omplete artillery preparation.

[Sidenote: Joffre's appeal to the troops.]

Among all the elements of success which were thus united at the end of
the summer of 1915, not the least was the incomparable individual worth
of the French soldier. It was to the traditional warlike qualities of
the race that the Generalissimo appealed when, on September 23, 1915, he
addressed to the troops the following general order, which was read to
the regiments by their officers:

"SOLDIERS OF THE REPUBLIC

"After months of waiting, which have enabled us
to increase our forces and our resources, while
the adversary has been using up his own, the
hour has come to attack and conquer and to add
fresh glorious pages to those of the Marne and
Flanders, the Vosges and Arras.

"Behind the whirlwind of iron and fire let
loose, thanks to the factories of France, where
your brothers have, night and day, worked for
us, you will proceed to the attack, all
together, on the whole front, in close union
with the armies of our Allies.

[Sidenote: The spirit of the soldier.]

"Your _elan_ will be irresistible. It will
carry you at a bound up to the batteries of the
adversary, beyond the fortified lines which he
has placed before you.

"You will give him neither pause nor rest until
victory has been achieved.

"Set to with all your might for the deliverance
of the soil of la Patrie, for the triumph of
justice and liberty.

"J. JOFFRE."

The description of the operations in Champagne will show under what
conditions our troops acquitted themselves of the task assigned to them,
and also the value and significance of this success, without precedent
in the war of positions in which we are at present engaged.

[Sidenote: The German line that was broken.]

The German line that was broken in Champagne is the same that was
fortified by our adversaries after the victory of the Marne. It rests on
the western side on the Massif de Moronvillers; to the east it stretches
as far as the Argonne. It was intended to cover the railway line from
Challerange to Bazancourt, a line indispensable for the concentration
movements of the German troops. The offensive front, which extended from
Auberive to the east of Ville-sur-Tourbe, presents a varied