The =Fort of Brimont=, completed by the =Battery of the Cran de Brimont= about a mile to the east, and on the west by the =Loivre Battery=, mentioned on page 151, sweeps the whole country north of Rheims as far as the banks of the Aisne, Suippe, Retourne and the Aisne-Marne canal, the Rheims-Neufchâtel, Rheims-Vouziers, Rheims-Rethel and Rheims-Laon roads, and the Rheims-Laon and Rheims-Charleville railways. About five miles east of Brimont and four miles east of Rheims is the position of =Berru= (_see p. 165_), extending along a front of about six miles, _via_ the hills of Berru and Nogent l'Abbesse. Intended by those who planned it to guard the valley of the Suippe, the Rheims-Rethe and Rheims-Vouziers roads, as well as the Rheims-Charleville and Rheims-Châlons-sur-Marne railways, it comprises the =Fort of Witry= (about 150 feet in altitude), the batteries of =La Vigie de Berru= (870 feet), and the =fort and batteries of Nogent-l'Abbesse= (670 feet). [Illustration: _The roads shown on the above map are those followed by the Third Itinerary (see p. 160)._] Brimont and Berru are further covered and linked up by the =Fort of Fresne= (360 feet), situated four miles north-east of Rheims. These defensive works, conceived and executed after the war of 1870, had, in consequence of the evolution of strategical and tactical doctrines, been abandoned or disarmed before the war of 1914. After evacuating Rheims on September 12, 1914, the Germans grasped the importance of these works, to which they clung tenaciously, after hurriedly organising them. It was against these naturally strong positions, further strengthened by trenches, that the French 5th Army, in pursuit of the enemy, found themselves brought to a standstill on the evening of September 12. From September 13 to 18, the French tried in vain to capture them. The 5th Division, under General Mangin, did succeed in capturing the =Château de Brimont=, in the plain, but were unable to hold it. Later, the Germans converted these hills into one of the most formidable positions organised by them in France. Brimont, Berru, Fresne and Nogent l'Abbesse, whose guns slowly destroyed Rheims, were, so to speak, her jailers for four years.