The French, with great dash, carried part of the German positions; but
this success dampened the vigor of their artillery bombardment, which
could not be continued without endangering their own men. The big German
guns opened a heavy fire on the rearward communications of the French,
preventing the bringing up of reenforcements.
Meanwhile, General Von Kluck, the German commander, was gathering his
forces for a counter-stroke, which came, not through the valley, but
across the high plateau to the eastward, a large part of which was held
by the French. The surface of the plateau, which is fairly level, was
crossed by row after row of deep French trenches, each trench with a
clear field for the fire of its guns.
It seemed impossible, in the cold light of the day after the passing
excitement of battle, to conceive of troops successfully storming such
intrenched positions But this is just what the Germans did, or thought
they did, for their officers did not realize that the giving way of the
French at this point was part of General Joffre's counter-stroke.
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