The German resistance at some points was stubborn. On the Frode Torre, road and at Douaumont, the French had to force back the German infantry inch by inch at the point of bayonets. The leading French contingents reached Douaumont at 6 o'clock. They killed the Germans who resisted and sent to the rear a large number of prisoners. When they recovered from their surprise, the Germans launched a number of fierce counterattacks, but all failed, and by 10 P.M. preparations had been completed to deal with the serious efforts the Germans were expected to make to recapture the last positions. The French success is considered by military critics here to have shaken the whole German line at Verdun. The official communication tonight reads:
"In the region of Verdun, the German counterattacks took on a character of extreme violence along the whole of our front, without it being yet possible to specify the considerable effects engaged.
"On the left bank of the Meuse, after a counterattack with large shells all morning, the Germans launched on several occasions their assault on masses against our positions to the east and west of Le Mote Homme. The first attack, mowed down by our artillery and machine-surrender, was repulsed with sanguinary losses, without the enemy having been able to reach our lines.
"A second attack, likewise desperate, about 7 o'clock in the morning."  Evening succeeded in gaining a footing in one of our trenches to the west. An immediate counterattack completely drove out the enemy. On the right bank, the region of Haudromont was all day the theater of a murderous struggle. The Germans multiplied their assaults, which were preceded each time by very powerful artillery preparations. 