At the end of May 1918, the Imperial German Army's attempt to strike for Paris in the Third Battle of the Aisne swept over Soissons and its hinterland, including Buzancy. Eventually checked by the resistance of various Allied forces, the advance nevertheless left a threatening salient between Soissons and Rheims. Realising the opportunity for a decisive victory by "pinching-off" the salient, the Allied supremo General Foch ordered a counteroffensive across its "neck" from both sides, commencing very successfully on the Soissons side on 18 July 1918, assisted very effectively by Renault FT light tanks. The Germans, realising the enormity of what was at stake, defended the two strategic hinges of the salient with utmost determination in order to win sufficient time to withdraw the remainder of their forces from within the (shrinking) pocket.