captured at about on 17 May after an extensive bombardment led to a large number of German troops surrendering. Reinforcements doubled the German firepower in the new position, from which in the afternoon British attempts to continue the advance were repulsed. Low cloud and rain obscured the battlefield and it took three days for the British to identify the new line. A series of attacks by four British divisions from achieved minor advances of the British line but found that the captured positions had been registered by German artillery, which maintained a heavy bombardment, which forced the British back at some places and inflicted many casualties. The fighting cost the British and the Germans . Fighting continued until 25 May for local objectives against German reinforcements, which were not available to oppose the French further south. Third phase, 13–18 June Tenth Army The eight days, that Foch thought necessary to capture ground on the flanks of XXXIII Corps, took five weeks to achieve. Small advances were made but the Germans were able to improve their defences relatively easily, in dips and behind slopes. Artillery reinforcements were registered as they arrived on obvious avenues of attack, which required only notification by flare signals from the front line to commence firing. The Tenth Army also received substantial reinforcements of artillery but these made only a small net increase, due to losses from German artillery fire, mechanical failures and premature detonations. Infantry reinforcements were only marginally greater than losses. Artillery ammunition for the and guns was much greater for the second general attack, with available from 16 to 18 June, compared to from 3 to 9 May. The preliminary bombardment was to begin on 10 June and concentrate on certain areas to conceal the imminence of an infantry attack. On the day of the attack, the artillery was to destroy defences repaired by the Germans overnight and conduct counter-battery fire until the last moment, as a deception, then fall on the German front defences as the French infantry advanced, to mislead the Germans and get the infantry across no man's land before a German barrage began. The Franco-British attack on 9 May had been on a front of and in June three supporting attacks were planned by the French Second, Sixth and Seventh armies, along with an attack by the British near Zillebeke in Flanders. The preliminary bombardment was due to begin on