Hill 856 to the south of the Hutes Hutles. Finally, at
Hartmannsweilerkopf the French repelled a counterattack delivered by a
German battalion which suffered heavy losses and left numerous
prisoners in the hands of the French.
On March 8, 1915, the French gained two hundred meters on the ridge
northeast of Mesnil which they added to the gains of the previous
day. Here the French carried a German redoubt, took a revolver gun and
three machine guns, and made some prisoners. The Germans had armored
shelters supplied with revolver guns and very deep subterranean
chambers. In the Argonne, between Four-de-Paris and Bolante, the
French delivered an attack which made them masters of the first line
of German trenches of more than two hundred meters in length.
To the north of Rheims in front of the Bois de Luxembourg, the Germans
attempted, on March 14, to carry one of the French advanced trenches,
but were repulsed. On the same day, between Four-de-Paris and Bolante
in the Argonne, the French gained three hundred meters of trenches,
and took some prisoners. Two counterattacks which the Germans made
were unsuccessful.
In the region of Lombaertzyde on March 15, the French artillery very
effectively bombarded the German works. When the Germans attempted to
recapture the small fort which was taken from them on the night of
March 1 they were repulsed and left fifty dead. The French losses were
small. To the north of Arras, a brilliant attack by the French
infantry enabled them to capture, by a single effort, three lines of
trenches on the spur of Notre Dame de Lorette, and to reach the edge
of the plateau. The French captured one hundred prisoners including
several officers. They also destroyed two machine guns and blew up an
ammunition store. Farther to the south, in the region of
Ecurie-Roclincourt, near the road from Lille, they blew up several
German trenches and prevented their reconstruction. In Champagne the
French made fresh progress. They gained ground in the woods to the
northeast of Souain and to the northwest of Perthes. They also
repulsed two German counterattacks in front of Ridge 196, northeast of
Mesnil, and extended their position in that sector. In the region of
Bagatelle in the Argonne two German counterattacks were repulsed. The
French demolished a blockhouse there, and established themselves on
the site of it. Between Four-de-Paris and Bolante the Germans
attempted two counterattacks which failed. At Vauquo
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