proceeding to recount in detail the events of that six days'
battle of the Aisne, which little by little solidified into an impasse,
it might be well to trace the new positions that had been taken by the
respective armies engaged in the struggle for the supremacy of western
Europe. General von Kluck, still in charge of the First German Army, was
in control of the western section from the Forest of the Eagle to the
plateau of Craonne. He had forced his men to almost superhuman efforts,
and by midnight of September 11 he had succeeded in getting most of his
artillery across the Aisne, at Soissons, and had whipped his infantry
into place on the heights north of the stream. That, with his exhausted
troops, he succeeded remains still a tribute to his power as a
commander. But the men were done. Further attack meant rout. His
salvation lay in his heavy field guns and howitzers, an arm of the
service in which the French army, under General Maunoury (and General
Pau, who had taken a superior command during the turning of the German
drive at the Marne), was notoriously weak. Still there was little
comfort there, for the British army was well supplied with heavy
artillery, and the Fifth French Army of General d'Esperey, also coming
up to confront him, was not entirely lacking in this branch of the
service.

General von Buelow's army was combined with that of General von Hausen,
who fell ill and was retired from his command. Against this combined
army was ranged the victorious and still fresh army of General Foch,
lacking two corps, which had been detached for reserves elsewhere. One
of these corps apparently went to the aid of General Sarrail, whose
stand was still a weak point in the Allies' line. General Sarrail,
however, was now better supported by the movement of General Langle with
the Fourth French Army, who advanced toward Troyon and confronted the
combined armies of the Imperial Crown Prince and the Duke of
Wuerttemberg. This released General Sarrail to his task of intrenching
and enlarging the defenses about Verdun, the importance of which had
become more poignant than ever before in the events of the past week.
The far eastern end of the line remained unchanged.

The credit for the crossing of the Aisne lies with the British troops.
The battles of the Marne had thrust Sir John French into a prominent
position, wherein he was able to achieve a much-desired result without
any great loss of life. But the battle of the Ai