The first attack was made on October 28, 1914, by two battalions of the 46th Regiment of the line. The French front lines were then on the _Mamelon Blanc_, facing Vauquois. Two companies debouching from Noir Wood attacked the western slopes of Vauquois, the sections deployed in skirmishing order, without artillery preparation, and without a single big French gun being fired on the village. As the men dashed forward up the slopes they were shot down by the carefully concealed German riflemen, but continued nevertheless to advance, in spite of the rain of bullets, till an avalanche of big German shells overwhelmed and scattered them. At the end of half an hour almost all of them were out of action. [Illustration: NEAR VAUQUOIS. CAPTURE OF GERMAN TRAIN LOADED WITH RAILS] The second assault was made on the following day (the 29th), after a very short artillery preparation, during which only a few shells were fired, most of which failed to burst. Fresh companies attacked further to the right, near the Cigalerie. The men charged with the bayonet, but as on the previous day, were mown down by the German machine-guns and rifles, and failed, after heavy losses. At night, an attempt to rescue the wounded left on the field was unsuccessful, the enemy firing pitilessly on the stretcher-bearers, in spite of the Red Cross lantern. The third assault was carried out on February 17, 1915, by the 76th, 31st and 46th Infantry Regiments. This time the operation, which almost succeeded, was better prepared. The French artillery had improved its equipment and methods, being now better adapted to stationary warfare. The artillery preparation with guns of 75, 95, 150, 155 and 270 m.m. lasted more than twelve hours. The 31st Regiment of the line charged into Vauquois, and reached the ruins of the church, but, caught by the fire of the Argonne and Montfaucon batteries, and that of the machine-guns of Cheppy, it was forced, after heavy losses, to fall back. Abandoning the plateau, this regiment held on half-way down the hill. The fourth assault was made on February 28, under further improved conditions. A plan of the village, of which only the ruins were left, was issued to the troops. Each company had its precise objectives assigned to it, and the men were armed, for the first time, with the new hand-grenades, charged with melinite. The bombardment began at dawn. Big guns shattered the shelters, and 75’s, hoisted to the top of the _Mamelon Blanc_, fed by infantry, who carried up the shells on their backs, fired directly on the village. When the attack began, the band of the 46th Regiment of the line, stationed at the bottom of the ravine, played the “Marseillaise.” Within a few minutes a number of the bandsmen fell killed or wounded, but the survivors sounded the charge, and the storming waves of the 89th, 76th and 46th Regiments [Illustration: NEAR VAUQUOIS. GERMAN DEPÔT. CAMOUFLAGED BARBED WIRE DEFENCES]