The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-07-22

openly declared that not only did the !
French army turnout the entire battle
CO. r.uef its detectives in every attack
but in almost every case exceeded
them, and from the very first day of
the battle to the last, kept their line
so far ahead that the English were
never obliged to wait for the French
to straighten up their line with them
Advance at Verdun.
While this battle was still in prog
resS the Trench. high command pre-
pared and staged another great attack
at Verdun on both sides OF the Meuse.
which launched on August 70, finally
carried the French lines at practically
every point back to what they were
before the launching of the crown
princes great suicidal attack of Feb
ruary, 1916.
With this victory achieved but with
sever fighting still going on day and
night along the entire Verdun front in
an effort on the part of the Germans
to get back some of their lost posi-
tions, the French command prepared
and staged still another equally i'm
portant and brilliant affair.
Ever since the final conquest of the
greater portion of the Chemin deS
Danes by the French in May. 1917,
a severe battle had ragged there con-
tinuously for the final possession by
either the French or the Germans of
| the famous ridge. 1t was necessary to
put end to this by driving the Ger
| mans back to point where they
could no longer keep up their day and
night attacks.
The attack was launched October
| 20, with Fort Malmaison as one of the
principal objectives. The victory was
one of the most remarkable of the
war. Not only were all of the objec-
tives attaiped, but these detectives
thanking the Germans and taking them
hnf n of
the we k the German evacuation of
their entire line of positions on the
northern slope of the Chemin des
Danes and their retirement across the
Ailette.
| To Aid of Italy
| With this military effort and these
victories to her credit no one would
have deni. to France the right to rest
f, on her laurels for the remainder If
! the year. But precisely at that mo-
| ment, the Austro-German offensive
against Italy met with its unexpected
sue s and with ut stopping for
single instant to consult her own in
| terests or her own risks in the case,
France, within twenty-four hours, had
one of her fin It armies en- route for
| Italy.
| There. on almost the last day of the
year, the French eXpeditionary corps
won another glorious victory in its ia
nous attack on Monte Toma, in which
only 1000 Alpine chasseurs not only
| captured the summit of the mountain
| but inflicted on the AuStrians losses
exceeding twice the number of French
infantrymen engaged. Over 1900 Aus
TRANS were taken prisoners by the
| French Chasseurs while over 500 Aus
| trian dead were counted on the field
| of battle.
Already as a result of this remark
able military effort, France was be-
| ginning, almost unconsciously as it
were, to receive the acknowledgment
of her military leadership of the al
lies: In the allied war councils both
at Rappallo and Versailles that fol-
! lowed the italian disaster and its re-
establishment French generals and
military leaders were given an ever in
| creasing recognition of leadership. 2
Germans Plunge
Then after nearly three months of
waiting came the great German often
| sive Of March 81. The attack was
made against the British line short
| distance above it's junction with the
| French front. y gap was made in the
| line and without question the allies
| faced the most critical and the most
crucial moment since the battle of the
Marine. But again French military gem
| ius on the Part of Frances generals
and French abnegation and heroism
on the part of the French soldiers en-
abled France to fill the breach.
But france haQ done more than I'LL
the breach. She had won recognition
of leadership and superiority that
could no longer be denied and at last
the supreme command of all the al
lied armies on the western front passed
| to French general and French staff.
But this recognition of French mil
itary genius was not confined to the
high command alone. It was extend
ed to the humble "poilu" as well. His
endurance, his patience. his vigor, his
! virility, his heroism and above all his
esprit de corps" were things that
must also be recognized for the good
of the allied cause. ~
French units therefore passed to
other portions of the front where their
admirable qualities might serve as in
SEPARATION to Americans. Tommies, Bel
gians and Portuguese, while units
from all these armies passed likewise
into French sectors of the front where
they might benefit even more quickly
by contact with Frances poilus.
Thus, with the opening of the fifth
year of the great war, the western
front presents what is in reality one
great army under one great French
command in which the French "poilu'
is intermingled as leavening for the
entire mass that must rise and attain
victory for the allied cause.
| NAV qITN