Somme River Meat Grinder
The most brutal battle of World War I was Verdun, known as the "Verdun Meat Grinder" by later generations because millions of people died on the 15 kilometer battlefield. However, there was another battle with more casualties than it, and its nickname was Hell on Earth, which was the Battle of the Somme, also the most brutal positional battle of World War I. In this battle, the casualties on both sides reached unprecedented heights, and it was also World War II.
Somme River
On February 21, 1916, German and French troops opened fire at Verdun. In order to make France shed its last drop of blood here, Germany invested a large number of troops, putting France at a disadvantage on the battlefield. France was eager to change this situation, so they made a decision to launch an attack on the German army on the Somme River in order to acquire land. The Germans claim to have established the strongest position here. Under normal circumstances, for this tough guy, according to the Chinese understanding, we would attack the weakest point of the German army, and for this tough guy, we mostly adopt the principle of encirclement rather than combat. For specific examples, refer to Changchun Liberation. But the Anglo French coalition must uphold the spirit of chivalry and attack the toughest areas of the German army. Moreover, if the German defense line can be successfully breached, the war will enter the stage of mobile warfare and also relieve the pressure on Verdun. So, on June 24, 1916, the Battle of the Somme began. This battle was initiated by the Anglo French coalition. The original plan was for the French army to be the main force, but most of the French army was limited to Verdun, at a disadvantage, and it was even more impossible to mobilize the main force. The main force of the attack had to be borne by the British army, commanded by General Foucault of France. The original plan of the Anglo French coalition was to deploy 39 divisions in this major offensive. As the war escalated, the number of German troops on the other side increased to 86, so three fortified positions and multiple layers of barbed wire were built.
On June 24, 1916, the Anglo French coalition began bombing German land acquisition. This bombing lasted for seven days. For the first time, the German army was bombed beyond recognition, with all ground defenses destroyed. On the eve of the general attack, the Anglo French coalition even climbed out of the trenches to watch the flashing of artillery fire on the German positions, full of confidence in tomorrow's attack. They firmly believe that under such bombardment, the reality is not as it seems. The German defense line has underground fortifications, and they are all safely hiding there. On the morning of July 1st, the roar of shell explosions ceased, the smoke dispersed, and the German positions fell silent. The British army launched an attack north of the Somme River, while the French army launched an attack south of the Somme River at the same time. The attack started very smoothly, and the French and British forces in the main direction did not encounter much strong resistance, quickly occupying the first place. At this moment, the left wing of the British army encountered the German army. Unlike other attacking directions, they kicked off the iron plate. The British army has been advancing in a closely arranged formation with a highly concentrated distribution of personnel. In addition, with each soldier carrying heavy loads, the pace of progress is naturally very slow. This was a common infantry crowd tactic at that time. Under normal circumstances, using this tactic is not a big deal. Unfortunately, they encountered the secret weapon of the German army - the Maxim machine gun.
The turning point of war
This is the world's first weapon that can fire continuously and automatically, with a firing rate exceeding 600 rounds per minute. Prior to this, the previous wars were all non automatic instruments that needed to be manually replaced, one of which needed to be replaced. This kind of equipment greatly limited the bloody level of war, and the appearance of Maxim made the bloody level of war suddenly full. The British army's sea of people tactic allowed Maxim to use all his skills, and the empty space in front of the German position instantly turned into a Shura Field. Countless British soldiers fell under the strafing of Maxim. On the first day of the battle, 60000 British soldiers died under strafing, harvesting the lives of the Anglo French coalition like autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves, hence the name - Widow Maker. July 1, 1916 also became the 'darkest day in British military history'.
After making such great sacrifices, the Anglo French coalition broke through the German army's second position, and even some of the German defense positions were successfully captured by the French army. However, afterwards, it was difficult for the French army to advance further. The German army continuously mobilized troops to reinforce existing fortifications, and the two sides began to be deadlocked, with the battle still ongoing. The Anglo French coalition certainly doesn't want to delay. In mid to late July, they launched another attack and even broke through the third position at one point. The German side is also constantly strengthening its military forces. The original military advantage of the Anglo French coalition began to decline, and internal decision-making within the coalition began to diverge. Both Britain and France hold their own views on principles and methods of warfare. Without clear operational principles, the leadership is at both ends. No one can stand up and command the battle, so it is naturally impossible to launch any advantageous attack. In early September, the Anglo French coalition finally reached an agreement to launch another attack on the German army. On September 3rd, a total of 1900 artillery pieces were aimed at German positions, with countless shells whistling and washing away the unrecognizable positions. In addition, they also deployed a large number of planes to crazily attack the remaining fortifications. After the indiscriminate bombing, the battle between the two sides was unprecedentedly fierce. Countless bodies lay on the ground, and even the soil was stained red with the blood of soldiers. As far as I can see, there is almost no flat ground, and it is filled with artillery craters. Both sides are competing for positions, and some important positions will change hands repeatedly, while Maxim remains the main force of the German army, steadily harvesting enemy lives.
