ALLIED AND GERMAN BATTLE PLANS
So much for the actual disposition of the armies. The question of
preponderance of numbers, of advantages of position, and of comparative
fighting efficiency is the next factor with which to be reckoned. The
numbers were fairly evenly matched. About twelve days before this
fateful day of September 3, 1914, there were approximately 100 German
divisions as against seventy-five French, British, and Belgian
divisions. But, during those twelve days, French and British
mobilization advanced with hectic speed, while, at the same time,
Germany was compelled to transfer ten or perhaps fifteen of her
divisions to the eastern theater of war. It follows, therefore, that
there were about 4,000,000 soldiers in all the armies that confronted
each other in the week of September 3-10, 1914, of whom, probably,
3,000,000 were combatants.
An early estimate placed the German strength at 1,300,000 combatants,
and the Allies at about 1,700,000. A later French estimate put the
Germans at 1,600,000, with the Allies between 1,400,000 and 1,500,000.
The preponderance of efficiency of equipment lay with the Germans.
The plans of the German campaign at this time, so far as they can be
determined from the official orders and from the manner in which the
respective movements were carried out, were three-fold. The first of
these movements was the order given to General von Kluck to swirl his
forces to the southeast of Paris, swerving away from the capital in an
attempt to cut the communications between it and the Fifth French Army
under General d'Esperey. This plan evidently involved a feint attack
upon the Sixth French Army under General Manoury (though General Pare
took charge of the larger issues of this western campaign), coupled with
a swift southerly stroke and an attack upon what was supposed to be the
exposed western flank of General d'Esperey's army. The cause of the
failure of this attempt was the presence of the British army, as has
been shown in the alignment of the armies given above, and as will be
shown in detail later, in the recital of the actual progress of the
fighting. Important as was this movement, however, it was the least of
the three elements in General von Moltke's plan for the shattering of
the great defense line of the Allies.
The second element in this plan was, contrary to Germany's usual
tactics, the determination to attack the center of the French line and
break through. Almost three-quarters of a million men were concentrated
on this point. The armies of General von Buelow, General Hausen and the
Duke of Wuerttemberg were massed in the center of the line. There,
however, General Foch's new Ninth Army was prepared to meet the attack.
It will be remembered that, in the disposition of the troops, these
respective armies were facing each other across the great desolate
plain, the ancient battle ground. If the German center could break
through the French center, and if at the same time General von Kluck,
commanding the German right, could execute a swift movement to the
southeast, the Fifth French Army would be between two fires, together
with such part of the Ninth Army as lay to the westward of the point to
be pierced. This strategic plan held high promise, and it would have
menaced the whole interior of France southward from the plain of
Champagne, but even this second part of the plan, important as it was,
does not appear to have been the crucial point in the campaign.
The glory of the victory, if indeed victory it should prove, as the
successes of the previous two weeks had led the Germans to believe, was
to be given to the crown prince. With a great deal of trouble and with
far more delay than had been anticipated, the crown prince's army had at
last managed to get within striking distance of the forefront of the
great battle line. His forces occupied the territory north of Verdun to
a southern point not far from Bar-le-Duc. Here the German secret service
seems to have been as efficient, as it failed to be with regard to
conditions only fifty miles away. General Sarrail's army, which
confronted the army of the crown prince, was somewhat weak. It consisted
of about two army corps with reserve divisions. Nor could General Joffre
send any reenforcements. Every available source of reenforcements had
been drawn upon to aid the Sixth Army, encamped upon the banks of the
Ourcq, in order that Paris might be well guarded. No troops could be
spared from the Fifth and Ninth Armies, which had to bear the brunt of
the attack from the German center. General Sarrail, therefore, had to
depend on the natural difficulties of the country and to avoid giving
battle too readily against the superior forces by which he was
confronted. It was a part of the plan of the French generalissimo,
however, to feel the strength of the German center, and if it proved
that they could be held, to release several divisions and send them to
the aid of General Sarrail.
Subordinate to this contemplated attack by the crown prince, yet forming
a part of it, and, in a measure, a fourth element in the campaign, was
the double effort from the garrisons of Metz and Saarbruecken, combining
with the armies of the Bavarian Crown Prince and the forces of General
von Heeringen. The Second French Army, therefore, could not come to the
aid of the Third, except in desperate need, for it was in the very
forefront of the attack on Nancy. If the German left could pierce the
French lines at Nancy and pour through the Gap of Lorraine, it would be
able to take General Sarrail's army in the rear at Bar-le-Duc, and would
thus completely hem it in, at the same time isolating Verdun, which,
thus invested in the course of time must fall, forming an invaluable
advanced fortress to the German advance.
