The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1915-08-05

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as that of the French and English had
been. The invaders took up an adj
mirable defensive position. 1t ran
just north OF the Aisne river, on q
series Of bluffs, then just north of
Chalons and through the wooded,
rough regions of the Argonne and the
Woevre, Joining hands here with the
troops besieging Verdun. The allies
have tried this line in vain ever since.
Both combatants now tried to turn
the west flank. Enormous bodies of
cavalry. On the part Of the French
Flanders. On the part of the French
there was largely the desire to link up
with the Belgians, now being attacked
in Antwerp The mighty siege guns
Of the Germans made short work of
the Belgian seaport, however, and it
fell on October 8. The remnants of
the Belgian army retreated along the
sea coast and the Germans in a final
rush reached Ostend October 15).
Line Extended to the Sea.
| The battle line of the Aisne was now
| extended to the sea, the Germans hold
ing the important French city of Lille.
| while the allies kept Ypres in Belgium
and, partly by flooding the lowlands,
held the position of the User river and
canal.
From October Is to November 10
was fought the desperate first battle
Of Ypres, when the Germans suffered
enormous losses In attempts to break
| through the line in Flanders and reach
Calais. They succeeded In pushing
back the allies only a little and the
invasion of Silesia by the Cossacks
finally induced them to desist and
send re-enforcements to Russia.
The Germans in September had per-
formed the feat of pushing a salient
into the French line south of Verdun.
which terminated on the west bank of
the Mouse river at ST. MihieI; while
the French had taken the offensive
with some success in Champagne at
about the same time.
For the most part throughout the
winter the fighting consisted of regu-
lar siege warfare, with heavy artillery
| COulUdIS anu uIIu0 diu COuAtC1 -AlAhO'
The flooding of the River Aisne
from winter SHOWS gave the Germans
| chance to entrap the French troops
on the north side of that river in the
| vicinity of scissors for considerable
distance and kill or capture most of
them January 14).
Take Offensive In Spring.
With the spring, the French and
English attempted to take the offensive
| at several points.
| In the Vosges the dominating height
of Hartmannsweilerko was taken
| and retaken several times in sanguin-
airy charges and finally remained in the
hands of the French.
| The salient of st. Mihiel was also
subjected to tremendous French pres
sure on both legs" The French sue
ceeded in gaining little ground, but
| the Germans, despite the apparent
weakness of the sharp wedge they had
driven into the French line, could not
be dislodged and later succeeded In re-
/ gaining some of the territory they had
| lost
The British also reported "yicsnTfes'
/ at Neuve Chapelle and Hill No. so, In
/ Flanders. Whether these should be
accounted successes for the allies is
| doubtful. The British suffered enor-
nous losses and at Neuve Chapelle
| bungled affairs to the extent Of she'll
| ing their own men who had taken Ger
| man trenches.
The next development was the I'M
expected use of poisonous gas fumes
by the Germans in attacks just north
| of Ypres With this novel weapon
! they succeeded in taking several small
| villages and more than compensatfng
| for the British gains south of Ypres.
! The losses of the French, Canadians
and British were severe, but they sue
| ceeded in stemming the German on
slaught effectively few miles back
from their former position.
Begin Series of Attacks.
The German line makes salient at
| Scissors, though not such pro-
| nounced one as at ST. Mihiel. The
| French now began a series of at
tacks on the upper side OF this salient,
| to the north of Arras. Expending hum
| dreds of thousands of shells, they time
| and again blasted away the barbed
wire entanglements and concrete
trenches, held by Crown Prince Rup-
/ prechts of Bavaria's men, and then
| charged across the desolate ground for
slight gains.
The fighting centered about the SUI
gar refinery of Souchez and the great
German work called the Labyrinth.
Fighting went on in cellars and tun-
nels below the earth and the casual
ties were heavy. The French bent the
German line and captured the LADY:
rinth. but whether the gains justified
their sacrifice in human life Is ques-
tionable.