This last-named town has not been included in the itinerary, although it played an important part in the ultimate manœuvre attempted by Von Kluck--that of outflanking the French left wing. The paved road which leads to it is bad, and the other roads by which one could rejoin the planned route are extremely rough. Below we give a view of a corner of this battlefield. It gives some idea of the great plain which extends from Betz to Nanteuil, where the 7th and 61st French Divisions resisted with desperate energy the furious attacks of the Fourth German Corps. The dead horses seen in the photograph belonged to a French battery. The 75's, fully exposed, supported the foot-soldiers in their efforts until they came almost into actual contact with the enemy. * * * * * _After passing under the railway the road rises to the plateau_ and soon brings us near a commemorative monument, on the right (_view on following page_). _Thence it passes through the Woods of Montrolles_, where the 61st Division particularly distinguished itself on the evening of September 8. Worn out with fatigue, its reserve supplies exhausted two days before, it yet, by a supreme effort, succeeded in driving back the Germans. [Illustration: THE PLAIN OF NANTEUIL-LE-HAUDOUIN] [Illustration: MONUMENT AT BETZ] _Having passed through the Woods of Montrolles, we soon come to a fork. Here take the road on the left._ To the right are the Heights of Bouillancy, where the French artillery was placed; on the left the Plateau of Étavigny on which were the German batteries. A hollow, where runs a river, separates the two positions, between which the artillery duel was intense, preparing and accompanying infantry assaults which succeeded one another from September 6 to 9, with alternate advances and retirements. _The road then returns to Acy, skirting the wall of the Castle park. We again pass the church and, on leaving the village, cross the Gergogne. Immediately after the bridge turn to the left towards_ =Vincy= (35½ km.). The photograph below shows that this village also suffered from incendiarism and bombardment. _After passing through Vincy, bear to the left in order to pass in front of the Manœuvre distillery, leaving the hamlet of that name on the left. =Étrépilly= (41 km.) will be reached by the middle road of the crossways, which are about 1 km. further on past the distillery_. This Vincy-Étrépilly line formed part of the defensive front established by the Germans west of the Ourcq, marked out further north by the localities of Betz, Étavigny, and Acy, which have just been visited, and more to the south, by the position seen on panorama B (_pp. 90-91_). The Germans had made trenches and machine-gun shelters over the whole plateau, which stretches on the right of the road towards the farms of Poligny and Champfleury. On the right slope of the road one can still see the dug-outs where the snipers sheltered themselves.