WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 Welcome to the Deep Dive! Imagine you're standing 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:06.019 on the edge of a dense, fortified forest. The 00:00:06.019 --> 00:00:09.119 ground beneath your boots is physically vibrating. 00:00:09.699 --> 00:00:12.439 The noise is so absolute that it creates this 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:15.820 actual pressure in your chest. And you are about 00:00:15.820 --> 00:00:18.440 to step into the largest, undeadliest military 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:20.879 campaign in United States history. It really 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.519 is hard to visualize. It is. Today, we are unpacking 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:26.839 the Meuse -Argonne Offensive. And our mission 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:29.140 here is to cut through the dry dates, the static 00:00:29.140 --> 00:00:31.859 lines on a map, and really get into it. We want 00:00:31.859 --> 00:00:34.679 to understand the sheer, almost incomprehensible 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:37.939 scale of this operation, the absolute logistical 00:00:37.939 --> 00:00:39.960 nightmare of moving entire armies in the mud, 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:43.000 and the brutal human element of a 47 -day battle 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:45.340 that helped shatter the final remnants of World 00:00:45.340 --> 00:00:48.020 War I. Right. It's just a monumental piece of 00:00:48.020 --> 00:00:50.159 history, yet somehow it often gets completely 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:52.439 overshadowed in our popular memory. It really 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:54.810 does get overlooked, which is... It's astonishing 00:00:54.810 --> 00:00:57.270 when you dive into the sheer data of what happened 00:00:57.270 --> 00:00:59.009 out there. I mean, to give you an immediate sense 00:00:59.009 --> 00:01:00.670 of the scale we're dealing with, you really just 00:01:00.670 --> 00:01:02.729 have to look at the opening artillery barrage. 00:01:03.009 --> 00:01:06.650 This is on September 26th, 1918. Right. In just 00:01:06.650 --> 00:01:09.290 the first three hours of this offensive, the 00:01:09.290 --> 00:01:12.890 Allied forces fired more ammunition than both 00:01:12.890 --> 00:01:15.430 sides managed to fire during the entire four 00:01:15.430 --> 00:01:18.129 years of the American Civil War combined. Just 00:01:18.129 --> 00:01:20.549 process that for a second. More ammunition in 00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:23.010 three hours than in four years of the bloodiest 00:01:23.010 --> 00:01:24.829 conflict in American history up to that point. 00:01:25.709 --> 00:01:28.469 The financial cost of that single opening barrage 00:01:28.469 --> 00:01:33.590 was calculated at $180 million. If you adjust 00:01:33.590 --> 00:01:37.010 that to modern currency, you are looking at roughly 00:01:37.010 --> 00:01:40.829 $3 .5 billion. That equates to about $1 million. 00:01:41.230 --> 00:01:44.049 every single minute just raining down and high 00:01:44.049 --> 00:01:46.129 explosives on the front lines. It's unbelievable. 00:01:46.329 --> 00:01:48.549 Imagine burning through the entire gross domestic 00:01:48.549 --> 00:01:51.670 product of a small country before the sun even 00:01:51.670 --> 00:01:54.250 comes up. That's the level of industrial violence 00:01:54.250 --> 00:01:55.590 we're talking about just to kick things off. 00:01:55.739 --> 00:01:58.439 It perfectly sets the stage for the mechanized 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:00.579 reality of this conflict because this wasn't 00:02:00.579 --> 00:02:02.920 just a battle of tactics. You know, it was a 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:06.140 massive collision of national resources, industrial 00:02:06.140 --> 00:02:09.139 output and sheer human endurance. You're throwing 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:11.759 literally everything a modern nation state can 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:14.800 produce into a meat grinder. OK, let's unpack 00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:16.900 this by looking at the pieces actually on the 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:21.159 board. The manpower involved is staggering. On 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:23.599 the allied side, you have an overwhelming wave 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:27.340 of 1 .2 million American soldiers, sailors, and 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:30.139 Marines. Guarding their flank and pushing alongside 00:02:30.139 --> 00:02:34.060 them are 800 ,000 French personnel. And there 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:36.539 is a deeply fascinating lesser -known addition 00:02:36.539 --> 00:02:39.900 here. 850 Siamese personnel were also involved 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:42.680 in the operation. It's this massive multinational 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:45.699 coalition preparing to push forward. What's fascinating 00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:48.150 here is the stark contrast when you look... Across 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:49.969 the trench lines at the German defenders, the 00:02:49.969 --> 00:02:52.229 opposition was entirely composed of German forces, 00:02:52.389 --> 00:02:54.710 specifically from their 5th Army. We're looking 00:02:54.710 --> 00:02:57.710 at roughly 200 ,000 to 450 ,000 troops holding 00:02:57.710 --> 00:03:00.560 the line. A huge numerical disadvantage. Huge. 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:02.860 But that raw number doesn't actually tell the 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:05.860 whole story of their combat readiness. Because 00:03:05.860 --> 00:03:08.120 German divisions at this late stage of the war 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:11.879 were operating at 50 % capacity or less. To put 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:14.680 a fine point on it, the 117th Division, which 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:17.879 was holding a critical sector, had only 3 ,300 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:20.520 men left in its ranks. They were a completely 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:22.659 hollowed out forest. And their psychological 00:03:22.659 --> 00:03:25.080 state was just as fractured as their physical 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.699 ranks. Right. You didn't have a uniform fighting 00:03:27.699 --> 00:03:30.060 spirit across the German lines. Exactly. If you 00:03:30.060 --> 00:03:32.460 look at the German defenders, there's this fascinating 00:03:32.460 --> 00:03:35.419 psychological split based on their previous deployments. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:38.020 The divisions that had recently been transferred 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:40.539 from the Eastern Front came in feeling relatively 00:03:40.539 --> 00:03:43.639 victorious. They had high morale. But the units 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:45.780 who had been grinding it out in the mud and the 00:03:45.780 --> 00:03:48.379 gas of the Western Front for years. They were 00:03:48.379 --> 00:03:50.819 completely broken. Their morale was exceptionally 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:53.840 poor. So you have this depleted, exhausted and 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:56.639 psychologically fractured defense force preparing 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:59.039 to meet a tidal wave of fresh allied troops. 00:03:59.340 --> 00:04:01.319 Getting that allied tidal wave into position, 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:04.159 though, was a logistical miracle in itself because 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:06.479 you don't just magically teleport a million men 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.199 into a forest. No, you definitely don't. The 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.240 logistical prelude was planned by then Colonel 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:15.900 George C. Marshall. He had to manage moving these 00:04:15.900 --> 00:04:18.819 massive American units to the Meuse -Argonne 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:21.519 front immediately after the Battle of San Miguel. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.100 Which had literally just ended. Right. If you 00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:27.500 know your World War I history, San Miguel had 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:31.019 just wrapped up. So moving an entire army under 00:04:31.019 --> 00:04:34.000 the cover of darkness, across muddy, completely 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:36.639 destroyed roads, right into the jumping off points 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.819 for a new offensive. It's a mind -bending puzzle. 