The sounds of artillery, their shells turning men into reduced piles of unrecognizable flesh and bones. The crack of the rifles, the bullets piercing the skulls of those unfortunate. The rattle of the machine guns, cutting down those in its path like a scythe cutting down wheat. The screams of soldiers, each one worse than the last. In the besieged, burning, barren wastes of Verdun, Captain Antoine Villeneuve ordered his men to maintain their positions and to put the Germans under constant fire. They had already lost many men tenfold. Their Renault tanks, all destroyed or trapped in the mud. Morale amongst the men was low. The trenches proved to be hell for the men. Mud everywhere, the corpses of their allies everywhere, many with their arms and legs gone. Spent bullets were all over the mud. Sleep was almost non existent, as the artillery and pure fear did not allow the men to sleep. The thick black smoke of the surrounding forest burning did nothing but make it difficult for the men to breathe and see. Villeneuve needed the men to stay focused but he too knew that the chances of them winning would be slim. They would not last much longer, nor would the Germans. He too knew that their supplies were running low. He called upon the men to rally around him for a plan.
"Men! Come forth and hear me! We may be pinned down. We may not have a chance of driving the damned Germans out! But we. Will. Hold. This. Position! Fix bayonets!"
The sheer power in the voice of Villeneuve was enough to encourage the men. They knew that if they were going to die, they would die for France. As they began to fix the bayonets, Villeneuve stood by ready to signal the men. As the men were ready, Villeneuve screamed,
"ILS NE PASSERONT PAS!"
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Hell in Verdun
ActionIn the Battle of Verdun, a French battalion battles the Imperial German Army. On the verge of defeat, the Germans unleash a new gas. It goes awry. The gas not only kills the men affected by it but makes them come back, but not in any good way. It de...
