Instead of starting their search, the following day the men found themselves fighting for their lives as the Germans tried a sneak attack to wipe out the artillery unit the Canadians were protecting. For two days, a withering barrage landed in and around the forward trenches, softening up the Canadians for a penetration of a new type of German soldier, the Stoßtruppen.
Wearing steel helmets and chest plates and carrying large, medieval-looking shields to help protect the men carrying a new type of terror weapon—a portable flamethrower—these specially trained stormtroopers successfully breached the Allied lines. Reserve forces were rushed in to hold and then push them back out again.
Though frightening, Allied HQ estimated these new soldiers—because of their slowness and inability to hug
