Gruesome scene from WW I showing British troops overtaking a German trench, Early in the War, both sides tried to charge and overtake the other's trenches, but the modern machine gun put an end to that after the attacking troops suffered horrific casualties. Both sides resorted to massive artillery bombardments to "soften up" the enemy lines but sturdier trenches protected enough troops to make any frontal assaults very costly in terms of casualties. Fortunately, my father was in the artillery (he called them "big guns") and not charging enemy positions. He also had an uncanny ability to make adjustments to his gun and zero in on the enemy. He said he used some math (Armstrongs excel in math) to make the adjustments. Hard for me to believe.