Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-06-06

west of, scissors, they attacked along
the Ailette river, northwest of that
citv. to straighten out their line and
thus guard against thanking opera
! ton by the allied armies. They
! gained considerable territory in this
maneuver but were held after they
| had progressed approximately five
miles. Since that time the French
have held their positions, with the
Disc river forming a first line of de-
fense, and little lighting of a signi-
fcant nature has occurred in that
| sector.
Military experts have expected an
attack on the. allied line running east
of Montdidier, past Noyon and
thence along the Oise to the new
! lines formed since the German Of
| fensive on the Aisne began. 1t may
be that the fighting reported in the
French official statement marks the
initial stages of an attack there.
Improve Their Lines
Further south along the line run
ming from the western suburbs of
| Scissor to Chateau Thierry the lines
| is standing firm before the German
thrust. The French have succeeded
| in improving their positions north
and west of Hautebraye, a little viii
lage on the right bank of the Hoxien
river, north of the Aisne.
On the rest of the front, especially
at Longpont, Veuilly la Poterie and
| west of Rheims, the artillery fire has
been violent. Along the front held
by the British there have been raid
| ing oprations but no fighting of a
serious character.
Determined German efforts to
! break through the wall of allied de-
fense on the western wing of the bat
tie front south of the Ailette are
| meeting with failure. For two DAYS
the Germans have attacked strongly
at isolated points but have made only
slight progress.
At some points ground has been
regained by the French, and We'd
nesday they took more than two
] hundred prisoners from the enemy,
in addition to infiicting heavy losses
on the German units which failed in
| attempts to push back the French
| defenders. The latest French gain
was made around Vingre, north of
the Aisne, where the Germans were
| driven from all the ground they had
gained there in recent days. In addi-
tion the French took more than $50
prisoners and some machine guns.
Germans RepuIsed
Enemy efforts have been strongest
along the Oise and on the eastern
] edge of Retz forest east of Villers-
| Cotterets. In attempting to cross the
Disc near Montalagache, the Ger
mans were repulsed completely.
| Ground was gained by the enemy
troops near Longport east of Villers-
Cotterets, but the French counterat-
tacks threw them back with the loss
| of so prisoners. Elsewhere along the
salient through Neuilly. Chateau
| Thierry, and along the Marne, where
| American troops are in the line, to
Rheims, the Germans have been un-
able to advance.
The Berlin official statements on
the fighting grow shorter Wednes-
| days reported only a slight advance
along the Aisne Tuesday and local
fighting near the Ourcq. The situa-
| ton is unchanged according to the
| Wednesday evening announcement
from German headquarters.
Front Quiets Down
There are yet no signs that the
enemy is preparing for still another
blow in his campaign to crush the
| French and British before the Amer
| leans enter the lighting in large
numbers. On the Flanders and Pic
ardy salients small raids continue
and the artillery fire is about normal.
| American troops around Neuilly,
northwest of Chateau Thierry, re-
pulsed Tuesday night and Wednes-
day strong German efforts to ad-
vance. The American machine gun
fire broke up the German attack in
confusion. West of Montdidier and
east of Luneville American patrols
have been active. An American party
of thirty men penetrated the third
German line east of Luneville and
out fought a party of 200 Germans.
| Heavy losses were suffered by the
| Germans, while the American casual
ties were slight.
Austrians Hold Back
Although artillery activity has in
creased along the entire Italian front
| from Stelvio to the Adriatic, there is
no indication that the kustrians are
yet ready to launch their offensive,
for which it is known they have
made preparations.
| There has been an increase in in
| fantry fighting on the Macedonian
front. Allied troops have with
stood successfully Bulgarian attacks
against the new Greek positions at
Skra di Legen, near Cradisnitza and
between Lakes Ochrida and Presba.