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.

Battles—­or what would have been called battles in any other war of history, but now, in the official reports were merely referred to as skirmishes—­raged for hours at a stretch, some of the most important continuing for days, first with advantage to one side and then to the other.

In vain the German Crown Prince hurled his men forward to pierce the French lines that now separated him from Verdun, less than four miles away.

While the German guns still continued to shell the city and the fortifications, there was little they could accomplish now.  All walls and houses in the path of the great guns had crumbled under their terrible fire days ago; there was nothing left to destroy, except at intervals where a small fort still stood and breathed defiance to the enemy.

But the German guns served one purpose.  They afforded protection for the infantry as it advanced to the attack.  Only when the Germans advanced close enough to come to hand grips with the French did the big guns become silent.

But now came the turning of the tide.

From far back the French threw out reinforcements to the hard pressed men in front.  Huge new field guns were brought up.  Great masses of ammunition, which the French had been storing up for just such a chance, were rushed to the front.  Soon the French guns were speaking as loudly and as often as the great German 42-centimetres themselves.

The first work of the new French offensive was to clear the Germans from Dead Man’s Hill, Hill No. 320 and Hill No. 304.  These battles, among the fiercest of all history, however, were really little more than skirmishes, when the entire movement was taken into consideration.  Terrible though they were, after all they were nothing more than small parts of the great battle of Verdun itself.

From Dead Man’s Hill and the other two elevations captured by the French, the Germans now were pushed clear back to the banks of the river Meuse; and then they were driven beyond.  Thiaumont farm, where Hal and Chester had seen hard fighting, came once more beneath the French tricolor; and the German eagle went back farther still.