[117] M. Beslay, in his book _Mes Souvenirs_, Paris, 1873, says: "The cash in hand was forty and some odd millions." These "some odd" were no less than 203 millions. They presented the good man fictitious statements, with which they gulled him. In his evidence and the annexes (_Enquete sur le 18 Mars_, vol. iii. errata, p. 488), M. de Ploeuc has given the true statements. [118] These were all the reasons he could ever allege, even in his book written in Switzerland, whither M. de Ploeuc himself went to deposit him after the fall of the Commune. Besides his life being saved, he, later on, received a judicial ordinance to the effect that no further judicial proceedings were to be taken against him. CHAPTER XV. THE FIRST COMBATS OF NEUILLY AND ASNIERES--ORGANISATION AND DEFEAT OF THE CONCILIATORS. The rout of the 3rd April daunted the timorous but exalted the fervent. Battalions inert until then rose; the armament of the forts no longer lagged. Save Issy and Vanves, rather damaged, the forts were intact. All Paris soon heard these fine cannon of seven, which Trochu had disdained,[119] firing so lustily and with such correct aim, that on the evening of the 4th the Versaillese were obliged to evacuate the plateau of Chatillon. The trenches that protected the forts were manned. Les Moulineaux, Clamart, Le Val-Fleury resounded with the fusillade. To the right we reoccupied Courbevoie, and the bridge of Neuilly was barricaded. Thence we continued to threaten Versailles. Vinoy received the order to take Neuilly. On the morning of the 6th, Mont-Valerien, recently armed with 24-pounders, opened fire on Courbevoie. After six hours of bombardment the Federals evacuated the cross-roads and took up a position behind the large barricade of the bridge of Neuilly. The Versaillese cannonaded it while it was protected by the Porte-Maillot. This Porte-Maillot, which has become legendary, had only a few cannon exposed to the fire from above of Mont-Valerien. For forty-eight days the Commune found men to hold this untenable post. Their courage electrified all. The crowd went to the Arc-de-Triomphe to see them, and the boys hardly waited for the explosion to run after the fragments of the shells.