Original sentence: For the defense, the Germans held the high ground, and had been more or less unmolested since October 1914, with plenty of time to construct deep shellproof bunkers in the chalky soil and extensive trench lines.France would end up contributing three corps to the opening of the attack (the XX, I Colonial, and XXXV Corps of the 6th Army).Haig himself had started the war as commander of I British Corps before commanding the First British Army, then BEF (which was, in effect, an army group made up of four armies, soon five, of sixty divisions).Moreover, there was disagreement between Haig and his senior local commander, General Sir Henry Rawlinson, GOC Fourth British Army, who favored a "bite and hold" rather than Haig's "decisive battle" concept.Nor was the attack a surprise.The expansion demanded generals for the senior commands, so promotion came at a dizzying pace and did not always reflect competence or ability.This was especially true for Rawlinson.Yet this vast increase in raw numbers also diluted the overall troop quality, & undermined the confidence commanders had in their men
Edited sentence: For the defense, German held the high ground, and had been more or less unmolested since October 1914, with plenty of time to construct deep shellproof bunkers in the chalky soil and extensive trench lines.France would end up contributing three corps to the opening of the attack (the XX, I Colonial and XXXV Corps of the 6th Army).Haig himself had started the war as commander of British I Corps before commanding the British First Army and now the BEF, in effect, an army group made up of four armies (soon to be five) of sixty divisions.The expansion of the army demanded generals for the senior commands, so promotion came at a dizzying pace and did not always reflect competence or ability