Second Battle of Champagne WWI - High Hopes and Lessons Learned

On September 25, 1915, the Second Battle of Champagne began. An excerpt from the article:

"On the 25th of September, French troops poured out of their trenches and across no man’s land towards the German lines. As with so many frontal assaults of the First World War, their commanders had high hopes for the outcome.

As in so many frontal assaults, they were going to be disappointed.

Part of the problem was the same as in almost every battle of the war. The generals were convinced that heavy bombardments would devastate the defenders and smash their defenses, leaving them vulnerable to attack. But in reality, the men could weather these attacks. They headed into deeper dugouts, which the Germans were particularly good at building, and waited there for the artillery fire to end. There were casualties, but most men survived."