The initial bombardment which preceded the first infantry advance
against the Cambrai salient, at 8 o'clock on the morning of March 21,
was widely distributed--as far north as Ypres and as far south as the
Oise. It consisted mainly of gas and high explosive shells. The first
infantry attack, which penetrated the first and second lines on a
sixteen-mile front extending from Lagnicourt to Gauche Wood just south
of Gouseaucourt, caused a retreat from the salient which had been left
exposed to any superior attack since last December. In rapid succession
the British positions, now indefinitely exposed on the north, were then
attacked between Arras and La Fère, with tremendous concentration
between the latter and St. Quentin. According to the German report of
the 22d: "After powerful fire by our artillery and mine throwers our
infantry stormed in broad sectors and everywhere captured the first
enemy line."
From the 22d until the 25th the Germans kept up a heavy fire upon the
French front, mingled with raids, both land and air, evidently with the
intention of preventing a movement of the French behind the lines as
long as the German intentions remained uncertain.
By the 24th, however, these intentions had been measurably revealed,
both by documents found on prisoners and by the general tendency of the
battle. On that day the enemy succeeded in crossing the Somme south of
Péronne, while north of it he forced the British to retire from the line
of the River Torille. On the same day Chauny and Ham were captured, the
British 3d and 4th Armies were pressed behind Péronne and Ham, and the
5th Army almost lost contact with the French. Here began that wonderful
feat which has made the name of General Carey famous. On the 25th the
enemy, by a series of drives en masse, managed to envelop Bapaume, while
south of Péronne he made still further progress, "west of the Somme."
[Illustration: DETAIL MAP OF NORTHERN SECTOR OF BATTLE OF PICARDY, WHERE
HEAVY BLOWS WERE STRUCK BY THE GERMANS IN THEIR DRIVE TOWARD AMIENS AND
THE ENGLISH CHANNEL. THE FIGHTING WAS ESPECIALLY HEAVY AROUND PERONNE
AND ALBERT]
[Illustration: DETAIL MAP OF SOUTHERN PORTION OF BATTLEFIELD, SHOWING LA
FERE AND TERGNIER. WHERE GERMANS TRIED TO DRVE A WEDGE BETWEEN BRITISH
AND FRENCH ARMIES. THE BATTLE SWEPT WESTWARD PAST ROYE AND MONTDIDIER]
Nesle was lost and recovered several times by the French troops, who had
already begun to relieve certain portions of the British right, with its
unlucky 5th Army, as early as the 23d. In the engagements between
Bapaume and Péronne the German armies of von Below, who had just
returned from Italy, and von der Marwitz were personally directed by
Crown Prince Rupprecht, and outnumbered the British three to two.
[Illustration: DETAIL MAP OF THE STRUGGLE FOR ARRAS]