ht pass
into the hands of the invaders.

On the other hand, there was a direct line of railway running through
Rheims, Rethel, Mezieres to the great war depot, Coblenz on the
Rhine. A branch line from Metz, through Luxemburg, thus gave
communication to the eastern wing. All the links of this were in
German hands, except Rheims, and if that railroad center could be
secured, the importance to the German advance would be enormous.
Under such circumstances, it can scarcely be held that Rheims was
not necessarily a point, the attack of which was due to military
necessity.

The formation for this began on September 17, 1914. Crossing the
Aisne by the old ford of Berry-au-Bac, a powerful army under the
direct leadership of Field Marshal von Heeringen debouched upon
the open country between Berry-au-Bac and Suippes, east of Rheims.
It was at this point that the German commander in chief of this
section of the battle line intended to deliver a crushing blow
by which might be regained the prestige secured at Charleroi and
lost again at the Marne.

Surprise may be felt that so important a railway center as Rheims
should not have been a strongly fortified place. It had been so
once, though the fortifications were old-fashioned. But, instead of
bringing these points of natural defense up to the highest degree
of modern efficiency, the French had dismantled them entirely,
so as to make Rheims with its glorious cathedral an open town,
safe from bombardment. It was, according to the rules of war, safe
from bombardment, but only in the event of its not being defended.
General Foch did not dare to take this stand. He knew, as well as
did General von Heeringen, the strategic value of Rheims as railroad
center, and accepted the issue of battle.

In the falling back of the several German armies from the Marne
to the Aisne, the Germans had kept possession of the chief forts
of the district around Rheims. No strong effort had been made to
dislodge them, for the forward movement of the Allies had been
directed against the fortified heights of the Aisne, facing the
Soissons-Craonne defense. It will be remembered that the armies of
General Foch and Langle, especially the latter, had taken no part
in the first phase of the Battle of the Aisne, but had stubbornly
thrown back the armies of the Duke of Wuerttemberg, which had combined
with those of the crown prince. The right wing of this large conjoined
army had held the fort sites around Rh