00:04:40.110 --> 00:04:42.509 And these American divisions were uniquely structured 00:04:42.509 --> 00:04:45.790 too. Very. They were massive. Up to twice the 00:04:45.790 --> 00:04:47.829 size of the battle depleted Allied divisions, 00:04:48.149 --> 00:04:50.709 boasting 12 battalions per division compared 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:52.910 to the standard nine used by the French, British, 00:04:53.170 --> 00:04:56.250 and Germans. It was an immense injection of American 00:04:56.250 --> 00:04:59.310 manpower. But there's a crucial caveat here regarding 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:01.250 how they were actually equipped to fight. The 00:05:01.250 --> 00:05:04.500 gear. Yeah, the gear. The Americans brought the 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:06.740 bodies and the rifles, but they heavily relied 00:05:06.740 --> 00:05:09.259 on the Allies, primarily the French, for the 00:05:09.259 --> 00:05:11.980 heavy machinery of modern war. For the Meuse 00:05:11.980 --> 00:05:16.279 -Argonne front alone, the Allies provided 2 ,780 00:05:16.279 --> 00:05:20.420 artillery pieces, 840 planes and 380 tanks. So 00:05:20.420 --> 00:05:23.339 almost all the heavy lifting. Right. The United 00:05:23.339 --> 00:05:26.579 States simply did not have the industrial infrastructure 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:29.500 in place yet to supply their own heavy mechanized 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:31.990 weapons on that front. And the composition of 00:05:31.990 --> 00:05:33.949 those armored units is a great example of this 00:05:33.949 --> 00:05:36.829 coalition dynamic. You have American units supported 00:05:36.829 --> 00:05:39.189 by the 1st Tank Brigade, which was led by a man 00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:41.009 who would become a household name in the next 00:05:41.009 --> 00:05:43.329 war. George S. Patton. George S. Patton. They 00:05:43.329 --> 00:05:46.709 were rolling into battle using 127 American crewed 00:05:46.709 --> 00:05:50.089 Renault FT light tanks alongside 28 French crewed 00:05:50.089 --> 00:05:52.870 Schneider medium tanks. You also have other legendary 00:05:52.870 --> 00:05:54.810 units involved, like the Buffalo Soldiers of 00:05:54.810 --> 00:05:57.709 the 92nd and 93rd Divisions. These Black American 00:05:57.709 --> 00:05:59.569 troops were actually attached to and serving 00:05:59.569 --> 00:06:01.879 under French command during the battle, fighting 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:04.180 fiercely alongside French troops. They were deeply 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:06.639 intertwined, and they were all united by a very 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.759 clear three -fold objective. Which was? First, 00:06:09.779 --> 00:06:11.920 they needed to ram right into the Hindenburg 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:14.920 Line, specifically targeting a heavily reinforced 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:18.379 sector known as the Krimhilde Stellung. OK. Second, 00:06:18.779 --> 00:06:20.560 once they broke through those fortifications, 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:24.060 they aimed to advance deep into Gman -held territory 00:06:24.060 --> 00:06:27.019 to sever enemy communication and supply lines. 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:30.560 Basically, cut the arteries and the body dies. 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:34.480 Right. And third, the ultimate goal, force the 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:36.879 total collapse of the German army and compel 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.759 Germany to surrender. That brings us to the early 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:43.540 hours of September 26. We talked about that incredible 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:47.990 billion dollar artillery barrage. At 02030 in 00:06:47.990 --> 00:06:52.329 the morning, 2 ,711 guns open up to obliterate 00:06:52.329 --> 00:06:55.209 barbed wire, collapse bunkers, and clear a path 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:57.129 through the Argon Forest. And right there in 00:06:57.129 --> 00:06:59.189 the thick of it, managing one of those artillery 00:06:59.189 --> 00:07:01.569 batteries is another name you'll instantly recognize. 00:07:01.910 --> 00:07:04.110 Captain Harry S. Truman. The future president 00:07:04.110 --> 00:07:06.490 of the United States. Exactly. Standing in the 00:07:06.490 --> 00:07:08.389 mud directing part of that million dollar minute 00:07:08.389 --> 00:07:11.600 barrage. Then at 0530, the barrage lifts and 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:13.920 the infantry assault begins. But the initial 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:16.879 results of this grand offensive were, well, decidedly 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:20.220 mixed. War on paper versus war in the mud. Exactly. 