Under the command of General Mangin the French attacked from Thiaumont to Laufée Wood on October 24th, 1916, the artillery preparation by 650 guns, including the new 15-inch and 16-inch mortars, beginning on October 20th. On the 22nd a feint attack enabled French aeroplanes to locate 158 enemy batteries, which were heavily shelled the next day. That the Germans did not realise the position was evident from the Crown Prince’s announcement that he had broken a strong French attack. The real attack took place on the morning of the 24th (_see map, p. 20_). The German front was held on the first line by seven divisions. The French attacked with three divisions: the 38th (Guyot de Salins), supported on the left by the 11th line regiment; the 133rd (Passaga), known as “La Gauloise”; the 74th (de Lardemelle). [Illustration] The attack was a brilliant success and gave the French the Haudromont quarries, Thiaumont redoubt and farm, Douaumont fort and village, the northern edge of Caillette Wood, Vaux pond, the eastern edge of Fumin Wood and Damloup battery. On the 24th and 25th more than 6,000 prisoners, fifteen guns, and considerable quantities of material, were captured. On November 2nd, when the French re-entered Vaux Fort, abandoned by the enemy, they practically reoccupied their positions of February 24th. [Illustration: _The Approaches of Tavannes Fort._] [Illustration] The French Offensive of December 15th, 1916, on the Right Bank of the Meuse To completely clear Verdun to the east of the Meuse and give greater freedom to the reconquered forts of Vaux and Douaumont, General Mangin organised a new attack. A great amount of preparatory work was done by the army of Verdun, including about eighteen miles of road (whereof one of logs laid transversely for the artillery), more than six miles of narrow-gauge railway, and a network of trenches and depots for munitions and material. As soon as these very considerable preparations, often carried out under heavy enemy shell-fire, were finished, the attacking troops took up their positions: the 126th D.I. (Muteau), 38th D.I. (Guyot de Salins), 37th D.I. (Garnier-Duplessis) and 133rd D.I. (Passaga), with the 123rd, 128th, 21st and 6th D.I. as reserves. Two lines of artillery prepared and sustained the attack: one from Vacherauville to Thiaumont, Fleury and Souville, the other passing through Belleville, St. Michel Hill and Tavannes Fort. The six-mile German front from Vacherauville to Bezonvaux was held by five divisions in the first line, with four divisions in reserve. On December 15th, while Germany was proposing that France should ask for peace, the reply came in the form of attacking waves protected by a moving curtain of artillery fire.