At the same time he had thrust a
wedge between Von Buelow and General von Hausen, threatening General
von Buelow's left flank as well. The first was a seizure of an
opportunity, executed with military promptness, the second was a
bold _coup_, and its risk might well have appalled a less experienced
general.
Considering the westernmost of these movements first, it will be
seen at once how the enveloping action brought about the "Affair of
the Marshes of St. Gond." General von Buelow's army was stretched in
an arc around the marshes, which, it will be remembered, have been
described as a pocket of clay, low-lying lands mainly reclaimed, but
which become miry during heavy rains. It was General von Buelow's
misfortune, that, on the very night that his flank was exposed,
there should come a torrential downpour. These same marshes had
figured more than once before in France's military history, and
General Foch, as a master strategist, was determined that they
should serve again. When the rain came, he thanked his lucky stars
and acted on the instant.
When the morning of September 9, 1914, dawned, the left wing of
General Foch's army was not only covering the exposed flank of
General von Buelow's forces, but parts of it were two miles to the
rear. Under the driving rain, morning broke slowly, and almost
before a sodden and rain-soaked world could awake to the fact that
day had come, General Foch had nipped the rear of the flank of
the opposing army, and was bending the arc in upon itself.
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