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:23.560 As always happens in war, the pristine plan collided 00:07:23.560 --> 00:07:26.379 violently with reality. While some corps met 00:07:26.379 --> 00:07:28.720 their objectives, taking ground as scheduled, 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:32.240 others slammed into a brick wall. Several divisions 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:34.660 completely failed to capture the vital high ground 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:37.439 of Montfalcon, bogging down against really fierce 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.060 resistance. Here's where it gets really interesting 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:42.939 though. When you look past the broad strokes 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:46.279 and focus on the tactical reality, you see how 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:49.079 quickly an offensive can unravel due to simple 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:51.860 geography and logistics. Let's trace what happened 00:07:51.860 --> 00:07:54.639 to the 35th Santa Fe Division. These were mostly 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:57.220 National Guard guys from Missouri and Kansas. 00:07:57.550 --> 00:07:59.829 In the opening days, they actually pushed forward 00:07:59.829 --> 00:08:02.709 aggressively, capturing towns and putting themselves 00:08:02.709 --> 00:08:04.930 out ahead of the allied units on their left and 00:08:04.930 --> 00:08:07.769 right flanks. Right. But in doing so, they stretched 00:08:07.769 --> 00:08:09.589 their supply lines to the breaking point. And 00:08:09.589 --> 00:08:11.949 then the supply lines entirely collapsed. I mean, 00:08:11.970 --> 00:08:15.250 imagine the terrain, deep mud, shattered trees, 00:08:15.850 --> 00:08:18.110 robes that have been cratered by years of artillery. 00:08:18.470 --> 00:08:20.689 The 35th couldn't get wagons through. Just a 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:23.720 bottleneck. A total bottleneck. The traffic jams 00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:26.120 of troops and equipment were completely paralyzed. 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:29.019 They had no horses to move gear. So out there 00:08:29.019 --> 00:08:31.360 on the bleeding edge of the advance, these soldiers 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.559 simply ran out of food. Then they ran out of 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:36.600 ammunition. Which is the worst case scenario. 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:39.080 The absolute worst. They're exhausted, they're 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:41.399 starving, and they're unable to shoot back. And 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:44.120 right at that exact moment of total vulnerability, 00:08:44.659 --> 00:08:47.220 they are hit by a massive counterattack from 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:50.139 six newly deployed German divisions. Including 00:08:50.139 --> 00:08:52.259 the elite Fifth Guards. Including the Fifth Guard. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.500 It is a terrifying scenario. You are stuck in 00:08:55.500 --> 00:08:58.879 a hostile forest, totally cut off, and some of 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:01.340 the most hardened combat veterans in the German 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:04.059 military are charging right at you. It was a 00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:07.129 recipe for a complete disaster. The 35th was 00:09:07.129 --> 00:09:09.190 shattered by this counterattack. They had suffered 00:09:09.190 --> 00:09:11.509 from really poor leadership at the top key leaders, 00:09:11.750 --> 00:09:13.970 had actually been replaced right before the attack, 00:09:14.289 --> 00:09:16.769 and the men on the ground paid the price. They 00:09:16.769 --> 00:09:19.009 ultimately had to be relieved early. And they 00:09:19.009 --> 00:09:21.909 barely survived it. Barely. The only reason they 00:09:21.909 --> 00:09:24.269 weren't completely wiped off the map was a desperate 00:09:24.269 --> 00:09:27.950 improvised defense mounted by their 110th engineers, 00:09:28.350 --> 00:09:30.970 a machine gun battalion, and the artillery battery 00:09:30.970 --> 00:09:33.789 commanded by Harry Truman, who laid down covering 00:09:33.789 --> 00:09:37.039 fire to save them. General John J. Pershing, 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:39.539 the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:42.519 realized very quickly that the grand, sweeping 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:45.100 maneuver they had planned had just devolved into 