On returning to the castle take the Broyes road (G. C. 45) which passes before the gates, then pass through the woods in which the 77th and the troops of the Moroccan Division which took Mondement found shelter, and so on to Broyes and the Castle des Pucelles which we saw at the beginning of our excursion.
Turn to the right into G. C. 39 and cross the village. At the cross-roads beyond Broyes, turn to the left and return to Sézanne, down a long slope which offer a fine view of the plain and of the heights surrounding it. At the crossing beyond the cemetery take the Rue de Broyes. In the middle, turn to the right and regain the hotel (65 km.) for lunch, by way of the Rue de la Halle and the Place de la République.
FROM
SÉZANNE TO CHÂLONS-SUR-MARNE
(106 km.)
via Connantre, Fère-Champenoise, Connantray, Sommesous, Haussimont, Vassimont, Lenharrée, Normée.
Return to the Place de la République and descend towards the lower part of the town by the Rue des Lombards; without crossing the railway turn to the left along a road planted with trees. This is N. 34, which traverses the plain in a perfectly straight line, and which is to be seen in the panorama on pp. [160]-[163]. On the left, on the horizon the heights of Sézanne, Broyes, Allemant, and Mont-Chalmont are once more visible.
After a run of 10 km. we reach the villages of Linthes and Linthelles, from which the counter-attack of the 42nd Division started on September 9.
At that time, in the plain stretching to the left of the road, the French troops, which had been driven from the edge of the marshes and even from Mont-Août, were falling back southwards. With them, too, were those who had been pushed back from the line of the Somme on to Fère-Champenoise, Connantre, and still further beyond. These troops, although worn out by four days' fighting, and exposed to violent artillery fire from the north, east, and south, would not give in, and took every opportunity for rearguard actions.
The coming into the line of the 42nd Division braced up their forces for the supreme effort asked by Foch.