Chapter 46 Petain (Two in One)
Pétain rushed to Verdun with his adjutant Céline. The road from Paris to Verdun was only a road that could barely accommodate two trucks running side by side.
The snow was still falling, large flakes of snow were floating down like goose feathers, the road surface began to freeze, and the car's tires kept slipping on the ice.
They were driving at high speed and had to slow down to avoid rolling over. There was a thick layer of frost on the window, and Petain wiped some of it with his hand and looked out.
Pétain leaned against the car window and looked at the scene on the road. The road was very crowded and chaotic, with soldiers going to support Verdun and soldiers withdrawing from Verdun.
The soldiers who came to support were covered with thick snow, their faces were full of fatigue and they walked unsteadily, while the defeated soldiers who retreated were even more dejected, their eyes were dull, and they wandered in the ice and snow like zombies. Their clothes were stained with mud and blood, and their steps were heavy, making a chilling creaking sound on the ice.
There were still many civilians evacuated from Verdun on the road. They lined up in long queues and walked slowly on the road pushing carts loaded with all their belongings.
The carts were piled with pots and pans, worn-out blankets and scattered clothes. The faces of the civilians were full of numbness and fear, and their eyes were blank, as if they could not see any hope ahead.
A mother hugged her baby tightly, using her thin clothes to shield the child from the cold wind. The child's cry was particularly miserable in the snow. The mother's cheeks were red from the cold, her hands were shaking, but she still hugged the baby tightly, her lips trembling slightly, as if praying silently.
The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and the soldiers and civilians who were advancing or retreating were all shivering with cold, and the icy road became more and more slippery. The heavy snow cut into people's faces like a knife, making it almost impossible to open their eyes.
There was frost under the brims of the soldiers' hats, on their eyebrows and eyelashes, and their hands were tightly grasping their weapons, but every step seemed so heavy.
A draft horse pulling a heavy gun slipped on the icy road and fell heavily to the ground, then lay there neighing in pain. A layer of frost formed on the horse's fur, and blood oozed from the place where it fell, forming a bright red on the white snow.
An ambulance full of wounded people was startled by a draft horse that suddenly fell and rushed into the drainage ditch nearby, making the already chaotic road even more chaotic.
The wounded in the ambulance groaned in pain, and the rescuers tried frantically to transfer them to a safe area. The groans of the wounded mixed with the wind and snow sounded particularly miserable.
"General, can we really hold Verdun?" Pétain's adjutant Sérigny looked at the defeated army outside, his eyes full of confusion and uneasiness. He began to doubt whether they could make any difference by going to Verdun.
His voice was trembling, and his hands were clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white from excessive force.
"General, General?" Not getting a response from Pétain, Seligny couldn't help but look to the side and found that Pétain was looking at the soldiers who were shivering with cold and had no fighting spirit on the side of the road, with tears in his eyes.
The grief and resentment in his heart turned into a firm determination at this moment. Petain's eyes were firm, his lips were tightly closed, and his chest was heaving violently with excitement.
"Let's go, let's save Verdun." Pétain withdrew his gaze from the soldiers and said in a firm tone.
His voice was as hard as stone, revealing an unquestionable determination. The atmosphere in the car suddenly became solemn.
Pétain and Cérigny finally arrived at General Verdun's headquarters in Digny.
When Petain pushed open the door of the headquarters, he felt as if he had walked into a mental hospital. Everyone inside was shouting and some were even smashing things in the headquarters, hoping to vent their anger and fear.
The room was filled with harsh noise and a tense atmosphere, and the air was filled with anxiety and despair.
Verdun's commander, General El, was sitting in a chair with his head in his hands, and he seemed to be in a state of collapse. When he saw Pétain standing at the door, he immediately rushed to him and wanted to tell him about the current situation in Verdun.
But his words were incoherent and did not make Pétain understand the current situation at all.
General El's eyes were bloodshot, his lips were cracked, and his expression was desperate. The pressure of Verdun almost made the general insane.
When other people in the headquarters saw Pétain they also rushed up and rushed to report the current situation to him.
But the chiefs of staff in charge of operations under General El seemed to have no idea where the dividing lines between their armies were.
There was no battle map showing the exact position of the troops, and no one knew what orders the headquarters had given to the troops. In the chaos, Petain observed all this calmly, and he knew he had to act quickly.
"Let's go. It seems we need to build another headquarters." Pétain looked coldly at the staff officers who were still chattering, and said to Selini beside him.
His voice was cold and firm, like a sharp sword that cut through the chaotic noise. He slammed the door of the headquarters shut, locking the noisy and completely useless voices inside.
They came to Souilly, a small village straddling the road from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun, and here he met Castelnau.
The houses in this small village are low and dilapidated. The villagers huddle together in the cold wind, their eyes revealing endless fatigue and fear. Most of the windows of the houses are creaking in the wind and snow, and the chimneys on the roofs are emitting curling smoke, making them look particularly shabby.
