General Bullard's order to stir up the enemy, upon his assuming command in the relatively quiet Ansauville sector in early February, was carried out diligently by his artillery and his raiding infantry. His G - 3 section recorded 35,298 shells fired in the period 4 - 28 February, 90,469 rounds fired in the month of March, and 2,133 through 2 April, for a total of 127,900 rounds. Included in this total were 9,251 No. 4 and No. 5 gas shells.95
Enemy artillery, according to G - 3, fired half as many rounds in reply. Almost 21,510 rounds were recorded falling in the sector in February, 41,558 in March, and 4,122 in early April - a total of 67,190. G - 2 daily reports show less than half that total of enemy shell or 28,992.96 However, G - 2 attempted to estimate, as G - 3 did not, the gas shells included in its daily totals of enemy fire. These add up to less than 500, not counting the correction on the 900 projectiles in the 26 February attack. German data
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in the narrative, however, indicate that with that projector attack, the total of gas shells fired against 1st Division battery positions in February and March approximated 13,900 rounds.97 Although this appears somewhat high, in view of the results obtained, it does not seem possible to question it without further data.