The details so far received are scanty, as is always the case on the first day, and the precise object of the German Higher Command is still a matter for speculation. Their attack is split into two halves by the city of Reims, around which there is a “dead sector” of several miles, perhaps because the defences of Reims remain extremely formidable. Looking at the battle from the French side, the right of the attack extends from the village of Prunay, east of Reims, to the group of low hills known as the Main de Massiges, a few miles west of the Argonne Forest, amid the rolling uplands of Champagne. The left of the attack extends from the village of Fossoy, south of the Marne and east of Chateau-Thierry, to Coulommes, a village some miles to the south-west of Reims. There was also some heavy and apparently isolated fighting with the American troops which hold the village of Vaux, west of Chateau-Thierry.
All the reports concur in declaring that the German operation constituted no surprise. A movement in this area had been confidently expected for some days - indeed, the French are said to have predicted it almost to the hour - and the Allied Higher Command were fully prepared for the enemy’s advance. The attack was preceded by a violent bombardment, which began at midnight and was so intense that it roused the people of Paris. There was also a great deal of shelling of towns far behind the Allied line, including La Ferte-sous-Jouarre, on the Marne, and Montmirail and Chalons. Curiously enough, Reims does not appear to have been shelled at all, nor was there any noticeable bombardment in the “dead sector” on each side of the city.
The enemy advanced to the assault in the chosen areas a little before 4.30am. In the sector east of Reims they made comparatively little progress all day. Our gallant French Allies held up the German infantry along the whole of this portion of the front, and only three points were seriously threatened. The first was at the village of Prunay, which the enemy seem at one time to have captured; it was only half a mile behind the French front line. The second was at Prosnes, where the Germans gained some ground; and the third was on the road from Somme Py to Souain, where the assailants also won a local success. But Mr Bonar Law was able to tell the House of Commons last night that the general effect of the offensive east of Reims was that “the enemy have been very, heavily repulsed, have suffered severe losses, and have received a complete check.” The French leaders express themselves as highly satisfied, and, should the situation remain as described they will have every possible reason for their gratification.
The Germans fared rather better in their operations west of Reims, and if they have Paris in view it is quite possible that their principal strength was concentrated on this side. The battle extended for ten or a dozen miles along the banks of the Marne, from a point near Chateau-Thierry to Verneuil. Thence the battle line swerved north-eastward away from the river to Coulommes, which marked the limit of active hostilities west of Reims. The total length of the line of attack in this region was between twenty and twenty-three miles, and the progress of the Germans seems to have been curiously unequal. Towards Reims they penetrated as far south as the village of Belval, which brought them within seven miles of the town of Epernay, one of the principal centres of the champagne trade. They crossed the Marne at two or three points, and it must be borne in mind that the southern bank of the river is less easy to defend than the northern.
The vine-clad hills in this neighbourhood are mostly on the northern side. From Verneuil the Germans made the passage of the river and reached Comblizy, and farther west they crossed at Dormans and got as far as the village of Chezy. In each instance these advances represent a thrust about three miles in depth. American troops were holding the extreme left of the battle line, at Fossoy and on the banks of the Surmelin, a small tributary of the Marne. Here, again, the Germans crossed the river, but according to the latest available information they did not get very far beyond the southern bank.
The conflict between Germans and Americans west of Fossoy seems to have been distinguished by a brilliant counter-attack, in which the Americans took a thousand prisoners - a splendid omen, which was received with immense enthusiasm when it was announced in the House of Commons. It is understood that no British troops participated in the operations, so far as is known. The intermingling of British and French troops, which was only a temporary expedient due to a special emergency, has ceased.
The British troops in the Marne area have gone north, and the French units which fought so valiantly in the Ypres sector have rejoined the main French forces. One prevalent theory is that the German Higher Command is endeavouring to encircle Reims and to gain control of the spacious wooded heights known as the Montagne de Reims well to the south of the city, by outflanking them. In his dispatch published to-day our Special Correspondent with the French Armies expresses the view that the Montagne de Reims, which he has examined, is so formidably held that the enemy have small prospect of taking it by any device. Until they capture these heights they have little chance of moving with safety towards the open country round Chalons.
Our Correspondent thinks the principal attack is being made west of Reims, and that the object of the enemy is to form a wider front with a view to an advance towards Paris. With this view we are inclined to concur, but we are convinced as ever that General Foch will be able to counter the menace effectively.