"You are finally here. Now only you can save Verdun." Castelno looked at Pétain who opened the door and walked in, and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He took out a piece of paper from the table and handed it to Pétain, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
Pétain took the paper, on which was written the historic order to defend Verdun on the right bank of the Meuse River at all costs. From then on, the command of Verdun was officially handed over to Pétain.
After Castelnau left, Petain, as the new commander of Verdun, issued the first order, which was to call the generals stationed on the left and right banks of the Meuse River. His voice was calm and powerful, conveying endless determination and faith through the phone.
"I am General Petain. From now on, I will take over as the commander of Verdun. Tell your troops to hold their positions at all costs. I believe you can do it, and please believe me. You no longer have to sing the Marseillaise and launch a fatal charge forward. You will be accompanied by artillery fire that is enough to win."
"Yes! General Pétain!" With just one phone call, the defense line that had begun to collapse on the front line began to unite again.
Because that was Pétain, and the soldiers on the front line all knew that Pétain was one of the few French generals who treated soldiers as human beings, and as long as he made a promise, he would definitely do it.
After doing all this, Pétain could finally take a break. His adjutant, Serigny, found a local lawyer's house for Pétain to stay.
Although the house was simple, it could at least keep out the wind and rain. The room was simply furnished, with a few yellowed old photos hanging on the wall and old furniture piled up in the corners.
They tried to light a fire in the cold dining room, but no one knew how to do it and the whole room was filled with smoke, so they had to give up.
Pétain made do with the beans left over from the orderlies' dinner, then curled up in an armchair and fell asleep. The cold and exhaustion made him fall into a deep sleep quickly, but the responsibility and pressure in his heart never left. The leather of the armchair was worn out, and Pétain curled up on it, looking extremely lonely.
But something big happened the next day. The newly appointed commander fell ill and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia by the doctor.
The doctor, wearing a heavy coat and with a worried look on his face, whispered to Pétain's adjutant the severity of his illness. Although General Pétain was in good health, he was old after all. He had fought hard in bed last night and traveled in the snow. There was no heating equipment in the resting place. It seemed natural that he would get sick.
In this era when anti-inflammatory drugs had not yet been invented, the condition could not be controlled within two days. He would have to stay in bed for at least five or six days, and there was even a risk of death. The doctor's voice was low and worried, and the atmosphere in the room became even heavier.
……
"Damn it!" Hill angrily tore the newspaper in his hand into pieces.
The newspaper reported that the hero who captured Fort Douaumont was awarded the Blue Max Medal, which represents the highest honor. There was also a photo of von Brandeis wearing the Blue Max Medal and Crown Prince William. In the photo, von Brandeis's face was almost broken by laughter. Fragments of newspapers were floating in the air, as if Hill's anger was spreading in the air. "Okay, don't be angry. I'm not angry, why should you be angry?" Lu Mingfei, who was sitting next to him, said, while he was playing with a Luger P08 pistol in his hand, which was given to him by Crown Prince William two days ago.
The Ruger P08 is very beautifully made and is known as the aristocrat among guns. Lu Mingfei can't put it down. The pistol turns in his hand, and the black gun body flashes a cold light in the sun.
"But, Lieutenant, this is your honor!" Hill shouted indignantly. Hill's face flushed red, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked extremely excited.
Lu Mingfei's military rank was promoted to second lieutenant by Crown Prince William, and he jumped several levels directly from a private to a low-ranking officer. The number of people he could command also increased, from a squad to a platoon.
Prince William said that promoting it too quickly would attract attention, so let’s do it this way for now and continue to promote it when there’s a chance.
Lu Mingfei didn't care so much about how many people he could command. The more people he commanded, the greater the responsibility he would have to bear. He couldn't protect everyone, he just wanted to protect the few friends around him.
"Okay, forget about honor or dishonor. Have you checked everything? We are going to prepare for the attack. How to survive the attack is much more important than honor."
Lu Mingfei called on the newly assigned soldiers to gather around him. The soldiers' eyes were filled with a hint of nervousness and anticipation, and the weapons in their hands flashed with a cold light.
They were about to attack the nearby village of Douaumont, where a regiment of troops was stationed.
The French army once again sent people yesterday to try to retake Fort Douaumont, but now Fort Douaumont has been built into an impregnable fortress by the Prussian army, and they have no way of capturing it.
It is said that the French army sent a regiment to reinforce the village of Douaumont, intending to use Douaumont as a springboard to attack Fort Douaumont again. They must capture Douaumont Village before that regiment arrives and completely control Fort Douaumont.
"All ready!" the soldiers responded in unison, their voices echoing in the air with a reassuring power.
"Then let's go!" Lu Mingfei led his soldiers and the main force to attack Douaumont Village. The main force attacking Douaumont Village this time was the 24th Brandenburg Regiment, which was also the main force in the previous attack on Douaumont Castle.
However, this attack was not as smooth as before, and they encountered stubborn resistance from the French army.
The French deployed extremely terrifying firepower at the entrance to Douaumont. Four machine guns fired continuously at the entrance of the village, and those machine guns were also deployed in the bunker. The muzzles of the machine guns spewed out tongues of fire, and bullets rained down on the attacking soldiers. The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.
