Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-08-08

The German Strikes.
On March 81 the German struck be-
tween the Scarpe and the Disc. 40 di-
visions against Is. swiftly destroyed
the Fifth British army. swept over its
ruins to the outskirts of AmienS. opened
the road down the Disc valley to Paris
as Tar as Noyon and o Montdidier.
n cut the main railroad from Ports
to Amiens by artillery fire. Only the
sWiftest possible work on the part of
the French rushing to the aid of their
British allies prevented the separation
checked at the moment when further
German progress would have NEAR
separation n separation approximate
ruin.
Rarely has any defeat taken the van
quished more completely by surprise.
Suddenly the French and British alike
were aroused to the fact that their
position was critical. their numbers in
sufficient and bound to be insufficient.
They had expected to- maintain Il sue
ceSsful defensive until America delib-
erately accomplished her military pro-
gram. They saw themselves condemned
to a desperate defensive. while Amer
lea feverishly rushed to france those
divisions without which a Ludendorff
victory seemed inevitable.c
BY his first attack L~udendorff, for his
had become the master mind in the
German high command, employing the
method of a brilliant lieutenant, Hutier.
had succeeded where all predecessors
had failed. He had pierced&nd broken
an enemy front ON an extent u SO
miles and to a depth of 35. After three
years and a half of Il war of positions,
of ~stagnation. of siege and trenches, he
had carried an offensive into open ocun-
try beyond all defense
Checked in Picardy, LudendOrff car.
irIad h{S nffanSiun tn lilo a, dave N ~A "a w.>:r
achieved swift and substantial vic
tory. Breaking the allied limo south
of Npres he pushed forward Is miles
toward the channel ports. won back all
the lost ground OF the Passchendaele
campaign of the previous year, took
KENNEL, which looks down upon the
rear of Ypres. and threatened to re-
duce this restored salient. which had
for the British empire the sama sig
%nificance Nerdun carried for the French
nation. This greater success was not
attained, and a sharp repulse on April
% closed the Flanders battle. but this
second episode had served to lemon
tactics and the advantage of German
numbers and interior position. It re-
opened h question of the arrival of
the kaiser at Calais and emphasized
again the greatness of allied peril.
The third German blow was in the
ldIAcI ScuSe even IuOTo terrifying IMAM
the first. Although two months had
passed and thea allies had been allowed
time to study the German method and
prepare an answer. LudendOrff was
able in late May to duplicate his March
successes. and. sweeping across the
Aisne and the Vesle. the victorious
German troops reached the bank of
three years OF absence. Nor was this
all; h British positions ins Picardy
had lacked any dominating military
strength, but the French positions at
the Aisne We're among h finest on
the western front. And, as at the
gained all the ground los in the
months of the British offensive Of 1915
and the German retreat in the spring
Of 1917, he now in three days retook
all the ground gained by Nivelle in
his ILL starred offensive of 1917. and
Rheims and retook scissors, French
since September II, 1914
The British defeat in Picardy was
the greatest III British military history;
the French reverse on h Atsne sur
passed the disaster of the first days
of the Verdun campaign. AS a result
of the two successes the German was
Paris and had thrust wedges forward
| toward the French capital down the
Disc n the Marine valleys. June was
only just come and Americas forces
were still too weak to exercise any
| decisive influence. There remained the
relatively restricted tasks Of eliminat-
ing the Compiegne I'M Rheims salient,
the one a menace to the community
of his operative front between the Disc
and the Marine. h ether a threat to
The rear of this 'front.' and then he
could undertake the final venture. a
drive straight south upon Paris, which,
even If it failed to take the city. might
bring his heavy artillery within bonn
| harding distance and enable him to
! destroy the city if it refused to sur
| render, and with this destruction he
hoped French nerves and French spirit
would at last break and the army, after
| the civil population, abandon a struggle
still held out the threat Of wen worse
| suffering without any promise Of ulti-
mate victory.
The Tide Turns.
It may be that this German success,
/ which took the kaiser to the Marine,
will prove the last high water mark
Of the war. Before June was over the
/ tide had changed. Seeking to sweep
the French out of the CompteEne re-
Aisne. insure the continuity OF the
right wing Of his operative front be-
tween Scissors and Montdidier by
clearing the French out Of strong
ground and carrying their line Into
the open ground south of Senlis. Lu-
l5dencosff launched q fourth blow be-
tween Montdidier and Noyon. between
| the Avre and the Disc. This time there
was no surprise. no collapse: the Ger
man machine ground its way forward
for a short distance. cleared the Las
signv heights and some valuable ground
along the Disc. But by the third day
! # wac checked and Mangin. tho de-