Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-09-27

It was not until General Pershin night that a definite idea was given 0 rush.
 The Americans advanced on a depth of seven miles, taking more tha
 The French war office previously had reported that the French troops further west had advanced nearly four miles at certain points.
 The point of attack selected by Mar shal Foch caused no great surprise here.
 As far back as 1915 the French strategists saw that the Champagne front offered the greatest possibili- ties in repelling the invaders with the least expenditure of men.
 There was fierce fighting that year on this sector, but the French lacked the reserve power to press forward in accordance with their stragetic de- signs and were forced to settle back to tactical operations and defensive measures.
 Line Remained Unchanged.
 Since then the line between Rheims dlu NCluuIl L0O UOOAl AOAA1CAVS4y uA changed, the last offensive effort of the enemy against Rheims in July having failed to break it. On that occasion, American troops aided in repelling the eastern jaw of the enemy pincer attack on the ca thedral city. the 42nd (Rainbow Di- vision )having been brigaded with French troops on this front where it won high .commendation from the French leaders.
 J As the French plan of 1915 has been discussed, it contemplated the driv ing of great wedge through to the line of the Mouse, where it skirts the forest of Ardennes, near the Belgian border.
 Resting on wide base and SUD- ported by the fortress of Verdun on the east, such wedge would inef 1 feet, divide the German army, and in addition, menace the whole commun- ication system of the enemy forces in northern France and Belgium. It would have threatened the Bel- gian gateway into France and it seems certain that hasty retirement by the enemy to the Mouse line must have resulted.
 The battle lines today are relative l ly as they were in 1915 and the same stragetic factors hold good For this reason alone, many off, cers have believed that Marshal Foch, sooner or later would strike at the enemy from the Champagne front and
 when word of the new attack today
 was received, their first impression
 was that the hour for the great al | lied effort had come. Later advices, however, indicated that the new battle zone was east of the more level region around Rheims, 1 where it had been anticipated the
 road to Belgian border would more
 probably be sought. Withhold Judgment Awhile. Apparently Marshal Foch has struck
 first in the region immediately west of Verdun and until the scope and direction of his attack develops, of- ficials withheld judgment as to the grand objectives at which the new drive may be aimed. I Several facts of utmost significance and of particular interest to the peo- l pie of the United States are sharply
 disclosed by the new offensive. For one thing, the power and will
 of the allied forces to continue ham
 mering at the enemy without rest is apparent.
 1 With the smoke of the battle in the
 St. Mihiel salient hardly cleared away and with a fifty mile stretch of the
 line to the north and south of St. i Quentin in a continual flame of at
 tack, it was possible to orgaize and deliver new blow on forty mile front and drive it forward many
 miles with it's initial thrust.
 Proof Waning Man Power. Moreover the indicated German | withdrawal is added proof of the en- emy's waning man power. There is now no doubt that he will not be allowed to rest a moment and
 that the fighting will be carried into the winter on scale never before possible.
 A F0rerunner of Blaw. Of direct national interest here is the evident fact that the clearing up of the St. Mihiel salient by General Pershing's first army ill it's first inde- pendent venture was the necessary forerunner of this new blow. Not only did that swift victory free the French armies around Verdun from the menace of the salient in their rear ybut it liberated rail lines to supply the new battle front and set free thousands of soldiers of both armies for attack purposes by short- ening the lines.
 Americans to Attack. Again. it is American aid that makes possible the new attack