There came a lull in the fighting. The French retained a foothold
north of the river at St. Paul, where the bridge from Soissons crosses
the stream; but the bridge head was commanded by German artillery on
the heights.
The promenade along the exposed side of the plateau, in sight of Soissons
and the bank of the Aisne, also held by the French in force, gave a
rather uncanny feeling of insecurity. However, it was less dangerous than
it seemed, for a slight haze rendered the group in German field gray
invisible to the French artillery on the heights on the opposite side of
the valley.
In the part of the field where Hal and Chester had been on the eighth day
of the fighting, at the edge of the plateau, the struggle had been
desperate. Here, with the final German assault, the French had fought
stubbornly and a hand-to-hand struggle ensued.
Regiments of French troops, rather than retire to safety down a
declivity, had contested this section of the field to the last, finally
to be mowed down by the German artillery as the infantry was forced back.
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