The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-04-04
ENEMY FAILS TO
BREAK OUR LINE
AFTER sTUBBORNLY FOUGHT
BATTLES BRITISH AND FRENCH
ARE HOLDING FAST
GERMAN LOSS HUNDREDS Of THOUSANDS
American Troops Ordered Into Battle
To Support Our Allies In
Time OF Need

lime Ut Neeo
Fourteen days Of the greatest bat
tie in the history Of the world have
passed and the ultimate end is not yet
in sight. Germany has met with such
a heroic defense on the part of the
British and French that she no doubt
must feel that her ~preconceived notion
of the way to win the war must be
revised before she can dictate terms
at Paris or elsewhere. During this
period Of time and the bloodiest fight
ing the world has ever seen her ad-
vance is held in decided check by the
Allied lines. During this time she has
lost, by the very most conservative
OF estimates, nearly SOC, 900 men. She
is afraid to let the people of her own
country know of her disaster. and
few Of the wounded are being taken
to the homeland for repairs. All over
Belgium she is building temporary
hospitals to care for them. These
cannot be the best for efficiency and
facility. and the repair work that
might be accomplished with the best
of such assistance will be %hindered
and the man power of Germany ham
pered by the failure Of their return
to the line. This Is just one of the
little items that go to show the situa.
ton OF affairs. Where each day the
Germans have beer throwing men in
to the fray without counting the waste,
on Tuesday they refused to give bat
tie and confined their assaults to
places where they had hopes Of find
ing a weakened line and this without
success. On the other hand the Allies
at many places along the front took
the initiative and forced them back
and recaptured a number of the
towns and positions.
Then to add to the weight of the
= new offensive that the Allies will
throw into their drive, must be fig
ured the number and force of the
American army that has been placed
at the disposal of General Foch. An
other thing that has occurred since
last week. is the placing of a su.
preme commander over all the allies
with a view to co-ordinating the move
ments of the troops and the plan of
the defense or aggressive. General
Foch Of the French army, who has
been placed in command, is a soldier
and a man whose fame is worldwide
and whose name is loved both by his
own men and the allies. The plan
for this designation of a central com.
mand is supposed to have originated
with President Wilson and the recent
visit of Secretary Baker TO London
and Paris is believed to have made
it possible.
The battle front as it now stands
and the former line before this last
thrust might me compared as follows:
For the former line look at the map
showing the railroad line from Brook.
ings to WatertOwn, then for the pres.
ent line follow the Rock Island rail.
way line from Watertown to Clear
Lake, then to a little south of Toron-
to, then southwest to Bookings.
These distances are almost identical
with the front and give the same an
giles and comparative widths of the
advance of the Germans.
In writing Of the present situation
| a military expert at the front says:
"In a sense the German offensive
is merely a prelude to a long and
hard battle which may continue until
fall. The feeling of nervousness be-
ing manifested by the German lines
! to the north Of Arras and to the east
of the elbow now crooked at Noyon,
: instead Of La Fere. shows plainly to
the military experts here that the
German high command is draining it's
: forces along the western front for the
! great offensive now proceeding, and,
! possibly for a second blow either In
l the region of Verdun or in Italy.
Behind the n of the present
German drive a battle of wits between
the war councils on both sides is now
in progress in which the present bat
tie is only a consideration. Appar-
emily the Allies are merely meeting
the Germans in the west now with
a view to stemming the tide, while
at the same time preparing a counter
. blow which is already giving the Ger
man army a nervous feeling from the
channel to Switzerland.