Evening star., 1918-08-11

tne early Gays OF June, hence II was
much less strongly fortified than Gen.
Gouraud's line. The troops holding 1t
were French at the right, Italians at
the center and French at the left. The
right held firm. but under strong
pressure from the enemy the center
and the left were obliged to fall back
gradually on the holding position4a
movement which was accentuated by
tne 9ermans succeeding in crossing
the Marne on Gen. Berthelot's left. On
the morning of July 16. although fight
ing at odds of one to two. the French
flung feeble reserves furiously against
the enemy. This counter attack.
though naturally it failed to gain
ground. had THE effect of pinning the
treme left. where the Germans had
crossed the Marine Indeed. at the be-
ginning of the second day the German
stan. having apparently realized the
failure of the offensive, modified its
plan and decided to be content with
taking Epernay if possible. 1t made
the principal effort. therefore, east
ward on both sides of the Marine.
where the Germans slowly continued
to gain ground.
Counter Offensive Effective.
The fighting along the whole front
was terrific until July IS. when the
counter offensive changed the whole
aspect of things.
VII. Gen. de Goutte's right. The line
along the Marine between Dormans
and Chateau Thierry was thinly held
by Gen. de Goutte's right wing. I'm
less l am misinformed the troops to-
ward Dormans were Senegalese, and
toward Chateau Thierry Americans.
1t was at this front that the Germans
won their only real success. Some
where along the river beyond Dor
mans the German engineers succeeded
in bridging the Marne and a German
division poured across The Ameri-
cans counter attacked on the morn
ing OF the second day and succeeded
IN re-establishing their part of the
line, but farther eastward the GerA>
mans were still advancing They had
found weak spot between the troops
of Gen. Berthelot and Gen. de Goutte
In the face of this serious situation
the French staff kept absolutely calm
and varied no whit from the original
plan. 1t rushed a few reserves to
the threatened spot, but not a man
more than was absolutely necessary,
reserving all other available elements
Tor the forthcoming counter offensive.
Inc Germans were still slowly ad-
eastward along the south
bank of the Marne when disaster was
caused at their rear by the counter
offensive. July IS came and dimin-
ished their ardor. Meanwhile Gen. de
Goutte was ordered to participate in
this counter offensive, and reserves
gathered to check the German ad-
vance south of the Marine were placed
under the command of Gen. de Mitry.
Foch's Surprise.
VIII. The allied counter offensive.
Gen Foch'S counter offensive was a
complete surprise. Two armies par
ticipated, that of Gen. de Goutte, be-
tween the Marne and the Ourcq, and
that Of Gen. Mangin. between the
forty-hve kilometers (twenty-eight
miles)- Gen. Mangin made the prin-
cipal attack, Gen. de Goutte merely
supporting him. I will consider the
two armies separately.
IN Gen. Mangin's offensive. The
troops placed at Gen. Mangin's dis
posal included experienced American
divisions. To make the SURPRISE even
greater. the attack was made without
artillery preparation, but with a good
ly number of small tanks supporting
the infantry and with a rolling bar
rage preceding the infantry Gen.
Mangin advanced an average of seven
kilometers four miles) the first day,
threatening to cut the entire German
salient across the top. The German
staff. highly alarmed. gathered all the
available reserves and threw them
against Gen. Mangin on July 16. The
battle grew extremely bitter, but Gen.
Mangin, nevertheless. continued 70
advance to several points.
Attacked Without Extra Men.
y. Gen. de Goutte's offensive. The
problem confronting Gen. de Goutte
was delicate one. He had only his
French divisions and the American
brigades and was given no extra troops
Ior the offensive. but had to execute
the attack with troops already. in the
line. Therefore he slightly modified
Gen. Mangin's tactics of attacking
without artillery preparation and with
the AID OF tanks. but contended him.
SELF at first with taking the outpost
iine ana then stopping for a few
hours artillery preparation against
the German combat line before con
tinuing the advance. This method
worked satisfactorily. De Goutte al
Vanced on an average of five kilo-
meters (three miles) the first dav
and continued to advance slowly on
the second day except at the extreme
gallantly taken Torcy and BeIleau'
were momentarily checked.
Germans Forced to Retreat.
II. The fruits of victory Ju,v 10
not only Gen. Mangin and Cen de-
Goutte We're advancing between the
Olse and the Marne, but Gen. Berthe.
lot, on the other side Of the salient
having been reinforced by a fresh
Engl1sh corps, flung the men into the
battle south of Rheims along the valley
Of the Ardre. The German salient
thus menaced on both f1anks, was like
a bag which was having the string
at ITS top pulled together. Fresh ali.
visions were brought up to stay the
tide at points where the pressure was
greatest, and while these divisions
doggedly covered their tanks the Ger
mans on the night of July 19 retreated
across the Marne: July 81. when Gems.
Mangin and de Goutte had Continued
to advance and Gen. Bethelot's fresh
troops were still exerting a
strong pressure in the valley of the
Ardre. the Germans began to eyac-
uate the entire salient. They tried to
make a stand on the high nlatean o3 %
the divide between the valleys OF the
Marine and the Vesle. but Gen. Mangin.
renewing the attack August /. ad,
vanced another three kilometers G.2
miles), threatening the valley of tho
Vesie. to which the Germans retreated
1t now seems likely that the Ger
mans will endeavor to hold the line
OF the Vesle between Scissors and
although a retirement to the
Aisne is still possible. Thus vanish
the German chances of winning the
war. Their 1918 camnaign is now
compromised. Under the
cover of this victory American forces
can be steadily formed and in due
time, either this year or next, we snail
begin our own, campaign for victory
with the allied armies growing con.
tinually larger as the German armies
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