June after Colonel Fritz von Loßberg was appointed as the new Chief of Staff of the 4th Army. Loßberg rejected the withdrawal to the and ordered that the front line be held rigidly. The , along Passchendaele Ridge east of the , would become the and a new would branch off north of Passchendaele run south through Terhand and west of Menin to the Lys. Construction of from Moorslede to Westroosebeke, behind Passchendaele Ridge to Dadizeele and west of Menin on the Lys was also begun. By July, the area east of Ypres was defended by the front position, the (second position), (third position), (fourth position), (fifth position) and (sixth position, under construction). Debate among the German commanders continued and on 25 June, Ludendorff suggested that be withdrawn to the , leaving only outposts in the . On 30 June, Kuhl suggested a withdrawal to the along Passchendaele Ridge, meeting the old front line near Langemarck to the north and Armentières in the south. A withdrawal would avoid a hasty retreat from Pilckem Ridge and force the British into a time-consuming redeployment. Loßberg disagreed, because the British would launch a broad front attack, making a local withdrawal pointless, the ground east of the line was easy to defend, Menin Road Ridge could be held and that Pilckem Ridge deprived the British of ground observation over the Steenbeek valley, while German observation of the area from Passchendaele Ridge allowed infantry to be supported by observed artillery fire. Infantry organisation The 4th Army operation order for the defensive battle was issued on 27 June. The system of defence in depth began with a front system (first line) with breastworks , about apart, garrisoned by the four companies of each front battalion with listening-posts in no-man's-land. About behind these works, was the forward battle zone () backed by the (second or artillery protective line). The support battalions comprised a company to hold strong-points and three (storm companies) to counter-attack from the back of the , half based in the pillboxes of the to provide a framework for the re-establishment of defence in depth, once an attack had been repulsed. Dispersed in front of the line were divisional (Sharpshooter) machine-gun nests, called the (strongpoint line). The marked the front of the main battle zone () which was about deep, containing most of the field artillery of the front divisions, behind which was the (third