the German losses increased.

In this unprecedented battle on the Western Front, neither the German army nor the expeditionary force's artillery fire stopped for an hour. Artillery shells fell on the front regardless of day or night. The German heavy artillery was on the east coast, and the expeditionary force's defense troops

Terrible gaps were opened between them, and the expeditionary officers and soldiers used their will to defeat steel and used flesh and blood to block the German attack again and again. The artillery shells fell close to the battle line, so it was impossible to mobilize any troops to the front; the artillery shells fell

The trenches and artillery positions leading to the rear were exploded with blood and flesh, and military supplies were in a mess. The tragedy was unprecedented. The artillery shells even continued to fly to the rest camps far behind the front line, causing very painful losses; and the expeditionary force's artillery

There was no power to suppress the German heavy artillery.

The heroism shown in the Battle of the Somme was so eye-catching, both among the German army and the Expeditionary Force. On the east bank, the Expeditionary Force, as defenders, bore the heaviest artillery fire in the world.

, instead of retreating, on the Western Front, the expeditionary force, as the attacker, also had to endure unprecedented losses.

Sacrifice, fight, persevere!

After two weeks of this battle, both the German army and the expeditionary force had reached the final moment.

Cigarette, lit cigarette smoke was burning on Han Wu's fingertips. At this time, he was lying on the map table staring at the combat map. Compared with the situation before the war, although now, the German troops on the West Bank on the map

The defensive area of ​​​​the German army has been reduced to less than one-third of the pre-war range. However, the defensive positions of the expeditionary force on the east coast have also been reduced to less than one-half by the German army. Hundreds of areas have even been reduced to less than one-half.

It has reached a critical point.

Taking a puff of cigarette, Han Wu frowned. How fierce is the battle now?

On the east and west banks of the Somme, which is only ten kilometers long, the expeditionary force and the German army suffered more than 100,000 casualties. It can be said that the piles of corpses have already reached mountains and rivers of blood. Even when Han Wu visited the front line to inspect

Sometimes, if you just grab a handful of the scorched earth under your feet, you can pull out a few pieces of shrapnel, and even some pieces of meat.

"tomorrow……"

At this time, in the frontline headquarters, whenever he thought of the time limit, Han Wu suddenly felt like an ant on a hot pot, restless. Initially, he took advantage of the German army's arrogance and underestimation of the enemy and took advantage of the German army's hasty retreat.

With the defensive gap, he easily completed the encirclement of the German troops on the west bank. According to his idea, the main force should have been deployed to the east bank. He would use the trench system to form a battlefield confrontation with the German troops on the east bank. As for the German troops on the west bank.

Surround!

Sleepy!

Hungry!

Surround them, trap them to death, starve them to death!

Perhaps the surrounded German troops have sufficient supplies, but in Han Wu's view, one month, two months, three months, or even four months will eventually starve them to death and starve the Germans to death. At that time, he can

He effortlessly eliminated the German troops in the encirclement and easily won the entire battle. However, the undercurrent between the headquarters and the French headquarters made his idea of ​​"easy victory" come to nothing.

Fifteen days!

The battle has been designated for a certain period of time. Apart from attacking, there is no other option at all. How many losses did the expeditionary force suffer in the past fourteen days?

Now, the troops blocking the enemy on the east bank are undergoing an unprecedented attack, which can be said to be the most violent attack in history. However, the German troops on the west bank have not surrendered yet. They are still persisting. The west bank is persisting, so regardless of the east bank,

No matter what, we must hold on and never retreat.

"How much longer can we hold on?"

Letting himself stop thinking about time, Han Wu sighed secretly in his heart. Not long after, He Sui from the First Division called again and asked to speak to Chief Han.

"Sir!"

Taking the receiver and listening to the extremely tired voice coming from the other end of the phone, Han Wu knew that He Sui, the commander of the First Division and the commander-in-chief of the East Coast Front, had not rested for many days.

"Sir, the troops on the east coast suffered 50-60 casualties. The German army's firepower was too strong and the offensive was too fierce, but we have been almost exhausted by the German army!"

Han Wu had had contact with He Sui when he was in China. He knew that this Army Major General, who had served in the Eighth Division of the Jiangsu Army before the second revolution, was "suspected of being a revolutionary party." However, he was an extremely determined and capable person.

Because of this, he would choose him as the former enemy commander on the east coast. He would never compromise in executing orders. If he had no choice, he would never speak so sadly, and he would be almost exhausted...

"Sir, now, if there are no new reinforcements, I'm afraid..."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. Listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, Han Wu thought silently for a moment. He knew that if he gave up the east coast at this time, he would be in vain, so he said in a very stern tone:

"Commander He, the enemy and we have been fighting bloody battles on the Somme for two weeks, and the outcome will be decided in the last five minutes. Reinforcements will arrive at noon tomorrow, and I will personally go to the front line tomorrow morning to supervise the battle. The victory on the west bank will be decided in

Whether the east bank can be resolute, I ask General He to stay on guard until dawn tomorrow. This is my order. If you disobey the order, you will be punished according to military law."

