This was the beginning of the period when the Germans seemed to spare all the buildings, and to concentrate their fire chiefly on the exits from villages. On the 16th the enemy was reported to be massing men on the St. Python--Haussy road, and our artillery shelled the area indicated for two hours, but no counter-attack developed. The following day the Battalion was relieved, and went into billets at St. Vaast. On the 20th the 1st and 3rd Guards Brigades attacked, and captured the high ground east of Solesmes and St. Python, but the 2nd Guards Brigade was not wanted. On the 22nd the whole of the Guards Division was taken out of the line for a week's rest. CHAPTER XXXV NOVEMBER _Diary of the War_ [Sidenote: Nov. 1918.] The Versailles Conference opened. A mutiny among the German sailors at Kiel broke out, and had far-reaching effects. In France the Allied Armies continued to press forward, and the German retreat became more rapid. In reply to overtures made by the Germans, the Allies replied that if Germany wished for an armistice she must apply to General Foch, in the usual military form, for the conditions under which an armistice would be granted. On the 8th the German Envoys were received by General Foch, and were given the conditions drawn up by the Allies. A revolution broke out in Berlin, and the abdication of the Kaiser was announced. On the 11th the Armistice was signed. At the beginning of November Austria surrendered unconditionally. THE GUARDS DIVISION [Sidenote: The Guards Division.] The advance in November, culminating in the capture of Maubeuge, was so rapid, the extent of ground covered in so short a time so great, and the number of prisoners and guns taken so large, that there was little doubt that an Armistice on any conditions was the only thing that could save the German army from absolute disaster. The Guards Division moved up on the 2nd from Escarmain towards Villers Pol. The objectives or bounds were no longer measured in yards but in miles, and the ambitious programme produced by the Divisional Staff would have been considered beyond the bounds of possibility, even six months before. It was known that the Germans must now stand and fight, if they were to gain time for the withdrawal of their armies elsewhere, and a final attack was ordered for November 4 in order to break through their resistance, and complete the victory of the Allied Armies. Preparations for the attack were somewhat disorganised by a partial withdrawal of the enemy during the afternoon of the 3rd.