ngest of General Joffre's new reserves, the Ninth Army under General
Foch, with the marshes of St. Gond in front of him, and holding a
twenty-mile line from Esternay, past Sezanne to Camp de Mailly, a
remarkably well-equipped army, very eager for the fray.

The hastily replenished corps, largely of Saxons, which had been General
von Hausen's army, lay next to General von Buelow, a little north of
Vitry, and as it proved, a weak spot in the German line. The left center
of the attacking force was under the command of the Duke of Wuerttemberg
and extended across the whole southern end of the plain of Champagne to
the upper streams of the Aisne south of St. Menhould. The extreme left
of this advanced line was the army of the Imperial Crown Prince, holding
the old line on the Argonne to the south of Verdun. In close relation to
this advanced line, but not directly concerned with the battles of the
Marne, were the armies of the Bavarian Crown Prince, encamped in the
plateau of the Woevre, engaged largely in the task of holding open the
various lines of communication, while far to the south, in the vicinity
of the much battered little town of Mulhouse, lay the remains of the
decimated army of the Alsace campaigns under General von Heeringen.

Facing this left center came General Langle's Fourth French Army,
covering the southern side of the plain of Chalons, it lay south of
Vitry-le-Francois, and faced due north. On this army, it was expected,
the brunt of the drive would fall. At this point the French battle line
made a sharp angle, the Third French Army, commanded by General
Sarrail, occupying a base from Bar-le-Duc to Verdun. It thus faced
almost west, skirting the lower edge of the Forest of Argonne. At the
same time it was back to back with the Second French Army, which covered
the great barrier of forts from Verdun to Toul and Epinal, while the
First French Army held the line from Epinal to Belfort.

CHAPTER XIII

ALLIED AND GERMAN BATTLE PLANS

So much for the actual disposition of the armies. The question of
preponderance of numbers, of advantages of position, and of comparative
fighting efficiency is the next factor with which to be reckoned. The
numbers were fairly evenly matched. About twelve days before this
fateful day of September 3, 1914, there were approximately 100 German
divisions as against seventy-five French, British, and Belgian
divisions. But, during those twelve days, French and British
mob