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'Espérey. 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'Espérey'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 Bülow, General
Hausen and the Duke of Württemberg 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
Saarbrucken, 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 Mézières and Montmédy, 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.
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