Time Astra

Schematic plan · World War I (Western Front 1918)

Chemin-des-Dames

All battlesThird Battle of the Aisne: engagement 1 of 2The event in the chronicleWikipedia
A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rugged, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveGunsCentreLeft wingRight wingReserve010 km20 kmN

One of the 2 engagements of the Third Battle of the Aisne recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 1 in date order). Germany (Ger 1st & 7th Armies, 250,000 men under Cr Pr Wilhelm) attacked France (Fr 6th Army, 75,000 men under Gen Douchene) in France. The CAA Database of Battles records 168 hours of fighting on a front of 56.3 km, a frontal attack against fortified defense, and that France held. Losses: Germany 118,000 (47%), France 128,000 (171%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

Germany

Cr Pr Wilhelm

UnitArmMen
Germany left wingInfantry51,000
Germany centreInfantry68,000
Germany right wingInfantry51,000
Germany reserveInfantry42,500
Germany artillery (3,719 guns)Artillery37,500
Cr Pr WilhelmCommander—
In this plan250,000

France

Gen Douchene

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry18,000
France centreInfantry24,000
France right wingInfantry18,000
France reserveInfantry15,000
Gen DoucheneCommander—
In this plan75,000

What the sources report

GermanyFrance
Strength, this plan250,00075,000
Losses, this plan118,000128,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 334, “Chemin-Des-Dames”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
168 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Rugged, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Spring, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Fortified defense
Front width
56.3 km (attacker), 56.3 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Germanyattacker250,000118,00003,719Frontal attack; Penetration; Stalemate
Francedefender75,000128,0000—Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Penetration; Stalemate

Attacker’s advantages initiative +1 · surprise +2

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.