Thus promoted Major-general at the beginning of 1915, he commands the 33rd corps and holds the sector of Arras which he clears on May 9 after a fierce struggle. General Pétain is promoted to the title of Commander of the Legion of Honour, then assigned the command of the 2nd Army in September 1915. He saves the Verdun area attacked on February 21, 1916, by organizing, air and land defences, and by implementing a noria of relief teams conveyed via the road of Bar-le-Duc to Verdun, and baptized «The Sacred Way». On May 15, 1917, he is named Commander-in-chief of the French Armies which he will lead until victory is achieved. Notably, he is called upon to repress the mutinies which had erupted after the attack of the Chemin des Dames in April. Philippe Pétain reduces to the minimum the executions pronounced by the War Council and restores order and discipline by restoring confidence within the troops, by improving the material and moral conditions of the soldier, as well as by the suppression of large-scale offensives, while waiting for «the Americans and the tanks». It is his famous wait-and-see strategy as defined in his directive n°4 of December 20, 1917. On December 8, 1918, Philippe Pétain receives the baton of Marshal of France.