Entering the First World War, the German army followed a very offensive infantry tactic, using large-scale artillery support. However, the disastrous experience of trench warfare at the end of 1914 and the beginning of 1915 pushed the German army to search for new infantry tactics. The result of these searches was the creation of Stosstruppen units (also called Sturmtruppen), that is, infantry units specially trained for trench warfare using hand machine guns and hand grenades on a large scale. At the same time, these units (formed into companies or battalions) learned the so-called penetration tactics, that is, moving forward by avoiding the enemy's most difficult points of resistance, using the cover of the terrain, which was a movement aimed at Stosstruppen in the rear of the enemy troops. His artillery and command and communication points were to be destroyed there. Therefore, it was an implementation of the principle of indirect actions. This tactic was also adapted to the tactics of artillery fire, which had to be as short and intense as possible in order to crush the enemy with fire. Rockets with chemical weapons were used on a large scale. Stosstruppen units were first used in 1915, but they were used on a larger scale at the Battle of Verdun, especially during the so-called Kaiserschlacht in 1918.
