The sun., 1918-10-02
OF BBLGIANS
SPREADS DEATH


stroyed. On the British front there was
little wire, and no preliminary Smelling
for the purpose Of destroying II was nee
essary.
That the Germans were not entirely
unprepared for a catastrophe here Is
suggested by the great quantity Of tank
mines said to have been found In the
roads. II the report is true that Confines
10 being evacuated. the enemy evidently
regards the possibilities of the present
attack as serious. But things move SO
fast now that no coherent account can be
given Of the situation at any moment.
On the Cambria front, against stiffen-
ing resistance and great numbers OF
machine guns, we are continuing to ad-
vance. There has been hard fighting in
the Bellicourt area and in the immedi-
ate outskirts of Cambria. rs well as at
places on the Cambria Douai road.
Combined English and Scottish troops
fought magnificently during the first
stages of this battle. On the immediate
right the English took large numbers Of
prisoners and In one day captured the
villages Of Riscourt and Flesquier
against stout resistance. Among the
prisoners were three battalion COM
manders from a division known as the
Iron" Division. II it wasn't iron be-
OF every German in II.
Americans I'm st. Quentin Fight.
The attack Of the fourth army above
st. Quentin was participated in by
American and Australian troops. Briefly
the result of the days fighting there
was to break through the enemy's de-
fences along the canal paralleling the
Hindenburg line and to capture the viii
lagos Of Bellicourt, Nauroy, Magny. La
Fosse and Rehaucourt. About 5000
prisoners have been taken there. or
these villages Bellicourt and Nauroy
were taken by the Americans.
One British division surpassed all
records by taking 1000 prisoners in one
day. along with large number of guns.
This was done on a section of the front
which, in expert opinion. was as strong
as any in France and which the Ger
| man troops were adjured with every
possible argument to hold at all costs.
To show how determined were the
Germans to hold the line of the canal.
extracts from captured orders will suf-
fee. One order, taken from the Thirty
| eighth German Division, says: Troops
are reminded that our psssent position
| is our winter position. They must cling
TO 1t immovably" Another order says:
Every commander and every man must
| be impressed with the importance of
holding our present position In the for
ward zone as long as possible, and re-
| taking II IL lost. In case OF attack on
| a large scale the main line OF resistance
| must hold absolutely intact"
Reward for Prisoners.
To encourage the men to obey this
order every man was promised bonus
| of 200 marks and canteen funds. with
which to buy extra rations For every
prisoner brought in a reward OF 100
| marks was offered. An order from the
1lsth Division states that lecturers are
| being sent around to explain how i'm
| measurably important it IL that the
troops should now hold the ground on
which they are standing. There can be
| no question of going back q single step.
We must show the British. French and
Americans that any further attacks
| against our Siegfried positions will be
| useless. and that the line is an impres-
nable rampant. II we do this the En-
tente Powers will condescend to con-
| slider terms of peace, which il Is abso-
lutely necessary for us to have before
| we can end this war"
There is evidence that these orders
| were hardly necessary, as We are all
! aware of the immense amount OF worn
put in by the Germans to strengthen
these positions and of the number of
troops put in to hold them. This is
shown by the extraordinarily large num-
her of prisoners we have taken, in addi-
ton to the heavy casualties inflicted OF
the massed defenders. They did their
utmost to prevent US from breaking
through.