the German army could not be beaten and that a negotiated peace was inevitable. German casualties were so high that by mid-July Falkenhayn had sent the best divisions remaining in the 6th Army to the Somme, reduced the OHL reserve to one division and begun reducing the size of the divisions in the (Western Army), to allow complete divisions to be transferred to the Somme; the Entente had seized the initiative on the Western Front. Tactical developments On 1 July, the French Sixth Army and the right wing of the British Fourth Army had inflicted a considerable defeat on the German 2nd Army. From the Albert–Bapaume road north to Gommecourt, the Fourth Army attack had been a disaster, where most of the casualties were suffered. Against the wishes of Marshal Joseph Joffre, General Sir Douglas Haig abandoned the offensive north of the road to reinforce the success in the south. During the Battle of Albert the Fourth Army pressed forward south of the road, through several intermediate defensive lines, towards the German second position. The attacks were hampered by supply routes becoming quagmires during rainy periods (lengthening the time for round trips), behind the French XX Corps ( Maurice Balfourier) and the British XIII Corps (Lieutenant-General Walter Congreve), XV Corps (Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Horne) and III Corps (Lieutenant-General William Pulteney). South of the Albert–Bapaume road, La Boisselle was captured on 4 July, Bernafay and Caterpillar woods were occupied from 3 to 4 July and fighting for Trônes Wood, Mametz Wood and Contalmaison took place until early on 14 July. The Germans opposite the Fourth Army were kept disorganised and the British closed to within striking distance of the German second position, a significant but costly victory. The Fourth Army attacks were not co-ordinated, tactically crude, wasteful of manpower and gave the Germans an opportunity to concentrate their inferior resources on narrow fronts, multiplying their effect. The loss of casualties on 1 July was not repeated. From 2 to 13 July, the British attacked and suffered a change in the rate of loss from per day. Around 14 July, Émile Fayolle wrote that the French had taken and the British and but that the British had "in the ground" (sic) and were still short of the German second position. The strain imposed by the Entente attacks after 1 July, led Below to issue an order of the day (2nd Army Order