Disclaimer: I didn't own Gate.
Prologue
One upon a time, on a planet called Earth that we are living now.
There used to be a war... A big one known as World War I.
That is what we call it in the present day.
But back in that time...
Back when people didn't know when it will ends.
Back when they didn't know how many people gonna die.
Back when entire Europe covered with blood, death and misery.
Back when the same generation fought each other just because...
They wear different uniforms and speak different languages.
Back in that time... They used to call it The Great War.
But trust me, no one could tell you what was so great about it.
They also used to call it with another name... The War to End All Wars.
Why? I guess because they figured it was so big, awful and pointless.
That the whole world would have come to its senses.
And make sure we never fought another one again.
They thought it was gonna be the last war of humanity.
Thought it will end all wars in the future.
But all it did was end the golden age of Europe.
And changed the whole word forever.
XXX
It dragged many countries from all around the world.
Countries smaller than the smallest state in the US.
Empires big enough to never see the sun set.
None of them were safe and came out from the other side unscathed.
XXX
Over 16 million people...
That's what they think now.
Every soldier and civilian.
Every cause and country.
That what's they think now but no one will ever known for sure.
Around 16 million people died in that war.
I guess it is quiet hard if you imagine all of them alive, right?
Let's break it down then... About 10,000?
That's like a small town... And that's how many people died per day in that war.
Now imagine... The whole town gone, every day, for 4 years.
Do you see it now?
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Those people who lived during that war... Had to lose something or someone.
Fathers lost their sons, children lost their fathers, wives lost their husbands...
Friends lost friends, brothers lost brothers, cousins lost cousins...
Everyone in that time... Lost their loved ones.
Worse than that, some of them lost their homes...
And had to live far away from war and its horror.
Some families was separated from each other because of that war...
And when they reunited again... Some of theme didn't make it to see the end of war.
XXX
Every soldier in that war, they all fought for their countries.
From young men to old men, they fought in the name of their countries.
Not only fought but had to sacrifice their lives.
And not only their live but also their future.
They all followed their flags into battle...
Hoping one day... This war will ends and everybody can go back home again.
But those dreams seemed to be impossible now after what they saw in that war.
XXX
Everyone who fought, who lived and who saw the horror of The Great War...
In the present day... They are called The Lost Generation.
Like Erich Maria Remarque, a German author of All Quiet on the Western Front.
He called those men and him who fought in that war as...
"The generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war."
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And you know what? In the end, The Great War didn't give them anything...
Not even to the Allied Power who won that war.
They also badly suffered from the war just like the Central Power.
And because of this, the Treaty of Versailles was signed...
They hoped it will bring the peace to the world and there will be no war again.
But when World War II began 20 years later...
It destroyed that hope.
And then we had Cold War...
And now we are having the war with terrorists...
The Great War has changed the whole world forever until now.
XXX
But what if... There's something else happened during the war?
Something that can change the whole world and make the timeline different from us?
And what if I say... That thing is going to happen soon?
XXX
The Western Front
Northern France
Spring 1918
The Great War is now into its fourth spring.
After Bolshevik's victory in October Revolution in 1917, they seized power and established the Russian SFSR.
They decided to make peace with the Central Powers which led to the signing of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918, five months later.
With that, it ended Russia's participation in the war and The Great War officially ended on the Eastern Front... Just only on the Eastern Front.
XXX
It turned out that within two weeks, Germans moved all their forces on the Eastern Front to the Western Front including POWs that were freed due to the treaty.
And that made the number of German divisions on the Western Front rose to 110 divisions being stationed along the front line. Why?
They wanted to win and end The Great War with their last best chance before American Expeditionary Forces will arrive completely in France.
So that's why on 21 March 1918.
Germans launched Operation Michael which began Kaiserschlacht or Spring Offensive that would later be their last offensive in The Great War.
XXX
With Operation Michael, Germans had advanced up to 65 km which marked the deepest offensive by either side since the beginning of war.
But they failed to capture their strategic objectives, Amiens and Arras.
Following by Operation Georgette in early April, Germans still couldn't capture their objectives.
They began to suffer many casualties, especially among their elite troops known as Stromtroopers.
XXX
With the failure of their two previous operations.
Germans launched Operation Blucher-Yorck on May 27th, two months after the beginning of the Spring Offensive.
According to the plan of attack, German forces would engage four divisions of the British IX Corps at the ridge of Chemin des Dames near the city of Laon.
This is where the story begins.
