Already the Allied engineers were engaged on the most dangerous and difficult work known to war. The river was swollen with the recent heavy rains, and its muddy torrent roared along, bearing on its surface the wreckage of many broken bridges. Near Soissons the engineers tried to push pontoons across the stream. Calmly and coolly they constructed their bridges under a deadly fire, only to see them splintered to matchwood by the guns of the enemy. As they worked, German rifles and machine guns blazed at them from short range across the river, and the enemy, encouraged by his success, attempted to build bridges of his own. As, however, the first bridge section approached the stream, a British shell burst above it, and immediately the section and its bearers were no more. So fierce, however, was the fire of the enemy that our engineers had to give up trying to bridge the stream at this point. All attempts to silence the German batteries which were doing the mischief proved vain. [Illustration: German Sharpshooters on the Heights of the Aisne. _Photo, Newspaper Illustrations, Ltd._] Farther west, however, the French, in the gray of the morning, threw two bridges across the river, and immediately infantry and guns of the 6th Army swarmed across them. By the afternoon the French were fighting their way up the ravines on the other side. A little distance to the east of Soissons you will notice that the river forks, and in two channels flows round an island. At this point British engineers were also successful in throwing pontoons across the river, and the 11th British Brigade dashed across them, and began to dig themselves in on the other side. Smith-Dorrien's men, the Second Corps, were lying astride of the lower Vesle. As they advanced against the line of the Aisne they suffered heavy loss, especially on the left, where there was much open ground. Stubborn attempts were made to bridge the river opposite to the village of Missy, but they failed again and again. Nevertheless, by the afternoon rafts had been constructed, and these, laden with troops, were hauled to and fro across the stream. By this means two brigades gained the other side, and immediately lined out in the woods, where they fought for the rest of the day. Meanwhile Smith-Dorrien's 3rd Division was struggling hard to cross at Condé.[126] On the other side the Germans were lying in tiers of trenches on the steep slope, and some of them were sheltered behind the ramparts of an old French fort at Condé. So fierce and continuous was their fire that our men failed to cross the river at this point. The Germans held Condé all that day, and for many weeks after.