to
hold the particular positions in which they were, as to gain time, to
resist as long as possible, to thwart the enemy in his intentions, to
delay his advance, and to keep him away from the main line of defence
till such time as reinforcements could reach them. Very gallantly had
the thin line of heroes carried out their purpose, holding on, often
enough, till they were killed to the last man. They had made the
Kaiser's troops pay dearly for every inch of ground; and, whereas the
German High Command had confidently expected to reach Verdun within a
day or two, five days had passed, and yet, in spite of overwhelming
gun-fire and masses of troops, the French had only just retired to
their main defensive position.

Douaumont stood on that line. Douaumont, which the Kaiser had told his
people was the corner-stone of the salient which he hoped to capture;
and Douaumont, as we know, had fallen already to the Brandenburgers.
Yet behind Douaumont, behind the Cote du Poivre and the Cote de Talou,
there existed yet miles of upland plateau before the city of Verdun
could be reached--miles which the Germans must cross before they could
hope to complete its capture.

We have seen how, attempting to follow up their drive to the north, the
French guns on Mort Homme and Hill 304 had outflanked the Germans, and
had driven them from the Cote de Talou and the Cote du Poivre. We have
followed their movements later, when, abandoning the drive in a
southerly direction over the slopes of the Cote du Poivre, the German
war lords caused their armies to swerve to the east to face the fort of
Douaumont and to march towards it. Let us anticipate their movements
by a little, and say that, having captured the fort--a mere empty and
cracked vessel--they found themselves still faced by the French, who
had retired only a short distance beyond it; and who, reinforced that
very night by the 20th Corps--as dashing a corps as ever
existed--counter-attacked with furious energy, and advanced their lines
till they surrounded the captured fort on three sides, and held,
indeed, a portion of the interior. There, in that position, they dug
themselves in firmly, and though the Germans continued to attack that
portion of the line with a fury never before exceeded, and with utter
disregard of the losses they suffered, not for weeks did they so much
as dent it. Like the Cote de Talou, and the approaches from the north,
Douaumont and the neighbouring trench