On 6 March. the infantry battle on the west side began on the end of the line opposite Bra bant. The Germans followed the plan used on the eastern side, subjecting a section of the line to severe artillery fire and then send ing the infantry forward, a process that liras successful against the wealc line of Ternto rials at the beginning of the battle. It was the practice of the French in the World War to use their men with economy. VVhen. they stood in a position that was not essential to the main plan of the battle the policy was to make the enemy pay as dearly as possible for it but to give it up when holding became very costly. Such was the policy adopted at.Ver dun. There was a steady recession unul the critical positions were reached at Douautcont, on the east side, and at Mort Homme on the west side and then the time had come to stand in one's tracks and die. if necessary. This policy was understood by the French soldiers. It was put into use on the west side of the Meuse in the battles that occurred in the sec ond stage, drom 6 March to 17 March. The net result was a gradual drawing back to the Mort Homme position, from the east end of the Cote de l'Oise until all the narrow portion, corresponding to the shank of the ham, was in Gertnan hands. But the French line would yield nothing around the eastern base of Mort Homme. Many of the enemy gave up life in trying to drive them from this position. On the 14th a main effort was made against Mort Homme. Forward went 25,000 men in five waves. In general they were checked, but a portion of them, Silesians, managed to lodge themselves just under the crest of a hillock, called 265, a spur of Mort Homme. They drove the defenders from the hillock, and news went to Berlin and the neutral world that Mort Homme was taken. It was false. Hillocic 265 had the same relation to Mort Homme that the town of Douaumont had to the ridge of Douaumont, it was an outpost and useless unless the main position was carried. It was the German's nearest approach to Mort Homme for many days.
While these operations went on severe blows were delivered on the east side of the river, with the purpose of attaining Douaumont from the east. Here at the village of Vaux and the old fort of the same name the Germans fought desperately for three days to establish them selves, 9-11 March; but they were repulsed with great losses. Wherever the enemy appeared there Frenchmen appeared ready to oppose him. All France watched the struggle, as, indeed, all the world watched. The Germans sent up division after division, and Joffre did the same thing. It is said that every division in the French and German armies had gone through the Verdun trenches when the battle ended. When the second stage of the battle was at an end the crown prince was beaten, but he was unwilling to achnit it. To withdraw now, he felt, would be a blow to his prestige. It was decided that he should have another try, and this time it was to be around the extreme western end of the French defensive position west of the river. Here we come to the third stage of the battle, the attack on Avocourt West of Mort Homme is_ Hill 304, which is higher than Mort Homme and commands it It, in turn, is approached by Hill 287 on the west, and the western slopes of that are reached from the woods north of Avocourt Through these various positions, therefore, woods, Hill 287, and Hill 304, the Germans proposed to take Mort Homme, which, in turn, would enable them to clear the west bank of the river, and which, finally, would make it possible to clear the east bank and outflank Douaumont on the west, and so enter Verdun. It was a long
series and it had taken a month's hard fighting to develop the relations of one part to the other, but reflection seemed to confirm the German faith in the series. They felt that they had at last worked it out to a logical state ment— take Hill 304 and hard fighting will accomplish the rest.
On 17-20 March they delivered an intense bombardment on the trenches around Avocourt, and on 20 March beg-an the long and desperate fighting that continued until 9 April. They first tried to advance by way of Avocourt Wood. By using flame throwers they gained a foothold in the woods and built a redoubt as a base for further advance. At the same time they drove forward in Avocourt Wood until Petain decided to spend some of his valuable forces in a counterattack. It was worth what it cost; for it drove the invaders back from the position. At the same time he withdrew from the village of Malancourt but took such a strong position at the foot of Mort Homme that the position they won was worth nothing to the Germans. This happened late in March: After a breathing spell the Germans became active again on 3 Apnl, fight ing hard for the approaches to Mort Homme on the north. By 8 April they had driven up to the foot of the hill on the northern end and to the foot of Hill 304 on the northwestem side. They then massed five divisions and made a final attack on the 9th, comparable in intensity to the great attack on Douaumont on 26 February. Here, as then, they had driven forward by piecemeal attacks until they stood within touching distance, as it were, of their main objective. Here, as then, they gathered their utmost strength and made a final assault along their whole line. The 9th was a day of great effort and a day of great slaughter for the Germans. They came on in close formation, only to be destroyed by the French artillery. Dnven back they rallied and came forward again, and again they were forced back by the shower of death that fell from the hills. At nightfall their grand offensive was a gigantic failure.
For a time it now seemed as if the German High Command was willing to acknowledge defeat, since the battle front wa.s comparatively quiet for nearly four weelcs. The renewal of the conflict was probably due to political pres sure in Germany, where so much had been said about the great victory that was to crown the sacrifices that the ruling class did not dare confess defeat. The part of the struggle that came. after this lull has been called the second battle of Verdun, but it was, properly, only a deferred part of the first battle. 'It was taken up and carried on in dogged determina tion but without a clear feeling that victory would be worth its cost In this part of the battle three stages are also observed, one on the west and two on the east side of the Meuse.