Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-04-16
British and French Continue to
Press After the Retreat
ing Germans.
HUGE GUNS PAVING WAY
FOR FRESH OFFENSIvES
Interest Centers Around Lens and
st. Quentin, Fall of Both Being
Thought Imminent. j.

The fighting on the western
front has assumed almost the pro-
portions of general engagement
along the whole line, from the
North sea to the Swiss border.
AS yet the infantry has not
been heavily engaged much to the
north of Loos. in the Lens region.
or east of the Scissors region,
within which confines the battle
OF Arras and the struggle for St.
Quentin are being waged.
Artillery Fire Increases.
The artillery duel however. is growing
in intensity in the region of Rheims. in
the Champagne and down the line to Lor-
raine and Alsace. Raiding operations by
the French in these sectors also have a..
sumed great importance. and similar sig
nificant activities are being displayed by
the Belgians north of the present great
battlefield
Were attention not centered at present
on the dramatic situations about Lens
and st. Quentin. the fall Of both bsine
considered imminent, the great artillery
battle in the region between Soissons ana
Rheims. which has been going on for ssv-
eral days. doubtless would have attracted
more notice.
Great Offensive Foreshadowed,
As it is. the potential Importance Of this
duel Of the big guns cannot be minivuau>a.
presaging, as it may. offensive move.
ments Of the infantry on a large scale.
In this connection the probability Of Z
northward push by the French from, the
Rheims region to turn the left flank Of
the Hindenburg line. as the British have
turned the right at vimy. has come to
the front while the artillery battle has
been raging.
Desperate German resistance and =
probable desire by the British to
squeeze the Germans out of Lens rather
than drive them from this coal mine
and factory town by a direct lombard
ment and frontal attack, have DELAYED
the fall of the city
British Creeping Closer.
Today's official statement from LON
don, however. shows the British lines
creeping steadily closer, notably on the
northwest.
Within the town the Germans are re-
ported working havoc in the destruc-
ton of industrial plants and mines and
feverish1y removing guns and stores to
follow the population in the exodus
which already has been effected.
The situation around st. Quentin is
little changed. but both the British and
French statements reveal a condition
there which is making the town un-
trict to the south the French are
steadily pushing forward. reporting to-
day the capture of several points of
support in the region of the uppSr
Coucy forest.
Fighting in the Champagne.
Increasing probability OF the opening
of important operations between Sois.
sons and Rheims and in the western
Champagne is indicated by the German
official report that infantry fighting
developed this morning over wide sec
tors" after heavy artillery firing and
accommodating drives.
The severity of the fighting accom-
panying the German counter attack
sides of the Bapaume-Cambrai road is
emphasized by today's German head
quarters statement. II announces the
{ oapture of AS prisoners and fifteen ma
chine guns from the British and the
destruction of twenty-five British guns
IA lob had hna rl.1 rod hU