"Where are we?" Called out the voice on the dark road. "No idea but you need to keep your voice down. You don't want those damned hun to hear us do you?" A squad of French imperial soldiers slug along a muddy farm road in the middle of a warm September night, they are on the "highway mans treck" a 60 mile stretch of backroads and between the 50th imperial army group and the 180th army group holding out in Verdun. "Keep moving" cries a sergeant as they pass through the trees. In the distance firelight can be seen and music is heard. "Damned Huns!" Says a corporal, "how are we to get through?" He continued. "Like we always have." Replied the sergeant, "each of us is carrying double supplies one set for us the other for our comrades in Verdun. Shear will, that's how boys!". The men continued to slink their way through the marshy back roads between the German picket positions. For three months now the Germans had besieged Verdun and for three months the French had been suppling Verdun this way. They key to Verdun was it was the only thing holding the Germans last fatal push on Paris, currently the muse sector was one continuous front line but in the eastern borderland with France the Germans had the French fighting a war of movement, having caught the French forts off guard.
After several more hours the soldiers arrived at the rear line of the fortress city and exchanged supplies and news. "Did you boys here about the Soviet front?" The soldiers they were suppling looked in a mix of surprise and the look of disgust. "We haven't heard from the Soviet front but we are much more interested im knowing how the fighting around Paris is going." They laughed and talked, "well they haven't been able to lay siege to the place yet which is good. But the real news is out in the east!" Said the private, "the soviets have had a shake up. Old kat is on his ass and some new general has taken charge in the south. His name is chatenov or something like that. And he's actually good, under his command they've already go the Austrians close to Budapest and Vienna." This did. give the soldiers a momentary glimpse of hope. In the distance the thunder of another German barrage was picking up. "Good luck to you boys, we got orders to ship out for the coast so we probably won't see you again, the war ministers agreed to give the emperor a few more divisions to relieve Paris." The men stared gave a salute and went their separate ways, with dawn just starting to peer in the distance.
The next day the whole army was on trains heading north. Their job was to punch a hole in the German lines to force them out of France or to at least force them to abandon their attempts to seize Paris. It was late September 1914.
YOU ARE READING
The steel front: wwi
Historical FictionThe map of Europe had remained virtually unchanged since napoleon. As tensions boil over a new European war breaks out. Follow these characters as they love through the war to end all wars.
