Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-13
METZ, ACROSS HUN
BORDER OBJECTIVE
OF Gen. PtRSH|NG
Germans. IN Tight Pocket. Must
Either Surrender or Have Their
Armies Shot to Pieces
LOSE THOUSANDS OF MEN
~ Associated Press - rycrs Evening


~ Associated Press - Fycrs Evenlng
Washington. ~ept IL 81 interest of
ofFical u Washington today vnz conferred
on tic 81 Ail,ol salrnf II rance where
General Pcrshlnq forces from he Firsi
American ARMY If miihon and
quarter men we're driving forward II thclr
lntiai independent offensive on the west
ern front
Reports from the american commander
lu-rh4rf were slow y coming through and
until after midnight he only deiallcd I'M
formation as 10 The sIcrrss of American
arms wls rhh contained u buei ncws
bulletin from the front These wetc
confirmed by (.enrrai Persh,hg who
reported haf his troops, assisted by
Frcuch units. had broken through he
eneny resistance ~ be st Mlhcl sector
and advanced 1t sume points 20 a depth ~
five fniles he time he opnmuntqur
was -rr' h. operation stll ua< ID prog
ross .tuI $ .aan PRISONERS prohabIy nos All
nf these captured had been eoHnfcd
Tins Waa taken hcrc fo mean thar N
~, iirst dax uf thrtr rll-h hrp had gone
forW IT.. On = fwoivr-uio rout. ard we're
threatening he road ovcf winch ne
Germans opposing fhc renci Il ne bend
of fho ~alcut would tate 'o pa4s they
escaped CApt9r, ar destruction
On he western 4lde h,t8een II Nithici
ard Nrriun. Franco tmeucan forcss we're
stcadsiT pushing back be oncmt nd
co,lng he mouth - he porkef q q
pincer movement -iseh n cleared fc ser
mans from be i-nc-Maru" salient n
JUN
Observers here believed he ohec'iye
wa he strongly fortified city ol Metz.
nol far over ihc German border
iIA>ES 4>D rt>A~ 9TRIkE. roo
Into the battle has been brought all
the elements ot modern warfare While
he artillery was playing It's role, he
airmcn and the tank crews worked over
Their machines preparatory - taking
their part III the biggest show the
Americans have gwen There was no
question Of aerial supremacy, or shoHld
not be French planes and French 1T
men supplemented the american forces
and daylight saw them already IN opera
ton Il raincd N the night ana the
early hours Of the morning did not n
ford the best opportunity for the AVA
tors, but despite the mist, the squadrons
appeared with the dawn, ready for OBJ
servation of the defense and for offensive
combat
There wa> high wind during the
dav. but the balloons were able 70 re-
mann up for observation One American
balloon broke away and drlfted eastward
One OF the German balloons WAS alott
near ST Mlhiel but II remained up only
about five minutes
'Fhe smoke screen the American guuners
placed about Montsec appears % have
been successful IN preventing the enemy
observation from that commanding point
sEyE< HU< DIVISIONS ~ FIGHT
While the heavy attacks were beng
made, on the north and south lines OF he
81 Mhiel sector a force around the point
OF the angle vas inaugurating a series of
raids, rushing far INTO the sides OF he
German body The strength OF the Ger
mans is not known. but il IS certain there
are il least seven divisions in the salient
II has been learned that the enemy bad
collected a quantity of stores in the sector
and will doubtless attempt to remove them
YANkEEs EVERY WHERE HUNS FoUGHI.
The front under attack was about IL
miles in length The French were allotted
points but the distribution Of the forces
was such that wherever the Germans
turned they faced American troops.
Just how much the Germans we're sur
prised by the offensive III a sector 50
long inactive Is uncertain. 1t seems not
improbable, however, that they had noted
the indications gwen for many days past
that some new plan was being adopted
The mobilization Of the big force was
accomplished, however, almost wholly IN
night marches, the men slipping from
other sectors into positions In front OF the
enemy here, often tunes without even the
population Of the districts through which
they passed being aware of the move
ment