Modern scientific strategy exhausted its utmost efforts; flanking and turning movements were planned, attempted and failed; huge masses of men were hurled against each other in every formation known to military skill; myriads of lives and millions of money were sacrificed in historic endeavors to breach the enemy's front—but ever the foeman held his ground and neither side could claim decided advantage. Intrenchments such as the world has never seen before covered the countryside for fifty miles. Teuton, Gaul and Anglo-Saxon, Turco and Hindu, literally "dug themselves in," and refused to budge an inch, though hell itself, in all its horror and its fury, was loosed against them.
And thus the battle of the Aisne—also aptly called, from its extent and ramifications, the battle of the Rivers—continued through many weeks while all the world wondered and stood aghast at the slaughter, and the single gleam of brightness that came out of that maelstrom of death and misery was the growing respect of Frenchman, German and Briton for the individual and collective courage of each other and the death-defying devotion that was daily displayed by all.
FIGHTING CONTINUOUS DAY AND NIGHT
Beginning as an artillery duel in which the field-guns of the French and Germans were matched against each other from opposite heights as never before, the battle of the Aisne soon resolved itself into a series of daily actions in which every arm of the opposing hosts engaged. There was little rest for the troops day or night. Artillery fire beginning at daybreak and continuing till dusk might break out again at any hour of the night, the range of the enemy's intrenchments being known. Frequently the artillery seemed to open fire in the still watches of the night for no other reason than to prevent the enemy in his trenches from getting any sleep at all, and many a man was borne to the rear on both sides suffering from no wound, but from utter exhaustion—a state of collapse which is often as deadly as shrapnel to the soldier in the field.
For weeks at a time the only real rest for many of the troops engaged along the line of battle came in snatches of a few hours when they were temporarily relieved by fresh troops brought up from the rear, and these in their turn might be soon exhausted by the continuous strain of keeping on the alert to repel attacks—or, as frequently happened, their ranks might be decimated, or worse, when they were ordered to a charge. Officers and men suffered alike from the strenuous nature of the demands made upon them—and so far as actual casualties are concerned the battle was one in which officers of all ranks, in all the armies, suffered perhaps more severely, in proportion to the number engaged, than in any previous battle. Hundreds of British officers, for example, were among the victims whose bones lie rotting in the valley of the Aisne, as whole pages of their portraits in the London journals, bearing many of the best known names in the British Empire, testified in mute protest against the horrors of war. And both Germany and France have a similar "roll of honor."
REPORTS OF THE BATTLE
While the great battle of the Rivers was in progress the most connected stories of its daily developments came through the British official news bureau, and these are reproduced in part in the pages that follow. The author of these reports is believed to be Colonel Swinton, of Field Marshal French's staff, who is generally credited with having contributed to the literature of the war some of the most interesting and enlightening accounts of the operations of the British and French armies in the field. And these reports are given here, because of their general character of apparent truth and fairness, and in the absence of any similar reports from the other side.
OPENING OF THE GREAT BATTLE
The following report from the British headquarters covers the period when the Allies' forward movement was halted along the Aisne and also describes the terrain, or country, in which the subsequent fighting occurred:
"From Thursday, September 10, the British army made [Illustration: In the above view the Rivers Marne, Ourcq, Aisne, Oise, and Meuse are clearly shown, exaggerated in size for convenience of reference. The position of the Allies September 20, 1914, is shown by a black dotted line running from between Amiens and Peronne to Verdun and Nancy. The German front is indicated by the shaded sections, which also show the German lines of communication or retreat, numbered from 1 to 7. At this time the Allies were pushing north to Arras, endeavoring to turn the German right flank in common of General von Kluck.] steady progress in its endeavor to drive back the enemy in co-operation with the French. The country across which it had to force its way, and will have to continue to do so, is undulating and covered with patches of thick wood.