English Translation
The enemy kept up their attack all day.
Anhalten seems to mean to stop or pause, and also to persist or continue. How do I know how it’s working in this sentence?
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Very good question, I never thought about it. 
However, a native speakr would never be in doubt.
Simple answer, of course, is context.
The more elaborate answer:
I could not think of an example, where one would use “anhalten = stop, pause” with anything else than physically moving objects, like:
“Der Bus hielt an der Haltestelle an.” (A bus cannot “persist”).
With more abstract things that “proceed” but not “move” ist is always “persist, continue” like
“Das miese Wetter hielt den ganzen Urlaub an.” (Weather can not physically stop).