[Illustration: Battle of the Marne--Situation on September 9, 1914.]
Before proceeding to the actual working out of this plan of campaign it
may be well to recapitulate it, in order that each development may be
clear. The German plan was to pierce the French line at three places, at
Meaux, at Bar-le-Duc and at Nancy. General von Kluck, at Meaux, would
cut off the Fifth and the Ninth Armies from communication with their
base at Paris, the Bavarian Crown Prince would weaken General Sarrail's
defense in the rear, and if possible come up behind him, and thus the
stage would be set for the great onrush of the Imperial Crown Prince,
who, with an almost fresh army, and with a most complete and elaborate
system of communications and supplies, should be able to crush the weak
point in France's defense, the army under General Sarrail. Such a
victory was designed to shed an especial luster upon the crown prince
and thus upon the Hohenzollern dynasty, a prestige much needed, for the
delays in the advance of the crown prince's army had already given rise
to mutterings of discontent. From a strategical point of view the plan
was sound and brilliant, the disposition of the forces was excellently
contrived, and the very utmost of military skill had been used in
bringing matters to a focus.
The French plan, is the next to be considered. From official orders and
dispatches and also from the developments of that week, it is clear that
General Joffre had perceived the possibility of such a plan as the
Germans had actually conceived. He had brought back his armies--and
there is nothing harder to handle than a retreating army--step by step
over northern France without losing them their morale. The loss of life
was fearful, but it never became appalling. The French soldiers had
faith in Joffre, even as their faith in France, and, while the Germans
had victories to cheer them on, the soldiers of the Allies had to keep
up their courage under the perpetual strain of retreat. The
administration had evacuated Paris. Everywhere it seemed that the
weakness of France was becoming apparent. To the three armies in the
field, those commanded severally by General Manoury, Sir John French,
and General Lanrezac, the generalissimo steadily sent reenforcements.
But he informed the French Government that he was not able to save the
capital from a siege. Yet, as after events showed, while these various
conditions could not rightly be considered as ruses upon General
Joffre's part to lure on the Germans, there is no doubt that he
understood and took full advantage of the readiness of the attacking
hosts to esteem all these points as prophetic of future victory. The
first feature of the French plan, therefore, was to lend color to the
German belief that the armies of the Allies were disheartened and
thereby to induce the attacking forces to join the issue quickly.
The second part of the French plan lay in General Joffre's decision not
to do the expected thing. With General Sarrail placed at the extremest
point of danger, it would have been a likely move to transfer the entire
British Expeditionary Force from the left wing to the weak point at
Bar-le-Duc. There is reason to believe that General von Kluck believed
that this had been done.
The third part of the defensive prepared by General Joffre was that of a
determination to turn the steady retreat into a counterdrive. Time after
time had the other generals implored their leader to give them leave to
take the offensive, and on every occasion a shake of the head had been
the reply. Sir John French had wondered. But when the French officers
found themselves in the region of the Marne, close to the marshes of St.
Gond, where in 1814 Napoleon had faced the Russians, they were more
content. It was familiar as well as historic ground. Even the youngest
officer knew every foot of that ground thoroughly. It was, at the same
time, the best point for the forward leap and one of the last points at
which a halt could be made.
The fourth part of the plan was the holding fast to the point of Verdun,
for thereby the communication of the armies of the Central Powers was
seriously weakened. It is to be remembered that this actual fighting
army of more than a million men depended for food and for ammunition
supplies upon the routes from Belgium and Luxemburg by way of Mezieres
and Montmedy, and the circuitous line to Brussels via St. Quentin. Had
Maubeuge fallen a little earlier the situation of the Central Powers
would have been less difficult, and both commissariat and ammunition
problems would have been easier of solution. But Maubeuge held out until
September 7, 1914, and by that time the prime results of the battles of
the Marne had been achieved. To this problem Verdun was the key, for
from Metz through Verdun ran the main line, less than one-half the
length of line to the Belgian bases of supplies, and, owing to the
nature of the country, a line that could be held with a quarter the
number of men. But Verdun stood, and General Joffre held the two armies
back to back, converging on the point at Verdun.
Such was the country over which the battles of the Marne were fought,
such were the numbers and dispositions of the several armies on each
side, and such, as far as can be judged, were the plans and counterplans
of the strategic leaders in the great conflict.