Pershing launched a counterattack when the German Army began creeping barrages.
This was the most crucial phase for the German artillery to provide fire cover for the tanks, as halting their fire could easily lead to substantial tank losses and failure to breach the American defense line.
Therefore, the German artillery endured the American counter-barrage for two minutes.
But during those two minutes, three 105mm artillery regiments of the German Army were obliterated, and two more suffered over half casualties, severely crippling their artillery power.
The price paid by the US Army was: the first line of defense suffered heavy casualties under the assault of German tanks, with over 2,000 casualties from an infantry regiment of more than 6,000 and the loss of several armored vehicles, cars, and tanks.
However, Pershing's decision was correct, exchanging infantry casualties for enemy artillery, which would result in significantly fewer casualties in the future.
