Guest
STORY The Attack of the Dead Men was a battle of World War I that took place at Osowiec Fortress (now northeast Poland), on August 6, 1915. The incident got its name from the bloodied, zombie-like appearance of the Russian combatants after they were bombarded with a mixture of poison gases, chlorine and bromine, by the Germans. Following the gas release, German artillery opened fire on the fortress and barraged fire for their units moving in the attack. The fortress's artillery was initially unable to fire effectively, as it in turn was hit by a gas wave. This was compounded by the simultaneous shelling of the fortress by both conventional shells and chloropicrin shells. More than 1,600 people were killed in the fortress, and the entire garrison was poisoned with varying degrees of severity. Over twelve battalions of the 11th Landwehr Division, making up more than 7,000 men, advanced after the bombardment expecting little resistance. However, they were met at the first defense line by a counter-charge made up of about 100 surviving Russian soldiers of the 13th Company of the 226th Infantry Regiment who started their last bayonet charge. The Germans became panicked by the appearance of the dying, cloth-covered but still fighting Russians, who were coughing up blood and bits of their own lungs, as the hydrochloric acid formed by the mix of the chlorine gas and the moisture in their lungs had begun to dissolve their flesh. The Germans retreated, running so fast they were caught up in their own c-wire traps. The five remaining Russian guns subsequently opened fire on the fleeing Germans. Song by Swedish metal band Sabaton “The Attack of the Dead Men“, from their 2019 album The Great War.
