d from Cambrai
to Le Cateau, upon his left; and, as will be seen by the accompanying
sketch map, such a line effectually protected the falling back of the
rest of the force. Behind it the 1st and the 2nd British Corps fell
back upon the line Cambrai to Landrecies. The small inset map shows
how the various points in this two days' retreat stood to one another.

[Illustration: Sketch 55.]

This line from Landrecies towards Cambrai had already been in part
prepared in the course of that day--Tuesday--and entrenched, and it
may be imagined what inclination affected commanders and men towards
a halt upon that position. The pressure had been continuous and heavy,
the work of detraining and setting in line the newly arrived division
had added to the anxieties of the day, and an occupation of the
prepared line seemed to impose itself. Luckily, the unwisdom of such a
stand in the retirement was perceived in time, and the British
Commander decided not to give his forces rest until some considerable
natural object superior to imperfect and hurriedly constructed
trenches could be depended upon to check the enemy's advance. The
threat of being outflanked was still very grave, and the few hours'
halt which would have been involved in the alternative decision might,
or rather would, have been fatal.

The consequences, however, to the men of this decision in favour of
continual retirement were severe. The 1st Corps did not reach
Landrecies till ten o'clock at night. They had been upon the move for
eighteen hours; but even so, the enemy, in that avalanche of advance
(which was possible to him, as we now know, by the organization of
mechanical transport), was well in touch. The Guards in Landrecies
itself (the 4th Brigade) were attacked by the advance body of the 9th
German Army Corps, which came on in overwhelming numbers right into
the buildings of the town, debouching from the wood to the north under
cover of the darkness. Their effort was unsuccessful. They did not
succeed in piercing or even in decisively confusing the British line
at this point; and, packed in the rather narrow street of Landrecies,
the enemy suffered losses equivalent to a battalion in that desperate
night fighting. But though the enemy here failed to achieve his
purpose, his action compelled the continued retreat of men who were
almost at the limit of exhaustion, and who had now been marching and
fighting for the better part of twenty-four hours.

In that sa