The French advance had been so rapid that as early as July 8 General Fayolle's troops, having broken through the German front to a depth of 8 kilometres, occupied the outskirts of Biaches. The next day, after an intense bombardment, the system of trenches which protected the outskirts of the village was carried in a few minutes. [Illustration: BIACHES. THE SUGAR REFINERY IN 1919. _Seen from the same view-point._] A desperate struggle which lasted all day took place in the village, where every street and crossing was protected by defence-works. Machine-guns were posted in all the houses, while buildings like the town-hall, sugar refinery, railway-station, etc., had been turned into powerful centres of resistance. A block of houses to the south-east resisted till the evening, when it was reduced. At the entrance to the village, close to the Herbécourt road, a strong point, passed in the course of the advance, was still in enemy hands. This position, which subsequently acquired fame under the official name of Herbécourt Redoubt, enabled its occupants to take the French in the rear, and rendered the occupation of the village very difficult and uncertain. [Illustration: BIACHES. DEFENCE-WORKS IN THE PLACE DE LA MAIRIE (1916).] It was absolutely necessary to carry it. Frontal attacks were stopped short by a murderous machine-gun fire; a concentration of fire with trench-mortars gave no better results. Finally, in the afternoon of July 10, a captain and eight men, with "extraordinary daring," crept up to and entered the redoubt. The garrison, which still numbered 112 men and 2 officers, lost their presence of mind and surrendered without offering any resistance. The loss of Biaches, which formed the last advanced defences of Péronne, was a particularly hard blow for the Germans, who attempted, on several occasions to reconquer the position by fierce counter-attacks. On July 15, a terrific bombardment was opened on the village. The ruined houses collapsed, fires broke out, and most of the shelters, including those under the cellars, were smashed in. The attack followed in the evening. Leaving Péronne by the Faubourg de Paris, the Germans, favoured by fog, slipped along the banks of the canal and reached the French first lines, which they attacked with liquid fire. One section, surrounded with flames, gave way. Taking advantage of this, the enemy slipped into the village and, after a violent engagement, conquered the greater part of it, only to be driven out again the next day by a counter-attack, during which the French won back all the lost ground. [Illustration: BIACHES. THE PLACE DE LA MAIRIE IN 1916.]