Martinpuich to the north-west and Longueval to the south-east. Delville Wood lay to the east. Before the Battle of the Somme the wood was behind the German second line, which lay in front of Bazentin-le-Grand and Bazentin-le-Petit. The wood crowned a ridge which was about high and overlooked the ground around for a considerable distance. An attack on the wood could be seen easily from the ridge which ran through the north end of the wood. Before the battle the trees were undamaged and the ground had not been churned by shell-fire. Prelude German preparations Despite considerable debate among German staff officers, Falkenhayn laid down a continuation of the policy of unyielding defence. On the Somme front, the fortification construction plan ordered by Falkenhayn in January 1915 had been completed. The reserve line, renamed the second line, was as well built and wired as the first line and had been built beyond the range of Allied field artillery, to force attackers to stop and move their artillery forward before an attack. The second line had become the front line in the area of High Wood, after the Battle of Bazentin Ridge on 14 July. German artillery was organised in a series of (barrage sectors) for the simpler task of placing barrages on no man's land. Telephone lines between the German front lines and their artillery support were often cut but the front line troops used signal flares to communicate. High Wood had grassy rides and many saplings in the undergrowth, which impeded movement off the rides and the wood had been fortified. British preparations General Henry Rawlinson, the Fourth Army commander, planned an attack at dawn on 14 July, when there would be insufficient light for German machine-gunners to see far ahead. XIII Corps was to attack with two divisions from Longueval to Bazentin-le-Grand and XV Corps was to attack from Bazentin-le-Petit to the north-west edge of Mametz Wood; one division of III Corps was to attack further west. The British infantry was to cross up to of no man's land in the dark and assemble close to the German second line. In this area the second line had become the front line, after the British and French advances during the Battle of Albert A preparatory bombardment began on 11 July and a shortage of heavy artillery ammunition along with transport difficulties over wet and cut up ground, were eased