It is true the Teutons occupied the lesser spur of Combres; but that gave them little or no advantage, for no attack could be made from it without subjecting the attacking party to a leaden hail from St. Remy and Les Eparges. But the German salient still remained, and the French continued their pressure on it. They pushed forward in the north to Etain, and took the hills on the right bank of the Orne, which hampered their enemy in his use of the Etain-Conflans railroad. They closed in on the reentrant of the salient to the north--Gussainville; and they used the same tactics in regard to Lamorville, because it dominated the Gap of Spada; and to the north of it they exerted a pressure on the Bois de la Selouse. The engagements on the south of the salient were fought desperately. The part of the top which falls away to the Rupt de Mad was held by the French. That section is covered with a low wood, which develops into presentable forests in the region toward the Moselle Valley to the east. The Teutons had taken every advantage of the ground in constructing their fortifications, and the French found a hard task before them. They proceeded against their opponents in the Bois d'Ailly, the Forest of Apremont, the Bois de Mont-Mare, the village of Regnieville, and the Bois le Pretre. Though each success was not large, the entire effort was effective in pushing in the southern side of the salient. This brought the soldiers of the republic to within about four miles of Thiaucourt, which, with the control of Les Eparges, threatened St. Mihiel. The French heavy artillery shelled the southern front of the trenches at Metz on May 1, 1915. The great desire to take Alsace and Lorraine, however, was set aside early in the month. The plight of Russia at this time made it imperative for the Allies to make a great movement on the western front to prevent as much as possible the pressure on the czar's line. Hence the campaign which seemed to be planned by the French was abandoned for a larger opportunity. This was the advance of the Tenth Army in the Artois over the plain of the Scheldt in the direction of Douai and Valenciennes, thereby threatening the communications of the entire Teuton line from Soissons to Lille. Hence the French started a vigorous movement against Lens, while the British sought to take Lille. * * * * * CHAPTER VII CAMPAIGN IN ARTOIS REGION To understand properly the campaign in the Artois, it is necessary to have at least a fair knowledge of the geography and the topography of the territory between La Bassee and Arras.