The End of the First Phase 239 diers from the Senegal and the Niger, British regulars recalled from Hindustan and Egypt, strengthened or about to be strengthened by Colon- ial troops from Canada and Australia, were moving upon the flank and rear of the German armies; Asia, Africa, America and Australia were beginning to contribute the first levies from resources which should henceforth be inexhaustible. As a result of this thrust all northwest France had been recovered. Amiens, Lille, Arras, cities and regions which had been occupied by Germans in early September, had paid ransom to their conquerors, were now redeemed. All the main railways from Paris to the Channel were in Allied hands once more and, having been reconstructed, were conveying fresh troops far northward as the campaign devel- oped toward the Belgian line. In all this time the main effort of the Germans had been defensive. The hope of a new thrust at Paris, made promptly, when the armies defeated at the Marne had been refitted, rested, had vanished. Save for a desperate flank push toward the Verdun- Toul barrier the whole concern of the German Gen- eral Staff was to protect its imperilled right — to guard the railroad from Laon and St. Quentin to Brussels and Liege, the life line of the great armies in France. Even the vigorous drive at Antwerp was one more defensive move, to relieve pressure upon necessary communications. Up to October 4 the Germans had succeeded in