Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-04-10
CRISIS IN FIGHT
FOR "ROAD TO PARIS"
French Success in Assault on st. Mi
hiel Triangle Would Close Single
Breach in the Wall of Their East
ern Fortresses.
By FRANK II. s1MoNps

By FRANK H. sIMoNDs
THE fight now going on between the Meus
4 and the Moselle In the triangle roughl,
formed by lines connecting verdun, st
Mihiel and Pont-a- Mousson represents one
more effort Of the French to close the single
preach In the wall Of their eastern fortresses
"hich the Germans have been able to make
in nearly nine months Of war
Early in September, while the fighting be.
tween the Marine and the Aisne was still in
progress and the German advance to Paris
was not definitely terminated, the German
garrison Of Metz made sudden and sue
cessful attack upon the barrier of forts con-
Meeting Nerdun with Toul and covering the
Nancy Railroad to Paris Moving south
west from Metz up the valley of the Rupt
de Mad, the one natural break in the wall Of
NILS separating the Meuse from the Moselle
the Germans destroyed Fort Troyon, but
failod to occupy the ruins, which were gall
lantly held by the garrison But they did
succeed in capturing Fort Camp des Ro-
mains, the strongest fort between the per-
manent dcfonses Of Toul and vcrdun
Fort Camp des Romans commanded the
crossing of the Meuso at st. Mihiel. and
once II had fallen the Germans brfdged the
river and moved west toward the valley of
the Aire. At this time German forces were
north and west Of Verdun and there was
grave danger that this now force moving
west would join hands with tho troops in
terposing between Verdun and Paris. com
plete the encircement of this fortress and
presently reduce it, as Maubcuge and Liege
had been reduced This would have given
the German armies i'm Champagne n short
and direct road TO Germany leading under
the guns of Metz, few miles east Of vcrdun
and would have threatened the rear Of the
French armies defending Nancy.
German Defeats Avert Menace
Fortunately for the French the German
defeats which now followed in quick sue
cession terminated the immediate menace of
the st. Mihiel movement First the Germans
in Champagne and west of the Argonne were
driven to the north of St. Menehould and
the Verdun- Paris railroad was freed Then
the St NIihiel column was defeated along the
Aire and thrown back to the Meuse Finally
the fighting in Flanders made such a demand
upon the Germans for troops that they were
obliged to draw upon the st. Mihiel force
and the operations in this region promptly
fell TO the level Of n siege, which they have
maintained ever since until the last 10 days
While no longer a source of immediate
danger, the German position at ST. Mihiel
constituted a continuing menace to the
French. Fort Camp dcs Romans situated
upon hill high above the Meuse. COM
manded the crossing of the river and the
Toul- Verdun Railroad. The Germans fur
nished it with heavy artillery and made It
n spearhead thrust through the eastern bar
rier forts. They thus held a narrow corrl-
dor, hardly 10 miles wide at its broadcast
point straight through the French bulwarl
an avenue for attack If they were ever
again able to take the offensive
After some more or less desultory efforts
to break this German wedge the French
turned their attention to Flanders and then |
to Champagne. North and west of Verdun |
in the ArgOnne and to the west they steadily |
pushed the Germans back until they occu-
pied soldy the whole circle about Verdun !
and had made n German investment and
bombardment of this fortress impossible.
But before they could venture to take tho
offensive in other fields it was almost i'm
perative that they close the gap in their
line of barrier fortresses.
Attack Two Sides of Triangle
This they have now undertaken to do, and /
are at present engaged in attacks upon two
sides of the Verdun-S St Mihiel- Pont-a-