Chapter 530 They tried to cover up everything

The British casualties have actually been transmitted to France from Britain and even Germany.

But the French people are not very interested in these.

What does the number of British casualties have to do with France?

Many people do not say it, but they are gloating in their hearts: it is better for more British people to die, which can reflect the greatness and pride of France.

But of course, this is only the idea of ​​a "small number" of people. Most people and the mainstream media believe that this news is a rumor deliberately released by the Germans in order to undermine the morale and confidence of the Allies.

Even if a large number of wounded soldiers were sent back from the front line, causing the medical system to almost collapse, they still believed it was so.

They have another set of their own sayings:

"War is always deadly. We have such heavy casualties, the enemy's casualties must be greater than ours!"

"War is like this, it consumes human lives, it depends on who can hold on to the end."

"We can't compromise or give up, we must fully support our army!"

...

In this era when television has not yet been invented, radio has not yet been popularized, and the media mainly relies on newspapers, information is spread more by word of mouth. If the upper echelons of the country want to deliberately conceal it, it is difficult for people to know what is happening on the battlefield.

Although the surviving wounded are saying one by one:

"The front line has suffered heavy casualties, and there are dead people everywhere."

"The enemy's firepower is very strong, we can't rush up at all."

"All the people in my unit died, and only a few of us came back!"

...

But they are individual cases, all of them are individual cases, not the whole and there is no exact number. The government has not announced the exact number.

If this continues, the "massacre" on the Somme battlefield is likely to be concealed until a few months later, more than 600,000 people have been sacrificed but only a negligible victory has been won.

By then, the casualty figures will be covered up by the cheers of victory!

But this was broken by the appearance of the new British tanks.

In order to chase the news, newspapers paid a high price to buy the latest and most complete information from soldiers, and some reporters risked their lives to sneak into medical and logistics, and even carried stretchers, just to take a photo of the new tank at the front line.

However, the facts they got shocked everyone: there was no victory at all, all the tank wreckage was on the original front line, and there were countless corpses. The British army did not move forward, even if it was just a small step.

French newspapers had no need to hide for the British, and real battlefield photos soon appeared on the front page of major newspapers.

"Morning Post": "Unbelievable, this is simply hell. The war has been going on for more than a year. We have taken many battlefield scenes, but this is the first time we have seen such a massacre!"

It was accompanied by a picture of dead bodies on the ground and tank wreckage in the distance.

"Le Petit Paris Daily": "It's terrible! Is this a war? Or a one-sided massacre? However, the soldiers are still charging towards the enemy's defense line under orders. I'm not sure if this is wise, nor do I know what tactics this is, but I know it's meaningless!"

Accompanied by a photo of British soldiers charging hard in the hail of bullets.

"Le Figaro": "We would rather this be a contest between gentlemen, but what we see is the fragility and meanness of life. Thousands of soldiers are dying here without dignity."

Accompanied by a close-up of a corpse lying in a no-man's land. He is rotting and swelling. The flesh on his face has been partially eaten by moles, revealing the white bones, and his belly is bulging high.

A note is written in small words under the picture:

After a person dies, the decomposition of microorganisms in the body will produce a large amount of gas. If these gases cannot be discharged normally, they will accumulate in the body, causing the abdomen to bulge. Soon it will explode, and the rotten matter in the abdomen will splash everywhere.

The front-line soldiers call this phenomenon corpse explosion. They are used to it. If there is no artillery bombing in the dead of night, the sound of corpse explosion will come one after another.

Le Figaro is a newspaper for the nobility. The nobles got up early in the morning, drank coffee leisurely in their pajamas, and picked up the newspaper while enjoying a fine breakfast, but they saw such pictures and these notes.

They even felt the exploding filth splashing into their food. The coffee and sauce were black, and there was thick, strip-shaped, steaming chocolate.

Le Merit wisely chose not to be the first to do so. It still popularized how to avoid amputation due to "trench foot" in the wet and waterlogged trenches.

However, this seemed to be of little use. Many people deliberately got "trench foot" because the horror of the front line was far beyond amputation.

The reporters were not fools. They quickly thought:

On the same front, if the British suffered such heavy casualties, did it mean that the French casualties were similar?

If the British concealed the truth, was Nivelle doing the same thing?

So naturally, the situation of the French position was also photographed, which was comparable to that of the British.

The point is that after paying such heavy casualties, there was no progress on the front line.

People understood:

"They are lying, they are trying to cover up everything."

"There has never been any German tricks, the Germans are telling the truth!"

"They are just trying to cover up their incompetence, the soldiers are dying meaninglessly and without dignity, they are murderers!"

...

People and celebrities have demanded that the French government disclose the casualty data and the true situation on the battlefield. The government organized a parliamentary discussion, and the parliament, under pressure, forced the military to do so.

Finally, the ball was kicked to the feet of French Commander-in-Chief Nivelle.

…

On the south bank of the Somme, Nivelle, who was commanding at the front, was in a dilemma when he saw the telegram sent by the government.

This is not a problem of French casualties.

The French casualties were not large, with only more than 20,000 casualties in a week, which is nothing.

(Note: The French army did not invest many troops in the Battle of the Somme, and the casualties were mainly British)

The problem is that before the war, he told everyone that victory would be achieved in just a few days, and kept boasting that the front line was winning, but now there is no progress.

He knew what it meant after this was exposed.

The position of commander-in-chief that he had worked hard to get might not be kept, and he might be expelled from the army like Joffre, after all, he would be responsible for the casualties in this futile effort.

No, victory must be achieved, Nivelle thought, only in this way can he give an explanation to the parliament and the people!

But how can victory be achieved?

This may be easy for Charles, but it is an unattainable dream for others!

Nivelle suddenly thought: I am the commander-in-chief of the French army, why not let Charles come to the rescue? It is the British business to compete with Charles, I must at least pass this hurdle!

Direct transfer may be too sensitive, which is both detrimental to one's status and face.

Using the parliament may be a good choice!