January 23, 1916. 
LAND AND WATER 
THE WAR BY LAND. 
By HILAIRE BELLOC. 
BOTE.— nil Artlcl* bti btcn inbinttted to the Prt.i Bnrein, which 4oei not object to the pnblleatloa ai eeaiered and take* a* 
reiponilbility for the eorrectneii of the itatemeati. 
Is accordance with the reqalremcnti of the Preii Bnrean, the poiitloni of troopi on Plant lllsitratlnf tbli Article mnit only bo 
rerarded ai approxluate, and no definite itren;th at any point li Indicated. 
Town 
Soissons 
VUlqgg crndtemporary 
wcodetL bridge o( Missy 
Viilage of Vetdiel 
y 
Eiifflish Miles 
o 
SOISSONS. 
ON Friday, January 8, the Divisional Com- 
mander before Soissons, at the head of 
perhaps 10,000 men, who held the slopes 
of the plateau beyond, received one of 
those orders of which, during the last 
month, there have been distributed, perhaps, 100 
to the various parts of the French line. It was to 
go forward vigorously and attack the enemy's 
trenches upon the crest. 
The meaning of this and similar orders, and 
the significance of the whole affair in its develop- 
ment and consequences, will be dealt with later. 
For the moment we are only following the events 
themselves. 
The organisation for this effort against the 
crest from the slopes was made upon that Friday 
evening, January 8. 
The orders were sent out, and it would seem 
tliat the movements were made long before day- 
light upon Saturday, the 9th. On that day the 
French line, which had been no further up than the 
base of the slopes and partly upon the valley-floor 
round about the sixty- and eighty-metre lines, and 
not yet in occupation of Cuffies, began to push up 
the chalky slopes that led steeply for nearly 300 
feet to the comparatively level top of the plateau. 
The first German trenches upon the slopes 
"were carried, and at the same time an effort was 
being made to push through Crouy village and 
advance up the valley which carries the railway to 
Laon. The straight road from Crouy to Missy 
(which is marked upon the sketch at the head of 
this) was roughly the position of the French right 
at this moment, though there were advanced 
bodies upon the slopes above. 
It must be clearly understood that the mass of 
the troops were upon the left and centre, and that 
the great bulk of the fighting took place within a 
mile to east and west of Crouy village. 
The French had three lines by which re- 
inforcements could reach them, and by which, if 
necessary, they could retreat. These were the 
bridge over the Aisne within the town of Soissons 
itself, a temporary wooden bridge in front of Veni- 
zel village, and another behind Missy village. 
By the Saturday evening the first part of the 
effort had been successfully accomplished. The 
slopes were in most places upon this three-mile 
front in the hands of the French, and they had 
reached in some points the plateau itself. 
On the Sunday, the 11th, the effort continued. 
Trench after trench of the Germans was carried 
by the French Infantry, and by the end of the day, 
or by the morning of Monday, the 12th, the flat 
spur, the summit of which is 1.32 metres above the 
sea, or about 280 feet above the water level of the 
Aisne in the valley below, was fully held. 
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