The second appearance of the new weapon
In this battle, the British army was defeated by the enemy's new weapons. After suffering heavy casualties, the British also decided to deploy new weapons on the battlefield. On September 15th, the bombing arrived as scheduled, and the German army numbly hid in the bunker. After the bombing, they skillfully climbed out of the cover, set up a Maxim, and prepared to face the enemy's infantry charge. But this time, the infantry did not charge, and more than a dozen steel monsters appeared. With a loud roar, they arrived at the German position. Only then did the Germans see the appearance of this monster clearly. He looks very strange. The entire process is covered with armored steel plates. The Germans quickly set up their horse fiddle and began shooting, but the bullets only left a trace on it. He continued, completely ignoring these attacks, crushing the barbed wire in front of the battlefield, crushing the remaining fortifications, and firing wildly on the battlefield. This time, the frenzied harvesting turned into Germans, and the frightened Germans had no snake gall to resist. The power of tanks in land warfare is enormous. With the support of tanks, the British army advanced to four to five kilometers within five hours. Compared to the usually fierce tug of war, this speed can be said to have made significant progress. Although the British army had tanks, they were unable to stand undefeated on the battlefield. After autumn, the Somme River begins to rain and the roads become muddy. Fog often pervades the battlefield, making battles difficult. In mid November, the weather worsened and both sides fought to the end. The Battle of the Somme has finally come to an end.
From June 24th to November 18th, lasting more than 100 days, the casualties reached over 1.3 million, including 450000 British soldiers, 340000 French soldiers, and nearly 540000 German soldiers. The Battle of Suhe was the largest and most brutal positional battle of World War I. The bloody level of this battle was directly filled by Maxim, and the era of human wave tactics came to an end here. The addition of new weapons on the battlefield also led to such large-scale casualties. Although the Anglo French coalition failed to break through the German defense line, it also played a certain role in restraining the German army in Verdun, and the dominance of the war gradually shifted from Germany to the hands of the Allies.
Battlefield King Maxim
This battle of heavenly punishment is a huge cry. Instead of discussing the ultimate victory or defeat of this war, more people have turned their attention to the newcomer in this battle - Maxim.
The Battle of Soho was Maxim's debut, which made him famous in World War I and became a nightmare for infantry. It was the weapon with the highest casualties in both World Wars, and could easily harvest the lives of local trench and bunker infantry through "beyond shooting". A post-war surviving veteran recalled that a British soldier beside him was shot in the scapula and punched from the wrist. People are fleeing like raindrops, but it's useless. At that time, the Maxim was the first automatic weapon in history. Its caliber is about 11.43 millimeters and its total weight is 27.2 kilograms. It adopts short rear seat automatic mode and features a cooling system. The initial ammunition supply mode was 333 rounds, supplied by a 6.4-meter-long canvas bag. The theoretical firing rate is 600 rounds per minute. When Li Hongzhang, a prominent minister of the Qing Dynasty, first met Maxim, he only asked one question: every minute. And then there was no more, because he knew that according to the financial situation of the Qing Dynasty at that time, he couldn't afford to support this money burning guy.
Maxim's shooting system is adjustable, divided into single shot and combo shots, and the shooting percentage of combo shots can also be adjusted. When shooting slowly, it can be controlled at 100 shots per minute. At that time, the overall structure of shooting was very complex, and its water cooling pipes were extremely bulky, resulting in poor cooling effects, to the extent that many shooters chose to urinate to cool down after shooting. Compared with other parallel weapons of the same period, the Maxim is truly automated, and it is precisely because of its complex mechanical structure that it has achieved full automation. In theory, shooters only need to complete three steps: aiming, pulling the trigger, and reloading. The Maxim can unlock almost simultaneously through some mechanisms inside the body. At almost the same time, the entire fuselage retreats, and some designed components transfer some energy to the fuselage, completing the shell extraction and ejection actions, thereby driving the ammunition supply mechanism to compress nearby springs and re-enter under the action of the springs. If the second shell is locked and fired again, with a firing rate of 600 rounds per minute, it needs to be repeated more than ten times per second. The maximum firing rate of manual weapons during the same period was only six to eight rounds per minute. Its appearance did indeed change the form of war, for soldiers on the battlefield. The appearance of Maxim made the stormtroopers lined up in a row look like leeks in the field, and at this moment, Maxim also had the first title of "Death Sickle".
In the Battle of the Somme, in addition to high shooting speed, the winning factor that truly helped the German army create this miracle was "beyond shooting". What is Beyond Photography? In the prolonged trench warfare, the Germans invented this terrible tactic. Under the guidance of front-line observers, they use maps and continuously measured observation data to command direct aerial shooting. The bullets spread out in an elliptical shape and had tremendous power within a distance of four kilometers. According to the soldiers at the time, even if they were lying down or in cover, bullets could still penetrate. This tactic is called the transcendental shooting method, and the shooting effect is often better than artillery shooting. The transcendental shooting method is similar to the ejection of ancient bows and arrows. It will raise the exit of Maxim by one foot. Note that it is one foot, not one inch. It was shot at a high elevation angle and projected onto enemy positions at an angle of 30-45 degrees. The trajectory of a projectile is a large parabolic curve, capable of shooting up to four kilometers away. The bullet actually fell from the sky at the finish line, like rain. The falling bullets can kill people in the trenches
With the application of the Internet and the progress of science and technology, today's weapon level has been greatly improved compared with the previous World War I and World War II. It can be said that the weapons of the two periods are not of the same level at all. Nowadays, intelligent military weapons are ubiquitous, and their development potential cannot be underestimated. Maxim, the former king, is naturally not worth mentioning in the face of modern weapons. But the value of history often lies not in whether it has been surpassed by future generations, but in whether it is an invincible king under the conditions of the past era, creating the peak of that era and leading the fashion of that era. It can be said that Maxim's outstanding performance on the battlefield opened up a new situation in the war at that time, and the Battle of the Somme became an unforgettable battle for future generations, having a significant and far-reaching impact on the development of world military affairs.