g only eight divisions of excellent troops, as
originally planned, the Germans had little by little cast into the fiery
furnace thirty divisions. This enormous sacrifice could not be allowed
to count for nothing. The German High Command therefore decided to
assign a less pretentious object to the abortive enterprise. The Crown
Prince's offensive had fallen flat; but, at all events, it might succeed
in preventing a French offensive. For this reason it was necessary that
Verdun should remain a sore spot, a continually menaced sector, where
the French would be obliged to send a steady stream of men, material,
and munitions. It was hinted then in all the German papers that the
struggle at Verdun was a battle of attrition, which would wear down the
strength of the French by slow degrees. There was no talk now of
thunderstrokes; it was all "the siege of Verdun." This time they
expressed the true purpose of the German General Staff; the struggle
which followed the fight of April 9, now took the character of a battle
of fixation, in which the Germans tried to hold their adversaries'
strongest units at Verdun and prevent their being transferred elsewhere.
This state of affairs lasted from mid-April to well into July, when the
progress of the Somme offensive showed the Germans that their efforts
had been unavailing.

[Sidenote: Germans still formidable.]

It is true that during this new phase of the battle the offensive vigor
of the Germans and their procedure in attacking were still formidable.

Their artillery continued to perform prodigies. The medium-calibre
pieces had now come into action, particularly the 150 mm. guns, with
their amazing mobility of fire, which shelled the French first line, as
well as their communications and batteries, with lightning speed. This
storm of artillery continued night and day; it was the relentless,
crushing continuity of the fire which exhausted the adversary and made
the Battle of Verdun a hell on earth. There was one important
difference, however: the infantry attacks now took place over restricted
areas, which were rarely more than two kilometres in extent. The
struggle was continual, but disconnected. Besides, it was rarely in
progress on both sides of the river at once. Until the end of May the
Germans did their worst on the left; then the French activities brought
them back to the right side, and there they attacked with fury until
mid-July.

[Sidenote: A period of recuperation.]