In the world of 1916, the Chinese Civil War and the war between China and Japan, as well as the subsequent purge by the People's Party, resulted in nearly a million casualties in East Asia. At the western end of the World Island, the European war also continued its brutal bloodbath.

At the beginning of the year, Chen Ke exhausted all means and, with the help of American financial groups, sent 700 German soldiers back to Germany. The American financial group helping the People's Party asked the People's Party representative a question, "What use is there in sending 700 people back to Germany?"

The People's Party representative replied: "We also want to establish relations with Germany after the war. At any rate, there will always be a few left out of the 700 after they arrive. Perhaps among these survivors, there might be some who are willing to help the People's Party make connections and get to know the prominent figures of post-war Germany."

Running connections is not a unique characteristic of China; it is the same in countries all over the world, just that the forms of expression are different. The social status of German soldiers is relatively high, and having officers to help would indeed be of great benefit. Compared to detaining German prisoners in China, the latter option of paying a certain price to prepare for future connections carried greater risk, but the potential returns after success were also greater. The American side also investigated the situation of these German soldiers and found that they had no special mission. After all, the distance between China and Germany made cooperation between the two countries seem extremely unlikely. In the end, the American financial group decided to help.

This was originally a small matter. There were quite a few German immigrants in the United States, and it was not rare for descendants of Germans to return to Germany to fight during World War I. So the Americans didn't think much about it at all.

In the summer of the Battle of Verdun, when the German front line adopted tactics on two directions that were vastly different from previous battle models, the Americans simply did not treat the subtle changes therein and the actions of the People's Party as anything significant.

In early 1916, the German Imperial Command decided to shift its strategic focus westward. Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn set the strike target at the famous fortress of Verdun in France. Verdun was a salient in the Anglo-French line; it was like a protruding sharp tooth, posing a serious threat to the flank of the German army penetrating into northern France. Germany and France had clashed here many times, but the German army had failed to capture the fortress. If the German army could capture Verdun in one fell swoop this time, it would surely deal a heavy blow to French morale. At the same time, occupying Verdun would open up the German army's path to Paris. Once Paris was occupied, France would collapse on its own, and the remaining British and Russian armies would not be enough to be feared.

However, in the First World War, the Western Front in Europe had massed artillery clusters unprecedented in human history and continuous trench defense lines. Neither the Entente nor the Central Powers lacked firepower, or even manpower. What they lacked was the mobility and method to break through the enemy's defense lines.

The Battle of Verdun was fought from February to June 1916. Almost every inch of land was bombarded by artillery fire, and almost every inch of land had people attempting to dig trenches or successfully digging trenches. The German army paid a heavy price for its difficult advance. On June 22, the German army used poison gas warfare on a large scale for the first time in human history. Poison gas warfare had a certain effect, easily pushing the battle line a few kilometers. This was a huge success on the battlefield of the terrifying trench warfare meat grinder, but it failed to achieve a breakthrough in the true sense.

In another direction, a German division spontaneously adopted completely new breakthrough tactics. The German infantry division did not adopt the previous tactic of artillery coverage followed by infantry charges. This time, the artillery bombardment changed from violent full-coverage fire to continuous suppression fire. This kind of attack was very dangerous. It wasn't about the threat to the enemy, but because the European battlefield of WWI gathered the world's largest artillery groups. Continuous shelling could easily expose one's own position, causing the artillery position to be shelled by enemy artillery.

The purpose of the German continuous shelling was to disrupt the communications and command of the enemy's defense lines. The real highlight was the tactics of this division. They did not attack in a line. The entire division was divided into three assault directions. The assault teams at the very front were mainly small combat groups, equipped with light machine guns, mortars, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, and hand grenades, looking for the enemy's weak zones and carrying out breakthroughs. After breaking through, the assault troops continued to advance forward. Targets included enemy artillery positions, headquarters, and intersections of communication lines. The remnant enemy forces on the attack route were left to follow-up troops to clean up. On June 22, within half a day of the attack starting, they advanced 8 kilometers at an astonishing speed.

This attack was ultimately defeated by the overwhelming artillery fire of the French army. In order to contain the fierce attack of this German force, when the French found that the situation was becoming irretrievable, they even disregarded the remnant French troops still on the positions and fired more than a hundred thousand shells at this attacking German division within two hours. The Germans were naturally unwilling to give up this 8-kilometer breakthrough depth either. Although no one thought there could be such progress before the battle started, and follow-up artillery preparation was insufficient, Germany still did its best to mobilize firepower to fiercely shoot at the French artillery positions. Within one day, on this breakthrough point three kilometers wide and eight kilometers long, both sides consumed over a million shells in total.

The casualties of the German division that implemented the breakthrough exceeded 80%, and 90% of these casualties were caused by shelling. Finally, this division was withdrawn to the rear for reorganization and rest, and the Battle of Verdun continued to be fought as it was in history.

The change came 3 months later, when the Battle of the Somme was in its most difficult period.

In June 1916, to relieve the pressure on the French army in the Battle of Verdun, the Anglo-French allied forces jointly launched the Battle of the Somme. On July 1, 1916, the British created a "movable and tragic" act of idiocy in the history of human warfare. Starting from June 24, the British and French armies carried out 7 days of artillery preparation. At 7:30 am on July 1, the infantry launched an attack under artillery support. The main attack directions of both Britain and France achieved breakthroughs, but the British left wing attack troops lined up in square formations. The officers' riding boots and caps were polished bright, and the infantry's bayonets flashed with cold light. They just lined up in horizontal lines and launched a charge towards the German trenches in square formations amidst the accompaniment of military band music.

