German troops held their own against the rest of Europe for years. It really says quite a bit that they were immediately fazed by American troops.
There there was Alvin..
York was drafted into the United States Army and served in Company G, 328th Infantry, 82d Division, at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Deeply troubled by the conflict between his pacifism and his training for war, he spoke at length with his company commander, Captain Edward Courtney Bullock Danforth (1894–1974) of Augusta, Georgia, and his battalion commander, Major G. Edward Buxton of Providence, Rhode Island, a devout Christian himself. Biblical passages about violence (”He that hath no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one.” “Render unto Caesar ...” “... if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.”) cited by Danforth persuaded York to reconsider the morality of his participation in the war. Granted a 10-day leave to visit home, he returned convinced that God meant for him to fight and would keep him safe, as committed to his new mission as he had been to pacifism.[15][17] He served with his division in the St Mihiel Offensive.
Medal of Honor action
In an October 8, 1918 attack that occurred during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, York’s battalion aimed to capture German positions near Hill 223 (49.28558°N 4.95242°E) along the Decauville rail-line north of Chatel-Chéhéry, France. His actions that day earned him the Medal of Honor.[18] He later recalled:
The Germans got us, and they got us right smart. They just stopped us dead in our tracks. Their machine guns were up there on the heights overlooking us and well hidden, and we couldn’t tell for certain where the terrible heavy fire was coming from ... And I’m telling you they were shooting straight. Our boys just went down like the long grass before the mowing machine at home. Our attack just faded out ... And there we were, lying down, about halfway across [the valley] and those German machine guns and big shells getting us hard.[19]
Under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early, four non-commissioned officers, including recently promoted Corporal York,[20] and thirteen privates were ordered to infiltrate the German lines to take out the machine guns. The group worked their way behind the Germans and overran the headquarters of a German unit, capturing a large group of German soldiers who were preparing a counter-attack against the U.S. troops. Early’s men were contending with the prisoners when German machine gun fire suddenly peppered the area, killing six Americans[21] and wounding three others.[22] The loss of the nine killed and wounded put York in charge of the seven remaining U.S. soldiers.[23] As his men remained under cover, guarding the prisoners, York worked his way into position to silence the German machine guns. York recalled:
And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a racket in all of your life. I didn’t have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush... As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting... All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had.[24]
Sgt. Alvin C. York, 327th Inf., 82nd Div., Attack made from Hill 223 - N. of Chatel-Chéhéry, Argonne Forest, near Corny, Ardennes, France, Oct. 8th, 1918.
During the assault, six German soldiers in a trench near York charged him with fixed bayonets. York had fired all the rounds in his M1917 Enfield rifle,[25] but drew his M1911 semi-automatic pistol[26] and shot all six soldiers before they could reach him.[27]
Imperial German Army First Lieutenant Paul Jürgen Vollmer, commanding the 120th Reserve Infantry Regiment’s 1st battalion, emptied his pistol trying to kill York while he was contending with the machine guns. Failing to injure York, and seeing his mounting losses, he offered in English to surrender the unit to York, who accepted.[28]
By the end of the engagement, York and his seven men marched 132 German prisoners back to the American lines. Upon returning to his unit, York reported to his brigade commander, Brigadier General Julian Robert Lindsey, who remarked: “Well York, I hear you have captured the whole damn German army.” York replied: “No sir. I got only 132.”
York’s actions silenced the German machine guns and were responsible for enabling the 328th Infantry, 82d Division, to renew its attack to capture the Decauville Railroad.[29]
Post-battle
Sergeant Alvin C. York at the hill where his actions earned him the Medal of Honor (February 7, 1919)
York was promptly promoted to sergeant and received the Distinguished Service Cross. A few months later, an investigation by York’s chain of command resulted in an upgrade of his Distinguished Service Cross to the Medal of Honor, which was presented by the commanding general of the American Expeditionary Forces, General John J. Pershing. The French Republic awarded him the Croix de Guerre, the Medaille Militaire and the Legion of Honour. When decorating York with the Croix de Guerre, Marshal Ferdinand Foch told him “What you did was the greatest thing accomplished by any soldier of all the armies of Europe.”
In addition to his French medals, Italy awarded York the Croce al Merito di Guerra and Montenegro decorated him with its War Medal.[30][2] He eventually received nearly 50 decorations.[2] York’s Medal of Honor citation reads:[31]
After his platoon suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading seven men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.
In attempting to explain his actions during the 1919 investigation that resulted in the Medal of Honor, York told General Lindsey “A higher power than man guided and watched over me and told me what to do.” Lindsey replied “York, you are right.”[32] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_York#Medal_of_Honor_action
Seems like many European armies (probably including the Germans) emphasized use of the bayonet over actual riflery up to World War 1.
Another famous American shooter in WW1 (not York) wrote that he had tried target shooting with several French rifles, and could not get acceptable results from any of them, no matter how new. His comment was that “their rifles seemed more or less just something to put a bayonet on”.