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Trench warfare.

I believe it is the worst form of warfare devised by humanity.

Of course, I am not a philanthropist, and even less so a human rights activist who sings praises of mankind. It’s just a waste.

Geniuses who could bring about countless innovations are reduced to mere numbers in reports, disappearing into history.

But I know how to use this worst form of warfare in the best way possible.

It is to force the enemy to wage the worst kind of war.

And the enemies of 1915 will wage the worst kind of war.

The trench lines in the highlands, formed even at the cost of relinquishing some territory, will later be known as the ‘Roman Wall.’

I smiled as I looked at the long line stretched out on the map.

The Roman Wall.

A long trench line stretching from the fortress lines of the Alps to the end of the North Sea.

In fact, this trench line was quite controversial within the War Department when construction first began.

The reason was as follows:

“What kind of idiot builds a defensive line across the entire border?”

It wasn’t that the generals of this era were too foolish to build trench lines. In their eyes, trench warfare, with its long defensive lines and the constant grinding of manpower to gain and defend every inch of land, was, to put it kindly, conservative, and to put it harshly, a ‘failed’ tactic.

After all, what is the essence of tactics? Isn’t it to inflict maximum damage on the enemy with minimal losses?

But trench warfare, where both sides happily turned their precious manpower into minced meat, was considered the epitome of inefficiency.

Of course, as I said, this type of trench warfare was not unprecedented.

The American Civil War was one example, as was the Russo-Japanese War.

But to the Imperial Army generals, it seemed like a failed tactic.

It seemed like the worst outcome produced by foolish Orientals and colonials with weak minds.

They believed that they, armed with sharp minds, and the War Department, filled with the best brains on the continent, could surely produce different results.

But Yulia, the emperor, put a stop to their thoughts.

Block the west with a defensive war as much as possible, and eliminate the relatively weaker countries first.

It was the moment when the Empire’s grand strategy shifted from a quick decisive battle to shortening the front lines.

Of course, no Imperial Army officers objected to this order. Although it wasn’t very manly… no, to be precise, it was a ‘not very Imperial grand strategy,’ it wasn’t a big problem, and it was a safe grand strategy.

However… the order to insist on the highlands even while abandoning some territory, and to pour astronomical amounts of materials, including concrete, to form trench lines, was simply incomprehensible.

Of course, with the support of the Quartermaster General and the princes of the vassal states, and the support of some generals who argued that the lessons of the Russo-Japanese War should be accepted, and the support of General Konrad, who was like the elder statesman of the Imperial Army, who said that if we were going to do it, we should do it properly, it proceeded precariously, like walking on thin ice.

When they actually heard the reason why she had to create this type of defensive line, it wasn’t wrong.

Of course, there were still generals who were unhappy with her orders.

To the extent that generals dissatisfied with the shortening of the front lines secretly gathered and devised a truly Imperial plan: ‘After blocking the enemy’s attack at a precarious level just once, argue that it is difficult to maintain the current position and immediately start a mobile war.’

And their thoughts were shattered in an instant.

Of course, the power of machine guns itself was already known from the Italian Front and the Siege of the Warsaw Royal Palace.

However, the results of the Italian Front were seen as a result of the Savoy-Two Sicilies kingdom being a weak country attacking a defensive line formed along a river, and the Siege of the Warsaw Royal Palace was seen as a result of recklessly charging the Teutonic Knights, organized for close combat, into the highlands.

Rather, they brought the results of the East Prussian campaign, the Yugoslav Front, and the ‘Public Order Operations’ in Poland, and were convinced that the future battlefield would also be a short, decisive battle centered on large-scale maneuvers and encirclements, just like the existing ones.

But the first engagement on the Western Front overturned everyone’s expectations.

Dududududu…

The machine guns fired.

Taktaktaktak…

The number of zeros recorded in the report gradually increased.

The hell called trench warfare began to be etched into the eyes of the Imperial Army generals.

