an offensive had succeeded in pushing forward the enemy front
until it formed a loop extending southward from the Aisne to the Valley
of the Marne. This salient was called the Chateau-Thierry pocket. The
line ran southward from a point east of Soissons to Chateau-Thierry,
where it touched the Marne, thence eastward along both sides of the
river to the vicinity of Oeuilly where it recrossed the Marne and
extended northward to points beyond Rheims.

Chateau-Thierry was thus the peak of the German push--the apex of the
triangle pointing toward Paris. The enemy supplied its forces in this
peak principally by the road that ran southward from Soissons and
touched the Marne at Chateau-Thierry. To the west of this road and just
south of the city of Soissons, is the forest of Villers-Cotterets. The
enemy occupied the northern and eastern limits of the forest and the
remainder of it was in the hands of the French.

This forest has always been considered one of the sentinels of Paris. It
was located on the right flank of the German salient. It was a menace to
that flank, and offered a most attractive opportunity for an Allied
counter offensive from that direction. The Germans were not unmindful of
this.

The enemy knew that in the forest of Villers-Cotterets it would be
possible for Marshal Foch to mobilise his much-feared reserves by taking
advantage of the natural screen provided by the forest. That Foch
reserve still remained a matter for enemy consideration in spite of the
fact that the successive German offensive since March 21st had met with
considerable success with regard to the acquisition of territory. The
Germans, however, had been unable to ascertain whether Foch had been
forced to bring his reserves into the fight.

The situation demanded a full realisation by the enemy of the possible
use of this reserve at any time and they knew that their lines in
Villers-Cotterets Forest offered an ever present invitation for the
sudden application of this reserve strength. Their lines at that point
were necessarily weak by the superiority of the Allied position and, as
a consequence, the Germans guarded this weak spot by holding in reserve
behind the line a number of divisions of the Prussian Guard.

For the same reason, the enemy maintained constant observation of the
French position. Their planes would fly over the forest every day taking
photographs. They sought to discover any evidences indicating that Foch
might be prep