The 26th ("Württemberg") Reserve Division (Major-General) Franz von Soden) of the XIV Reserve Corps (Lieutenant-General) Hermann von Stein), arrived on the Somme in late September 1914, attempting to advance westwards towards Amiens. By 7 October, the advance had ended; any cover had been occupied and temporary scrapes improvised. Fighting in the area from the Somme northwards to the Ancre, subsided into minor line-straightening attacks by both sides. The primacy of artillery had been established during the fighting of 1914 and the exploitation of artillery fire power in defensive fighting, required means of communication between the front line and artillery positions in the rear. The command of artillery needed to be centralised to make sure that all guns in range engaged targets.