The French and Imperial armies disliked each other, but at the same time, they recognized each other as rivals.

That’s because the two countries have fought each other evenly for a long time, hundreds of years. Ignoring such a country was the same as belittling themselves as trash who had fought evenly with trash for hundreds of years.

Therefore, the French army inwardly ‘expected’ the tactics that the Imperial army would show in this war. They inwardly expected what kind of tactics they would show this time, and how they would trample on those tactics.

But… the Imperial army, contrary to their expectations, dug trenches. A long trench stretching from the Alps to the North Sea.

Seeing the Imperial army like that, the French high command laughed at them.

‘Do they really think they can stop our Republican army with such a hastily built defensive line?’

Well, it doesn’t matter. Such a weak defensive line will be easily crushed in the face of the French army’s vigorous offensive spirit.

“Fire!”

Bang! Thump!

Before the offensive began, the French army carried out a preliminary bombardment of the Imperial army for about 3 hours.

Even though it was a trivial trench line, a fortress was a fortress. They judged that it wouldn’t be bad to weaken the enemy’s defensive line in advance with bombardment.

And 3 hours later, the French Republic army judged that the Imperial army’s defensive line had completely collapsed and ordered the soldiers to advance.

Not a charge, but an advance.

Again, this was not the result of the generals of this era being foolish. Logically, hundreds of Field Guns had poured hundreds of thousands of shells for 3 hours. The Imperial army’s trench line, the machine gun nests, everything should have been reduced to a handful of dust and scattered.

Such a complacent atmosphere in the upper echelons was transmitted to the soldiers at the front lines. Some French soldiers were even marching towards the Imperial army’s trench line and chatting.

And they soon paid the price for that complacency with blood.

Contrary to the French army’s expectations, the Imperial army’s defensive line did not collapse. The soft soil unique to Western Europe absorbed most of the impact of the shells.

Contrary to the French army’s expectations, the Imperial army was not depleted. They were hiding in bunkers built behind the lines while the French army’s bombardment continued.

Contrary to the French army’s expectations, the no-man’s land between the Roman Wall and the French army’s positions was filled with the blood of French youths.

“Fire.”

Dududududududu….

The machine guns began to spew fire from the machine gun nests. The French army’s blue and red uniforms, rather than instilling pride in the French, made the French easy targets even in the hazy fog.

The youths who were supposed to lead modern civilization in the future began to fall helplessly in front of the epitome of modern civilization.

In just tens of minutes after the start of the engagement, tens of thousands of French youths died. Not hundreds, not thousands, but tens of thousands.

French Army Commander-in-Chief, General Joseph Joffre, had no choice but to accept the results of the first engagement with trembling hands due to this tragic result.

“…Only the people I am about to call will remain. Dubail, Foch, Maunoury.”

They were all the commanders of the 1st Army, the Alsace Army, and the Lorraine Army, who were in charge of the main attack in this offensive.

All the generals except them hesitantly left the headquarters.

Click. As the door closed, Joffre sighed once. And.

Thump thump thump thump!!

“Non! Non! Non! Non!!!”

He pounded the desk with a red face.

“It was an order! Retaking Alsace-Lorraine from the German bastards was an order! And yet! How dare you bring me this as a result!!!”

Tududuk!

He threw his pen away in annoyance.

“They’re all trash! They’re just trash who are more helpful to the enemy than Imperial army spies!”

“Your Excellency! With all due respect, our French army fought to the best of our ability. But to dismiss the efforts of our people as trash…”

“1mm! If you had succeeded in pushing the Imperial army’s defensive line by even 1mm, I wouldn’t have treated you like trash! But what did you bring me?!”

The generals who were about to retort shut their mouths.

“Failure to break through! Failure to break through! Only failure to break through! All trash! Just useless stars!”

After that, his curses continued for hours. Even in that time, the French army at the front lines continued to die.

Nevertheless, no meaningful changes occurred on the front lines.

Today, too, there was nothing unusual on the Western Front.