Near the Aisne the French infantry broke the Germans' defenses at several points north of Chavigny Farm. They took possession of the quarries on the east, pushed forward to the outskirts of Longpont, and penetrated the northern section of Corcy. This town was captured on the following day (July 11, 1918), together with the railway station and the château to the south of the place, an important observation point.
The Germans were evidently too much occupied with preparations for a new offensive to trouble themselves with minor operations, as for several days they had only attempted a few feeble attacks that failed in every instance.
In the course of July 12, 1918, the French delivered two hard blows against the German lines that are deserving of record. The most important was struck in Picardy when General Pétain's troops, advancing on a three-mile front north of Mailly-Raineval, broke into the German front to the depth of a mile and a quarter. The village of Castel on the Avre River and important positions south of the village were occupied by the victors, who captured over 500 prisoners of all ranks.
The second blow was delivered in the area southwest of Soissons, where the French had been "nibbling away" for some days with satisfactory results. Here they captured the village of Longpont, a continuation of their advance north of Chavigny Farm and east of Faverolles.
On July 14, 1918, the national fête day of the French Republic, the British and American troops joined heartily in the celebration, and little flags of the Allies fluttered among the ruins and on every building all along the fighting front.
It was a dull day, with gray skies and mist and rain, but the weather could not dampen the enthusiasm of the participants in the fête. It is possible that the weather, however, had something to do with the movements of the Germans, who had probably intended to launch their offensive on the French national holiday, but for the storm. So the attack they had been preparing against the Allies was made early in the morning of the following day.
CHAPTER XL
THE NEW GERMAN DRIVE AROUND RHEIMS—THE NEW BATTLE OF THE MARNE—THE ALLIES LAUNCH A GREAT OFFENSIVE MOVEMENT
It was shortly after midnight on June 15, 1918, while in some parts of the fighting front British, French, and Americans were still fêting the national holiday, that the German guns from the Marne near Château-Thierry heralded the new offensive. Soon along a front of sixty miles, extending to the Argonne, the German artillery was thundering. Men who had seen fighting since the war began describe the artillery preparation for the drive as beyond anything the Germans had attempted up to that time on the French front. Not only were the Allies' lines front and back shelled, but behind the lines to a distance of twenty and thirty miles.
About daybreak the German infantry attacked. East and west of Rheims a large number of tanks assisted the advance. The French had already anticipated the drive and were fully prepared. On the whole front east of Rheims they held up the German hordes for five hours. It was only in the neighborhood of the Souain Road and Prunay that the Germans made any notable advance. Here on a narrow front they succeeded in penetrating for about one and a half miles.