Evening star., 1918-07-19
ALLIES NOW FORCING !,
WILL UPON THE ENEMY
French and Americans Enthusiastic and Eager
for Battle, While German Prisoners
Taken Appear Dazed.

to the smallest "details. Maps Of the
region to be attacked. showing tho
objectives desired. were printed and
distributed among the officers OF the
assaulting regiments.
On the night preceding the attack \
raging wind dnd rainstorm favored
the allied project. The tanks which
were to accompany the infantry ao-
vanced close to the line OF departure.
the noise Of their cumbersome marcA
being entirely drowned hy the roar eS
Germans had that their positions were
threatened was the sudden appAr1.
tion Of poilus who appeared out OF
the mists which accompanied the
dawn. Many German omcers. sprang
from beds only to be captured. Com
panies of soldiers armed only with
cut the ripening grain surrendered
without . struggle
With magnificent elan the French
advanced and were quickly In possss-
sion Of the enemy's advanced zons.
Almost everywhere along the 4s-kilo-
their rapid progress. On the left end
of the line strong opposition was met
with as the region is hilly and wood
ed and was strongly garrisoned by
machine gun crews and grenade
throwers.
Plunge In Water to Necxs.
The French onslaught was irresistI-
BILE. however, and passage was cut
noon. Further along the French
crossed the Savuere brook with water
up to their necks and houndered
through q wide marsh under q heavy
German artillery barrage. They
charged the enemy works and by
~ hoH - THAR nnaoAR0tnn
Cresnes thicket, a wide stretch of
ground thiclkly netted with scrubby.
underbrush and strongly organised by
the foe, offered resistance. Not de-
string to halt their progress. the
French passed around the thicket on
both sides. A battalion belonging to
the division supporting the attack
was brought up and given the Job OF
cleaning out the thicket.
. The "doughboys" did their task
well, killing most of the defenders
and fetching out only twenty-nine
prisoners.
Smash Stubborn Stand.
The ,Teutons holding courchamps
longing to an "ace" regiment
charged. yelling. and carried the vii
lage. capturing numerous prisoners
ana eighteen cannon. as well as I'M
portant material The Germans at
tempted two counter attacks and both
were quickly repelled. The Plateau
Du Sepulchre was easily taken. Here
the tanks played a large role. wiping
out machine gun nests ana centefs OF
resistance. PaSSy en- VafotS ana
Marizy fell into French hands before
noon. The crests dominating Ourcq
were. difficult to take. but they feli
after a few hours Of defense,
In the afternoon the attackers oc-
cupfed the plateau and Paris noun
tain dominating Soissons. The Ger
mans defended the position energett-
cally, counter attacking vigorously
after abandoning villers-Helon.
Cavalry Fights Brilliantly.
French cavalrymen lighting ON
horseback instead q dism Sunted, a.
has been the rule In this least pictur-
esoue of wars, fought brilliantly ana
stormed Berxy. Al 2 o'clock in the
afternoon aviators reported street
hghting ~ in progress bstrsen
mans on foot
Late In the aftsrnoon the advance
had attained an average depth Of boz
tween fve and six kilometers (three
and a half mtlee) and in some places
even more. Thousands Of prisoners
were already in the hands of the
French, along with many cannon ana
much material. while more than
occupied. II was by that time appar-
emit that 1t was one OF the greatest
victories won by the allies, with .
corresponding loss Of confidence on
the part Of the Germans and damage
to their morale.