The Germans had concentrated their chief artillery forces on the Trocy Plateau. Heavy and light batteries were in position north and south of the village, the greater part being north, between Manœuvre, Plessy-Placy, and Trocy.
The intense cannonade poured from this dominating platform very much hampered the progress of the French centre.
The position was evacuated by the Germans on the 9th, not without serious losses of light artillery, as shown by the photograph below and that at the top of the following page.
GERMAN GUN DESTROYED ON TROCY PLATEAU
GERMAN GUNS DESTROYED ON TROCY PLATEAU
The limber (shown below), abandoned at the side of the road, is an infantry limber which contained rifle and machine-gun cartridges.
The French artillery which swept the plateau hit it in the course of the retreat.