[Illustration: A View in Krupp's Works, Essen, where the Big Guns are made.
A story went the round of the papers that, long before the war, a Belgian had bought land near Maubeuge, and on it had begun to build a factory for making railway engines. It was said that the real owner of the land was Krupp, the great manufacturer of guns and armaments for the German Government; and that while the factory was being built, concrete gun platforms had been constructed, on which the Germans mounted their siege guns as soon as they arrived. The story, however, had no foundation. The guns which the Germans used in the siege of Maubeuge were smaller than those which battered down Namur. They did not need concrete foundations, but could be fired from an ordinary road or from a platform of sleepers. The story, however, was widely believed, and alleged gun platforms were actually discovered in innocent British factories!
The French official account of the retreat tells us that, when the defence of the Meuse collapsed, General Joffre decided on a general retreat, but determined to make a series of counter-attacks whenever opportunity offered, so that the enemy might be kept busy. He had to choose a position where the retreat was to end, and this position had to be so chosen that the different armies could reach it at the same time and be ready without delay to advance. If, however, he found that he could begin his forward movement before this point was reached, he was prepared to alter his plans.
After the war of 1870-71, when the French began building fortresses to guard their eastern frontier, they arranged that if the enemy should capture Montmédy, Mezières, Hirson, Maubeuge, and Lille, as they had now done, a stand was to be made for the defence of Paris along an undulating plateau of chalk which rises gently from the valley of the Marne, but falls steeply on the north-east to the plains of Northern France. These uplands, as seen from the north, resemble the Surrey and Sussex Downs, and are known as the Heights of Champagne. On them grow the grapes which make the sparkling wine known as champagne. Several streams, the largest of which is the Aisne,[70] cut their way through the plateau; stumps of trees and belts of woodland are common, and on the western side towards the Oise there are wide stretches of forest.