Duomont, almost when the entire France was shocked by the sudden outbreak of Verdun, could not return to God, the entire French political circle focused on here and on the top of Duomont.

In just one day, with the powerful power of the super cannon and the suddenness of the attack, of course, the French army had to take advantage of the unpreparedness of its attack on Verdun. Hundreds of thousands of German teams quickly conquered the French field defense line. Faced with the German attack, France, which was unprepared, could only retreat to the fortress. Although French soldiers and officers were loyal to their duties and sacrificed for France, these sacrifices could not stop the German army's attack.

At the morning of the 22nd, the retreating French troops rebuilt the defense line on the mountain ridge near Duomont. According to the plan of Langel de Cali, the commander of Verdun's army group, the French troops would rebuild the defense line here and stop the Germans from the footsteps.

However, in just one day, the German Crown Prince William's army advanced dozens of kilometers from the highest point of the French front. Unlike the German initial expectations, the French front was quickly conquered. The expected extremely tragic battles did not break out in those fronts or field fortresses, but occurred in villages near the front. Among the villages, the scattered French scattered soldiers and brave men showed their unimaginable patriotic enthusiasm. They were more than a dozen people and dozens of people, tenaciously blocking the German team.

When the straitors relied on patriotic enthusiasm to stop the German army from advancing, thousands of refugees were trapped in the retreating army. These refugees also greatly hindered the actions of the French troops. Faced with the German attack, the civilians on the entire front fled to the south. Although the French government had mobilized them to leave before, they were unwilling to leave. Until now, facing the attacking German team, they still chose to leave.

Among the retreating French troops, almost every soldier was talking about the "super cannon" that was enough to level everything. Whenever they mentioned the "super cannon", their faces were full of fear. They were frightened and frightened by the unprecedented giant cannon, but they understood that they had to fight all the way. However, due to the refugees along the way, they could not get any supplies or form neat troops to retreat to the rear.

According to the order, Duomon became their destination, which was a mountainous land. At least in the mountains, the power of the German super cannons would be weakened. For these French soldiers, they had to retreat to Duomon before the encirclement formed by the German team. At the same time, they had to compete with thousands of refugees for the road. The refugees along the way had greatly reduced their speed of progress, and sometimes they could hardly walk.

The poor refugees were walking outdoors in the cold. The first snow that had just fallen made the road very muddy. Although the army had commands, the officers and soldiers had to help and comfort the chaotic crowd. The fugitive refugees almost all the moving vehicles arrived on the road. Carriages were dragging their luggage and property, and without exception, each car was filled with frightened children, and their parents walked beside these vehicles, and the soldiers slowly advanced in the flow of people.

The soldiers passed by some villages and towns. The people there were still living a normal life a few days ago, although they understood that the Germans were not far from them. In the past two days, the elderly, women and children here had thought that the war was still very far away, but the news from the German team still left these ordinary people who were used to the quiet life in extreme shock. They looked at the haggard and hungry soldiers who had retreated from the front line, and a thought emerged in everyone's mind.

"Another Marne River!"

Yes, every Frenchman knows what the Battle of the Marne in the early stages of the war meant to France, which meant that France had escaped from the demise, and now, the Marne again, but the question is, can they, once again, stop the German team?

"We want to defend France!"

Almost every time I pass by a village, some soldiers will take the initiative to stay to stop the German army's attack, and there is no command or order from the officers. Others are reluctant to part with the soldiers who are about to participate in the blocking war, and those soldiers responsible for blocking the German pursuit also know that they will not be able to come back alive.

"You must stop the Germans in Duomon!"

Every soldier who volunteered to block the German army would tell his comrades in this way that within an hour or two after the large army left, dense artillery fire once again razed a village to the ground...

The morning glow reflects the red sky in the distance of Mount Duomon. At this moment, war is burning here, but for the French officers and soldiers who are organizing defense on the mountain, they ignore the sound of gunfire and are still busy with daily vitality. Only in the simple trenches can they feel the tense fighting atmosphere.

In the battlefield hospital on the back slope behind the mountain, some minor wounded people were telling their own experiences. Doctors and nurses running back and forth were busy bandaging the injured. Now, the large German troops have not arrived yet, but have already caused heavy damage to the Filipino team that has rushed to organize defense.

On the road leading to the reverse slope position, many soldiers and stretchers carrying wounded people were shuttled back and forth. In a trench behind the mountain, an artillery officer was very excited.

"Damn bureaucrats!"

