Evening star., 1918-07-21
BY THOMAS NJ. JOHNSON.
(cooyrisht, 1918. All rights reserved.

CN THE MARINE. July Is (delayed).-
When the great. allied counter thrust
began early this morning strong
forces Of American soldiers. the larg-
est number yet engaged in the battle
In Europe. leaped from the trenches
and went forward with rife and
bayonet ready in thd most remarkable
attack which has been launched in
the history Of the war. cir
Already our troops In the various
sectors Of the assault have captured
thousands of prisoners. Those who
penetrated deepest into the German
lines near soissons took 1.50e this
morning, and another. American force
2, coo, as wsA Is maAy guns, But the
most important fact Of all is that they
have broken through the German
lines.
It is an undoubted. uneontrovertible
fact that the American troops, includ-
ing some of the most distinguished Of
the American expeditionary forces,
have broken through and are fighting
in the open country. this time as part
fensive, and are advancing with the
tanks and the finest Of the French
shock troops.
Not a Gun Fired.
II not the most remarkable. Il Is at
least one Of the most wonderful things
Of the war how the Americans jumped
from the trenches and without a sin
gle gun being fired dashed across no
the sleeping Germans. It has been
said that q surprise attack without
artillery hre is Impossible In this war,
but Foch and the French and Amerf-
can troops under him have upset all
that.
At one place where the Americans
attacked the surprise was SO COM
plete that a whole German division
was gobbled up. Another marvel Is
the way in which Americans were
attack. arriving barely. in time to en-
ter the front line trenches SO as to be
In readiness to go over the top. They
came q long. hard. dusty journeS.
travelling both day and night, and not
knowins t, Where sn they - were ere. going e., :.
Proud at the honor Of having been be-
lected, the spirit in which they went into
battle was shown by the battalion which
paraded in Paris on July IA. They re-
mained in the city for a.couple Of days
suddenly ordered to return to the front.
'sWhat the h for?" they asked. e
''You are going to make big attack, "
was the reply, and 1t is- said that when
the battalion dstrained at an outlying
points they marched many miles instead
Of waiting for the delayed trucks he-
cause OF the fear that they might Be
left out.
Story Of Troops Advance.
Before telling of the progress this
morning on the northern wing OF at
sons and where the Americans made the
greatest progress, something should be
said about the splendid picture Of our
troops advancing over ground which q
few hours before the enemy had held
and had doubtless expected to always
hold.
Il il q picture Of our men with their
sleeves rolled up to their shoulders and
helmets tilted down over the eyes.
Rifles with bayonets extended are clutch
ed tightly and the men, loaded down
with cartridges, hand grenadss and iron
rations are pressing forward ever newly
dug German trenches and through barb
Cd wire which the enemy. had fondly Inn
agined to be impenetrAble.
Overpoweringre resistance. on they went,
Germans as tried to fight. always forG-
Ing ahead through the fields Of ripe.,ifis
grain, through clumps Of green woodl
almost untouched by q shell IRE. through
villages bathed In the bright sunshine Of
q hot July day, with overhead . summer
sky OF deepest blue, dotted occasionally
with fiakey pure white clouds. "