Seiitcniber 19, 1914 
LAND AND WATER 
jj aa 3f 
1 1-: 1 
Sca-ie of MtUs 
THE WAR BY LAND. 
By HILAIRE BELLOG. 
THE WESTERN THEATRE OF WAR. 
WHEN these notes of last week were 
Avritten it was already evident that 
the extreme (and largest) bodies of 
the German invasion — those near Paris 
— had already unexpectedly found 
themselves in the presence of a large reseiTe 
accumulated by the French commanders behind 
Paris. They had thus before them superior numbei-s 
and must retire. 
It was then evident that the only chance the 
Germans had of relieving or neg.itiving this pi-essure 
upon their extreme riglit near Paris was to break 
tiirfiugh somewhere upon the long line between Paris 
and the fortified line Verdun — Toul. This Fi-ench 
line (with its British contingent towards the left of 
it) ran in a gi-cat curve behind — that is, south of — • 
ProA-ins, La Fere Champenoise, Sommesous, Vitry-lc- 
Fran^ois, and Po\ igny. It was further evident that 
tlie chief Gennan pressure in the attempt to break 
the French line would fall somewhere in the neigh- 
lx)urhood of Vitry-le-Francois. Whether the Gennans 
would succeed in this or whether they wovdd be com- 
jielled to a general i-etreat was still doubtful. 
Since writing thus last week, events have proved 
that the Gennan effort to break tln-ough was dooiut-d. 
The alternative to such success upon their [):nt, a 
general retirement, was therefore undertaken, and 
that retirement proceeded throughout Fridaj', Satur- 
day, and Sunday, until, ujwn Monday last, the 
Germans were holding a line parallel with, and nortli 
of, the River Aisne, and occupying certain heights 
which j^ass above and along the river Suippe, a 
tributary of the Aisne The Allied bodies following 
the Germans in this retreat passed from near 
I'aris, through Meaux and Soissons; from Provins, 
through Montmirail and Chateau Thierry ; from 
Sezanne, through Ejiernay ; from Vitry-le-Franyois, 
through Chalons towards Eheims ; and, on the extreme 
right, from Ilevigny uj) to the southern edge of the 
Forest of Argonne, near Ste. Menehould. The whole 
of this vast movement of rai)id retirement upon the 
pai-t of the Gennan forces, and of equally ra])id 
advance upon the part of their pursuers, will be known 
to history under the general title of The B.\rn.E ot 
TIIK M.\BNK. 
Before understanding anything in detail it is 
neces.sary to understand it in general, and the general 
scheme of what happened in the course of last week, 
that is, of the sudden retirement of the German 
right wing from in front of Paris, with all the 
vast consequences that have followed upon that 
retirement, may be put into the shape of a fairly 
simple diagram. 
