On the 27th, the advance was slower; the fire of the enemy artillery increased in intensity, and German reinforcements counter-attacked. Nevertheless, the Americans carried Véry, Epinonville, Ivoiry and Charpentry.
On the centre, the 5th Corps (Cameron) met with formidable resistance, and in crossing the woods of Malancourt and Cheppy the troops from New Jersey, Virginia, Oregon, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana suffered very heavy losses. In addition, they had to face numerous German counter-attacks. On the 26th it was impossible to reach the formidable Heights of Montfaucon, but on the 27th the ridge, outflanked on the west by the capture of Ivoiry, and on the east by that of Septsarges, fell into the hands of the 5th Corps which reached Nantillois.
On the evening of the 27th, the American spoils included over 100 guns (12 of large calibre), numerous trench-mortars, hundreds of machine-guns, and over 8,000 prisoners, 125 of whom were officers.
On the evening of the 27th, the infantry fought fiercely for the last points d’appui assigned to them for that day.
In order to prevent a counter-offensive by the Germans, General Pershing rapidly organised, behind the ground already won, a line of defence through Gercourt, Drillancourt, Juré Wood, Dannevoux, Nantillois, Eclisfontaine, Charpentry, Montblainville and Apremont.
On the 28th, the resistance of the enemy further stiffened: fresh troops carried out repeated counter-attacks on the French right and against the American centre. The Americans, however, reached the outskirts of Brieulles-sur-Meuse, Ogons Wood, the southern edge of Cierges, and the northern outskirts of Apremont, whilst in the forest, the Franco-American liaison troops occupied the Crochet shelter. On the west the French approached Binarville and reached Ivoy Farm.
Up to that point, the American Air Force, fully maintaining its supremacy in the air, had brought down twelve observation balloons and over sixty enemy aeroplanes.
The next day, the Germans, throwing fresh reinforcements into the battle, counter-attacked furiously.
Between the Valley of the Aire and Cierges, the Americans had to fight hard for several days, in order to resist the pressure of the enemy and to hold the ground they had gained. On the 29th and 30th violent fighting took place round Apremont. The Germans, reinforcing their artillery, fired great numbers of gas shells. They stubbornly defended the approaches of the “Kriemhilde” position, which from Champigneulle to St. Juvin, through Cornay, Fléville, and the woods of Gesnes, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, Cunel and Fays, reached the Meuse in the Brieulles district.
Thus the first stage of the attack was over. The Americans had forced the Germans to abandon their first and second lines and had captured 9,000 prisoners and more than 100 guns.