_Mr. Perris on June 2 gave the first hint of improved aspects of the
battle in the following dispatch:_
On Friday afternoon, May 31, General von Boehm's troops opened a new
pocket beyond Oulchy of a depth of about five miles and on either side
of the Ourcq Valley yesterday. In the course of stubborn fighting this
salient was slightly extended, and at the same time a narrow bend was
added to their gains between the Oise about Pont Eveque and the Aisne
west of Soissons.
The main line of pressure was thus changed from south to southwest,
and while the rest of the new front is relatively quiet, there have
developed two bulges, which represent the acutest stress of the battle.
The first of these is between the Oise and the Aisne, directed toward
the angle of the two rivers at Compiègne; the second, midway between
the Aisne and the Marne, points westward along the Ourcq, toward the
ancient town of Laferte-Milon.
In both these fields there has been a series of violent struggles
this morning, with a notable increase of the power of resistance of
the Allies. North of the Aisne the German assaults have been nearly
everywhere broken. A slight advance by the Germans on the Ourcq has
been won at the cost of very heavy losses, and the French are standing
with splendid resolution along its small tributary, the Savieres, which
marks the border of the forest region of Villers-Cotterets.
As the enemy has reached the heights northwest of Château-Thierry,
where we watch them from the south side of the river, an attempt to
push westward along the north bank of the Marne is to be expected.