(Translated EN) The Battle of Somme (English: Battaille de la Somme, French: Bataille de la Somme) was the largest battle of the First World War, which took place from June 24 to November 18, 1916. The coalition forces of Britain and France carried out operations in the Somme region in northern France to break through German defenses and repel them to the French German border. Known as the "Somme Hell" due to its cruelty
Starting from June 24th, the British and French armies conducted a 7-day artillery preparation, and on the morning of July 1st at 7:30 am, infantry launched an attack with artillery support. On that day, both the French army and the British army in the main attacking direction broke through the first German position, but the British left wing made no progress. The British army advanced in a dense formation and suffered severe damage from German machine guns and artillery fire, resulting in nearly 60000 casualties on the first day. The British right wing and the French army occupied the German second position. The German army took advantage of the interval in the opponent's attack to quickly mobilize troops, strengthen deep defense, and carry out counterattacks in some areas.
In the Battle of the Somme River, the German made Maxim heavy machine gun gained popularity and became the creator of the bloody storm. It was a brutal killer on the battlefield of the Somme River. Countless British and French coalition forces fell at the muzzle of the Maxim heavy machine gun, becoming its victims. During the Battle of the Somme River, the British offensive employed the use of progressive barrage as cover, with infantry advancing in a horizontal formation (line tactics). In this battle, the German army used machine guns and artillery to form a powerful defensive firepower in trench warfare, causing the British to consume a large number of infantry, but still unable to successfully capture German positions. At that time, the main weapon of British soldiers, rifles, had limited impact on German positions and could not even counter the powerful firepower of German defenses. Most soldiers were already injured or killed before reaching the front line of the trenches. Afterwards, the British army began attempting to use a new type of weapon - tanks.
The Battle of the Somme was the largest battle of World War I and was known as the "Somme Hell" due to its brutality. In this battle, the coalition forces seized 240 square kilometers of German positions at a huge cost of losing 615000 people. The German army lost 650000 people and was forced to shrink its defenses, temporarily shifting to strategic defense on the western front。(From China Baidu）