Part 2/12:
The recent week in the Western Front revolved around the ongoing Battle of Verdun, where German forces managed to seize the fortress after months of brutal fighting. French soldiers endured ghastly conditions in underground tunnels, war trenches filled with the stench of rotting corpses. Their last days in the fortress were marked by relentless artillery bombardments and poison gas attacks, which led to severe dehydration—only 12 gallons of water remained inside the fort, and 600 survivors were taken prisoner.