Officers and section leaders of the Company reconnoitered during the following day the ground over which the advance was to be made. Orders were issued for the 51st Brigade to advance through the Ravin de France along the Rue des Feuilles to the Grand Tranchee de Calonne road in a southeasterly direction parallel to the road, the left flank keeping in touch with it at all times, for the Grand Tranchee was named as the axis of liaison with the 52d Brigade, which was to advance along its left side. The objective of the first day was designated as the Rue de Vaux. After a seven hour bombardment by a volume of artillery without rival in American operations up to that time, the advance began, A and B Companies of the Battalion in the first wave while C and D remained in reserve, proceeding leisurely with guns loaded on the carts. Arriving at Moyilly on the American side of the old line, the column was halted for three hours while the 101st Engineers repaired as best they could the damage shell fire had done to the Rue des Feuilles. Almost obliterated, the route of the Company was blocked by barbed wire, shell holes and destroyed trenches, but in a comparatively short time the path was cleared and the advance proceeded to a point where the rolling barrage following the first concentration of fire had stopped and then travelling was easy. Arriving at the Grand Tranchee without mishap with all the area cleared of enemy troops, the Companies continued along that road in column formation and were only halted when machine guns located along the Rue de Vaux began to endanger the leading units in the advance. A few well-directed shots from mortars silenced these and the infantry added the personnel and officers serving the guns to the total it had bagged during the day. This cleared the day's objectives but the desire was strong with those in command to gain contact with the rear guard of the fleeing Huns before they could organize defensive positions, so the advance continued through the night along the Grand Tranchee road, on both sides of which could be seen the cabins and gardens established by the Germans during their stay in the sector. Hiking on through the woods more than one man complained of "this man's war" not being nearly as interesting as the one at Chateau Thierry. When at last the cover of the woods was left, before them, all along the skyline could be seen the flames from burning villages, the funeral pyres of the hopes the German high command had entertained early in the war of going direct to Paris from Metz.