World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

Chapter 399 The Verdun Meat Grinder

Imamura recalled the address given three days earlier by Lieutenant General Shiba Goro, the division commander: "Gentlemen, this battle concerns the honor of the Empire. His Majesty William has personally promised that if we win, all participants will be rewarded double, and those who die in battle will receive triple compensation. You must strive to create peace for your descendants!"

No one cheered. Having endured eight months of hell on the Eastern Front, these veterans had learned that money couldn't buy back life, and honor couldn't fill their stomachs. But they still came, because an order was an order, because they were soldiers of the Empire.

"Corporal," Kobayashi suddenly spoke in a low voice, trembling, "Do you think... we can go back?"

Imamura didn't answer. Sergeant Yoshida continued for him: "Thinking about that is useless. Remember the training: spread out when charging, don't huddle together. Use demolition charges when encountering barbed wire, and hand grenades when firing machine guns. Once in the trenches, bayonets are more effective than rifles."

"But Sergeant Yoshida, will the German artillery really cover us? On the Eastern Front, their artillery support was always late..."

"This time is different." Imamura finally spoke, his voice so calm that even he was surprised. "The German army needs this victory. Commander Chai said that this is a battle that Emperor Wilhelm is personally overseeing."

A low rumble came from afar. The German artillery was making its final adjustments before firing.

Kobayashi licked his chapped lips: "Corporal, I had a dream last night. I dreamt that the cherry blossoms in my hometown were in bloom, and my sister was dancing under the trees in a newly made kimono... Then shells fell, and the cherry blossoms turned blood red."

Imamura reached out and patted him on the shoulder—a gesture rarely seen in the Japanese army, one he had learned while fighting alongside the Germans on the Eastern Front.

"Survive," Imamura said. "If you survive, you can go back and see the cherry blossoms."

The communications soldier, crouching low, ran along the trench and stopped panting in front of Yoshida: "Sergeant! The regimental commander has ordered: the assault will begin precisely in five minutes! The signal will be three red flares! My battalion will lead the first wave of attacks; we must break through the first barbed wire within fifteen minutes!"

"Understood." Yoshida nodded, then turned to Imamura. "Corporal, check the equipment."

Imamura quickly checked his waist: four oval grenades, two 30-round ammunition boxes, an entrenching tool, and a bandage. Yoshida had also brought a Type 10 grenade launcher and six grenades, which were their squad's only "heavy weapons."

The muddy water soaked through his leggings, chilling him to the bone. Imamura glanced at his pocket watch: 4:21.

In a forest hideout three kilometers behind the 3rd Division, Lieutenant General Shiba Goro was observing the front lines through artillery scopes. His command post was located in a fortified German bunker, with a huge operational map of the Verdun area hanging on the wall, densely covered with red and blue arrows.

The map shows that today, eight divisions of the Japanese army will launch a simultaneous attack across a 20-kilometer-wide front, aiming to capture Hill 304 and Dead Man's Hill on the east bank of the Meuse River—these two commanding heights control the northeastern gateway to Verdun. If successful, the main German force will be able to outflank the French second line of defense.

The plan was perfect. But Shiba Goro knew that there is never a perfect plan for war.

Standing beside him was Major Hans Krause, a staff officer sent by Lieutenant General von Seeckt, the German liaison officer. The blond, blue-eyed Prussian officer wore a crisp uniform and exuded a faint scent of cologne—a stark contrast to the sweat and earthy smell of the frontline soldiers.

"General," Krause said in fluent Japanese, "the artillery preparation will begin in one minute. Three hundred heavy cannons, saturation fire for forty minutes. Theoretically, the first line of defense of the French army will be completely destroyed."

Shiba Goro didn't turn his head: "Major, I fought in the siege of Lushun. Theory is theory, and practice is practice. The Russian fortress was bombarded for three months, and in the end, the infantry had to fill the gap with their own flesh and blood."

Krause smiled: "Those are Russians. The scientific rigor and precision of our German artillery are..."

His words were interrupted by a deafening roar.

At 4:22 AM sharp, the sky and earth changed color.

The first volley of shells whistled through the air as it approached, and then the entire French position exploded. Orange fireballs burst forth one after another, black smoke billowed into the sky, and dirt, stakes, and fragments of barbed wire were hurled dozens of meters into the air. The earth trembled, and Imamura felt his insides resonate.

This was the most intense artillery barrage he had ever witnessed in his life. Compared to it, the Russian artillery fire on the Eastern Front was like a child's firecracker. The Germans had clearly concentrated all their available heavy artillery in this narrow stretch.

"God..." Kobayashi murmured, even though he wasn't a Christian.

The shelling lasted for ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes. The French positions were completely engulfed in smoke and flames. Imamura saw a severed arm, blown off by the bomb, hanging from the barbed wire not far away, its fingers still twitching nervously.

"Ready!" Sergeant Yoshida suddenly growled.

The artillery barrage began to extend. The barrage slowly moved deeper into the French positions, clearing a path for the infantry to advance. This was a classic infantry offensive tactic: artillery plowed the ground, infantry took control.

Three red signal flares rose into the sky, which was not yet fully lit.

"charge--!"

Eight hundred throats roared simultaneously. Imamura was the first to leap out of the trench, charging through the soft mud towards the death zone. Behind him, the entire brigade surged out like a tidal wave.

The first two hundred meters went exceptionally smoothly. The artillery fire had indeed destroyed most of the forward obstacles. Imamura leaped over craters filled with blood-red mud and water. He saw half of a French soldier's body embedded in a collapsed bunker, his eyes still open.

Then the machine guns opened fire.

"Left side! Nine o'clock!" Yoshida shouted as he ran.

Imamura lunged to the ground, bullets grazing his scalp. He looked up and saw a concrete machine gun bunker, undamaged by artillery fire, its firing ports spitting fire. The dozen or so soldiers at the forefront fell like wheat being harvested.

"Grenade launcher!"

Yoshida quickly set up his weapons, and Imamura loaded the grenades. With a muffled "bang," the grenades arced through the air and exploded five meters in front of the machine gun bunker, kicking up only a cloud of dust.

"Too far! Move forward fifty meters!"

They crawled forward. Bullets thudded into the surrounding dirt. Kobayashi followed behind them, his face pale but his movements still relatively agile.

"Corporal! There's a machine gun on the right too!"

Imamura turned his head, and sure enough, another firing position on his right also began firing. Crossfire. They were pinned down in this open area.

"Demolition Team!" came the company commander's shout from behind.

Three soldiers carrying demolition charges charged forward, crouching low. The first was hit and fell twenty meters away, the charge rolling to the side. The second continued forward, struck in the thigh, and screamed as he rolled into a crater. The third—

"Cover him!" Imamura raised his gun and aimed at the machine gun firing port, even though he knew that rifle bullets couldn't penetrate concrete.

The entire squad opened fire. The burst of fire attracted the attention of the French gunners. The demolition expert used those precious few seconds to rush to the barbed wire, pull the fuse, and roll into a nearby crater.

Boom!