The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-05-13
General Withdrawal from Fore
field Works F orecast by Teu-
ton Military Expert
CROWN PRINCE NOW
HAMMERINC VERDUN
Presages Resumption Of Use
| of Infantry in Another AT.
tempt to Take Ruined City
From French

London. May 12.-Confinuing
strong German remittance British
forces today established Themselves
in the village Of Bullecourt.
General HaiG In his oniciaI cam
munication stating that the town
had been captured says that Axht-
ing stu continues there.
The British forces also stormea
German trench two-thirds of .
mite long astride the Arras-Cam-
brai road. near Monchy lie Preux.
with fixed bayonets the British
troops brought to cfinax the
desperate hgAting around the
chemical works. cemetery Of Roeux
ON the scarpe river. capturing both
places ~ well N . sect1on 81
trenches one and one xSif sssfeo
long.
The British lines are now extended
slightly past Lens on the south. Crown
Prince Rupprecht Is hurting his choic-
est battalions OF Bavarians into tho
breach to prevent the British from
carrying on further their nEnkfna
movement. ~
In It's night OF operation. on the
British front the German war Office
stated that all attacks between Cav
relle and the Scarpe on both sides Of
the Arras-Cambrai road and at Bulle-
court were repulsed with heavy losses
TO tho enemy 1t admitted. however,
at Roeux fighting was still going on.
The French war office reported ar.
tillery activity. south of st. Quentin.
In the verdun region French batter
les effectively bombarded German or.
Seven German aeroplanes were do
stroyed on Friday. Paris asserts. and
seven others severely damaged fell In
side the French lines.
Three Powerful OnslauKhta.
With three powerful onslauEhts the
British today resumed their drive
against the three field positions 04
the Wotan line. we gained our OBJ
jective and have taken some hundreds
OF prisoners reported Sir Douglas
Haig late thir afternoon. The new
thrusts were struck In tho region Of
Bullecourt. the souy contested vil-
lage. where the British are trying 70
turn the Wotan line: astride the AR
ras-cambrai road. around the village
of Guemappe. graveyards OF thousands
of field gray and khaki clad fighters
and north Of the river Scarpe, now COM
monty called the river OF blood" Hv
their new advance in each OF these
three sectors the British pushed foe.
ward ominously close to the Drocourt.
Queant line. which Is the Wotan post
ton.
Berlin in its official report did net
concede that the Germans wero
forced to yield new ground. British
attacks. some of them launched in
dense Masses" according to the Ger
man war office. were for the greater
part repuised by our curtain Of nro
and wherever they succeeded in pane-
trating our lines counter attacks Inn.
mediately threw the enemy back with
heavy losses.
Gas Shells ana Tanks Terrffying.
The first admission from qualified
German quarters that the British
tanks and their gas shells hold Inn
mense terrors for the Teutons and
have been instrumental in innicting
defeats on the Germans came today
from Baron Won Ardenne. successor to
Major Horaht, as military critic AZ
the Berliner Tageblatt. 1t was tho
hail of British gas shells he comedies,
that so blinded the German gunners
in Sir Douglas Haigs first great drive
on the Arras front. April ., that the
German. artillery was "sorelY ham.
pered in its work" On the other hand
he contends that the French . weak
later suffered equally from the Ger.
man gas shell bomba rdment. The most
amazing weapon which modern land
warfare has produced" is the way
Baron Ardenne characteristics tAe
tanks" conceding that these huge
crushing machines have inflicted great
losses on the Teutons. especially ~
their Hanging fire. The writer force
shadows the abandonment by the Gsrs
mans OF all the foreheld works OF tAa
Wotan line. such as Avion. Oppy anA
Roeux villages. what ID going On M
the Champagne and on the Aisne noW,
he describes as merely skirmishaA@
though In former times It would hava
been called = big battle. On this fFuqe
he predicts :. . gigantic engagsmen2s ~
The crown princes heavy guns to1aK
tuned up to furious bomhardment m
along tho vsrdun 'front.' prssegtm9 1Nse
infantry Attacks there a /. III ~
otAefyxtse