00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:48.139 a meat grinder. They were locked into a brutal, 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:51.320 direct frontal attack against a determined enemy 00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:54.240 in trenched and highly fortified positions. If 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.399 we connect this to the bigger picture, it is 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:59.440 vital to contrast this agonizing American struggle 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:01.220 in the Argonne Forest with what was happening 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:04.179 right next door. The adjacent French forces were 00:10:04.179 --> 00:10:06.779 actually making incredible time. They managed 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:09.279 to advance 15 kilometers, which is about nine 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:12.460 miles, deeply penetrating the German lines. Wow. 00:10:12.580 --> 00:10:14.580 This was significantly faster than the agonizing 00:10:14.580 --> 00:10:16.539 three to eight kilometers gained by the Americans 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:19.559 in their sector. Now, to be fair to the American 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:22.480 troops, the French units were fighting in slightly 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:25.220 more open terrain, which made a rapid advance 00:10:25.220 --> 00:10:27.840 easier compared to the dense fortified nightmare 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:31.080 of the Argonne Forest. True. But still, the contrast 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:34.000 in progress was so sharp and the American supply 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:37.120 situation was so catastrophic that purging makes 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.350 a massive, highly controversial decision. On 00:10:40.350 --> 00:10:42.970 October 1st, right in the middle of this enormous 00:10:42.970 --> 00:10:45.909 momentum, Pershing orders a complete halt to 00:10:45.909 --> 00:10:48.409 the American attack. He needed to regroup his 00:10:48.409 --> 00:10:51.490 men, clear the traffic jams and rebuild his supply 00:10:51.490 --> 00:10:54.929 lines. But imagine the politics of that. Hitting 00:10:54.929 --> 00:10:57.970 the brakes on a massive coordinated allied offensive 00:10:57.970 --> 00:11:00.610 was fusely unpopular among the French and British 00:11:00.610 --> 00:11:02.669 high commands. They must have been furious. Oh, 00:11:02.669 --> 00:11:04.669 they were bleeding to push forward and the Americans 00:11:04.669 --> 00:11:07.250 were suddenly stopping. That decision almost 00:11:07.250 --> 00:11:09.809 cost Pershing his job. There were active discussions 00:11:09.809 --> 00:11:11.929 about replacing him. However, he weathered the 00:11:11.929 --> 00:11:14.370 storm, managed to retain command, and on October 00:11:14.370 --> 00:11:17.269 4, they restarted the engine, pushing into a 00:11:17.269 --> 00:11:20.070 brutal new phase of the conflict. This next phase 00:11:20.070 --> 00:11:23.090 is defined by ruthless reorganization and desperate 00:11:23.090 --> 00:11:25.559 breakthrough attempts. Pershing brings in fresh 00:11:25.559 --> 00:11:28.139 veteran divisions to replace the exhausted ones 00:11:28.139 --> 00:11:30.340 that had been chewed up in the first week. Ripe. 00:11:30.490 --> 00:11:32.509 This is also the window of time where you see 00:11:32.509 --> 00:11:35.549 legendary moments of endurance, like the infamous 00:11:35.549 --> 00:11:37.850 Lost Battalion Affair, where an American unit 00:11:37.850 --> 00:11:40.710 pushed too far, got completely surrounded behind 00:11:40.710 --> 00:11:43.549 enemy lines, and had to survive for days before 00:11:43.549 --> 00:11:46.110 being rescued by the 28th and 82nd Divisions. 00:11:46.350 --> 00:11:48.990 And the struggles of that first week, the logistical 00:11:48.990 --> 00:11:51.889 failures and near disasters like the Lost Battalion, 00:11:52.350 --> 00:11:54.649 they reflected very poorly on Pershing's command 00:11:54.649 --> 00:11:58.769 structure. So on October 12th, he takes drastic 00:11:58.769 --> 00:12:02.149 sweeping action. He realizes the American Expeditionary 00:12:02.149 --> 00:12:04.809 Force has grown too massive for one man to control 00:12:04.809 --> 00:12:06.789 effectively on the battlefield. So he splits 00:12:06.789 --> 00:12:09.409 it. He divides his first army into two separate 00:12:09.409 --> 00:12:11.769 entities. He hands command of the first army 00:12:11.769 --> 00:12:14.070 over to Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett, and 00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:16.350 