From the time the naval guns were mounted until the armistice Admiral Plunkett's men were busy on several points of the Allied lines. In this time the five naval guns fired 782 shells at distances ranging from 18 to 23 miles. They played great havoc in the railroad yards at Laon, destroying large stretches of track that were indispensable to the Germans, and in general making this place practically useless as a railroad centre. Probably the greatest service which they rendered to the cause of the Allies was in the region north of Verdun. In late October three naval batteries were brought up to Charny and Thierville and began bombarding the railroad which ran through Montmédy, Longuyon, and Conflans. This was the most important line of communication on the Western Front; it was the road over which the German army in the east was supplied, and there was practically no other line by which the great German armies engaging the Americans could escape. From October 23rd to the hour when the armistice was signed our fourteen-inch guns were raining shells upon this road. So successful was this bombardment that the German traffic was stopped, not only while the firing was taking place, but for several hours each day after it had ceased. What this meant to the success of the Allied armies the world now knows. The result is perfectly summed up in General Pershing's report: "Our large calibre guns," he says, "had advanced and were skilfully brought into position to fire upon the important lines at Montmédy, Longuyon, and Conflans; the strategical goal which was our highest hope was gained. We had cut the enemy's main line of communications and nothing but surrender or an armistice could save his army from complete disaster." These guns were, of course, only one of many contributing factors, but that the Navy had its part in this great achievement is another example of the success with which our two services co-operated with each other throughout the war--a co-operation which, for efficient and harmonious devotion to a common cause, has seldom, if ever, been equalled. CHAPTER XIII TRANSPORTING TWO MILLION AMERICAN SOLDIERS TO FRANCE I