Taking advantage of this success, General Lejeune pushed Brigadier General Abernathy’s Second division into the breach. Immediately, also, he ordered the First brigade forward in an effort to break through to the south, while orders were rushed to the hard-pressed Third brigade to make a final effort. The task of the Third brigade was easier now. Bereft of its supports, the German center was obliged to yield ground to the Third brigade or risk being cut off and surrounded. The Germans gave ground slowly. To the south, the First brigade also began to drive the foe more swiftly. It appeared for a moment that the Germans would suffer a rout. Under the direction of their officers, however, they braced perhaps half a mile farther back, and again showed a determined front. Trenches dug by the Americans were abandoned now as the Yankees poured forth in pursuit of the enemy. Not a man in the whole Second division who was not sure that the trenches would never be needed for defensive purposes. No one knew better the morale of the American troops than did the men themselves. Nevertheless, the advance slowed down in the face of the resistance being offered by the enemy. For a time it appeared that the fighting had reached a deadlock. The deciding touch to the battle was furnished by General Rhodes. Sweeping up from the south, the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh brigades of the Forty-second division bore off a trifle to the east and then turned north again, thus catching the enemy on the left flank. This maneuver, apparently, had not been anticipated by the enemy’s general staff, for it took the Germans by surprise. True, they received warning in time to wheel machine-guns into position and to place big guns to rake the Americans as they dashed forward. But the warning had not been received in time to permit the general staff to alter its plan of defense, and for this reason proved the blow that broke the backbone of the enemy’s resistance. The enemy, closely pressed by General Lejeune, had no time to make changes in his defensive plan necessitated by General Rhodes’ sudden attack. Reinforcements could not be sent to check General Rhodes without weakening the front opposed to General Lejeune. General Schindler, after a hasty conference with his staff, ordered a retreat to the lines just before Sedan. The Germans fell back rapidly. Neither General Rhodes nor General Lejeune was content to rest with this advantage, but each decided to push on. During all this time, the enemy had been successful in keeping a wedge between the Second and Forty-second American divisions. General Schindler realized that if he hoped to extricate his men from the trap sprung by the Americans he must prevent a juncture of the Second and Forty-second at all hazards. Now, however, as the attack seemed on the verge of success, General Lejeune decided that the German wedge separating him from General Rhodes must be pierced.