The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1917-11-25
VERDUN DEFEAT WAS
BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
FOR GERMAN TROOPS

French Front, Nov. 21.--One of
| the disappointments which the Ger
man Crown Prince has suffered since
the utter defeat of his great efforts
to capture Verdun has Just been
brought to light in documents found
Or German prisoners From these it
appears that while the French were
lnflicting their smash blow on the
i German troops still menacing Verdun
on August 20 last-when the Crown
Prince not only lost valuable ground
but about 5000 CT his selected men
were taken prisoners-the Germans
were carefully preparing an attack
on grand scale from point about
mile to the east Of Auberive to the
Scuian height. French activity in
front of the fortress CT Verdun upset
these plans completely and caused
the Crown Prince to put off for an in
definite time any attempt to carry out
an offensive movement in this region.
Details of the projected attack, as
a result of which the German com
lmander had hoped to gain POSSESSION
of an important tract of territory on
tho Champagne front, show that the
chief part in the operation was to
be played by the First Bavarian
Division, which was brought up to
full strength for the purpose and had
enjoyed period of repose and special
training for the task. 1t was to be
supported by two other divisions on
it's right and left flanks respectively.
The Bavarian division had received
orders to prepare to furnish twelve
sections of chosen shock troops, each
section composed of one officer and
forty-seven men. Behind these shock
troops we're the follow "booty" squad
and twelve destruction squads, each
composed Of temporarily acting Of
ficer and thirtytwo men.
The confidence of the Crown Prince
in the success of the intended blow
at the French was so great that he
had ordered twelve teams of six
horses each to be ready to gallop off
with the captured French cannon,
while an officer and fifty men of the
engineer corps were tc stand by pre-
pared to destroy gun positions and
guns that could rot be carried off.
1t had been arranged that an ex-
tremely dense cloud Of gas should
be emitted over the French infantry
and artillery positions during fifteen
minutes before the shock units adj
vaLced tC the attack Batteries of
field guns wer2 to be stationed in i'm
mediate support Of the shock troops.
Airp'anes wero to fly low and par
tiCirate in the infantry work, The
whole operation was, according to ar
ranscment. 20 res ult in what was
called in the German orders, "a sum-
mer harvest" 1t was fixed for Au-
gust 1917.
On August 16 the French further
east in. the vicinity of Verdun started
a movement on their own accuse,
for Oh that date they opened their
artillery preparation for their intend
ed attack on August 20. The menace
to the Germans holding the lines be.
fore Verdun became so great that the
Crown Prince was obliged to send
the two divisions which had been
ordered &c support the Bavarians in
me attack in Champagne to help the
troops at Verdun and to fill their
places by two other divisions which
had just suffered terrific losses in a
Flanders engagement and which were
in consequence not in the best con-
dition fer severe fighting At the