>>6888270That doesn't really tell the whole story. They walked because they were trying a new tactic of "screened artillery" where the men were supposed to be walking a short distance behind an advancing tide of their own artillery, to block site lines from the germans, and clear their defenses. Unfortunately they didn't have enough shells, and they didn't drill enough, so in most cases their artillery was too far forward, too far back, or ran out before they reached the German lines. This is after the Germans had pulled back into positions they had been prepping for months to be better fortified. They had heated bunkers and supply trains that ran right up to the front, and they had similarly booby trapped and fucked up the terrain they had retreated over.
The crazy thing is that those men kept walking, despite the plan not working. Because they knew that if they didn't hit the lines at the same time as their mates a km down the line, then the Germans would be able to send reinforcements from their position.
WW1 is fucking brutal.
