The new German attack of Sunday last was delivered on
a front of twenty-two miles between Montdidier and the Oise, south of Noyon. The enemy intended to reach Compiegne the same night. But instead of advancing ten miles in one day, he was on the fourth day barely half-way towards his immediate goal. The French line held firm on the flanks, but yielded in the centre, where the enemy reached the Matz Valley. On Monday fresh enemy divisions were brought up. The French fell back a little way on the left, retired still further in the centre to the river Aronde, and on the right lest the wooded hills round Thiescourt. But on Monday after- noon the tide turned. The French counter-attacked in the centre and drove the enemy back to where he had been that morning.
On Tuesday morning our gallant Allies did better still. Launching a great attack on their left, on a front of eight miles, they surprised the enemy while he was preparing for a fresh advance, recaptured a number of villages, and took a thousand prisoners and some guns. In the centre they held their ground. On the right, near the Oise, they fell back slowly to the Matz Valley. On Wednesday the situation underwent little change, the French gaining ground on their loft and losing some ground on their right, where the Germans crossed the Matz near its confluence with the Oise.
