The Allies' reconquest of dominant points had greatly improved the tactical situation. German efforts in the Marne Valley were fading out now that they were confronted by the Allies' forces in numbers proportionate to their own. An important attack was launched by the Germans early in the morning of June 9, 1918, on a front of more than twenty miles; between Montdidier and Noyon. They gained ground in the center to a depth of two and a half miles and to a less degree on the wings of the attack. The southern limit of the German thrust was the villages of Ressons-sur-Matz and Mareuil. The French kept them from crossing the covering zone, and on the French right toward Noyon they were similarly held. It was the opinion of experienced military observers that the war had witnessed no more severe fighting than in this sector, which resulted indeed in a German advance, but at what a cost! When the German infantry began coming over in dense masses they encountered a withering fire of machine guns and artillery that mowed them down in groups and cut great gaps in the moving wall. But as fast as the ranks melted away fresh waves of men swept forward and filled the empty spaces, and the massacre, for such it should be called, continued. Only the iron discipline of German military rule could have forced soldiers to face such tornadoes of fire. It was evident that the prowess of the American soldier had stimulated the German command to take the most desperate chances, in the hope of forcing a decision before the Allies were further reenforced by the troops of the great republic. There could be no other explanation for the Germans' reckless waste of man power, the frenzied attempts to crush a foe by sheer weight of numbers. Early in the morning of June 11, 1918, the French evacuated the Dreslincourt-Ribecourt angle, and fell back on the Matz. This region, with its numerous valleys and wooded hills, offered facilities for the tactics of "infiltration." Once it was turned by way of the Matz, the defenders, with the Oise behind them, could not continue to hold firm without risking great losses of men and material. During the night of June 10, 1918, an enemy offensive, employing large numbers of fresh troops, attacked the French forces farther west, and flung them back along the Estrées Road as far as the Arende Valley. The French, however, had brought up reserves and in a dashing counterattack the enemy ranks were broken, an operation which brought them back to their former positions south of Belloy and Marqueglise. By the prodigal waste of men (and it must be acknowledged that there was method in some of the madness) the Germans had obtained these results. By forcing their way down the Matz Valley at a prodigious cost the German columns had reached forward from Rassons to Marqueglise, Vandelicourt, and Elincourt, thus turning the wooded plateau of Thiescourt to the southwest.