The new tactic of holding the front line with the minimum of men increased the burden on German artillery, which had to commence firing as soon as the French or British attacked but the extent of Allied artillery-fire forced the gunners to rely on flares from the front line instead of telephones. A field-gun regiment at the Nurlu–Péronne-Moislains–Templeux-la-Fosse crossroads covered the defences of St Pierre Vaast wood, away, from open positions vulnerable to French shelling. The distance from the wood was too great for observed fire and when shooting from the map, shell dispersion made for a large beaten zone, which was impossible to correct and guaranteed that some shells fell short onto German positions, regardless of careful fire control and gun laying. Steel was being used instead of brass for shell cases which caused stoppages but the still managed to fire per day.