The Period of Attrition
(October 1-31, 1918.)
The advance effected during the first stage of the attack brought the American infantry face-to-face with fresh German positions, strongly defended, bristling with machine-guns and automatic weapons, organised one behind the other and connected up with one another. These positions had to be reduced bit by bit.
The smallest wood or the least depression of the ground was utilised by the Germans with the greatest skill. In the woods they made use of a new type of auxiliary defence-works—barbed-wire entanglements (Maschendraht) about nine feet in height, fastened to trees or to stakes six inches in diameter.
The Americans on their side attacked desperately, and succeeded in gaining the disputed ground, step-by-step, thereby laying during the whole month of October the foundation of the operations which in November were to end in the enemy’s capitulation along the whole front.
On October 1, a hard struggle began which lasted several days, with alternate advances and retreats. The French, finally breaking the counter-offensive on their flank, advanced along the Valley of the Aire. On October 1 they occupied Binarville, Condé-lez-Autry and Vaux-lez-Mouron, after capturing considerable material, including 200 narrow-gauge trucks and numerous trucks of normal gauge. The Americans, on their side, in spite of the machine-guns, barbed-wire, and counter-attacks supported by tanks, pushed forward bravely.
