In the enemy's attempts to broaden his front on the Marne salient,
June 1 and 2, he managed to rectify the eastern side by reaching Sarcy
and Olizy and by working along up the Marne a couple of miles east of
Dormans. He also measurably consolidated his positions between the Oise
Canal and Soissons, and south of the latter stretched the line into a
segment with a five mile vertical as far south as, but not including,
Château-Thierry on the Marne. This swing to the westward appears to
have been a deliberate attempt to force Foch to meet shock with shock
by throwing in his reserves, as the German advance had reached a point
only forty miles from Paris.
[Illustration: OFFENSIVE OF JUNE 9, AIMED AT COMPIEGNE, AND BLOCKED
BY THE FRENCH AFTER FIVE DAYS. LIGHT SHADED AREA WON BY GERMANS; DARK
SHADED AREA AT BOTTOM WON BACK BY AMERICANS NEAR CHATEAU-THIERRY]
This was unnecessary, however, for here, north of Château-Thierry,
the enemy was to meet a new foe--the American marines. It is doubtful
whether the extraordinary performance of this corps and its French
supports between June 6 and June 12, when they bent back the lower part
of the bow between La Feste-Milon and Château-Thierry--from Grandeles,
Champillon, and Clerembant Wood to Bussiares and Bouresches--can be
included in the second battle of the Marne or serves as a diversion
to the later battle of the Oise, directed against Compiègne. At any
rate, the ardor of the marines had the desired effect, for on the very
day they began their work the inspired Berlin Vossische Zeitung said:
"The German Supreme Command cannot well proceed now against the newly
consolidated French front, which is richly provided with reserves,
and bear the great losses which experience shows are entailed by such
operations." Thus ended the second battle of the Marne, sometimes
called the Aisne-Marne battle.