Late 1915. British and French chiefs of staff hope to put an end to the bloodshed through an offensive planned in the Somme for the following summer. But on February 21, 1916, the Germans take them by surprise, setting off a storm of steel over Verdun, across 20 kilometers of frontline, only 230 kilometers from Paris. For 300 days and nights, Verdun is the stage for World War I's worst military confrontation between France and Germany. Will Verdun's new commander, General Pétain, end this carnage?