he aid of General Sarrail.

Subordinate to this contemplated attack by the crown prince, yet
forming a part of it, and, in a measure, a fourth element in the
campaign, was the double effort from the garrisons of Metz and
Saarbrucken, combining with the armies of the Bavarian Crown Prince
and the forces of General von Heeringen. The Second French Army,
therefore, could not come to the aid of the Third, except in desperate
need, for it was in the very forefront of the attack on Nancy. If the
German left could pierce the French lines at Nancy and pour through
the Gap of Lorraine, it would be able to take General Sarrail's army
in the rear at Bar-le-Duc, and would thus completely hem it in,
at the same time isolating Verdun, which, thus invested in the
course of time must fall, forming an invaluable advanced fortress
to the German advance.

[Illustration: BATTLE OF THE MARNE--SITUATION ON SEPTEMBER 9, 1914]

Before proceeding to the actual working out of this plan of campaign
it may be well to recapitulate it, in order that each development
may be clear. The German plan was to pierce the French line at
three places, at Meaux, at Bar-le-Duc and at Nancy. General von
Kluck, at Meaux, would cut off the Fifth and the Ninth Armies from
communication with their base at Paris, the Bavarian Crown Prince
would weaken General Sarrail's defense in the rear, and if possible
come up behind him, and thus the stage would be set for the great
onrush of the Imperial Crown Prince, who, with an almost fresh army,
and with a most complete and elaborate system of communications
and supplies, should be able to crush the weak point in France's
defense, the army under General Sarrail. Such a victory was designed
to shed an especial luster upon the crown prince and thus upon
the Hohenzollern dynasty, a prestige much needed, for the delays
in the advance of the crown prince's army had already given rise
to mutterings of discontent. From a strategical point of view the
plan was sound and brilliant, the disposition of the forces was
excellently contrived, and the very utmost of military skill had
been used in bringing matters to a focus.

The French plan, is the next to be considered. From official orders
and dispatches and also from the developments of that week, it is
clear that General Joffre had perceived the possibility of such
a plan as the Germans had actually conceived. He had brought back
his armies--and there is nothing harder to handle