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.