The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-09-23
fought FIVE DAYS
ALLIES FAIL TO MAKE BREAK
THROUGH GERMAN Lines
ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE

scribe Nature of Confict-Ger.
mans Make Onslaughts Against
Allied Lines-Battle Assaults Vary
From Day to Day.
For five days the British and
French armies have been trying to
dislodge the Germans from the
strong line of defence which they
have constructed on the battle front
stretching from the Disc to the Meuse
rivers. There have been attacks and
counter attacks, but in the words of
the official communication there has
been no change in the situation"
The allies claim to have made
slight progress at some points
against the German right wing north
Of the River Aisne and to have re-
pulsed counter attacks there and be-
tween Craonne and Rheims, while
they say in the centre and on the
right the Germans are acting purely
on the defensive. having "dug them
selves into entrenchments."
The German official reports are al
most Identical. with those of the al
lies. They say no decision has been
reached, but that the allies power Of
resistance is weakening; that
French attempt to break through
right has failed; that in the centre
the Germans are gazing ground
slowly and that allies from Verdrn
have been repulsed.
It would seem from all this that
the commanding generals have not
yet found the weak points in their
opponents dispositions and that each
is Withholding his determined blow
for, as Lord Kitchener said in the
House of Lords, tthe right moment
The Germans having reached Sc
lected positions, which they have
strongly fortified, would appear to
have the advantage, according to
military critics, but for the fact that
they must defend the whole of their
front to make good their retirement,
should an attack by them fail or a
smashing blow from the allies break
their line, while the Anglo-French
forces are declared to be free to mass
at any point, Gen. Joffre may select
as most suitable for attack.
The London Telegraph's Paris cor.
respondent in a dispatch received Fri
day says:
"a comprehensive account of the
FIVE days battle on the Aisne River.
which he described as the fercest in
the westrn theater since the begin
ming of the war, was given by a
French officer who arrived in Paris
Friday
"On the morning of the 14th (Mon-
day. the officer said the Germans
called a halt, but by afternoon the
battle had become general. All next
day the battle was of ding-dene
nature, the Germans evidently await
ing reinforcements. During the night,
however, they delivered furio$ at
tack on the extreme left, but the
British and French troops gallantly
met the onslaught, repulsing the Ger
mans no fewer than ten times with
fearful losses.
1.-The Germans still came on, how
ever, seeking to pierce the French
line. There had been nothing like it
since the beginning of tn campaign.
The enemy hurled dense masses of
troops at us in supreme endeavor
to check our forward progress, but
when dawn came we still held the
position and even had gained ground
slightly.
"The artillery duel was continued
throughout the next day. The morn
ing Of the 18th again saw desperate
fighting. This time we threw the
Germans back some ten kilometers,
capturing 500 men and lot of
mitrailleuses.'
A dispatch from Paris, dated "On-
the Battle Front, Friday afternoon,
fve-thirty o'clock" says: The gigan-
tic battle, or more properly, battles,
continues day and night along the
entire front from Noyon ia the from
tier. The fighting does not consist
of one sustained and combined move
ment, but in reality of several COM
bats proceeding necessarily at the
strongest points Of the Germans de-
tending line along the River Aisne.
During the night of September Is
16, the Germans attempted a for
midable movement in the western
sphere, but were met by the French
and British with courage that was
marvellous against overcoming odds.
The Germans returned to the attack
no fewer than ten times with remark
able tenacity and intrepidity, but
were unable to break through the
firm line presented by the allies in
fantry.
The fight just before daybreak was
the most violent of all. The Ger
mans appeared to throw in the
charge all that remained of their
energy, but were rolled back with
enormous losses. Before retiring be-
hind their big guns they sacrificed