stretch not long after the barrage started. The following 2nd Battalion deployed to its right and the understrength 3rd Battalion followed in support. The attack plan called for 5th Marines to wheel right in a southeasterly direction as they approached Maison Neuve after emerging from the forest. Approximately half of the Marines in the frontline assault failed to make the change of direction. Three of 2nd Battalion's companies wheeled too far to the south and crossed the 9th Infantry sector. It joined elements of 23rd Infantry clearing Vauxcastille which was just over the division's southern boundary in the attack zone of the French 38th Division. A group of Americans from the 5th Marines and 23rd Infantry, apparently lost, were captured around noon between Missy-aux-Bois and Soissons near the Soissons – Paris road. This group crossed the entire front of French XX Corps and a German Corps. 49th Company, 1st Battalion lost contact with the Moroccan 1st Division's liaison not long after breaking onto the fields of the plateau. Most of the Senegalese turned north to flank the Bois du Quesnoy while 49th Company started taking fire from Maison Neuve and Chaudun. Maison Neuve was just over the northern boundary of the 5th Marine's attack zone while Chaudun was near the northern boundary of the Moroccan 1st Division's attack zone. 17th Company of 1st Battalion, part of 2nd Battalion's 55th Company (detailed with maintaining liaison between battalions), and about 20 Senegalese fighters moved with 49th Company on Chaudun. After heavy fighting, Chaudun fell to the Marines and the Senegalese fighters around 9:00am while other Marine elements cleared Maison Neuve. Once Chaudun was taken, the Marine battalions reassembled and worked their way back into their sector. They halted at the northern end of Vierzy Ravine which was their second objective. The ravine ran completely across the entire front of the 2nd Division from Maison Neuve at the northern end to Vauxcastille at the southern end. At the bottom of the ravine near Vauxcastille, the ravine ran due east to the town of Vierzy. Beyond Vierzy was the line which represented the XX Corps objective. 3rd Brigade 9th Infantry Regiment On the night of 17 July, Colonel LaRoy Upton, commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment, managed to get all but two of his companies through the Forêt de Retz and into position before midnight. Companies L and M were not in position until