He cursed and complained loudly.

"Before the war, they always shouted about maneuvers, but what about now? Every German shell was heavy for us, and the caliber of each cannon was larger than ours. We suffered a lot on the battlefield. Now, those damn officers, in order to avoid the so-called super cannons, actually asked us to set up their positions here. How could the shells be fired from here? "Miss France cannon" is a field cannon, not a Chinese mortar!"

When he complained loudly, he obviously did not look at the artillery battalion with only four cannons in his hand. During the retreat, his artillery battalion almost discarded all the cannons, and even the current cannons were temporarily replenished. However, as he complained, out of concern for the German super cannons, the command required the troops' defense line to be set up on the back slope of the mountain that was not prone to artillery attacks, especially important artillery positions, but it was ignored that when the German cannons could not attack them, their casualties to the German team were extremely limited.

"Mr. Major, this is to avoid us from suffering greater losses!"

"That's it. If the German super cannon fires, maybe..."

The soldiers were still talking about the German super cannons. On the way of retreat, the soldiers who witnessed the power of the giant shells of the super cannon were added to the fire and told others about the power of the super cannons to hide their own fears. Perhaps, they were not afraid of the German team, and they also had the spirit of sacrifice, but few people were willing to give their lives for "fearless sacrifice". Just as they were willing to join the cover force to block the German team. But at this time, when the defense line was built again, they began to worry about the super cannons.

"Just one shot, the entire Duomon Mountain can be razed to the ground!"

In the trenches on the top of the mountain, soldiers described the "super cannon" word by word. On this day, the super cannon became a nightmare for all French soldiers. In their opinion, the human body obviously could not stop the shelling of the "super cannon". Now the only thing they could hope for was that the German super cannon could not hit here because they had retreated far enough.

Yes, they retreated far enough, and retreated almost nearly thirty kilometers, which was beyond the range of artillery that anyone knew, but they didn't know that the giant cannon they were facing had a unique range in this era, in addition to its amazing power.

"There is still a chance!"

Among the huge monster on the double-track railway in the forest, the German officer wearing an artillery officer's hat drew a line on the map, which stretched nearly forty kilometers from their position, which was the limit range of the "Alfred Cannon".

"General Hank, now the entire legion is talking about us. As long as you shoot a shot there, the French's defense on Mount Duomont will collapse!"

Heisenberg, a former artillery expert at Krupp, and now the artillery control officer of the "Alfred Cannon", Brigadier General Hank von Schrien is the commander of the giant cannon. He is responsible for commanding this huge artillery unit with more than 4,000 officers and soldiers. Although this artillery unit only has one "Alfred", his inner pride is far greater than others.

"Can you hit that far?"

Brigadier General Hank von Schrien asked with some uncertainty. To be precise, his words were extremely worried, and what he was worried about was not the range issue but the body.

"If you hit so far, your lifespan will decrease. "Alfred" has fired sixteen shells, but the next "Alfred" will have to wait until the end of the year..."

"But now, the most important thing is that we are going to end this war!"

To end this war, for Heisenberg, from operating this cannon, what he firmly believes is that this cannon can end this war, and he never doubts that, just like now, it is the moment of the performance of "Alfred".

"Okay! Order everyone to prepare!"

Brigadier General Hank von Schrien did not refuse. After agreeing to Heisenberg's request, he immediately picked up the phone and coordinated with the artillery units. In order to assist the troops in the offensive, the offensive units used trailers to haul hundreds of 150mm large-caliber field artillery to cooperate with the infantry units' attack. Now, the only thing he needs to coordinate is that he will launch the attack on Mount Duomon with "Alfred".

"... But the German 6-inch cannon was dragged in by a tractor, and it shot dense shells into the new position, forming a sea of ​​fire. The troops that mainly defended the positions completely collapsed, especially during the German attack, the German "Alfred Cannon" carried out long-range shelling at the Duomon Mountain area at a speed of one hour. Each shelling would flatten a large area of ​​defensive positions..."

In the French General Command, when mentioning the German super cannon, any staff officer would have a full complaint in his tone. Now, on the second day of the battle, they had learned the code name of the "super cannon" - "Alfred cannon". The super cannon named after the founder of the Krupp Company, just like the French-Prussian War in 1=871, in that year, the Krupp cannon completely destroyed the Second Empire, and now, the new generation of Krupp cannons is about to try to destroy the Second Republic.

