The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-09-13
First Drive Under Direct Com.
mand of Pershing Begins Be-
tween Verdun and Metz.
TEN VILLAGES TAKEN
Americans Intensely Eager and Fight
Ing MagnificentIy-Attack Preceded
by Four-Hour Barrage Fire
Allies Have Air Supremacy.

WIN the americans on the Metz
Front, Sept. 13.-The first American
offensive started at 5 a. m. between
the Mouse and the Moselle rivers
The attack was carried out by the
First army under the direct command
of General j. j. Pershing.
On the early advance the Americans
captured 10 villages.
The French, are assisting toward
the right and also toward the left.
This dispatch is filed from the st.
Mihiel salient.
The region of the Mouse and the
Moselle Is on the Toul front, before
the important fortress of Metz, in
German Lorraine. This is the point
where the American concentration
has been on for months.
The American line is within two or
three miles of the German border. At
some points the line actually touches
the Lorraine line. The battlefront Ia
approximately Is miles from Metz.
Tanks Manned by Yanks.
More than 100 tanks manned by
Americans aided in smashing the pow
erful concrete reinforced first line OF
the enemy, in the region of st. Baus
SAINT az miles Isl of st. Mihiel). The
tanks drove forward at sunrise, be
hind a dense smoke screen.
The town of Montsec (seven miles
east of st. Mihiel) was kept shrouded
in a smoke screen all morning Ions
to prevent effective German observa
ton.
The Allies have complete supremacy
of the air.
The Germans now are falling back
on the fronts on each side OF the st
Mihiel salient. The American attack
was preceded by a barrage lasting
four hours.
American infantry attacked behind
a heavy rolling barrage timed to &c
forward 100 yards every 40 minutes
The Americans are intensely eager
and fighting magnifcently.
American and French troops today
began an offensive on a 20-mile front
In Lorraine near the German border
The movement evidently Is aimed pri
marily at the elimination of the ia
nous st. Mihiel salient, which fol
more than four years has projected
into the Allied line southeast of Yer
dun.
Attack on Both Sides.
The attacks were launched on bo.i
sides of the salient on a 12-mile from
on the south and an eight-mile from
on the westerly side. The assaults
were progressing ~favorably at the LAT
est reports.
A barrage lasting several hours pre-
coded the thrust. Heavy concentra
tions of French and American artil
lery and airplanes had been effected
The fire poured In on the German
from the Allied guns was a terribl
one, while the German reply on tn
whole was weak.
The st. Mihiel salient is nearly 2
miles wide at it's mouth, from Fresnes
IL miles southeast of Verdun, to Pom
q Mousson, and somewhat more thai
Is miles In depth with It's apex jus
to the southwest OF st. Mihiel. 1t wa
driven into the French line In a sud
den German eruption southeast o
Verdun early in the fall of 1914.
Teutons Prepare Parsifai Line.
Paris. Sept. 1.-THE Germans ar
constructing a new line of defens'
from Antwerp to Metz, according t
advices here today. The forts of Ami
werp are being restored and improved
When completed the new defense sys
tenn will be known as the Parsifal line
A line of defense such as describes
in this dispatch would run across tn
middle of Belgium down to Metz, tn
important fortress Of Alsace. To reacl
such a line would mean s~urrenderin
all of France and half OF Belgium.
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