Light on railroad transportation in relation to the operations will be shown by an examination fo the smaller maps. On the western front is a network of railways available for military uses, while in the east, especially in Russia, the lines are less frequent, and wider apart.
The changes on these battle fronts in the year from August 1, 1916, to August 1, 1917, were not so marked as might be expected from the great events that occurred in the period. A new front extends across Rumania; the Germans in the west retired to the Hindenburg line; the Italians captured Goritz.
Four Zone Maps
After describing how the French built barricades during the night and adjusted their front in such a way as to present a solid wall facing the east, the narrator continues:
"Our counterattack took place at nightfall on March 3, and was undertaken by two battalions (the Four Hundred and Tenth and the Four Hundred and Fourteenth) of consecutive regiments. After an intense rifle fire we heard the cry of 'Forward with the bayonet!' and night rang with the shouts of the men. Our first line was carried beyond the village.
"The Germans returned to the attack about 8 o'clock, but were stopped dead by our rifle and machine-gun fire. Two hours later another attack was attempted, but was likewise dashed to pieces before our unshaken resistance. The Germans came on in very close formation, and on the following morning we counted quite eight hundred dead before the trench.
"At daybreak on March 4 the Germans launched a fresh counterattack against Douaumont after an intense bombardment accompanied by the use of aerial torpedoes. No detailed description is possible of the terrible fighting from house to house, or the countless deeds of heroism performed by our men in this bloody struggle, which lasted for two hours. The gaps in our ranks increased from moment to moment. Finally we were ordered to retire to a position about 200 meters south of the exit from Douaumont. The enemy tried in vain to dislodge us and exploit the success he had so dearly won."
On March 4, 1916, an Order of the Day issued by the crown prince was read to the troops in rest billets in which they were urged to make a supreme effort to conquer Verdun, "the heart of France." For four days following the German command was busy organizing for an onslaught on a gigantic scale, which they hoped would so crush the French army as to eliminate it as a serious factor in the war.
In order to clear the way for this great attack the German General Staff decided that it would be necessary first to capture the French positions of Mort Homme and Cumières on the left bank of the Meuse.