The French artillery bombardment caused unprecedented destruction behind the German front, as far back as the canal and river bridges.
At midnight on 22/23 October, the shelling increased to drumfire.
The German artillery had been ordered to begin a counter-bombardment at 5:30 a.m. on 23 October, after the time of the attack was discovered from French prisoners.
The French intercepted German wireless messages ordering the bombardment and brought the attack forward by thirty minutes.
The density of the French creeping barrage was such, that the attack on Allemant was preceded by sixteen shells per minute, per 100 m (110 yd) of front.
The barrage moved in 50 m (55 yd) bounds, followed closely by the French infantry, who found that most of the surviving German defenders were Shell shocked and still under cover.
The German artillery south of the Ailette had little effect, because of losses to French counter-battery fire, lack of ammunition, lack of communication and loss of observation; the artillery on the north side of the river, was only able to fire after observation officers were sent forward to report.

The intensity of French artillery-fire and the gas cloud blocking the Ailette, left the German commanders ignorant of the situation on the south bank, except for a few messages delivered by runners, whose reports implied that the situation was hopeless.
In some places, bypassed garrisons held out in quarry tunnels and machine-gun nests and the last troops of the 14th Division in Allemant were not overrun until 11:00 a.m. On the Soissons–Chavignon road, the 13th Division was only able to withstand the French attack for an hour but to the west of Fort de la Malmaison, the 2nd Guard Division repulsed the attack with massed machine-gun fire; at Malmaison a German artillery battery was overrun in hand-to-hand fighting.
Chavignon was captured at 1:00 p.m. but a German counter-attack temporarily retook the north-eastern corner and little ground was lost by the 5th Guard Division further east.

At noon, the 7th Army headquarters concluded that the loss of Allemant, Vaudesson, Chavignon and Malmaison, made it necessary to hold the lines from Pinon to Chavignon and to form a new line from there to Malmaison; it was also decided to withdraw the artillery from the Pinon Forest.
At noon, Group Crépy was given command of the 52nd Division and Group Vailly command of the last two battalions of the 43rd Reserve and 9th divisions.
The 6th Bavarian Reserve and the 6th Division were sent forward to Laon and Pierrepont, 12 km (7.5 mi) north-east of Laon and a division of the neighbouring 1st Army, was alerted to move to the battlefront on foot.
At 1:00 p.m., reconnaissance flights revealed that the French had dug in at some points.

In Group Crépy, the 14th Division managed to form a continuous line along the Pinonriegel, to the original position on the right flank and no French attack ensued; at 2:45 p.m. the Group headquarters ordered the withdrawal of the remaining artillery, south of the canal.
The situation on the front of Group Vailly was much worse, on the left flank of the 13th Division and part of the 2nd Guard Division front, no front line was recognisable.
At Chavignon, a counter-attack recovered a small part of the village in the evening and at the eastern boundary of the French attack, the 5th Guard Division was able to repulse the attack, since the artillery positions north of the canal had suffered less damage and trench mortars had been dug into the front line before Operation "Autumn Harvest".
Few of the mortars had been damaged and were used to engage the French infantry, who were repulsed along most of the position, except on the west flank, which was withdrawn to conform with the retreat of the neighbouring divisions.

On the extreme flanks of the attack front, the French limited their operations to artillery-fire and probing attacks and in the late afternoon, French artillery-fire diminished.
By the evening, the German line ran from the plateau east of Vauxaillon, along the Pinonriegel north of Vaudesson and Chavignon, to
The French artillery bombardment caused unprecedented destruction behind the German front, as far back as the canal and river bridges. At midnight on 22/23 October, the shelling increased to drumfire. The German artillery had been ordered to begin a counter-bombardment at 5:30 a.m. on 23 October, after the time of the attack was discovered from French prisoners. The French intercepted German wireless messages ordering the bombardment and brought the attack forward by thirty minutes. The density of the French creeping barrage was such, that the attack on Allemant was preceded by sixteen shells per minute, per 100 m (110 yd) of front. The barrage moved in 50 m (55 yd) bounds, followed closely by the French infantry, who found that most of the surviving German defenders were Shell shocked and still under cover. The German artillery south of the Ailette had little effect, because of losses to French counter-battery fire, lack of ammunition, lack of communication and loss of observation; the artillery on the north side of the river, was only able to fire after observation officers were sent forward to report.
The intensity of French artillery-fire and the gas cloud blocking the Ailette, left the German commanders ignorant of the situation on the south bank, except for a few messages delivered by runners, whose reports implied that the situation was hopeless. In some places, bypassed garrisons held out in quarry tunnels and machine-gun nests and the last troops of the 14th Division in Allemant were not overrun until 11:00 a.m. On the Soissons–Chavignon road, the 13th Division was only able to withstand the French attack for an hour but to the west of Fort de la Malmaison, the 2nd Guard Division repulsed the attack with massed machine-gun fire; at Malmaison a German artillery battery was overrun in hand-to-hand fighting. Chavignon was captured at 1:00 p.m. but a German counter-attack temporarily retook the north-eastern corner and little ground was lost by the 5th Guard Division further east.
At noon, the 7th Army headquarters concluded that the loss of Allemant, Vaudesson, Chavignon and Malmaison, made it necessary to hold the lines from Pinon to Chavignon and to form a new line from there to Malmaison; it was also decided to withdraw the artillery from the Pinon Forest. At noon, Group Crépy was given command of the 52nd Division and Group Vailly command of the last two battalions of the 43rd Reserve and 9th divisions. The 6th Bavarian Reserve and the 6th Division were sent forward to Laon and Pierrepont, 12 km (7.5 mi) north-east of Laon and a division of the neighbouring 1st Army, was alerted to move to the battlefront on foot. At 1:00 p.m., reconnaissance flights revealed that the French had dug in at some points.
In Group Crépy, the 14th Division managed to form a continuous line along the Pinonriegel, to the original position on the right flank and no French attack ensued; at 2:45 p.m. the Group headquarters ordered the withdrawal of the remaining artillery, south of the canal. The situation on the front of Group Vailly was much worse, on the left flank of the 13th Division and part of the 2nd Guard Division front, no front line was recognisable. At Chavignon, a counter-attack recovered a small part of the village in the evening and at the eastern boundary of the French attack, the 5th Guard Division was able to repulse the attack, since the artillery positions north of the canal had suffered less damage and trench mortars had been dug into the front line before Operation "Autumn Harvest". Few of the mortars had been damaged and were used to engage the French infantry, who were repulsed along most of the position, except on the west flank, which was withdrawn to conform with the retreat of the neighbouring divisions.
On the extreme flanks of the attack front, the French limited their operations to artillery-fire and probing attacks and in the late afternoon, French artillery-fire diminished. By the evening, the German line ran from the plateau east of Vauxaillon, along the Pinonriegel north of Vaudesson and Chavignon, to 
Battle of La Malmaison