; decided that the moral effect of the withdrawal from Verdun
would be disastrous to the French and advantageous to the Germans.
Instead of retiring, the French stood and held the hills beyond the
Charny Ridge, Dead Man's and 304; they hold them still and seem
determined to keep them. But remember that they can still retire to
the Charny Ridge if they choose, and only then find their best line
west of the Meuse, if they mean to hold on to the city of Verdun.

On the other hand, east of the River Meuse the French are
approximately in their last line. The hills and crests they hold upon
the Meuse Hills are some three or four miles from Verdun, but if the
French retired far they would begin to come down hill, with a deep
river at their backs. In consequence, whenever you hear that the
Germans have made some slight gain, taken a trench about Douaumont or
Vaux, you are certain to hear at once that the French have counter
attacked and retaken the lost ground.

The essential thing to remember is that the defence of Verdun is not
the defence of a position that has a great military value. The French
would be better off, would lose fewer men and run smaller risk of
considerable losses if they should quit the east bank of the Meuse and
occupy the hills back of Verdun on the west bank. On the west bank the
Germans have never made any material gain, and they have not come
within reach of the hills that bear the old forts. But the French
Government has decided that for political reason, for reasons that
affect the moral, not the military, situation, Verdun must not be
surrendered; hence the army is holding it at a cost of men less than
the Germans are paying to take it, but at a far greater cost than
would be necessary to hold the better positions west of the river.

The Germans have not made any gain of importance in nearly two months.
The French are very sure they will not come farther south. They are as
confident as men could be. But if the Germans should come farther
south and at last force the French to come back behind the river and
to the hills above the town, they would only win a moral victory. The
military situation would not be changed, unless they should also
pierce the French lines on the west of the river, and this is
absolutely unthinkable now.

If you think of Verdun city as a fortress you will put yourself in the
eighteenth century. It is just an abandoned town, mostly ashes and
completely ruined by a useless bom