Under the violent fire of German Maxim machine guns and artillery, these British troops were mowed down in patches like wheat. In one day, the British lost 60,000 men.

Of course, the British quickly demonstrated the demeanor of an industrial power. Such idiotic behavior did not appear a second time. Moreover, on September 15, 1916, Britain implemented the first tank attack in human history during the Battle of the Somme. These steel behemoths roared, their thick shells resisting machine gun bullets and even small-caliber artillery shells on the positions. They crushed over barbed wire, crossed trenches, and fiercely strafed German soldiers from a commanding height with the machine guns carried on the tanks. It brought great panic to the German army, breaking through four or five kilometers in one day.

As if to retaliate against the British tank attack, on September 16, 1916, a German corps went to the front line from the rear. This corps was responsible for a battle line ten kilometers wide. Unlike other troops, this corps received personnel from a division that had suffered heavy losses in Verdun three months ago and had to be withdrawn to the rear. Moreover, members of this division held many important positions in this corps.

On September 27, 1916, when the Battle of the Somme fell into a stalemate stage, this corps launched an attack on the British and French armies on the front. Almost exactly the same as the attack three months ago, this corps sent assault teams to lurk in front of the enemy under the cover of night, cut the barbed wire, and launched a sudden attack before dawn. They no longer pursued a full breakthrough, but launched fierce attacks on more than a dozen pre-determined attack points.

These soldiers used light machine guns, flamethrowers, mortars, rifle grenades, and even engineer shovels with great proficiency. They completed the breakthrough within a little over an hour. The follow-up troops of this German corps immediately followed up the attack in column formation, killing their way into the positions of the British and French armies. German artillery shelled Britain and France in the form of a barrage. This corps ignored the rear and flanks, burying their heads and attacking forward continuously.

The main German force followed the path opened up by this corps. They exterminated the British and French "remnant enemies" on the positions, although the number of remnant enemies was far greater than the number eliminated in the previous battle. However, these British and French soldiers had already been divided and surrounded. When subjected to German attacks that were far greater in number than their own side, they could only be annihilated one by one.

The entire battle line width of the Battle of the Somme was only 50 kilometers. The German army advanced eight kilometers in one day on a 10-kilometer battle line width, triggering a German counterattack on the entire battle line. Seeing that the entire battle line was on the verge of collapse, the Anglo-French allied forces used artillery shells to weave a deathly net of firepower. The shelling lasted for a whole day. Coupled with the use of tank troops to implement counterattacks, they managed to maintain the situation from deteriorating further after paying a huge price in manpower and consumption of weapons and ammunition.

After a day, on the entire 50-kilometer wide battle line, the Anglo-French allied forces were beaten back five kilometers, and the furthest attack distance of the German army reached an unprecedented ten kilometers. The Germans also paid a heavy price. The corps responsible for the attack suffered nearly half casualties and simply disbanded on the spot. Some personnel were incorporated into other troops, and another part of the personnel was transferred back to the rear for reorganization and restructuring.

By the rainy season in November, the Battle of the Somme ended. The Anglo-French allied forces lost 960,000 men. Not only did they not capture the Somme River, but the battle line was pushed back 8 kilometers by the German army. The German army lost 450,000 men.

The Battle of Verdun was still continuing. The French army had already lost 550,000 men in Verdun, and the German army lost 340,000. The fighting was still going on brutally.

By this time, the troop strength of the Anglo-French allied forces had reached rock bottom. The ruling classes of both countries knew very well that if no new forces joined the war, it was unknown whether they could defeat the Central Powers. Both countries would exhaust all their country's troops before seeing victory.

In addition to strongly demanding that Russia immediately implement an attack on Germany to relieve the pressure on Germany in the West, Britain and France both turned their eyes to the whole world, trying to seek new sources of troops. The powers that entered the vision of the two countries were first and foremost the United States, which had always "remained neutral," and secondly, the Chinese People's Party, which had been fighting for the liberation of its own country.

The United States was a supplier to the Entente Powers and had strong industrial capabilities. The latest intelligence from China claimed that the Chinese People's Party had already seized the Northeast, and the Northeast regional warlord Zhang Zuolin fled to Mongolia. A People's Party navy crossed the Qiongzhou Strait and seized the southern Chinese island of Qiongzhou. At this time, the People's Party controlled a vast area from the Northeast to the South China Sea, possessing a population of over two hundred million and an army numbering in the millions.

Especially the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army under the People's Party. The army in this military force displayed combat effectiveness far exceeding that of the Japanese Army. In terms of combat effectiveness alone, it greatly exceeded the upper limit of the cannon fodder troops that Britain and France expected.

Neither the United States nor the People's Party showed any intention of joining the Entente Powers. Especially the People's Party; even at the critical moment of falling out with the British, they consistently emphasized their attitude of unwillingness to join the Entente Powers.

The British could naturally understand the People's Party's thinking. In fact, for decades, they had been facing resistance forces everywhere trying to seek their own country's independence. The goal pursued by the People's Party was not strange to the British at all. At the end of 1916, when the British Empire had almost been bled dry, the issue of this country, China, obtaining its own independence and sovereignty was not a headache for the British at all. Even in the sequence of China issues, the problem that gave the British more of a headache was how to get the Chinese People's Party to accept British war bonds. The Chinese People's Party was not only an opponent of the British but also a supplier of considerable scale to Britain.

So Britain and France quickly reached a consensus. The most important diplomatic work right now was how to get the United States and the Chinese People's Party to join the Entente and provide troops.

Soon, the ministers of Britain and France in the United States and China both received orders from their home countries.