On 28 August, the Chief of the General Staff General Erich von Falkenhayn simplified the German command structure on the Western Front by establishing two army groups. was dissolved and General Max von Gallwitz reverted to the command of the 2nd Army. controlled the 6th, 1st and 2nd armies, from the Belgian coast to the boundary of , south of the Somme battlefield. The emergency in Russia caused by the Brusilov Offensive, the entry of Rumania into the war and French counter-attacks at Verdun put further strain on the German army. Falkenhayn had been sacked from (OHL) on 28 August and replaced by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. This "Third" OHL ordered an end to attacks at Verdun and the despatch of troops to Rumania and the Somme front. Colonel Fritz von Loßberg, Chief of Staff of the 2nd Army, was also able to establish (relief divisions) behind the battlefield, ready to replace tired divisions.