Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-10-26
Progress
of the War
| On All Fronts
BY associated Press

From the heights of the Aisne the
German Crown Prince is being driv-
err back relentlessly toward the
fortress of Laon and perhaps to a
general retreat along line from st.
Quentin to the Champagne. His
strongholds wrenched from him, 2 =
010 of his troops prisoners, many
thousands slain and wounded and
1@0 big guns lost, the predicameot
of the Crown Prince is most serious
General Petain's great smash of
Tuesday opened the way for further
advances and Thursday under
FL erch pressure the Germans were
forced back to the Oise-Aisne canIl.
evGcuating valuable positions in their
retI ement. More than 1000 addi-
tional prisoners and many big guns
fell into French hands.
Can Smash Laon
Laon. the fortress at the southern
end of the Hindenburg line, is now
but eight miles from the French lines
and Petain's big guns can smash it
az will. East of Chavignon the CEN
tec of the French advance stretches
the Ailette river, on the southern
bank of which the Germans have
been fighting desperately to hold
back the French for several months
From the newly positions
the French can sweep the German
defeItses with torrents of artillery
fire.
Every foot gained by General Pc
tain in the Chavignon salient weak
ems the line northward through La
Fere to st. Quentin. The French al
ready are on three sides of La Fere
and st. Quentin has all but fallen
into allied hands several times since
nf
A retirement from st. Quentin and
Ii Fere to a line running north
from Laon would endanger the entire
German positions on the western
frcnt as far north as Ypres.
Hammer Both Ends
Probably the two most important
salients on the western front, from
the sea to Verdun, are those east Of
Ypres and south-southwest of Laon.
Field Marshal Haig is hammering at
the one and General Petain is smash
ing through the other A German
retirement all along the line might
result in surprising eventualities and
there are reports from Germany that
such action is not without the realm
of possibilities.
Italy's armies are fighting against
the massed attacks of the Austro-
Germans dlOIlS lllG 1SOilHO iiOi I'll VI
Gorizia. General Cadorna apparent
ly has checked the Teuton efforts on
the Bainsizza plateau at the south
ern end of the line. Near Flitsch, at
the northern end and south of Toll
mino, in the center, the Austro-Ger-
mans made gains.
Berlin Claims Victory
South of Tolmino the Italians
were cIinging to the eastern bank of
the Isonzo and the Teuton thrust
forced them to cross to the western
bank. Berlin claims the capture of
10 O0C prisoners and much material.
The fighting on this front is all on
Austrian territory and the terrain is
very difficult, which should be help
full to General Cadorna, who has
proved himself a master of noun
tain warfare. Behind the Italians
are many high mountains and the
country here is more sparsely settled
than that farther south around
Gorilla.
New Drive Opens
Although the Germans on the
Aisne front were still smarting from
the heavy blow General Petain had
administered to them, leaving him
uninterrupted in organizing the cap
tured ground, they were called upon
to face to-day a resumption of the
entente offensive in Flanders.
Both Field Marshal Haig and the
Paris war office report the launch
ing of the new attack, which is de-
clared to be developing satisfac-
torily, although under the most ad-
verse weather conditions.
The French were obliged to wade
through water up to their necks in
crossing the st. Janzbeck and the
Coverbeck rivers. but nevertheless
they made important progress on the
left flank of the field of attack, cap
turing Draeibank village. Papegoed
wood and many farms where the
Germans had organized points of
support. Hundreds of Germans fell
into the hands of the French as
prisoners.
The front of tn thrust apparently
is a far more extended one than
that of last week. as the London
official statement mentions the at
tack as being launched northeast
and east" of Ypres. If the British
have carried the field of attack to a
point as far south as directly east of
Ipres the battle front OF the day
is on a line approximately ten miles
long, extending along nearly the en-
tire curve of the new Ypres salient.