He Sui, who had long been acquainted with Han Wu and was considered a good friend of each other, listened to the voice on the other end of the phone and heard him giving him such a strict order. His heart was agitated, but then he calmed down, but

As for Han Wu, he knew that if he didn't do this, he would not be able to turn the corner and win this battle.

"General He, according to the order, any troops heading to the east coast who return west without victory will be killed without mercy! I hope General He will take care of himself!"

Just by hearing these words, He Sui knew that Commander Han was determined. In fact, throughout the entire battle, his attitude was so resolute, so he said:

"Okay, sir, I will absolutely obey the order until all the troops on the east coast are defeated!"

Listening to this seemingly absolute answer, Han Wu gave further instructions on the phone.

"The defense on the east coast must not only hold until after dawn tomorrow, but also attack the enemy at night tonight. This will break the enemy's plan to attack at dawn tomorrow and gain time for victory on the Western Front!"

When making this decision, Han Wu specifically emphasized it.

"General He, now the whole world is watching us, looking at the West Bank. Whether we can completely annihilate the German troops in the encirclement will be decided by the East Bank. This commander hopes that General He and the troops on the East Bank can carry forward the spirit of military sacrifice and sacrifice themselves personally.

Sacrifice and win the battle!"

Upon hearing this, He Sui felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. Not only could the entire army not be able to take a step back, but they also had to fight back at night when they were exhausted. This...

Immediately complained:

"Sir Han, all the reserves have been used up now. It is very difficult to attack at night. Now we should rely on fortifications to stop the enemy."

"The depth of your defense has been compressed to the extreme. If you cannot counterattack at night and catch the Germans by surprise, it will be difficult for the east coast to hold on until noon tomorrow..."

After a pause, Han Wu said again:

"I have signed an order to replenish all the soldiers in the rear who can hold guns, stretcher-bearers, cooking soldiers, and heavy equipment to you. The number of winners and losers can be determined in one fell swoop!"

East Coast!

Both the east bank and the west bank need to be supplemented by new forces. As for Han Wu, he can only keep the last reserve team in his hands. For the east bank, all he can do is to send all the non-combat troops

Supplement them all.

A soldier who can hold a gun... After hearing the commander's support, He Sui sighed and said:

"Obey your commander's orders and do it absolutely!"

After throwing down the phone, He Sui fell silent. He knew that the order to hold on came from the headquarters. If the east bank collapsed, the west bank would not be able to complete the campaign's purpose. Han Wu's move also had unspeakable hidden meanings.

"Fight to the death!"

He sighed and looked at the timetable on the calendar card. He Sui knew that today might be the last decisive battle! The outcome is decided in one fell swoop!

Flares, flares from the east bank blindly illuminated the battlefield on the west bank. When the flares illuminated the ground in white, Major Hansen, who was covered in mud, stared blankly at the battlefield in front of him.

Fourteen days!

The past fourteen days were like a nightmare experience for Major Hansen, not only for him, but also for the soldiers. For the first time, he admired the Japanese from the bottom of his heart.

Don't they know what death is?

Attack, uninterrupted, unstoppable, unflinching attack!

In the past fourteen days, the Chinese people have launched attacks again and again regardless of life and death. They are like madmen, killing on the battlefield and constantly trying to penetrate their defense lines. Death cannot be done at all.

To stop their attack, Major Hanlin witnessed how many times an attacking company had only a dozen men left when they broke into their defense line, but they still stubbornly rushed into the trenches and fired at them with light machine guns and submachine guns.

They even rushed into the crowd with grenades in their arms, just to disrupt the German defenses in the trenches and create opportunities for subsequent troops to attack. In this way, the positions were lost piece by piece.

Fourteen days, fourteen days later, their position was compressed to the extreme, compressed into an extremely narrow area.

"How much longer can I hold on?"

Looking back, looking at the numb faces, Major Hansen sighed deeply in his heart.

exhausted!

The long and uninterrupted fighting in the past ten days has seriously exhausted the physical strength and energy of every soldier. The Chinese did not even give them time to rest. Their attacks were sleepless. It seemed that they were like

They are like iron men. Once the horn of attack is sounded, they will never stop attacking until they destroy the enemy in front of them.

At this moment, there were sudden bursts of dense explosions, which came from the east bank. Listening to the explosions on the east bank, Hank didn't even raise his eyes to look there, because he knew that there must be something there.

Another night attack, the east bank, and now for the German troops on the west bank, whether they can break through the encirclement. Whether they can hold on anymore depends on the west bank.

The top army commander sent telegrams to their headquarters many times, asking them to persist until the reinforcements break the defense of the squadron on the east coast. Once the defense is broken, they can use ships to import new forces to the west coast.
To be continued...