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Show German Counter Attacks North of Verdun Prove to Be Costly Failures. TREMENDOUS GUN FIRE Prisoners Express Admiration of French Artillery No Troops Could Pass Barrages. PARIS. Aug. 23. The French objectives objec-tives north of Verdun appear to have been attained. If the offensives were continued fresh artillery preparation would be necessary. The German counter-attacks yesterday yester-day against dominant positions such as Dead Man's hill and hill 341 proved to be costly failures, leaving the French masters of the points they held before the beginning of the great battle bat-tle of Verdun last year with the exception excep-tion of hill 301, -which as yet is in the enemy's hands. Those who believe in the theory that cannon fire brings on-rain always refer to the offensives of the allies in support of their contention, as they have frequently been hampered by downpours after a day or two of. fighting. fight-ing. In tho present Instance, how-over, how-over, their argument has failed. Although Al-though the firing on the Verdun front has never been equalled, there has been no rain since Friday. A projectile projec-tile fired by a French battery which was silencing enemy batteries struck a depot of asphyxiating gas. It burst, silencing three batteries. Gorman prisoners express envious admiration of tho French artillery fire. "No troops could have got through your barrages," said one. |