4:15am and 3:00am, respectively. 1st Battalion led the 9th Infantry attack with 2nd Battalion following in support and 3rd Battalion in reserve. Because the Marines on their left were a few minutes late and the supporting tanks hadn't arrived on time, 9th Infantry began taking flanking machine-gun fire from their left almost immediately. 1st Battalion turned left to face the fire and fought their way north toward Verte-Feuille Farm. At about 5:45am the supporting tanks caught up to the front line and circled around the farm. At about the same time elements of the 5th Marines charged out of the woods to capture Verte-Feuille Farm. 1st Battalion continued northeast, cutting across the 5th Marines attack zone into the Moroccan 1st Division's sector to fight at Maison Neuve. Although 3rd Battalion was supposed to be in regimental reserve, Lieutenant Ladislav Janda, commander of Company M, noticed his company was advancing with the first wave as 1st and 2nd Battalion veered off to the left while other troops were approaching from the right. While Janda kept his company on course, he received word the troops on his right were from 23rd Infantry. By 5:15am, Company M had seized control of Beaurepaire Farm on the southern boundary of 9th Infantry's attack zone, just as the rolling barrage passed the farm. While rounding up the surviving Germans a stray platoon from Company I arrived. In taking the farm, Company M lost about forty percent of its strength. Soon after leaving Beaurepaire Farm, Company M began taking artillery and machine-gun fire from across Vierzy Ravine. The company had halted at the edge of the ravine when they were hit with tear gas. Plunging down the slope, what remained of Company M crossed the ravine and scrambled up the opposite slope where the gun emplacements were located. The German gun crews had retreated through the wheat field beyond the ravine. Pausing for a short while to recover, Company M continued its advance to a point about north-northeast of Vierzy; reaching there by 9:20am. 23rd Infantry Regiment The 23rd Infantry Regiment had the southernmost attack zone in XX Corps with the French 38th Division on its right flank. 2nd Battalion was the attack battalion for 23rd Infantry with 1st Battalion in support and 3rd Battalion in reserve. To ensure his battalion made the attack on time, Major d’Arly Fechet had his men double-time the last few hundred