he creates a brand new second army, giving command 00:12:16.350 --> 00:12:18.909 to Lieutenant General Robert Bullard. But Pershing 00:12:18.909 --> 00:12:20.970 didn't just shuffle the deck at the very top. 00:12:21.250 --> 00:12:24.379 He cleared the entire table. He systematically 00:12:24.379 --> 00:12:27.500 removed senior officers across the AEF whom he 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.299 felt lacked the necessary aggression or competence 00:12:30.299 --> 00:12:33.059 for this specific type of offensive. Yeah, a 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:35.080 total purge. Which highlights a really profound 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:37.179 truth about military leadership in modern war. 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:40.120 The commanders who are phenomenal at building, 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:42.379 training and organizing an army in peacetime 00:12:42.379 --> 00:12:45.799 are rarely the same commanders you need to ruthlessly 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:49.100 push a bloody offensive in combat. Pershing had 00:12:49.100 --> 00:12:51.940 to pivot from administrators to fighters. And 00:12:51.940 --> 00:12:54.220 they needed fighters because what happened next 00:12:54.220 --> 00:12:57.820 was the Battle of Montfaucum, a series of incredibly 00:12:57.820 --> 00:13:00.779 costly grinding frontal assaults aimed directly 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:03.279 at breaking the Crumhilly Stelling. The nerve 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:05.519 center. The absolute nerve center of the Hindenburg 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:08.059 Line. Soldiers from the Missouri and Kansas National 00:13:08.059 --> 00:13:10.200 Guard tried to break through at a heavily defended 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.240 point called Côte de Chatillon, but were repulsed 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:16.340 due to uncoordinated leadership. Then the elite 00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:18.740 U .S. First Infantry Division attempted the assault. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:21.279 Even these highly trained regulars failed. They 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.500 suffered completely catastrophic casualties against 00:13:23.500 --> 00:13:25.980 the German machine guns. The line simply wouldn't 00:13:25.980 --> 00:13:28.299 break. No. But then we get the arrival of the 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:30.779 42nd Division. famously known as the Rainbow 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:33.460 Division, led by Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur. 00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:36.539 MacArthur's troops are thrown into the meat grinder, 00:13:36.919 --> 00:13:39.399 but they manage to discover a critical gap in 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:42.159 the German wire and defensive placements. They 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:45.039 exploited aggressively, they finally take Côte 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:48.240 de Châtillon, and this specific victory is recognized 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:51.620 as a decisive turning point of the entire Meuse 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:54.299 -Argonne offensive. The lock was finally broken. 00:13:54.539 --> 00:13:56.909 It was a massive strategic breakthrough. the 00:13:56.909 --> 00:13:59.909 German lines were finally compromising. And it 00:13:59.909 --> 00:14:02.570 was during this exact same window in the chaos 00:14:02.570 --> 00:14:05.330 of these forced engagements that Corporal Alvin 00:14:05.330 --> 00:14:08.950 York made his legendary capture of 132 German 00:14:08.950 --> 00:14:12.350 prisoners on October 8th, a feat of individual 00:14:12.350 --> 00:14:14.309 combat that would make him one of the most famous 00:14:14.309 --> 00:14:17.330 soldiers in American history. By the end of October, 00:14:17.490 --> 00:14:19.690 the U .S. troops had advanced 10 miles and finally 00:14:19.690 --> 00:14:22.210 cleared the agonizing depths of the Argonne Forest, 00:14:22.549 --> 00:14:24.470 while the French on their flank had pushed forward 00:14:24.470 --> 00:14:27.190 20 miles to reach the Aide River. But the human 00:14:27.190 --> 00:14:29.490 toll required to buy those miles of dirt was 00:14:29.490 --> 00:14:33.009 devastating. By late October, the 1st Army alone 00:14:33.009 --> 00:14:36.389 had taken staggering casualties. Over 9 ,000 00:14:36.389 --> 00:14:39.769 men were dead, and over 100 ,000 men were injured 00:14:39.769 --> 00:14:41.889 or missing since the start of the operation. 