From the top of a small hill, surrounded by his staff, the Kaiser looked
down upon the battlefield for days at a time, showing no signs of emotion
as his countrymen fell right and left, that the German flag might be
planted a few yards--sometimes only a few feet--farther westward.
While the German losses were something terrible in this continuous
fighting, the French suffered untold hardships. The effect of the great
German shells, which fell within the French lines almost incessantly, was
tremendous. It did not seem that flesh and blood could survive their
deadly effect--and yet the French fought back gamely.
At last the Germans reached a point only three miles and a half from the
city of Verdun itself.
Then began the fiercest of the fighting.
After having been pushed back many miles by the German hordes, the French
now braced suddenly and gave as good as they received. Instead of waiting
for the German attacks, General Petain launched offensives of his own. At
first these broke down easily under the German shells, but as they
continued, the drives began to meet with more and more success. It became
apparent that at this point the advantage usually rested with the
attacking party.
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