The flanking lines between which the Germans were directed to the Marne
made the battle of the Oise inevitable as far as the Marne salient was
concerned. For the salient, there was only this alternative, if its
front could not be broadened: it must be "dug in" or be abandoned.
But, being necessary, if it could be waged beyond a certain point, it
would also become ambitious. It would supplement the Picardy front by
continuing its line down to the Marne. Reaching the Oise at Montmacq,
it would flank the French salient north of the Oise. Utilizing the Oise
and Ourcq Valleys, it would envelop the defensive forests of Aigue,
Compiègne, and Villers-Cotterets. This would mean Compiègne. From
Compiègne the investment of Paris was possible.
The battle, as far as the Germans are concerned, was probably their
most disastrous effort of the war within the given time. Between thirty
and thirty-four divisions were completely used up--a cost of over
400,000 effectives. Not only did their advance lack the element of
surprise, but it entered a veritable trap. Their front was enfiladed
with a destructive fire from impregnable flanks.
The battle was also a revelation; it demonstrated as nothing else
the waning man power of the enemy--the desperate mobilization of
16-year-old boys, of old men, of convicts, even.
The artillery preparation, rich in gas shells, began at midnight on
June 8-9. On the following morning at 4:30 the attack was launched over
the twenty miles from Montdidier to Noyon. And, as usual, there was
the northern diversion--the pounding of the British lines by gunfire
from Villers-Bretonneux to Arras. Even on the first day of the assault,
when the German centre advanced two and a half miles, the French made
a spirited counterattack near Hautebraye, between the Aisne and the
Oise. On the second day the enemy took at tremendous cost the villages
of Mery, Belloy, and St. Maur and debouched from Thiescourt Wood. On
the third day, with the aid of four fresh divisions, he managed to
reach the Aronde, on the west; to descend a mile astride the Matz and
to occupy its northern bank almost to the Oise, in the centre; and to
envelop the forest of Ourscamps, on the east. Before the sun set the
French, by a counterattack, had entirely won back the gains on the
west, with over 1,000 prisoners captured. On the fourth and fifth
days (June 13 and 14) the French heavily attacked on the flanks of
the centre--at Courcelles and at Croix Ricard. Then came two final
kicks from the foe; on June 16 he attempted to cross the Matz near its
junction with the Oise and was driven back with heavy losses. The next
day he drenched the south bank of the Marne with gas shells, but did
not attempt to cross the stream.
All this time abortive diversions had been going on in the north, in
the Lys salient, where on June 15 the British and Scottish troops took
the initiative and captured two miles of enemy positions seven miles
west of La Bassée and just north of Béthune.