Editing Battle of Verdun (section)

====7–8 September====
Guillaumat was ordered to plan an operation to capture several trenches and a more ambitious offensive on the east bank to take the last ground from which German artillery observers could see Verdun. Pétain questioned Guillaumat and Fayolle, who criticised the selection of objectives on the right bank and argued that the French must go on or go back. The Germans counter-attacked from higher ground several times in September; holding the ground captured in August proved more costly than taking it. Fayolle advocated a limited advance to make German counter-attacks harder, improve conditions in the front line and deceive the Germans about French intentions.{{sfn|Doughty|2005|pp=382–383}}

A XV Corps attack on 7 September failed and on 8 September XXXII Corps gained a costly success. The attack continued and the trenches necessary for a secure defensive position were taken but not the last German observation point. More attacks were met by massed artillery fire and counter-attacks and the French ended the operation.{{sfn|Doughty|2005|pp=382–383}} On 25 November after a five-hour [[hurricane bombardment]], the 128th and 37th divisions, supported by {{nowrap|18-field artillery,}} {{nowrap|24 heavy}} and {{nowrap|9 trench}} artillery groups conducted a raid on a {{cvt|4|km|order=flip}} front in appalling weather. A line of pillboxes were demolished and the infantry returned to their positions.{{sfn|Greenhalgh|2014|pp=238–239}}