1st Division. To the north of the American 1st Division sector the city of Soissons sits in the northeast corner of a long, high plateau. Traveling south through the Crise River Valley are four elevated positions overlooking Soissons and its approaches. Montaigne de Paris overlooks and controls the southern transportation arteries into and out of Soissons. The high ground west of Vauxbuin and west of Courmelles is roughly parallel to Montaigne de Paris and approximately west of the Crise River. Berzy-le-Sec sits on the third elevated position and spills down into the valley where both the railroad and the highway run. Looking north from this position, one can actually see Soissons. The Noyant Plateau is east of Berzy-le-Sec and, although it sits at a higher elevation, the road and railway cannot be secured from this plateau. Possession of Berzy-le-Sec is the key to controlling the valley because it neutralizes both. Owing to the importance of possessing Berzy-le-Sec and the failure of the French 153rd Division to take it, Mangin changed the divisional boundary between the French 153rd Division and the American 1st Division. The task of taking and holding Berzy-le-Sec was given to the American 1st Division. After a meeting to coordinate his attack with the French 153rd Division, Major General Charles P. Summerall took the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry from division reserve. He placed it under the command of Brigadier General Beaumont Buck, commanding officer of 2nd Brigade, for use in the attack on Berzy-le-Sec. The attack was scheduled for 2:00pm. The Moroccan 1st Division attacked late in the morning before the barrage for the attack on Berzy-le-Sec got under way. The 1st Brigade of the American 1st Division moved with them. Both advances met with little resistance until they started down the bluff, at the bottom of which was the railroad. The Moroccans managed to push some units across the railroad and ended the day with their line slanted west and south of Berzy-le-Sec. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, managed to move parts of two battalions of 16th Infantry east of the railroad stopping about southwest of Aconin Farm. Elements of 18th Infantry, operating on the division's southern boundary, organized themselves along the railroad tracks several hundred yards/meters northeast of the Bois de Maubuée. During the night of 19/20 July divisional artillery had been moved to forward positions to assist in the attack. The plan called for a light