The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1918-03-22
ALLIES HOLD
Line AGAINST
0NSLAuGHTS
OF GERMANS
British Artillery and Rifles
Inflicts Heavy Losses on
Teutons Advancing in Mass
Formations to Attack.
CONFLICT CONTINUES
tBy Associated Press,

(By Associated Press)
The first stage Of the great German
offensive on the western front has
passed and It is to be scored as a Ger
man failure. the enemy having fallen
short Of realizing his aims in the first
great smash. according to dispatches
from British headquarters.
After attacking all day yesterday
and until a late hour last night the
Germans let down in their smashing
operations along 80 miles Of the British
front and had not resumed their heavy
assault at the latest advices from Sir
Douglas Haig.
Further hard fighting was ahead,
however, the field marshal predicted.
The enemy was still being held in the
British battle positions, he reported,
which means that the British line is
still intact. although admittedly 1t has
been bent backward at points under
the terrific Teutonic assault.
Battle Line Intact.
The battle line has not moved in any
one direction, however, the British
having struck back spiritedly at Ger
man masses and regained some OF the
positions which they had temporarily
abandoned. The German official state
ment received today reports that the
British positions we're attacked from
a point southeast Of Arras to LaFere,
the British first line being captured.
The dispatches from British head
quarters purposely omit giving the
exact position Of the British line at
present for the stated reason that the
enemy might be given valuable infor-
nation il the line were accurately
traced.
Artillery Battle RACES.
While the infantry is being held
temporarily in check, the artillery bat
tie is still raging. according to indica-
tions in the news dispatches. Great
numbers of Austrian cannons are de-
clared to have been transferred to the
western front to REINFORCE the Ger
man artillery. Bulgarians too have
been brought into the field by the
German command, 1t Is declared, the
understanding being that they are to
be used as strategic reserve
Although the indications are that the
Central Powers have massed all poss-
ible forces at their disposal on the
west front for their present drive. The
prospect seems, however. that they
will need ever man of them. if they
keep up their attacks long with any
thing like it's initial force, as all the
reports indicate that the German
losses have been terrific under the
withering fire of the British artillery
and machine guns. The German ar
tillery too has suffered heavily through
counter battery work by the British
who found the massed guns fine target
for effective destructive work.
Attack Cambria Line.
Desperate fighting continues all
along the line from the Sensee to the
Disc and especially on the Cambrai
sector. Enemy efforts before Cambrai
were aimed principally to the north
and south Of the salient left after the
fighting ceased there last November
with the evident purpose Of cutting off
the salient and driving through the
opening toward the old battle field of
the Somme.
Germany's latest offensive finds both
sides, prepared for the shock of pro-
longed and sanguinary combat. For
months the Germans have been train.
ing troops and moving up guns and
supplies behind their lines between
Arras and st. Quentin.
The British also have been active
and were prepared for any blow the
enemy might deliver and had anticl-
pated that the offensive movement
would come where 1t did.
Attack May Be Feint.
Behind the British lines is the de-
vastated area over which the Germans
retreated last March. Field Marshal
Won Hindenburg declared at the time
that the devastation was carried out,
not only to hamper the allied armies,
but to provide a battlefield for the
future.
The German attack may be only a
feint, but large breach in the Brit
ish lines might involve the safety Of
Paris and Amiens and the French
channel, ports from the mouth of the
Seine to Belgium.
German artillery fire also has been
intense of lengthy front north of the.
LaBassee canal and in the Ypres Sec
tor in Flanders. On the French front
the Germans have carried out minor
attacks northeast of Verdun and in
Lorraine. French troops repulsed both
attempts with loss.
Attack ostend.
British monitors and naval aircraft
have made combined attack on Os-
tend, Belgium. German aerial and
submarine base and British seaplanes
have attacked enemy mine-sweepers
near Helgoland with machine gun fire.
In the attack on Ostend British air.
men brought down five German ma
chimes, while the monitors bombartied
the town heavily.
Germany. according to unofficial re-
ports from the Hague, considers that
the attitude of Holland toward the
shipping demand has
changed the relations between the Ger
man and Dutch governments. The
same report says that Germany would