Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-07-27
from Page On,

NontInucu from rage Vne
that some one. probably Army Com.
mander Won Boehm. or even the
Crown Prince himself, had decided on
Saturday to retreat, and had already
begun to execute the operation, but
had been overruled the next day by
higher authority, doubtless through
rear OF disastrous moral effect on the
German people. The difficulties OF
resistance in the congested salient are
obvious and the enemy will pay a
heavy price for letting a purely mill.
tary problem be influenced by other
considerations
Already the Germans are suffering
terribly as n result of the efforts re.
uuired to bar the Allies progress and
from the difficulties Of transportation
ana the effects of our concentrated
fire. As an instance Of the expedients
TO which they are reduced, several of
the divisions that crossed the Marine,
and which we know lost there at least
40 per cent of their effectives, instead
OF being relieved have been put In
the line opposite the French and Amer.
leans between the Ourcq and the
Marne.
"They include some of the hes,
Division of the Pruss.an guard and
the Sixth Bavarans, facing the Amer
leans; the Twenty-third Saxons, who
have a. very good fighting record. and
the Thirty-sixth Division shock
troops-further north. Their com.
panies are now down to forty bay
onets and no army car stand punish.
ment like that.
German Morale Falls
''rhe morale has fallen enormously
in consequence. For the first time even
the officers of these picked units admit
that they cannot hope to beat the AL
lies. and the soldiers declare frankly
that they are utterly fed up One
hears the same story from the prisoners
of the 200th Division. crack mountain
troops. whose spirit hitherto has been
extraordinary. and there is no question
of their sincerity.
Another proof Of the enemy's straits
is that the Ninth Bavarian Division has
been wholly eliminated, owing to the
impossibility of filling gaps
".All of the prisoners the Bavarians
especially speak of the unsatisfactory
| state of affairs at home, which they no.
| ticed when on leave. The Bavarians
declare that their people are absolutely
disgusted. Riots are frequent and gem
eral. In fact, If we can give the boche
| another good knock. it looks as if he
will be nearly ready to quit That Is
! the extent of the change wrought by
| this fortnight of battle which France
| awaited with such anxiety"
l asked the officer whether he an
! ticipated a German attack elsewhere,
| with intent to effect a diversion and re-
! gain the initiative. He replied with n
guarded affirmative based on the fol-
| lowing points,:
First. Rupprecht's reserve is still
| intact He sent only some divisions to
| aid the German Crown Prince and it
| is understood that these men have been
replaced.
Secondly. the murderous keeping in
! line of divisions ttat crossed the Marine
instead of replacing them from the re-
| serves, shows the intention of using the
| reserves sfor another purpose.
/ Thirdly, that purpose cannot but be
| an offensive as. the sole chance of re-
| treving the situation and saving Ger
| many from the disastrous effects of the
! abandonment of the salient and the loss
| Of control of the Paris-Nancy Railroad
Furious. Attack Coming Soon
Possibly n drive might come to re-
| lieve the pressure on the salient. He eX-
pected that. if made at all, the attack
! would come soon ana with the utmost
| fury.
That the enemy does not mean to give
up the salient if he can avoid it, l saw
further indicated on visit to the bridge
across the Marnc at Mezy two hours
later. Already two heavy shells from Il
| long range naval gun had rsignaled the
enemy activity. and new-made shell
holes along the road northward gave ad-
| ditional evidence.
| AS walked down the road TIE sky
echoed with the hum of a dozen air
| planes, and just on entering the village
| a sudden patter of machine gun bullets
| a few yards to the left bore witness that
they were not at all friendly. and | ran
to cover under the wall of ruined
house, where I found a score of Ameri-
| can soldiers sheltering.
They do that all the time" said one
of them 1T is no use taking chances
We shall be able to go in minute, as
soon as our airplanes up there keep
Fritz busy 1t Is worse at night. as he
" comes down low and sweeps the road
That has happened to me three times
in the last two nights, and don't like
it,"
A moment later the pop. pop" OF
machine guns overhead showed that the
nAMD DInTIN CVED NIOIIO