It was, according to the rules of war, safe
from bombardment, but only in the event of its not being defended.
General Foch did not dare to take this stand. He knew, as well as
did General von Heeringen, the strategic value of Rheims as railroad
center, and accepted the issue of battle.
In the falling back of the several German armies from the Marne
to the Aisne, the Germans had kept possession of the chief forts
of the district around Rheims. No strong effort had been made to
dislodge them, for the forward movement of the Allies had been
directed against the fortified heights of the Aisne, facing the
Soissons-Craonne defense. It will be remembered that the armies of
General Foch and Langle, especially the latter, had taken no part
in the first phase of the Battle of the Aisne, but had stubbornly
thrown back the armies of the Duke of Wuerttemberg, which had combined
with those of the crown prince. The right wing of this large conjoined
army had held the fort sites around Rheims and especially they had
made full use of the chief fort on the wooded heights of Nogent
l'Abbesse, a trifle less than half a mile from the cathedral city
and therefore within easy destructive shelling range. The heavy
artillery was planted here, the infantry intrenched around it, and
strong defense trenches were established along the River Suippe
that runs into the Aisne near Berry-au-Bac.
On Friday, September 18, 1914, the first movement of the second
phase was begun, when the Germans launched a sharp counterattack
on the French center.
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