The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1918-10-17

ASSOCIATED PRESS
SUMMARY OF THE WAR

British.
Allied pressure on all sides Of the
| salient Of which Lille was the cen
ter, compelled the enemy 10 give up
! the city, the largest town of France
captured by the Germans and for
four years an important unit of the
enemy defense system.
Th he fall Of Lille comes almost 81
nultaneously with the launching Of
an offensive by Field Marshal Haig
against the new German defenses
south of ValencienHes.. His troops
today are stormiRa forward south of
Le Cateau across the Selle river,
where they were halted last week.
In Flanders the allies have gained
important new successes while from
the Oiss 10 the Meuse the allied
pressure is maintained strongly. In
the angle north of Laon the Ger
mans apparently are retiring from
between the Disc and Serre rivers.
Since the beginning of the week
there has been little heavy fighting
where the British and. Americans
under the command of Haia are as.
sautling. South. Of .Bohain. the
southern end of the attacking front,
the French troops are reported in
contact with the Germans alonu the
whole Disc SeFre fro1t. This un-
doutbedIy means the Germans. are
retiring from the awkward angle
between the two rivers in a contin-
uation of the withdrawal movement
from the Laon maasif.. =. :. =.
On front of more than thirty
miles in. Flanders the Beisians,
French and British continue to push
forward vigorously. CoUrtrai and
Thorout, important railroad juno
tions on the flanIcs Of the attacking
front, have fallen 20 the Belgian and
the British. while in the center the
French have taken LiteherVelde and
Ardoye. Courtrai probably is the
most important of the rail een&ers
feeding the Lille area. Thourout is
IL miles southwest Of Bruges which
is less than ten miles from the
Dutch frontier.
On both sides of the Meuse the
Americans maintain their pressure
whieIu resulted "Wednesday in the
capture of important ground north
and northeast Of the Areonns for
est. East of tho river the Amer
cans have gained important high
ground.
SUMMARY OF NIGHTS NEWS.
Germany's hold on the Belgian
coast has been Ioosened. Fighting
their way forward until they have
reached coolacamp, only q miles
from the Dutch frontier the allies
seem 20 be rapidly cutting off the
coast cities and compelling the ene-
my to hurry out Of the trap which 10
closing about biGIas
Tangible evidence that the Ger
mans are retreatina from the coast,
which they have held 80 long and
which has been the chief rendezvous
of submarines preying on transports
Channel, may be found n the ad.
vance by the Bslgians north and
east of Dixmude yesterday. IN this
region the Germans have lost posi- I:
Siona to a depth of three miles and
the BeIgions have carried their lines
over the low lands at a rate of speed
which would appear 20 indicate little,
If any opposition from the enemy. -.
Important successes have been
gained at the apex Of the wedge driV:
en- into the German lines north OF
the Lys river, from menin 10 Haris"
beke east of Courtrai has been
reached. Allied troops are in Cour-
trai. in this area fires are burning
in piles Of German supplies showing
that the enemy is hastily getting out
of the district which has been out
f1anbeed by the allied progress TO the
north. This retirement is reported
TO be extended as far az Douai. -.
American forces have occupied the
village of Grand Pre-, situated on the
north side of the Airs river as it
runs westward TO the Argonne for
lin IesPas, 60 the eastward and
forging ahead, have control of Goaes
wood, an isolated bic Of forest lard
which has afforded the Germans
good cover in the fighting east of the
ArgonFe. Hill 1872 north of ST. Ju-
win is now beng consolidated by the
Americans.
French and italian forces have
forced their way further eastward
near Sissone and have moved up to
within a mile of RetheI an important
German railroad supply point on the
Asne, further east. In this sector,
however, the allies are quite near the
Hunding line of defense, which was
constructed by the Germans as ref
uee in case the Hindenhurg line cole
Iapsed. There appears 20 be q more
energetic resistance on the part of
the Germans along tnis front and it
is probable that they intend 10 make
a stand along the line where they
are now standing.
italian units in Albania have made
q new advance northeast of puFazzo.
In Syria, the army commanded by
General Ailenhy has moved far 90
the north OF Beirut and patrols are
moving northeast from Damascus. IL
is probable. that with the return of
cooler weather. the British forces in
Mesopotan1ia may make q new drive
TO ioin General Ailenby and thus
form q line from the Mediterranean
90 the PeFsian Gulf.
Reports OF . most sensational
character relative TO Germany's un.
conditional surrender and the abdi-
cation OF Emperor William are re.
ported from Amsterdam, but they are
not confirmed. There appears, how
ever, 20 be a disposition in authorita-
tive circles in London and Paris TO
believe that events Of q historic ma
Eure may occur in Germany at any
time.