"For the last two days the French have been firing like mad. To-day, for instance, a dugout has been destroyed. There were sixteen men in it. Not one of them managed to save his skin. They are all dead. Besides that, a number of individual men have been killed and there are a great mass of wounded. The artillery fires almost as rapidly as the infantry. A mist of smoke hangs over the whole battle front, so that it is impossible to see anything. Men are dropping like flies. The trenches are no longer anything but a mound of ruins." "September 24. "A rain of shells is pouring down upon us. The kitchen and everything that is sent to us is bombarded at night. The field kitchens no longer come to us. Oh, if only the end were near! That is the cry everyone is repeating." "September 25. "I have received no news, and probably shall not receive any for some days. The whole postal service has been stopped; all places have been bombarded to such an extent that no human being could stand against it. The railway line is so seriously damaged that the train service for some time has been completely stopped. We have been for three days in the first line; during those three days the French have fired so heavily that our trenches are no longer visible." "September 25. "We have passed through some terrible hours. It was as though the whole world were in a state of collapse. We have had heavy losses. One company of 250 men had sixty killed last night. A neighboring battery had sixteen killed yesterday. The following instance will show you the frightful destructiveness of the French shells: A dugout five meters deep, surrounded by two meters fifty centimeters of earth and two thicknesses of heavy timber, was broken like a match." Report made on September 24, 1915, in the morning, by the captain commanding the Third Company of the 135th Regiment of Reserves: "The French are firing on us with great bombs and machine guns. We must have reenforcements at once. Many men are no longer fit for anything. It is not that they are wounded, but they are Landsturmers. Moreover the wastage is greater than the losses announced. Send rations immediately; no food has reached us to-day. Urgently want illuminating cartridges and hand grenades. Is the hospital corps never coming to fetch the wounded? I urgently beg for reenforcements; the men are dying from fatigue and want of sleep. I have no news of the battalion." The time fixed for all the attacks on the Champagne front was 9.15 a. m., September 25, 1915. Just before the assault General Joffre issued the following brief order: "The offensive will be carried on without truce and without respite. "Remember the Marne--Victory or death."