Closely allied to the Soissons bombardment, and occurring simultaneously
with the battle of the Aisne, was the series of engagements occurring in
the quarries around Autreches and Coucy-le-Chateau, fought by advanced
bodies in front of the right wing of the German army encamped on the
ridge of the Aisne. These engagements developed the illuminating
fact that during times of peace German capital had been invested in
these quarries and that the foresight of the Germans had led them
to fortify these quarries, so that they were veritable fortresses,
and indeed, formed a continuation of that line of defense the crowning
point of which was the Aisne cliff near the plateau of the Craonne.
During the days when the British First Army Corps, under Sir Douglas
Haig, was performing the astounding feat of crossing the Aisne
and holding the land thus gained against a veritable tempest of
counterattack, these stone quarries were taken and lost again every
few hours. The French infantry of General Manoury's army, far less
exhausted than the harassed regiments of General von Kluck's forces,
found little difficulty in forcing the Germans back from Autreches,
but, no sooner were they well established, than the roar of the
combined guns of General von Kluck and General von Zwehl would
make the position untenable, and under cover of that appalling
rain of death, the German infantry would creep back to reoccupy
the positions from which they had been ousted by the bayonets only
a few hours before.
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