The attack became a pursuit, and on the 12th the French
established themselves on the Aisne.
Why did the German forces which were confronting the French, and on the
evening before attacking so furiously, retreat on the morning of the
10th? Because in bringing back on the 6th several army corps from the
south to the north to face the French left, the enemy had exposed his
left to the attacks of the now rested British, who had immediately faced
around toward the north, and to those of the French armies which were
prolonging the English lines to the right. This is what the French
command had sought to bring about. This is what happened on September
8th and allowed the development and rehabilitation which it was to
effect.
On the 6th the British army set out from the line Rozcy-Lagny and that
evening reached the southward bank of the Grand Morin. On the 7th and
8th it continued its march, and on the 9th had debouched to the north of
the Marne below Chauteau-Thierry--the town that was to become famous
for the American stand in 1918--taking in flank the German forces which
on that day were opposing, on the Ourcq, the French left army. Then it
was that these forces began to retreat, while the British army, going in
pursuit and capturing seven guns and many prisoners, reached the Aisne
between Soissons and Longueval.
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