00:14:41.990 --> 00:14:44.629 It's horrific. And as if the artillery, the gas, 00:14:44.690 --> 00:14:46.649 and the machine guns weren't enough, these men 00:14:46.649 --> 00:14:49.289 were fighting amidst a widespread onset of the 00:14:49.289 --> 00:14:52.769 global influenza outbreak, the Spanish flu. Men 00:14:52.769 --> 00:14:54.710 were drowning in their own lungs from illness 00:14:54.710 --> 00:14:57.129 before they even reached the trenches. The reality 00:14:57.129 --> 00:14:59.470 of those casualty numbers, combined with the 00:14:59.470 --> 00:15:02.009 sheer exhaustion of a month of continuous combat, 00:15:02.629 --> 00:15:05.250 forces another critical change in tempo. From 00:15:05.250 --> 00:15:08.710 October 27 to November 1, General Hunter Liggett, 00:15:08.750 --> 00:15:11.629 now commanding the First Army, initiates a strategic 00:15:11.629 --> 00:15:14.289 pause. Another pause. But he doesn't just rest 00:15:14.289 --> 00:15:16.690 the troops in the mud. He uses this time meticulously. 00:15:17.210 --> 00:15:19.289 He orders his engineers to build hardtop roads 00:15:19.289 --> 00:15:21.850 and lay miles of light rail lines right up to 00:15:21.850 --> 00:15:23.649 the front. Light rails right in the battle zone. 00:15:24.169 --> 00:15:26.509 Exactly. Liggett understood something fundamental. 00:15:27.049 --> 00:15:29.149 The primary advantage the Allies held over the 00:15:29.149 --> 00:15:32.129 Germans wasn't necessarily bravery. It was industrial 00:15:32.129 --> 00:15:35.679 resources and manpower. To leverage that advantage, 00:15:36.019 --> 00:15:38.659 to continuously outnumber and reinforce the line, 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:42.139 he needed highly functional, weatherproof supply 00:15:42.139 --> 00:15:44.279 lines. So what does this all mean for the final 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.759 stretch of the war? Once those rail lines are 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:49.909 laid, we enter the final push. The Americans 00:15:49.909 --> 00:15:52.509 have broken out of the dense forest. The armies 00:15:52.509 --> 00:15:55.370 are reorganized under new, aggressive leadership. 00:15:55.950 --> 00:15:58.190 General Liggett's 1st Army drives hard north 00:15:58.190 --> 00:16:00.809 toward the Cary -Nyonsidan -Mézières railroad, 00:16:01.129 --> 00:16:03.909 capturing the vital surrounding hills. Meanwhile, 00:16:04.309 --> 00:16:07.070 Bullard's 2nd Army pushes eastward toward Metz. 00:16:08.070 --> 00:16:10.110 They are facing the remnants of 31 different 00:16:10.110 --> 00:16:12.470 German divisions during this phase, but the German 00:16:12.470 --> 00:16:14.750 Army is simply running out of blood and iron. 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:17.080 The momentum is entirely unstoppable at this 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:19.500 point. American troops capture the heavily fortified 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:22.399 German defenses at Byzantium. This is a critical 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:24.120 tactical move because it relieves the pressure 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:25.940 on the flank and allows the French troops to 00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:28.120 successfully cross the river Ais. From there, 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:30.620 the French forces rush forward, capturing Le 00:16:30.620 --> 00:16:32.960 Chasse. And in the final frantic days of the 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:36.019 war, they secure their ultimate immediate objective. 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:39.919 The city of Sedan and its highly critical railroad 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.330 hub, the German supply network is severed. It 00:16:43.330 --> 00:16:46.309 is a massive, highly coordinated push across 00:16:46.309 --> 00:16:49.889 the entire front that is suddenly, abruptly halted 00:16:49.889 --> 00:16:52.649 by the stroke of a pen. On November 11th, the 00:16:52.649 --> 00:16:54.690 news of the German armistice arrives, putting 00:16:54.690 --> 00:16:57.649 a sudden end to 47 days of unrelenting fighting. 