By March 25 they had covered an area of about 500 square miles and had
penetrated beyond Croisilles, Bapaume, Péronne, Brie, Nesle, and the
forest northeast of Noyon. In the two following days they recovered the
entire battlefield of the Somme, occupied the British railway junction
and supply depot at Albert, drove the British four miles down the Somme,
and took Roye and Noyon from the French, driving the latter across the
Oise. On the 29th the French counterattacked and recovered eight square
miles between Lassigny and Noyon, but west of this position the enemy,
on a twelve-mile front with a penetration of seven miles, enveloped
Montdidier. The next day the Germans gained some ground north of the
Scarpe before Vimy Ridge and obliterated an ally salient with its vertex
at Vrely by straightening their line between the Somme and Montdidier.
From March 29 until April 8 the enemy consolidated his positions on a
front which had been expanded from seventy-five miles, including two
large salients, to 125 miles, including innumerable small ones,
embracing a terrain of about 800 square miles west of the front as it
was on March 20.
On April 3 the enemy was strongly counterattacked by the British at
Ayette and by the French at Plémont, near Lassigny. Similar
counterattacks recovered Hébuterne for the British and Cantigny for the
French on April 5; Beaumont Hamel and a strong position west of Albert
for the British and a flanking position north of Aubvillers for the
French on April 7.
[Illustration: FLANDERS SECTOR OF THE GREAT BATTLE OF PICARDY. THE CHAIN
LINE SHOWS BATTLEFRONT, MARCH 21, 1918. SHADED SPACE INDICATES GERMAN
GAINS UP TO APRIL 17.]
Meanwhile, April 4, the Germans had occupied Hamel and two villages near
Grivesnes, driving out the French, and had made a furious assault upon
the positions of the latter between the Luce rivulet and the Avre River,
but without success. On the 5th they had made similar attacks at five
points: they were successful against the British at Dernancourt, against
the French at Casel; they were driven back with heavy losses by the
British at Moyenneville and Villers-Bertonneux and by the French at
Cantigny. On the 6th the enemy had made concentrated attacks at six
points: south of Albert, beyond the Vaire Wood, between Hailles and
Rouvrel, and on the Oise east of Chauny he gained ground, but his
attempt to take Mesnil beyond Montdidier and Mount Rénaud beyond Noyon
were costly failures. On the 7th he attacked the British strategic
position at Eucquoy and the French position east of Chauny. At the
former place he was repulsed with heavy loss; at the latter his official
chronicler asserted that he gained ground.