New-York tribune., 1918-12-05
Western front 10 % that time in .
single operation.
st. Mihiel Advance Irresistahle

ot' NinIel Advance Irresistible
of the reduction Of the St. Mihic
salient General Pershine saws:
"A ter four hours art llery prepare
ton the seven American divisions i,
the front line advanced at S a. m. O,
September H. assisted by limite,
number of tanks manned partly b.
Americans and partly by the French
we closed the salient forming a ney
llne west OF Thiaucou~t to Vigneulle.
and beyond Fresnes- en- Woovre.
"At the cost of only 1000 casualtios
mostly light, We had taken 1900
tity of material, reieased the inhab.
tantss Of many VILLAGES from enen4
domination and estab shed our lin.
IN ii position to threaten Metz.
"1hls signal succcss Of the Amori
can First Army in its first ofcnsit,
way of pymc importance. Tho An
found They had Formidable army +.
aid them, and the enemy learned fnali,
that f'e had one to reckon with"
ho rep'"rt shows fer The drst tim,
officially tnat with this brilliantly ay
ecu'ed eoun, General Pcrshiug's met
had cleared the wav Tor the urea
effort Of the Allied and Americat
iorccs 30 win q conclusive victory. Tn.
American army moved at once toware
Its growing achievement, tho bat.
Of the Mcusc.
The Battle of the Meuse
The general tells dramatic story ot
this mighty battle in three dstinc
Phrases. beginning on the night O.
September 27, when Americans quick ,
took the places of the French on tn.
thinly held line Of this long. uuioi
sector. The attack opened on Septen
Der 26. and the Americans drop
through entang 'ements across n
Mnn's Land to take all the cnemy
flrst line positions. Closing the char
ter, General Per hing SAYS:
"OM November 6 division of tn
lst CORPS reached point on the
Mouse opposite Sedan. twenty FIVE
miles from our line Of Departure The
strategica goal. which was our highest
hope, was gained We had cut the
cnemy's main line of communicatiors
and nothing but surrender or un aris-
tice could save his army from complete
disaster.
an all forty enemy divisions had
been used against us in the Muse
Argonne battle. Between September
26 and November 6 we took 26,05s
prisoners and 468 guns on this front
- i''o'o engaged were lnc ISL
I'd, Sd 4th, 9Th, 26th, 28th, 29th. SOD
SD. 35th 37th, 42d 77th 18th, 10th
eoth. SD, seth. 90th and 91st.
The COMMUNICATIVE chief tells of the
work of the I'd Corps comprising ths
9th and Both divisions, in the British
assault on the Hindenburg line.
Army Strength 2.O53,347
OF the total strength of the expedi
tionary force General Pershing re.
ports:
There are in Europe altogether, in
cluding regiment and some sanitar,
units with the Italian army and the or
CARNATIONS at Murmansk. also includ
ing those en- route from the States, ap
proximately 2053,347 men, less oul
losses. Of this total there are ir
France 1888 169 combatant troops
Forty divisions have arrived, of which
the infantry personnel of ten have beer
used as requirements, leaving ten divis
ions now in France organized into three
armies Of three corps each"
or their equipment he says:
"Our entry into the war found us
with few of the auxiliaries necessary
for its conduct in the modern sense.
Among our most important deficiencies
in material were artillery, aviation and
tanks. In order to meet our require
ments as rapidly as possible we ac-
cepted the offer Of the French govern
ment to provide us with the necessary
artillery equipment Of 75s, one 55-milli-
metre howitzers and one 55-G. P. r.