The Prussian soldiers who attacked Douaumont fell one after another, and their gray uniforms seemed to have laid a gray carpet on the slope leading to Douaumont. The soldiers fell in a pool of blood, and their groans mixed with the sound of machine gun fire sounded particularly miserable.
The Prussian army launched an artillery attack on the village of Douaumont, but the machine gun positions hidden in the bunkers remained strong, and the artillerymen in the rear might have been drunk, and some shells even fell on their own people.
Lu Mingfei aimed for a long time from a distance before he finally shot down two of the machine guns. The other two were in his blind spot, so they could only run into Douamont Village under the hail of machine gun bullets.
Today should be the day with the heaviest losses for the Prussian army since it launched the attack on Verdun. They left more than 400 bodies at the entrance of Douaumont alone.
The progress became smooth as they entered Douaumont Village. Lu Mingfei relied on the sickle-weasel to find the location of the remaining two machine guns and eliminated them with two grenades. The large Prussian force began to enter Douaumont Village.
Just when they were about to completely capture the village of Douaumont, French reinforcements arrived, and the strength of a new regiment completely reversed the situation.
The area originally captured by them was once again recaptured by the French army. Due to the heavy losses in this attack, the terrifying 420mm cannon was sent to assist them in attacking the village of Douaumont, and a regiment was also dispatched to support them.
At this time, Lu Mingfei was squatting behind a house, panting. The other soldiers followed him, but their number was reduced from more than 40 to more than 20.
Although Lu Mingfei has tried his best to protect everyone, he is not a god after all, and it is impossible for him to really protect everyone. The air around him was filled with smoke and the smell of blood, and the faces of the soldiers were full of fatigue and pain.
"Mr. Lieutenant, what should we do now?" Hill and Paul asked breathlessly.
“Wait…” Lu Mingfei was waiting, waiting for the terrifying cannon to launch an attack.
"Boom!!!" A horrifying roar sounded a few streets away from Lu Mingfei and the others. A one-ton shell turned everything around into ruins.
Lu Mingfei and the others could even feel the ground beneath their feet shaking violently. The huge artillery shells razed the entire village of Douaumont to the ground except for a small area occupied by the Prussian army.
"Now!" The terrifying artillery sound finally stopped, and the French 33rd Regiment that came to support was blown to pieces. Lu Mingfei and his men stepped on the rubble left by the bombardment and began to clear out the surviving French soldiers.
"Captain! Commander! Retreat!"
"You guys retreat, I'll stay and stop them!" Lu Mingfei heard a voice coming from a ruin not far away. Several French soldiers came out from that place. Before he could shoot at the fleeing French soldiers, a series of bullets fired at Lu Mingfei and the others. The ruins turned out to be a machine gun position.
Lu Mingfei quickly pinned several soldiers around him to the ground, then pulled out his pistol and fired in the direction given by the sickle weasel. The machine gun fire stopped, but the few French soldiers who had escaped had also disappeared.
Lu Mingfei was sure that he had hit the machine gunner, but he still detected a faint heartbeat and heavy breathing in the ruins. He led Hill and the others to carefully circle in that direction.
A burly young French officer was lying in the ruins, gasping for breath while holding his chest, obviously having been hit by Lu Mingfei. The French officer looked at Lu Mingfei and his men surrounding him and did not shout for surrender, but just stared at them with unyielding eyes.
"Mr. Lieutenant, what should we do with him? Kill him directly or capture him?" Hill asked from the side.
"Take him away." Lu Mingfei said. He was moved by the young man's eyes. It seemed as if there was a lion hidden in those unyielding eyes.
……
"Ahem... my illness must not be let known to other people, understand... the military morale must not be shaken at this time!" Pétain said weakly to the members of the newly formed headquarters around him while lying on the bed.
His voice was hoarse due to fever, but his tone still revealed unquestionable authority. Petain's face was pale and his breathing was rapid, but his eyes remained firm.
"Yes!" the officers surrounding Pétain shouted in unison, their voices full of respect and determination.
At this time, Pétain's adjutant, Céline, hurriedly opened the door of Pétain's room and handed him a piece of paper. "General, Douaumont Village was lost. Two regiments were crippled there, one of which was the 33rd Regiment."
When he heard about the 33rd Regiment, Pétain immediately understood why Sérigny was so flustered. He used to be the commander of the 33rd Regiment, and that was also the unit where he had stayed the longest.
Pétain took the paper, which contained a list of casualties among the officers of the 33rd Regiment. The name of one of the company commanders caught Pétain's attention.
Charles de Gaulle.
Pétain was deeply impressed by this young man. When he was teaching at the military academy, almost all the students scoffed at his theories, but this young man was different. They would come to every lecture he gave and would come to talk to him after class. Pétain was very optimistic about the young man's future.
"What a pity! We have lost an excellent general." Pétain said in a low voice, with a trace of regret in his eyes. He felt heavy-hearted, as if the burden on his shoulders had become heavier.
I'm sorry that I've been getting busier and busier recently and I don't have time to thank all the friends who gave me tips and votes. I wrote an extra thousand words today as an apology.
(End of this chapter)
