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53
THE MEUSE-ARGONNE OPERATION

   The Meuse-Argonne front had been practically stabilized in September, 1914, and had remained unchanged except for minor fluctuations during the German attacks on Verdun in 1916, and the counteroffensive in August, 1917. The strategical importance of this portion of the line was second to none on the Western Front. All supplies and evacuations of the German armies in the northern France were dependent upon two great railway systems: one in the north, passing through Liege, while the other in the south, with lines coming from Luxomburg, Thionville and Metz, had as its vital section the line Carignan--Sedan--Mezieres. No other important lines were available to the enemy as the mountainous masses of the [[strikethrough]] Ardenes [[/strikethrough]] Ardennes made the construction of east and west lines through that region impracticable. The Carignan--Sedan--Mezieres line was essential to the Germans for the rapid strategical movement of troops. Should this southern system be cut by the Allies before the enemy could withdraw his forces through the narrow neck between Mezieres and the Dutch frontier, the ruin of his armies in France and Belgium would be complete.

   From the Meuse-Argonne front the perpendicular distance to the Carignan--Mezieres railroad was 50 kilometers. This region formed the pivot of German operations in northern France, and the vital necessity of covering the great railroad line into Sedan resulted in the convergence on [[strikethrough]] in [[/strikethrough]] the Meuse-Argonne front of the successive German defensive positions. To the third German withdrawal position in the vicinity of the Meuse River was only approximately 18 kilometers, while the distance from the front near the tip of the great salient near Soissons to this position was 65 kilometers, and in the vicinity of Cambrai was over 30 kilometers. The effect of a penetration of 18 kilometer by an