Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-08-12
HUN FIGHTING HARD
BUT IS GOING BACK
Supply Lines Cut Off, Places His
Armies in Peril; May Retreat
to the Aisne.

| Washington, ID. c., Aug. 12.-That
| the Germans may not be able to make n
stand until they reach the Aisne river is
| the view of a noted military critic, who
says.
''ln the fighting of yesterday the Ger
mans continued 10 bc forced back The
principal retirement was south Of the
Avre, where the French persistence ia
drawing n loop around Rove and threat
cnlng this important centre with speedy
capture. The French advance, however,
was not limited To the immediate vicinity
of Roye. On Saturday the French ex-
tended the fighting area bv beginning
heavy attack between Montdidcr and the
Oisc. the eastern terminus being south Of
the village of Rlbccourt
In this offensive the French have also
gained considerable ground II was.
however. such nm entirely logical de-
vclopmcnt Of the fighting TO the north
that the Germans were on the lookout
for It, and. IN SO far as they were able.
had prepared 10 meet It The French
object here was to cripple the German
defence Of the ground east Of Montdldior
by striking IN rear of the defensive lines.
RAILROAD THHEATENEp
II
small singc-track railroad (which may
possibly have been double tracked since
the Germans occupied the territory be-
tween Pont lEveque, just south of
Noyon. Royc and Rcssons-sur- Matt,
which in this region Of few supply lines
Is of great Importance TO the southern
part of the German front Novon ~
the terminus of the important highway
through Royc over which much of the
German supplies must leave the salient.
TO take or even to bring either ono Of
these lines under close artillery hrc
while the Germans still clung To their
present positions would cmbarrass the
defence to such an extent as to threaten
n complete cavC-ln ~ this sector This
was undoubtedly ono Of the main con
sIdcrauons of the French commander IN
making the attack
RACK To rHr ArsNE
More important still, however, is the
effect such a success would have on the
German lines back of the Alsnc 10 Sols-
sons and along the Ncslc from Soissons
10 Rheims If the French lines could
hc pushed forward as far as Novon, the
German lines e. the cast would of
course, have 10 fall back in unison. This
would almost certainly decrease the re-
sIstancc along the NCslc front and IN
all probability force the Germans back
even az the Aisnc a. thcir old positions
along the Chcmin dos Danes In other
words Fochs effort now Is 20 line IN
the fighting from the Avrc to the Olsc
with tha, along the Ncslc, rs well rs to
strike , blow against the flank Of the
Rove do(cnccs.
FOE RESISTANCE NTIFFFNs
"ln this hc has not altogether sue
ceedcd rs vet He is still about five and
a half mules from Novons has very diff
ficult ground 70 20 over, and IS meeting
with Increased resistance The country
], rugged and filled with wooded |
masses i is cut hy streams which run |
through narrow cuts. The banks of |
which arc very steep. The most notable |
nf these streams Is the Divettc River |
which flows into the Oisc Jist south Of |
Pont lEvequc But with all this there |
is 4 certain advantage
he French are astridc the Osc. and |
while this makes close intcrcommuuIcation |
between the forces on the eastern bank |
and those on the western difficult, at the |
same time II gives the French who are |
operating on the western bank good pro- |
lection Tor their flank even though the |
lIaIsnn between the two wings is not all |
i might be
MAY Re FORCED STILL FURTHER BACK.
There is another advantage in the |
French position which is greater still |
The French are advancing rather rap |
idly eastward toward l.assIgny Their |
greatest gain of Yesterday in fact. was |
between Canny-sur-M Matz and Mareml !
This line Of advance. If continued IL, |
viii force the abandonment Of all of the |
difficult ground southwest Of Noyons, |
which at present offers such an obstacle /
to the French advance from the south |
In other words, an entirely new pocket |
is being formed which, II the French |
10 be successful, will be bound |
cd by the Roye- Novons road, the Oise
River between Novons and Rlbecourt. |
and the French lines from Ribecourt |
westward
LOSE VALUABLE TERRITORY.
"From thus pocket the Germans will |
probably lie able to retire to safety But
they Will give up extremely valuable
territory. and will enaLlc the French !
to clear the German opposition north
Of the Alsue River al least west Of Sols-
sons. THIS Is one of the largest de
Of the offensive IN the north.
North Of Rove the British are now
having considerable trouble This does
not necessarily mean that the advance
las been stopped 1t has been checked
or the moment. however bv the ar
-ival Of fresh German divisions Con
siderable fresh resistance developed be
tween Frcsnoy and Lihons, where the
Germans have battled desperately To
save Chaulnee Apparently the Allies
nave not taken this latter town vet. The
British report would Indicate that the
inc runs just to the east Of IihonS,
ghich would leave Chaulncs still in Ger
nan hands The railroad junction. how
yer. is only a mile east Of the British
irns Gu thai ~ - of Ettl, ,,ec -, ~ |