So far, to the Jocks the move to Champagne had been a great adventure; the entrainment of the complete Division, the passing through the outskirts of Paris, the journey on the French lorries, as well as the arrival in a country of new and beautiful scenery, had all been of deep interest to them. Most of them for the first time saw the French army in the field, and no doubt realised, as most men do on the first occasion that they have dealings with an active French Division, what magnificent men they are, and what a false impression of them is obtained from the odd and rather bedraggled French soldiers that were occasionally seen on leave in the zone of the British armies. Great adventure, indeed, it was. Not only had the Highland Division the privilege of taking part in the early phases of Marshal Foch's great counter-stroke which turned the German invasion of France into a hasty retirement, but it was to maintain itself for eleven days in the heat of sanguinary fighting without relief, and to advance its line over four and a quarter miles through a country heavy with dense woods and magnificently adapted by nature for stubborn defence, and in which an enemy only recently victorious was offering an heroic resistance. At 8 A.M. the artillery barrage opened and the advance began, the 4th Seaforth Highlanders leading on the right, and the 6th Black Watch on the left. Nor had the battle long been in progress before it became evident that the enemy, so far from retiring on this portion of the front, was holding on to his position with great determination. Immediately in front of the 154th Brigade lay a large and partially wooded hill of which the slopes on the enemy's side were dominated by Marfaux on the north bank of the Ardre and by the Bois de l'Aulnay. On its eastern side this hill sloped steeply to the river Ardre. In front of the 153rd Brigade lay the dense Bois de Courton, divided by a main ride running in the direction of the attack. Both brigades captured the enemy outpost line with a total of 150 prisoners without meeting serious resistance.