In February 1917, sure that the new French commander General Robert Nivelle would attack and correctly foreseeing that he would try to pinch off the German salient between Arras and Noyon, they withdrew to the segment of the Hindenburg line across the base of the salient, leaving the ground they gave up as a depopulated waste land, in . The Nivelle Offensive in April 1917 was blunted by mobile defense in depth. Many French units mutinied, though "OHL" never grasped the extent of the disarray.