German Plans Suddenly Changed—­Direction of Advance Swings to the Southeast When Close to the French Capital—­Successful Resistance by the Allies—­The Prolonged Encounter at the Marne—­Germans Retreat With Allies in Hot Pursuit for Many Miles.

Suddenly the German plans were changed.  With Paris almost in sight, almost within the range of their heavy artillery, the German forces on the right of the line on September 4 changed the direction of their advance to a southeasterly course, which would leave Paris to the west.  The people of the gay capital, who for several days had been preparing themselves once more for the thunder of the Prussian guns, began to breathe more freely, while all the world wondered at the sudden and spectacular transformation in the conditions of the conflict.

What had happened?  Why was the advance thus checked and the march on Paris abandoned?  Was it a trick, designed to lead the Allies into a trap?  Or were the German troops too exhausted by forced marches and lack of rest to face the determined resistance of the allied forces before Paris?

These were the questions on every tongue, on both sides of the Atlantic, while the military experts sought strategic reasons for the change in German plans.

When the movement towards the east began the right of the German forces moved through Beaumont and L’Isle towards Meaux, apparently with the intention of avoiding Paris.  Their front some twenty-four hours later was found to be extending across the River Marne as far south as Conlommiers and La Ferte-Gaucher, the two opposing lines at that time stretching between Paris on the left flank and Verdun on the right.

On Monday, September 7, there came news that the southward movement of the German army had been arrested, and that it had been forced back across the Marne to positions where the German right wing curved back from La Ferte-sous-Jouarre along the bank of the River Ourcq, a tributary of the Marne, to the northward of Chateau Thierry.  All this territory forms part of the district known as the “Bassin de Paris.”

Then came a turn in the tide of war and the German plans were temporarily lost sight of when the Allies assumed the offensive along the Marne and the Ourcq and the Germans began to fall back.  For four days their retreat continued.  Ten miles, thirty miles, forty-five miles, back toward the northeast and east the invaders retired and Paris was relieved.  The tide of battle had thrown the Germans away from the French capital and Frenchmen believed their retirement was permanent.

BATTLE OF THE MARNE

Important and interesting details of the battle of the Marne and the movements that preceded it are given in an official report compiled from information sent from the headquarters of Field Marshal Sir John French (commander-in-chief of the British expeditionary forces), under date of September 11.  This account describes the movements both of the British force and of the French armies in immediate touch with it.  It carries the operations from the 4th to the 10th of September, both days inclusive, and says: