Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1917-12-06
British Forces May Be Com
PEELED to Further Modify Sal
lent Near Cambrai Is An
nounCen1ent.
RUSSIANS ASSIST IN
VICTORY OVER TURKS
General Does Not Be-
Iieve TeutonS Can Do Much
More Harm in Italy, Is
Statement,
lay MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED wiaEl


London, Dec. 5.-British troops,
acting in conjunction with an efficient
force of Russians, have carried out a
successful operation in Mesopotamia,
Maj. Gen. F. B. Maurice, chief drec-
tor of military operations at the war
office, announced today.
Speaking of the German attacks on
the British salient in the Cambria
area, General Maurice said;
"The enemy has to a certain ex-
tent got us into an awkward position
and some adjustment of our line may
be necessary. We may have to make
slight Withdrawals on the north of
the salient"
Directed by Ludendorff.
There is little doubt" continued
General Maurice, that the latest Ger
man attacks in the Cambria sector
have been planned and superintended
by General Won Ludendorff himself
Won Ludendorff's plan was thor
oughly good one as most of the Ger
man plans are. 1t was an attack on
both flanks of our salient followed
by an attack in force on the center.
His attacks on our north and CEN
ter failed completely, but on his left
the enemy succeeded in breaking
through a part of our front. He at
to cked not only our new front but on
part of the line as it existed before
to the south. He succeeded in effect
ing a surprise and broke through to a
depth of nearly 5000 yards-clear
through our gun positions. But we
had ample reserves available and
pr omptly drove him back two-thirds
OF the distance covered.
Germans Made Gains.
''One can not say the Germans have
not made substantial gains as a result
of this effort When you are in mar
row salient even small inroad on
ones flanks increases greatly the diff
ficulty of holding the salient and sup
plying the men in it.
The supply to the men on certain
portions of our front has now become
matter of considerable difficulty"
After alluding to the readjustment
of the line that might be necessary to
some extent in this area, General
Maurice continued:
For the first time in many days
the enemy captured some British
guns. The last British guns he cap
tured were four from territorial
battery behind the French lines in the
battle Of Ypres in May, 1915, during
the first gas attack Since then we
had not lost a single gun on the
western front and have captured $50
of the enemy's of which $40 were
captured in 1917.
The Guns Captured.
"The number of guns we captured
at Cambrai is 13S. The Germans
claim 100 of ours, and / am not yet
able to tell exactly how far this claim
is true, as complete returns from the
batteries are not yet in but the
promptitude of the announcement
and the round number used leads to
suspicion. l believe the Germans
have included in the count numbers
of trench mortars, etc, and that
therefore this number will be subject
to a large discount on investigation.
1he same probably is true of the g.
900 prisoners which are claimed.
'In Mesopotamia we are continuing
the policy of striking whenever the
enemy gives us opportunity. We have
just carried out the policy in an oper-
alton of our right with the full CO.
operation of Russian forces. The sue
cess of the Russian arms here shows
that some portions of the Russian
4 army are still willing and ready to
fight"
| General Maurice said that while
there had been much talk in the press
of the danger from further German
attacks in Italy, he considered the
enemys advance into Italy had been
definitely checked.
Wasn't So Stupid as He Looked.