The Little River news., 1918-10-05
MIGHTY TRAP THREATENS TO
  ENCULF ENEMY
Serious Question if LudendOrff Can Exrricate Regarded Certain
 That Foe Must Qult Northern rt France and Belgium.

Washington, Oct 2.-Tae German grip on northern France and Belgium h..B been broken. Even the most cau- tious military observers in Washing ton agree tonight that t:le Hinden- burgs line is disintegrating, and army officers centered their whole atten-- tion on the efforts Or the German leaders to extricate their armies without a crushing disaster.
 Out l3hked in Belgium and in the Champagne the great German zone of defensive works known as the Hin denburg line already was becoming untenable when Field Marshal Haigs men smashed through it today just north of St. Quentin. The immediate investment of the city by French , troops and the swift widening of the breach northward, coupled with the continued rapid progress of the Trench, Belgian .nd British forces in Belgium, it is believed here, may pos sibly upset the whole Germ;::l scheme l of retirement which already had be- gun on the Rheims front.
 British penetration of the line may i furnish Marshal FOch with a means to embarrass the German retreat, al lways with the possibility or precip1- tating veritable rout.
 Ringed by we'll of victorious en- emies over the whole front from the North sea to Verdun, the situation of the Germans is undoubtedly grave | The drive in Belgium is menacing vii tai communications on one s1Ge, while American and French troops in the Champagne are surging forward to- ward equally vital supply lines on the other The battle line is assuming the shape of vast trap and thrusts it's jaweopen to engulf the German armies.F
 Germans Begin Retirement.
 German leaders have seen their danger. Official reports to the State Department today indicated that evacuation of the submarine bases on the Belgian coast is imminent. There also is conclusive evidence that the evacuation of the lines before Rheims is we'll under way The question up- permost in the minds of army off, cers here is whether the German high !.:..-..,,-aand =. h,.s acted in time.
 Announcement from Paris that g. 900 prisoners were taken by the French .yesterGay ill operations be- tween the Vesle and the Aisne rivers is significant o. the difficulty of get ting troops back safely out of an abandoned fighting line. There has been no hint of French attack on q largo scale on this front, and the Berlin statements have characterized the movement as withdrawal. Only a narrow front was involved, yet 2,- 900 men, left ss rear guards, were captured.
 To withdraw the whole 25O-mile front where the allied and American forces are charging forward day after day will be stupendous task. With constantly increasing superiority of numbers and gun power rest ing with Marshal Focn, observers here believe the retreat will be diff ficult beyond words. There is no pos sibility oI forecasting what may hap pen.
 Several Critical Sectors.
 There are several places on the front where the situation appears par ', ticularly critical Officers said evac- uation of the Belgian coast probably will be forced on the enemy in an effort to avert a more serious reverse in the Lille sector. The British wing of the drive in Belgium is ilammering at the vital supply lines of the Lille salient on one side, while the steady advance of other British forces north eastward from the positions south of Douai is aimed at the only other route of escape from the rapidly forming pocket. Already the large enemy forces holding the depths ot this pocket, face the necessity of pass ing along the British front on the Lys if the best lines of withdrawal ere followed.
 Some officers here think the Ger mans figure that surrender of the Belgian coast line will craw the French and Belgian armies in that direction, thus easing the strain against the Lille triangle of towns long enough to permit them to carry out a withdrawal
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