The chronicle=news., 1914-10-23


has been maintaining its pressure
without actually moving forward,
while in the northern sphere our left
wing has advanced considerable
distance in face of opposition. +
ION the Aisne since the repulse I'M
flictcd on the enemy the night of
October 10 there has been no serious
and less artillery action
than usual because of the misty.
rainy weather has rendered observa-
tion almost impossible. On the night
of October 1914 the enemy COM
menced an attack which was not
pushed through and which may be
regarded as a demonstration. Our
patrols have been active with the
bayonet at night and they have ac-
for numerous small parties
of German infantry left to occupy
their front trenches, but the posi-
tions of the opposing forces Nave re-
manned practically unchanged
y aha theinosths etf1tance thd fight
ing SO far has been of preparatory
nature alone. AS stated. grodnd has
been gained by us, but the misty
weather has hampered aerial recon
and at times rendered ar
tillery cooperation almost impos-
sible. which factors have made pro-
gress somewhat SLOW" .f ~.
The narrative here describes the
nature of the country along the Bel
In TIT xln
cs are frequent, that trees often re-
strict the view and that means OF
are bad.
-" is In a blind country OF this
nature" the narrative goes on, that
our advanced guards near the Bel
gian frontier are engaging the ad-
vance troops Of the enemy. The lat
ter consists in some places OF caval-
ry supported by lager and Schultz de-
tachments with large numbers of
machine guns and others with larger
bodies of infantry.
AS was the case in our advance
up the Aisne. the enemy is making
every effort to delay our progress,
no doubt to give time for the stron-
ger forces behind to perfect their ar
In general they take
every advantage that is to be OBJ
tanned from the ground and conceal
themselves well, making use OF ditch
es and hedges and the villages they
hold together with buildings. many
of which have been placed in a state
of defense. Furthermore they occu-
py narrow branches with inconspicu-
Gus parapets on our side of the viii
lagos. Machine guns often are
placed in the center of rooms where
they can command an approach
through a window. 80, 10
so far in our advance we have
inflicted considerable loss on the de-
They have made several
counter attacks in order
to free themselves and throw us.
Many CT the prisoners falling into
our hands have expressed surprise at
being opposed by British in this
80 WV
ITO the north of the Lys. although
for reasons already given, an ade-
quate reconnaissance ahead has been
impossible and in spite
of the fact that the Germans held q
strong position on high bridge be-
tween Godewaersveldt and Bailleul,
one OF our cavalry forces, supported
by infantry, has driven the enemy
back steadily. Some hard fighting
has taken place in this direction, es-
recially in the neigh borhood of
Mont Descnts.
"On October 18th one of our cav
airy patrols came suddenly on Il Ger
man machine gun detachment and
charged Some Of the Germans were
killed; the rest scattered and the
gun captured.
"On the right, to the south OF the
Lys, progress hns been slower, part
ly because the terrain affords great
err facilities to the force acting on