The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1916-07-07
so great that they are noticed on the
English side of the channel.
Several More Villages Taken.

~S~~0A~AA oANN. Va l4lO
Several Mores Villages Taken.
London, Eng, July S.-At $3.50 this
morning the war department an
nounced that several more villages
had been added to those taken from
the Germans by the British. There
are many aerial battles. Six German
airships have been brought down.
Seven British aeroplanes are report
ed missing.
Advance Must Be Slow.
London, July 3.-News of, the An
glo- French offensive came slowly to-
day. but while the public was anxious,
it showed no disappointment at the
delay. The authorities and the press
gave warning that patience was nee
essary as the advances must be slow
owing to the nature of the fOrtifica-
|tions erected by Germany during the
twenty months they have been in pos
session of the territory. Places such
as Montauban, Fricour, Laboiselle,
Serre and Maketse. which the British
took, like the villages further south
captured by the French bristled with
machine guns.
Rush Was Tremendous.
Paris, France, July By a ire
mendous rush during the night, the
French captured the first and second
lines of German trenches between
MiddlecOurt woods and Azevilliers.
On the south bank Of the Somme the
French have also made fresh gains.
There is heavy firing and fiigh-
ing in the vicinity of Herbecourt vii
lage. Here, it is reported, $4,000 Ger
man soldiers were subjected to di-
rect bombardment by the French, and
frightful execution was done. 1t is
stated that thirty one battalions
were completely wiped out.
Northeast of Verdun, the crown
princes men during the night made
a rush and captured Damloups woods
from the French, but the latter imme-
diately counter attacked and drove
the Germans out completely.
Onrush Is Not Checked.
London, Eng, July 3.-Although the
Germans have been rushing heavy re-
Inducements to the north of the
Somme, where the French have been
battering in the German lines and fast
OupII dCtlhS llOlI IuC tClllIOly uClu Ny
the Germans in France, the onrush of
the French does not seem in the least
to be checked. The French have not
only held but actually added to what
they gained Friday, when for a space
of three miles in the region of the
Somme they broke the German lines.
The French forces have now pene-
trated the German lines to a point
onl five miles from the important
strategic stronghold of Peronne.
Could Be Kept Up Long Time.
Berlin Germany, July 3.-Military
critics here declare that such an of.
fensive as the British and French are
now putting forward could be kept up
for seventy days, without producing
any appreciable effect on the war Sit
uation.
Battle of the uSomme.
Paris, July 3,-The battle of the
Somme, now in full progress, marks
the opening of the Franco-British Of
fensive, long expected as a critical, if
not the decisive, stage of the war.
Early reports show that the en-
tente allied forces are sweeping for
ward along a twenty-five mile front.
The French already have taken more
than $4,000 prisoners, while the allied
lines have enyeloped within the last
twenty-four hours nine villages and
fifty square miles of French territory
held until now by the Germans.
The great offensive was expected
and eagerly awaited in the last ten
days, but the exact point where the
blow was to be delivered was carefully
concealed. ~
1t was believed, that it would be
north of Arras, with Lille for the OBJ
jective, but it was finally decided on
strategic rather than on sentimental
grounds to execute the more south of
Arras at a point where the piercing
Of the line would operate more seri-
ously In the dislocation of the German
forces.
The theater of operations for the
British forces runs between CONNIE
court, north of the River Ancre, to a
point just north of the CONNIE, while
the French attacked on both sides of
the Somme and southwark toward
Roye.
Allied Armies Cooperate.
Thus the entente allied armies pre-
sent front of twenty-five miles, with
the British on the left for fifteen miles
and the French on the right for ten
miles,
The region of this supreme contest
is one favorable for military opera
lions. 1t virtually is within the de-
partment of the Somme, which is a
level plateau of chalky formation.
The fighting lines extend. between a
great number of small villages, which
usually are devoted to textile indus
tries, while the outlying agricultural
sections are level fields, chiefly devot-
ed to beet culture for the extensive
sugar production of France.
The intense bombardment of the
last four days was the signal for an
advance over these level fields.
The entente allied artillery then