The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1918-10-31
FREED FORTY=FIYE TOWNS.
AMERICAN ADVANCE MADE IN
FACE OF GREAT DIFFICULTY.
French Drive Ahead On Forty-Mile
Front.-Italians, Repulsing Aus
rians, Continue Advance.

West VI ~
operations against the Germans, con-
sidering the clearing out of St. Mihiel
salient as a local affair, the Ameri-
can army in a few days less than a
month has liberated more than 40
villages and advanced to an average
depth of ten miles, freeing 165
square miles of territory. In the Of
fensive the Americans have captured
more than 10000 prisoners.
The Americans attacked on a front
of twenty miles from the Argonne to
the Meuse and the advance has been
made in the face of almost insur-
mountable difficulty, due particularly
to the nature of the ground which is
covered with hills, deep ravines and
woods. In addition the Americans
had fronting them four organized
systems of trenches-the Hindenburg
line, the Hagen position, the Velker
position and the Kriemhilde position.
They have forced their way through
all these lines. Ahead of them lies
the Freya position, which has been
reached at one point in the region OF,
the Bantheville wood. The advance
has been particularly difficult be-
cause the Germans have s~tubbornly
resisted every foot of the way and
have used more than 33 divisions on
the twenty mile front. The enemy
continues to make a formidable effort
to hold this front in order to protect
his great general line of communi-
cation running through Hirson,
Mezieres, Sedan, Montmedy and
Eonguyon. This line already'is threat
ened and should the Germans lose it,
they will lose their main line of COM
munication from Germany into oc-
cupied France.
In addition to prisoners, General
Pershing's men have taken more than
1877 guns of large calibre, numerous
machine guns and anti-tank guns, a
great store of ammunition and much
war material, including locomotives
and railway cars.
Since. September 26, the Americans
have fired more than 100000
shells, the number of times reaching
as high as 10000 daily. The guns
used include a great number of heavy
ones, also some captured from the
enemy.
American aviators and anti-aircraft
guns In the period since September
II, have brought down 230 enemy
machines and % enemy balloons, de-
spite bad flying conditions and bad
weather at times. Bombing planes
dropped more than 10000 Kilograms
of explosives on railroad centres,
troop concentrations and other points
behind the enemy lines.
From the view of the engineer the
most difficult task faced has been the
repairing of roads and the movement
Of supplies, men, ammunition and
food to the front. More than 10000
engineer troops are employed night
and day rebuilding shell battered
roads, using where possible, crushed
rock from the villages destroyed by
the German shells.
In the Argonne hundreds of yards
of German barbed wire entangle-
ments fastened from tree to tree at
various heights had to be bridged, as
it was impossible to cut them. In
addition many roads in the Argonne
were of black loan, which became
a morass in rainy weather. The en-
gineers were compelled to virtually
build bridges over many miles of
these roads.
The crossing of FORCES brook was
accomplished in the first day of the
advance under a heavy fire. The
brook runs through marshy lands
and in order to bridge it the engineers
had. to lay bundles of faggots on both
sides of the stream. The crossing
was made in record time and then
began the battle of the Argonne,
which lasted for more than two
weeks.
Compilations made by army officers
show that of the more than 165
square miles taken from the enemy
since September &c almost one-half
we're. heavily wooded and machine
gun 4nfested. The Americans had to
take. by storm 159 hills and high
crests, most of which were heavily
wooded and defended by strong ma
chine gun detachments.
OF the hills l41 we're west of the
Meuse and Is east of the river. The
Germans also had to be driven from
430 ravines all defended by machine