THE AISNE VALLEY.
In Chapter XVII, I described the undulating chalk plateau known as the
Heights of Champagne. You will remember that this ground was chosen by
the French in 1874 as the best place for making a stand against an
invader marching on Paris. The rapid advance of the Germans prevented
the French from rallying on these heights, and forced them to withdraw
much farther south before they were able to form their line and advance.
During the Battles of the Marne, you will remember, they drove the enemy
northwards from 6th to 11th September 1914. Bad weather caused them to
slacken the pursuit on the 12th, and the Germans were enabled to cross
the Aisne unmolested. While their rearguards were fighting stubbornly,
the main bodies were strongly entrenching themselves on the heights
north of the river.
It was not the first time that a German army had held this position.
When Marshal Blücher was fighting in France at the end of February 1814,
he was driven on to this plateau by Napoleon. So greatly was the ground
in his favour that Napoleon was unable to dislodge him. German generals
are great students of geography, and they were fully aware that the
heights beyond the Aisne afforded them a very strong defensive position
against an enemy moving from the south. When, therefore, they were
obliged to retreat, they made for this high ground, where they dug deep
trenches and gun-pits, and created a great fortified zone according to a
plan long previously prepared. Many people said that the trenches had
been dug before the Germans crossed the Marne, but the French Government
tells us that there is no foundation for this statement.
Before I describe the fierce fighting on the banks of the Aisne I must
try to give you some idea of the surrounding country. The Aisne runs
from east to west across North France through a wide grassy valley. It
is a sluggish stream, 170 feet broad, 15 feet deep in the middle, and
not unlike the English river Trent in character. All along its valley
are villages, farmhouses, unfenced fields, and poplar-lined roads, with
here and there a little town.
The most important place in the valley is Soissons, which has already
been mentioned in these pages. It is a very ancient town, with a history
that goes back to the days before Cæsar conquered Gaul. When, in later
times, the Franks set up a kingdom to the west of the Rhine, Soissons
became its capital. Few places have had so martial a history and have
been so often besieged. In 1870 the Germans bombarded the town for three
days before they were able to capture it. Prior to the war it was a
quiet country place, with a considerable trade in grain and haricot
beans. It boasted a beautiful cathedral, three fine old abbeys, and a
town hall containing a large library. One of the abbeys sheltered Thomas
à Becket for some time in the year 1170.
Looking across the valley from Soissons, we see the hills rising up from
the river like a wall. They vary in height, from 200 feet in the west
near Compiègne to 450 feet in the east near Craonne.[122] A nearer view
of these hills shows us many spurs dipping down sharply into the vale,
and between them steep-sided ravines and deep, narrow water-courses
carved out by the short and rapid brooks. All the way from Compiègne to
Craonne the wall of heights continues, with sometimes a bolder spur and
sometimes a deeper ravine. In many of the valleys there are quarries
which have been worked for centuries. The hollows from which the stone
has been taken, the underground passages, and the heaps of refuse afford
abundance of ready-made cover. The top of the plateau cannot be seen
from the valley, nor from the high ground on the southern bank of the
river, owing to the woods, which dip over the edges of the slopes and
descend towards the stream. The lower slopes are, for the most part,
steep and grassy, with enclosed coppices here and there. As you know,
the plateau stretches northwards to La Fère and Laon, where it drops
steeply to the plains of north-eastern France. The villages on the
plateau are strongly built of stone.
On the high ground, at an average distance of two miles from the stream,
the Germans had dug their trenches. The position was perfect. It could
not be seen from the high ground on the south side of the river, and it
commanded the bridges crossing the stream and most of the roads leading
to them. Along the crest runs a good highway, known as the "Route des
Dames"--that is, the Ladies' Road; by means of this road the Germans
were able to supply their line readily with food and ammunition. At the
eastern end of the heights the ground falls away behind the road, and
forms a deep hollow running parallel with it, thus providing excellent
cover for the supports of the troops holding the crest.
Von Kluck occupied the western section of the position, from the forest
of Compiègne to the large village of Craonne. Beyond that place, at the
old ferry of Berry-au-Bac, the German line crossed the river and
continued along a flat ridge parallel with the right bank of the
Suippe,[123] a tributary of the Aisne. This ridge, which was held by von
Buelow's command, curves to the south-east, and runs about fifteen miles
east of the city of Rheims. No better position for artillery could be
desired than the crest of the ridge, for the slope in front of it is
quite open and bare, and it can be swept by the guns in all its breadth.
In some respects this position was stronger than the line of heights,
for there was little or no cover for troops advancing upon it. Still
farther to the east the German line rested on the Argonne, where the
army of the Crown Prince was operating. Along this front, which was more
than a hundred miles in length, two million men were now to engage.
Von Kluck was opposed by the 5th and 6th French Armies and the British
army. The 6th French Army lay between Soissons and the Oise. Its left
wing was extended along the Oise, in case von Kluck should attempt, as
of old, to envelop the Allies' left. The British army lay east of
Soissons, with a front of about fifteen miles. On the right of the
British army was the 5th French Army. Von Buelow, who at this time also
commanded the Saxon army, held the ground to the east of von Kluck, and
opposed to him was the 9th French Army, under General Foch. The Duke of
Würtemberg and the Crown Prince continued the German line to the
Argonne, and against them were arrayed the 4th and 3rd French Armies.
The French who were opposed to the Crown Prince at once set to work
entrenching themselves in a semicircle about the fortress of Verdun.
They dug their trenches sufficiently far away from the forts to prevent
the German howitzers from dropping shells on them. The first of two
other French armies lay between the Meuse and the Moselle, while the 2nd
Army held the Bavarians in Lorraine.
Now let us look more closely at the section of the Aisne which the
British were to attack. A study of the map on page 240 will show you
what a heavy task was assigned to our army. Along some parts of the
front our soldiers could not approach the river at all, because there
were broad stretches of open ground which could be swept by the enemy's
long-range artillery. Clumps of wood, farmhouses, and sunken roads
afforded the only cover there was.
It was on Saturday, 12th September 1914, that the enemy was discovered
holding the strong position which I have described. At Soissons they
were in possession of both sides of the river, and they also held an
entrenched line on the hills to the north. There were eight road bridges
and two railway bridges crossing the river within the British section,
but all had been completely destroyed except one road bridge at Venizel
which our engineers repaired. The first business of the British was to
get a footing on the south bank, and then to construct bridges by which
they could cross the river and attack the Germans on the heights. The
longest battle of history was about to begin.
[Illustration: British Position on September 12, on the Eve of the
Battle of the Aisne.]
[Footnote 122: _Kray-on´._]
[Footnote 123: _Sweep._]