The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-11-10

at such distance as not to interrupt communications.
 The experience of this war has shown that a line is hardly put out of use until the most advanced posts of attack are within 5000 yards and the heavies be- hind them are, say at 5000 or 5000 yards away. Even at such ranges the Haze brouck railways were precariously used by the allies during the Lys offensive of the Germans last April
 But though the railway is still safe, any allied advance down the Mouse val ley toward it is so much the more per- ilous to the whole German position. Everything is done, therefore, on the German side to keep this part of the front, the belt in front of Montmedy, secure. The enemy is compelled, even, in order to check the allied advance, to put in fresh units continually, and in his present state of exhaustion he cannot do this without gravely weakening oth- CT parts of the line.
 The action on this sector, therefore, de- termines all the successes to the north If has helped the French to go for ward at Audenard and the British to pass Valenciennes, and when to more pressure an actual advance is added it summons the enemy strength in such amounts that the enemy is led to break elsewhere.
 PART PLAYED BY AMERICANS
 On November 1 the cosns ned French and American attack achieved a serious advance, or which the American part was the more important and must first be described.
 The American First army here stands on a line about Is miles long, going near ly due east and west from in front of Buzency to the belt of woods against the upper Aisne, which is the last woods north of the Argonne forests. It is the American right, next to the Mouse, which gives the enemy the most concern. Every yard of advance here is an increased menace to his communications. There fore, it was here that his resistance to last Fridays American attack was the most desperate. So the advance from above Breulles to Clery-Le-Grand was not more than from 4000 to 5000 yards, while further east the maximum prog ress was 50 per cent greater.
 But this slight advance was neverthe- less full of meaning for the reason that there lies overlooking the Mouse from Clery-Le-Grand and Anderanne a posi- tion of the greatest importance to all this region. It has no name, but may be called the position of Dun, though it does not include that little town, which is below it and on the other side of the river.
  wooded on the north side and bare or the south, possession of which gives com plete observation to the whole Mouse val ley beyond Stenay
 It corresponds in this region to the fa- nous little hill of Cuvelet, the capture of which by the French last September led to the relief of Rheims and the gen. eral enemy retreat to Vouziers
 The position above Dun is now sharply gripped by the Americans, though not yet taken by them. Another advance o1 200O yards up hill from Clery and 40G yards northeast of Anderanne and the whole position would be as good as taken No one can say it will be taken, bu what is more important is that the threa to it will compel the Germans to sacri flee yet another mass of men, whicf they cannot afford to lose.
 { With the Americans already at An i devanne and Clery you may be certain the most peremptory orders went ou on Friday night for endorsements iron | the north and west, that the command 1 CTS on the north and west, along tn middle Aisne and the upper Disc ant I Scheldt, reported that they could no spare the men, that the commanders 0 1 the broken units resting behind the line reported their units were unfit to talk up the task, and that none the less thes 1 units had to go.