New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-20
GERMANS HARD HIT
BEFORE AISNE BATTLE
Retreat from the Marine Includes Visits to Rheims Wine
Cellars Before Desperate Stand Is Made-Allies
Fight Every Inch of Advance
all the bridges, with single Odd ex.
ccDtiOu, were rome.
Bridges Blown Up.


Bridges Blown Up.
! "Old stone bridges which had stood
/ for centuries had vanished at last.
! New iron bridges, we suppose, showed
/ above water the shattered and twisted
/ skeletons Of their former selves. Ac-
COrdiug to General Sir John French's
/ report, issued by the press bureau, Of
! ten bridges that had crossed that see
, ton of the river before our front, nine
had been demolished. Down the river
from SCISSORS to Compiegne the French
Oh our left had similar task.
Then began one of the heroic COM
bats OF the war. Again and again at
some points pOntoOns were shattered;
again and again the engineers returned
: under fire to their work, cool, quick and
steady. The enemy's heavy howitzers
/ in well hidden cmplacements again
played their novel and effective part in
4 war artillery. Duels Numbered from
/ height to height with q roar almost az
( continuous as the rifle fire until the
whole of the rival lines seemed to he
/ marked out by bursting shells. The
German fire was slowly mastered, de-
spite their intrenched infantry and ma
chine guns; passage after passage was
4 carried in their teeth. At one point
some Of our men 90 over by little
vladuct missed by Germans which car
rles a canal over the stream near Sois-
sons.
The French infantry got across like
I schoolbOys by swarming in Indian file
/ over the single remaining girder of
the railway bridge. BY sunset on that
/ loud sabbath the British army had
+ forced all passages before it, and by
/ the next morning the Allies pontoon
stretched from bank to bank At last
at all necessary points down the fifty
miles of river between Compiegne and
: B1rry-au- Bac, north Of Rheims, that
/ same day Amiens and Rheims were
! beth recovered by the French-after
y the invaders in the latter city had
threatened to burn the place and hang
its chief citizens in case of the slight
! est infraction of the German orders
| that the civil population must be as
quiet as slaves.
/ But the Germans had made the best
/ Of their respite. They were fighting
/ no rear-guard action TO cover further
retreat. They had made the best use
of their time. They had gone back to
| the tactics of WallensteIn against Gus
/ tayus, and upon another front, strong
! by nature, and made more formidable
/ every hour by night and day labor.
I They are standing at bay along the
/ whole line from the Somme to the
| Meuse and to Metz.
These dispositions were made and
/ improved with excellent judgment,
with five armies striking straight
across the north of France, and IN
closer touch toward Metz with the
Sixth Army of the Crown Prince of
. nj taI
/ from the rest by the fortress barrier.
The German Position.
THE. Germans, if they could win,
would be in the best position TO re-
sumo their advance. While they MAIN
tain themselves where they are and
look we'll TO the rear, they have the
best means of supplying. If they lose
they have the best means of retreat,
always supposing that General Joffre
is hot preparing surprise more eifec-
. i've than General Son kluck's fatal
dash for the SEINE.
The German line, - we may
7 gather, starts from the MARSHES Of the
Sommc, near PerOnnc and Saint Quen-
tin, then across the Disc. l. stretches
behind Lettc over high ridge in front
~ the fortress of La Fere, which 20
c7Hspicuously dominates the flats, win
tuclr popular fringed water courses,
sgrcadIng far and wide behind the lat
'Dr venerable city and its cathedral
crowned rock. The Germans are post
cd on rolling ground overlooking the
courses of the AisGe and the Vesle.
From within sight OF the tower Of
. Lreims the invaders front IS con-
tnuCd over gradually rising grounI 20
a still higher country between the
A.snc and the Meuse.
( I'VE may be certain that sure
touch Is being kept with Metz, the
pivot Of the whole German line,
/ Whether i: wheels backward or for
ward, this front covers all chief rail-
way communications with Belgium,
Gutenberg and German Lorriaen. The
means tor supplying a million men or
50 are still as good as possible.
in the worst event the lines o. rc-
treat lead toward Maubeuge, Ckarleroi
and NamuT toward the gates of Arden
hes, Dlnant, Givet, Mezieres and Sedan
/ toward Luxembourg, Thionville and
Metz. Instead of being almost hope
, IeSSly placed, as before, between Paris
[ and Nerdun, the German right this
time leans safely on strong position.
1t will ut least force any outAanking
1t will at least force any outhanking
movement on the part of allies TO 90
a long way around and be fairly slow
and cautious in its preliminary move
mCnts.
Invaders Well Placed.
Altogether the invaders have chosen
about the best possible positions for
the struggle which will either mend
their fortunes or be their last fight in
( France.
/ From last Monday to the present
the writer had had no doubt but that
this was a rearguard action, but now
we know that the battle of the Aisne,
which has been swaying for week, is
a more sullen and deadly struggle than
| the battle of the Marine, and may prove
in every way more decisive.
Made Supreme Effort.
For dynastic as we'll as national rea-
sons, the invaders were compelled to
make supdeme effort, dead beat as are
their ranks. Mercilessly driven for
nearly i've weeks, they are bound to
summon up the energy of despair.
They are not trained for defensive,
but their new measures show the full
sense of the almost tragic gravity of
] their position. On slopes they have