"Now, as long as the Germans continue to use the "Alfred" cannon to attack our defensive positions, any possibility of defending the positions is extremely slim and even extremely unrealistic!"

"Oh, I get it!"

As always, these unexpected misfortunes did not panic General Xiafei at all. Faced with the frustration from the front and the fear of the 800mm cannon, he showed only calmness. If he maintained the noticeable and admirable calmness from beginning to end, as in the Battle of the Marne River, his attitude was even more extraordinary in the face of the failure on the top of Mount Duomon.

"The Germans may have giant cannons mobilized the 1st and 20th armies to reinforce Verdun, but France has the will to defend their country!"

After emphasizing his point of view, he took a look at the combat map and knew that just mobilizing two armies was far from enough to resolve the crisis there.

"Now, immediately send a request to Sir Douglas Hager of the British Expeditionary Force in the name of the headquarters. Well... the telegram is that Verdun is in an unprecedented crisis. France needs to call out the 10th French Army, which is fighting with the British team, to reinforce Verdun."

After giving this order, Xia Fei was silent. As the commander-in-chief of the French army, for the past two years, he has been using his actions to convey a signal of his belief in victory. Starting from the Marne River, he was extremely calm and composed in any situation. At the same time, he maintained a regular diet and regular rest time, which inspired the confidence of everyone around him.

In his opinion, faith and sometimes faith are the most important. As the commander-in-chief of the French army, the only thing he needs to do is to give everyone confidence. Only with confidence that he will win the war can France win.

"General Castello, after you arrive at Verpin, you must stay in Verdun at all costs. France must not lose Verdun!"

When giving this order, Xia Fei turned his attention to General De Castello. Although he was just a major general, he was the chief of staff of the French Army General Command. This general who had participated in the Franco-Prussian War may have a fundamental difference from him in many opinions, especially the two had a different world in some strategies and tactics. However, as a French veteran who had participated in the Franco-Prussian War, in his heart, nothing is more important than defeating the Germans and ensuring the safety of France.

It is precisely because of his understanding of General De Castelno that in Xiafei's heart he would not doubt General De Castelno would not abide by this order. Now and he also knows very well about the situation in Verdun. As the commander-in-chief, the only thing he needs to do is to devote more troops and more power there to ensure that Verdun is not lost.

"His Excellency Commander, in addition to the First Army, the Twentieth Army and the Tenth Army, I also hope that the Command will transfer all the 2nd Army to Verdun."

After a little thought, General De Castello immediately made his suggestion. In his opinion, with the current development of the situation in Verdun, it was obvious that it was impossible to save the dying situation there by relying solely on the First Army and the Tenth Army. Almost after receiving the telegram from the German attack on Verdun, when he began to consider how to defend Verdun, he had already considered the Second Army commanded by Betan.

Compared with the First Army and the Twentieth Army, the combat effectiveness of the Second Army is far better than the former. Because the British army's increased defense not long ago, the pressure on the French 2nd Army on the front was reduced, so the French army was in the best condition after rest and training. What is more important is that the Second Army's Staff Department has not been affected by the new French regulations that force each staff officer to take shifts with the combat troops. Moreover, its commander Betton is also an excellent general. If the Second Army is mobilized, he believes that he will completely defend Verdun. At least in the current situation, the Second Army is the best choice at present. Even in the eyes of General De Castello, no one is more suitable to serve as the commander-in-chief of Verdun than General Betton, the commander of the Second Army. Of course, out of his understanding of Xiafei, he must test it.

"Of course, there is no problem!"

Without hesitation, Xiafei agreed to General De Castello's request. As the commander-in-chief of the French army, the only thing he needed to do at this time was to meet all their requirements. As long as he could defend Verdun, as for mobilizing the Second Army to Verdun, although the Second Army was a reserve force in his hands, since he wanted to defend there, it was also necessary to mobilize the reserve force.

After his suggestion was approved, General De Castello further made suggestions.

"At present, Langel de Cali, the commander of the Verdun Army Group, is not a competent general, at least not a general who is good at fighting in adversity. With the current setbacks he has suffered, he is likely to propose to abandon the town of Verdun and the fortress after the German army has increased its offensive efforts. Therefore, I hope that General Betton, the commander of the Second Army, will be appointed as the commander of the Verdun Army Group."

"Um……"

Nodded, Xia Fei did not refuse. After accepting Casteelno's advice, he looked directly at Casteelno and said.

"It is acceptable to have Beta serve as commander, tell him to keep it there!"

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