In the morning of September 14, 1918, General Mangin's troops struck a new blow at the German salient north of Soissons. The French advance was so rapid that at one point a German colonel and his entire staff were captured. The taking of Laffaux Mill, a point of vital importance to the enemy, meant the gain of a valuable portion of the Hindenburg line. The Germans made a desperate effort to maintain their hold on this position, but in spite of their employment of strong reserves they were unable to delay more than a short time the French advance. On General Mangin's right, the Mennejean Farm was the scene of the most stubborn fighting during the day. The Germans had transformed every shell crater into miniature forts and machine-gun nests which had to be overcome one by one by grenade fighting of the fiercest description. But the Germans failed everywhere to check the French, who by noon had carried the entire position and bagged over 2,500 prisoners. After the capture of Havrincourt and neighboring towns by the British, followed by counterattacks which were everywhere repulsed, there was no important infantry action attempted and the Germans settled down to shelling the line. British and French troops in coordinated operations on a twenty-two-mile front advanced their lines on the outlying defenses of St. Quentin on September 18, 1918. The British attack was made by English, Irish, Scottish, and Australian troops on a sixteen-mile front to the northwest of the city and resulted in the capture of over 6,000 prisoners and the occupation of ten villages and outer defenses of the Hindenburg line in wide sectors. The push was made in the midst of a pouring rain and the Germans offered strong resistance, but the British, elated with victory, drove forward and crushed all opposition. While the British were driving ahead, the French on their immediate right attacked and advanced their lines a mile and a quarter on a six-mile front, reaching the western outskirts of Francilly-Silency, three miles west of St. Quentin, and the southern edge of Contescourt, four miles southwest of that city, marking their nearest approaches to the German base. During the night of September 18, 1918, the British continued to drive forward into the Hindenburg outposts northwest of St. Quentin, capturing the village of Lempire and Gauche Wood. In the course of two days' fighting in this region the British captured 10,000 prisoners and over sixty guns.