As the days passed, in February 1916, if history is correct, the German attack on Verdun, the fortified area of the French army, was imminent.

Since Tang Yunyang's first conversation with Xia Fei, the defense work on the Verdun side has changed considerably. The heavy artillery, which had been drawn in large numbers, was returned to its former fortification.

This is because the French army has begun to equip the use of 75 mm guns with improved guns, this kind of "self-propelled guns" mounted on the chassis of combat vehicles that can provide close artillery support at all times during infantry attacks. A steady stream of production lines from the Prince Company was produced to replenish the newly formed French army.

Compared to the large number of large-caliber guns required by the garrison, this flexible artillery and can move quickly with the attacking force is more popular with the assault infantry. At present, each division has an assault infantry regiment equipped like a hunter regiment, and it is constantly being redressed and trained.

The fortress infantry stationed on the Verdun side, under the attention of their commander, General Xia Fei, also basically completed the replenishment of new equipment.

Due to the situation of the war, distance, and other related factors, the strength of the French army here is recovering.

As mentioned earlier, not only has the heavy artillery mostly returned to what they once had. Between January 15 and 20, 1916, when Tang Yunyang reported to Lafitte's team. Xia Fei transferred 6 infantry divisions and 6 artillery regiments to the Verdun area.

For garrison purposes, the infantry and artillery were still old-fashioned. But the line of defense they are stationed in, here is completely different.

With the exception of some of the field fortifications that had been built in advance, most of the bunkers were produced in a steady stream of pillboxes. The Princes "Fast Front" was replaced with quick replacement of mold fast components.

Blocks of prefabricated cement slabs, as well as honeycomb-like elements, quickly changed the strength of the French defensive line.

Both the bunkers and the trenches are all half-sunk underground, and the underground trenches can be connected all the way to the rear base. When these assembled split elements are manufactured, water pipes and cable lines are installed to ensure the connection between the front and the rear.

The fortifications are well-equipped, with field kitchens, laundry rooms, field hospitals, warehouses and other facilities, and the tunnel network is illuminated by electric lights and powered by special diesel generators.

Electric light was a rare luxury at the time, and it was not yet widely used among the common people.

With these standard parts, the French soldiers no longer had to dig the fortifications with great physical effort, but they had another job to do - filling sandbags.

Follow Mike. The construction crews at Prince said that if you want to live longer, you can do it with more sandbags.

As a result, sandbag work around these bunkers, communication trenches, and machine gun nests became a daily pastime for bored French soldiers. Small sandbags are filled with dirt and placed on cement slabs to provide them with additional protection. As a result, the bunkers became stronger and stronger, and both the top and sides of the bunkers were surrounded by thick sandbags.

After the first field fortifications, 3~4 km, there are 2 trenches and support points. There is an intermediate position between the first and second positions, and the defense system of a defensive line is 7~8 kilometers deep.

The French officers and soldiers also found that it seems that when these assembled components were manufactured, they had already considered the inconvenience of disassembly and the difficulty of transfer during retreat. Explosive points are pre-equipped in the junctions, and only a few explosive packs are needed for a pillbox to render them completely useless.

The downside that goes hand in hand with advanced defenses is that Xia Fei seems to have a strong belief in the usefulness of these bunkers. He was dismissive of the German army, and did not add more troops to the Verdun area.

Of course, this is not a light enemy of Xia Fei, in the rear of the Verdun front, not only are the flying teams replenishing the new fighters, but also the newly produced 500 Benlei attack aircraft have been deployed in place, just waiting for Germany to start their battle of Verdun.

Anyone familiar with Xia Fei's command style will probably know that this general rarely makes detailed battle plans, and battle plans do not seem to matter to him.

To this he once said: "There has never been a written plan of battle, and I have no predetermined idea of anything other than to concentrate all my forces on the offensive." So I decided to limit our research only to the focused side so that it could be adapted to any battle plan.

Therefore, the heavy groups of the French army, mostly deployed in the rear area between Verdun and the Somme, are now undergoing complex refitting and training work.

But their time will be very short, according to historical records, there are still about a few dozen days before the Germans will launch a decisive offensive in the Verdun area.

For the German offensive and the battle of the Somme that would follow, Xia Fei had only one conceptual idea.

He said: "Verdun had to drag the Germans tightly, and in no way could they leave easily, and the purpose of the operation was twofold, one was to delay until the French army had been redressed, and the other was to inflict great losses on the enemy army by relying on modern fortresses."

As for the Somme, it depends on the speed of the refitting of the army and the German offensive in the Verdun area.

If the situation on Verdun was urgent, the British army on the Somme side would have to launch a diversionary attack to relieve the pressure on Verdun, otherwise it would have to quietly accumulate forces and update weapons and equipment in order to carry out a decisive battle in the later period of the great offensive. ”

(The first release of this book) does not laugh at group A: 35761481; Email: [email protected].

For the arrangement of Xia Fei, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Douglas. Haig wasn't so satisfied. But he can't directly oppose Xia Fei now, after all, he has already obtained considerable economic benefits, and blatantly opposing Xia Fei is the real purpose behind this transaction.

As for the arrangement of Xia Fei, the smart-looking Aristide was arried. Colonel Briand, when he complained to the Minister of War Messini, said such things.

"The call for the reinforcement of Verdun, which has only been accompanied by the deployment of six infantry divisions and six artillery regiments, is a rash act that will lead to a great catastrophe for the whole of France!"

If history is not wrong, that is, if Tang Yunyang had not accidentally driven his delta wing into this time and space, then he would be Xia Fei's replacement after being exiled to the garden with the rank of marshal.

The Minister of War, who had not completely lost confidence in Xia Fei for the time being, replied: "As far as I know, he is brewing a new type of war change, let's see, see what he will bring us?" ”