In the Spring of 1918, the German army launched a series of offensives on the Western Front. The first was Operation Michael, which was directed against the British Fifth Army. The next major attack was Operation Blücher-Yorck, delivered on 27th May. The Germans broke through the French and British defences. The advance took them to the Marne river, forming a salient. The flanks of the salient were hemmed in by Reims to the east and Soissons to the west. Operation Gneisenau was designed to widen the salient, linking up the gains in Operations Michael and Blücher-Yorck. Twenty-one German divisions were involved. They advanced along the Matz river valley up to a distance of 12 kilometres. The French launched a counter-attack on 11th June. This is a replay of the Battle of Matz, focusing on the left flank of the combined arms French attack.
