As the saying goes, where there are people, there is strife. For the small citizens, this dispute is nothing more than a fierce quarrel. However, for countries, once there is a dispute in multiple countries, it is likely to eventually lead to a big war. For example, the two major wars of the last century were caused by the deep resentment between countries.
So, when it comes to war, which battle is the most tragic? I believe that many friends will think of Verdun for the first time. After all, in this battle, Germany and France invested more than 100 divisions, and the number of casualties on both sides was as high as 750,000. Therefore, many people use the term "meat grinder" to describe the Battle of Verdun. From here, we can also see the scale and intensity of the battle.
However, in addition to Verdun, there was also a battle that was also a "meat grinder", and even the scale of this battle was larger than Verdun, and the battle was more intense than Verdun. It was the Battle of the Somme. According to statistics, in this war, millions of people on both sides participated, and at least 10,000 people died every day. Next, let's review the scene at that time with Xiaobian.
At that time, Britain and France were still relatively strong, and Germany at this time developed rapidly in the field of military industry. Therefore, the three countries directly launched a war without anyone disobeying anyone. Of course, this war was very similar to World War II, Germany took the lead in entering French territory, and Britain and France directly chose joint action in order to defeat Germany.
In 1916, Britain and France took the Somme River as a breakthrough point and took the initiative to attack Germany, and Germany at that time, after learning of this news, directly installed barbed wire on the necessary road of the British and French coalition forces. At the same time, more than 3 million German elites were all on standby. So, how many People were there in the Anglo-French Coalition at that time?
In order to successfully take the Somme, Britain and France directly sent 86 divisions here, and according to the calculation of 30,000 people per division, the two countries put at least 2.58 million troops here. Of course, in addition to the 2.58 million soldiers, the British also carried 3500 heavy artillery and more than 300 aircraft to help.
So, how fierce is this war? Since the Germans were already prepared, the Anglo-French army was in a hurry to march here. So, on the first day of the war, the Anglo-French coalition lost nearly 60,000 men. It is worth noting that this is only the opening statement of the Battle of the Somme. According to statistics, the whole scene lasted for more than 100 days, and the number of deaths on both sides was as high as 1.328 million.
Now, decades have passed, and although all the participants in this war have died, the psychological shadow left by the Somme river has not diminished. So, so far, this place is still full of bones. It's not that people are willing to look at the dead soldiers in the wilderness, but no one has enough courage to step into it again.