00:16:58.309 --> 00:17:00.330 When the guns finally fell silent, the American 00:17:00.330 --> 00:17:03.210 forces had advanced a total of 34 miles across 00:17:03.210 --> 00:17:05.549 the three phases of the offensive. When you look 00:17:05.549 --> 00:17:07.589 back at the entirety of this campaign, the cost 00:17:07.589 --> 00:17:10.579 is simply staggering to comprehend. The final 00:17:10.579 --> 00:17:13.940 tally of this operation is over 350 ,000 total 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:17.599 casualties. This includes over 122 ,000 American 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:20.519 casualties, with over 26 ,000 young men killed 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:23.180 in action. The French suffered around 35 ,000 00:17:23.180 --> 00:17:25.420 dead, and there were 28 ,000 German lives lost 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:28.259 in the defense. It remains to this day the deadliest 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:29.940 single campaign in the history of the United 00:17:29.940 --> 00:17:33.660 States military. It is a profound, almost unimaginable 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:36.880 amount of sacrifice, concentrated into just 47 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.339 days. When you look at the whole picture, from 00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:42.519 the sheer earth -shattering scale of the opening 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:45.559 artillery barrage, to the catastrophic casualties 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:47.640 of the frontal assault against the Krimhildi's 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:50.299 Stellung, to the devastating impact of the Spanish 00:17:50.299 --> 00:17:53.980 flu, this battle perfectly encapsulates the painful 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:56.480 bloody transition into modern warfare. Yeah, 00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:58.819 it really does. The tactics used in the early 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:00.980 phases struggled against the heavily fortified 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:03.519 reality of the forest. It was the violent end 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:05.839 of an era where sheer bravery in charging the 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:08.480 lines had to give way to industrial logistics, 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:12.240 combined arms, and brutal mechanized endurance. 00:18:12.779 --> 00:18:14.819 This raises an important question and it is the 00:18:14.819 --> 00:18:16.380 thought I want you to sit with after you finish 00:18:16.380 --> 00:18:18.819 listening to this deep dive. Think about General 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:21.799 Hunter Liggett. Right in the middle of a massive 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:23.980 bloody offensive, with the pressure of the world 00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:26.339 on his shoulders, he intentionally halts the 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:28.920 advance. He stops the fighting just so his engineers 00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:31.299 can build roads and lay light rail tracks in 00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:33.920 the mud. It completely forces us to reconsider 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:37.299 how we view victory in modern conflict. We are 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:39.799 so conditioned by movies and stories to picture 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:43.180 battles being won purely by heroics, by brave 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:45.960 soldiers exploiting dapps, charging bunkers, 00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:47.799 and capturing prisoners. Right, the cinematic 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:50.609 stuff. Exactly. But the Mus Argonne Offensive 00:18:50.609 --> 00:18:53.589 strongly suggests that modern wars are actually 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:56.109 won by engineers laying tracks and maintaining 00:18:56.109 --> 00:18:58.970 unglamorous supply lines in the background. It 00:18:58.970 --> 00:19:00.890 leaves you wondering how much of history was 00:19:00.890 --> 00:19:02.730 actually decided not by the sharpness of the 00:19:02.730 --> 00:19:05.289 sword, but by the efficiency of the supply chain. 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:08.640 That is a phenomenal lens through which to view 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:11.180 military history. It totally changes how you 00:19:11.180 --> 00:19:13.059 look at a map of a battlefield. You stop looking 00:19:13.059 --> 00:19:14.859 at the trenches and start looking at the roads. 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:17.279 Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:19.440 the Meuse -Ardennes Offensive. We hope it gave 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:22.000 you a new perspective on a truly monumental piece 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.500 of history. Take care and keep exploring.