_Meanwhile, from the banks of the Lys to the ridges of the Vosges a
war of siege was ceaselessly raging. The Bulletin des Armées says:_
It is hardly necessary to emphasize the meritorious behavior of our
troops in waging this war inch by inch, never yielding, progressing
often in spite of the added difficulty of transporting important
French and English contingents to the north.
In close conjunction with the armies of the north the armies of Gen.
Maudhuy and Gen. de Castelnau held without flinching in the slightest
the line between the Lys and Noyon, from the middle of October till
the end of November.
Their progress has been continuous since the end of October; our
positions in Arras and La Bassée have been strengthened,
Quesnoy-en-Santerre has been captured, and in all the encounters with
the enemy our artillery and infantry have constantly made gains.
Between the Oise and the Argonne the armies of Maunoury, d'Espéray,
and Langle de Cary were confronted with very strong positions, viz.,
the heights of the Aisne, of Berru, Nogent-l'Abbesse, Moronvilliers,
and the wooded hills of Western Argonne.
In September they had to resist a very violent general attack. This
attack was a failure, especially east of Rheims, (Sept. 26.)
The Emperor had witnessed this check of his troops just as a week
later he was to witness the failure at Ypres.
Our armies, that is to say, Sarrail's and Dubail's, fulfilled with
method and success the task intrusted to them, viz., to protect our
right flank against attacks on the line from Metz to Thionville; to
retain in front of them the greatest possible number of German army
corps; to free as far as practicable, the national territory that had
been invaded, especially in the Woevre region and around Verdun.
In a first period (Sept. 13-29) the enemy had the upper hand,
fortified themselves in St. Mihiel, reached the Hauts-de-Meuse, and
threatened Verdun.
In the second period (Oct. 1 to Nov. 30) we regained the advantage.
We cleared the vicinity of Verdun. We advanced east of Nancy, which is
now quite safe from German shells, to the north of Lunéville, and to
the northeast and east of Saint-Dié.
In November we had recovered almost in its integrity the invaded
territory between Belfort and the Moselle.
_In brief, the situation on Dec. 1 was as follows:_
In number of men, the French Army is equal to what it was on Aug. 2,
as all the gaps have been filled up.
The quality of the troops is infinitely better. Our men now fight like
veterans. All are deeply convinced of their superiority and have
absolute faith in the final victory.
Several necessary changes were made among the commanding officers, and
in the last three months none of those mistakes was committed that had
been observed and punished in August.
Our supply in artillery ammunition has been largely increased. The
heavy artillery which we lacked has been provided for and seen at work
on the battlefield.
The English Army has been very heavily reinforced in November. It is
numerically stronger than at the outset of the campaign. The Indian
troops have completed their apprenticeship in European warfare.
The Belgian Army has been reorganized into six divisions. It is ready
and eager to reconquer the national territory.