Fritz von Lossberg Friedrich Karl " Fritz " von Lossberg ( 30 April 1868 – 4 May 1942 ) was a German colonel , and later general , of World War I . He was a strategic planner , especially of defence , who was Chief of Staff for the Second , Third and Fourth Armies . He was present at the battles of the Somme , Arras , and Verdun Lossberg was born in Bad Homburg in Hesse - Nassau . Erich Ludendorff refers to him as " Loszberg " in his memoires . Elsewhere , it is sometimes also spelt " Loßberg " . Lossberg was later to become " legendary as the fireman of the Western Front , always sent by OHL to the area of crisis " . He was the " foremost German expert on Defensive Warfare . Was made a floating Chief of staff in problem areas with " Vollmacht " : the right to issue orders in a superior ' s name " . The British Official History refers to him as " a very remarkable soldier " . Lossberg was awarded the " Blue Max " ( " Pour le Mérite " ) for his work on the Western Front on 24 April 1917 . ' Throughout the eight months which Colonel von Lossberg spent in Mézières [ in early 1915 ] he was straining at the leash to return to more active work at the front , and the first opportunity , which came by accident , he seized with both hands . His chief , Colonel Tappen , was still away when the French offensive [ in the Champagne region ] was delivered on the 25th September and von Lossberg deputized for him when General Falkenhayn explained the situation to the Kaiser , William II , the following morning . A message had come through earlier from the chief of staff of the Third Army , Lieut . - General von Hoehn , that the left corps might have to be withdrawn two miles to behind the Dormoise , and Colonel von Lossberg during his account of the situation on the Champagne battlefront expressed strong disapproval of such an action . Within three hours of that interview he was on his way to replace General von Hoehn as chief of staff , a marked honour for a junior colonel of only two months ' seniority , as all the other chiefs of staff of armies were at least major - generals . ' Von Lossberg was one of the leading proponents of the system of defence - in - depth . " Aged 71 , Major General Fritz von Lossberg retired from the Army in 1927 " Elsewhere ( see talk ) his dates are given as 1868 - 1942 Innovations in defensive tactics . The doctrine of “ defense in depth ” or “ elastic defense ” was formulated in 1915 by a small group of young staff officers at the German Army High Command at Mézières , France ; specifically , it was proposed by Major Max Bauer , Major Bussche , Captain Hermann Geyer , and Captain Harbon . In 1916 , Major Bauer and Captain Geyer expounded their ideas in an army manual , “ Conduct of the Defensive Battle . ” In an elastic defense , the front line would be held by a minimal number of troops ( to minimize the number of men exposed to artillery fire ) . During an attack , these troops would retreat . Reserves , who would be stationed nearby but beyond artillery range , would then counterattack and retake the front line . Initially , Lossberg , who was Bauer and Geyer ’ s superior , opposed elastic defense . He argued that it was impractical to expect men to make an orderly retreat under artillery fire . Furthermore , allowing units to retreat at will would make coordinating a defense almost impossible . Also , the counterattack would have to be precisely coordinated with the enemy ’ s attack . Lossberg thought that the front line should be held at all costs . Nevertheless , Lossberg agreed that the front line should be thinly manned , and that if the front line were breached , counterattacks by nearby reserves should restore the line . Furthermore , Lossberg gave more freedom and authority to front - line commanders , so that they could respond quickly to local threats and opportunities . This freedom and authority also made practical the launching of the rapid counterattacks that Bauer and Geyer had advocated . Lossberg ’ s ideas became official army doctrine . It was Lossberg who first put into practice the theory of elastic defense during the battle of Arras ( April – May 1917 ) , where it succeeded . But the elastic defense at Arras had been improvised . At the subsequent battle of Passchendaele ( June – November 1917 ) Lossberg carefully planned an elastic defense and again was successful . Lossberg ’ s successes in battle proved the feasibility of defense in depth . Decorations and awards . Lossberg was an honorary citizen of Bad Homburg , his home town and received medals and decorations :