The danger-point of this disposition was La Ferté-sous-Jouarre. Into that place, consequently, he threw a strong force with orders to hold it to the last moment. With the rest of his three corps he formed front partly against the British, partly against the left of the army of General Desperey. In these actions, as Mr. Maxwell has pointed out, his troops were swept by the flank attack of part of the 6th French army. There is no doubt they fought, despite cruel losses, with the most stubborn courage. As the 6th French army, who displayed equally unshakable resolution, strove, following the course of the Ourcq, to work round against the German line of retreat, and as their attacks had to be met as well as the attacks of the British, the expedient which the German general resorted to was, as he retired, to hurry divisions of troops successively from the south to the north of his flank defence, and, as the 6th French army moved, to move his flank defence with it. Not only was the object to do that, but there was, at the same time, an effort to press the 6th French army towards the north-west. This, in fact, General von Kluck managed to do. He did it by extending his flank beyond the left of the French army, and making a feint of envelopment. Imagine a row of coins, each coin a division, and a movement of the row by constantly shifting a coin from one end of the row to the other. That will give roughly an idea of what, on the events, appears to have been the expedient. The success of such a series of movements depended, of course, on their rapidity, and, considering the severe and insistent pressure from the British on the rear of the line, forming an angle with the flank, the movements were carried out with surprising rapidity. The Ourcq, though not a long river, is, like the Marne, deep, and over more than half its length navigable. It flows between plateaux through a narrow valley with steep sides. The crossing of such a stream is no easy feat. But General von Kluck did not mind the losses he incurred so long as he achieved his purpose. This was clearly his best policy. In the intervals of desperate fighting his men had to undertake long marches at a breakneck pace. For several days together they were without rest or sleep. To some extent they were aided by the entrenchments already dug to guard against an attack from the west. These positions, prepared to protect the head of the German chain of armies remaining in contact with Paris, now proved useful in covering the retirement. Nevertheless, the efforts of the Germans must have been exhausting to the last degree.[17]