I don't know about any of that numerology stuff but WWI is fascinating. I finished Dan Carlin's hardcore history podcast series on it called "Blueprint for Armageddon", which is tremendous. That war happened right at the hinge between the Napoleonic war paradigm and modern warfare. There are pictures of French cavalry at the beginning of the war that are indistinguishable from Napolean's cavalry. Almost none of the troops even wore helmets at the beginning of the war. But the artillery and infantry weapons were the "1.0" versions of those used in WWII. The generals on all sides were from the old war paradigm and had trouble adjusting, with horrific consequences. Needless to say, a horse cavalry charge in an era of machine guns and barbed wire didn't go well. Ditto the mass-charges of entrenched positions. Those tactics worked when the opponents had single shot rifles and primitive cannon.