The line was very irregular, with constant re-entrants and salients, and frequently shifted. The French had established themselves on the two parallel roads which cross the forest: at Bagatelle on the northern road, in Gruerie Wood and at the Barricade on the southern road. Between the two roads they seized and consolidated positions, such as the _Pavillon St. Hubert_ and _Fontaine-Madame_. On the northern road and around Bagatelle, during the last months of 1914, the Germans alternately advanced and retreated about half a mile. In October, they captured St. Hubert, only to lose it again. Later, they advanced to within 400 yards of Four-de-Paris on the east, but in November they were stopped in this sector. In the centre, in spite of repeated attacks, they were unable to take _Fontaine-Madame_. [Illustration: THE BATTLE IN THE FOREST] In January, 1915, the line crossed the Melzicourt Ford, a little upstream from Servon, and the Servon-Vienne-le-Château road to the north of Fontaine-la-Houyette, running thence, with numerous salients and re-entrants, through Gruerie Wood, as far as Fontaines-aux-Charmes and the outskirts of Bagatelle. From there it went south through Fontaine-Madame to within three-quarters of a mile north of La Harazée, then north towards St. Hubert, then south again, crossing the Meurissons Stream, to within 300 yards of Four-de-Paris, finally turning eastwards across the Woods of Bolante and Courte-Chausse, to the Valley of the Aire between Neuvilly and Boureuilles. For almost a year the struggle on this line continued with unabated desperateness. It is impossible to enumerate here all the battles fought almost daily in the sectors of Fontaine-aux-Charmes, Bagatelle, Marie-Thérèse, Fontaine-Madame, St. Hubert, Four-de-Paris, Les Meurissons, Bolante Wood, Courte-Chausse and Haute-Chevauchée. The most important are referred to later, in the Itinerary. On the whole, the French troops, with whom the Garibaldian Regiment co-operated for a short time, made some progress and inflicted bitter defeats on the enemy. To the east, in the Valley of the Aire, though they failed against Boureuilles, they succeeded in March, after numerous attacks, in taking Vauquois. During 1915, the Germans several times resorted to massed attacks on an extended front, especially in June and July. From June 20 to July 14 the Crown Prince launched an offensive in great force, employing as much as an entire army corps for a single thrust. On June 20, after an intense bombardment with gas shells, his troops attacked on both sides of the Binarville-Vienne-le-Château road. Gassed and almost buried in their shattered trenches, the French could not stop the enemy, but on June 24 counter-attacks regained almost all the lost ground.