The Washington herald., 1918-10-27
ALLIES IN GAINS
ON ALL FRONTS
Gen. March Outlines Vic,
tories IN Weekly War
Summary.

The victories OF the allied ana
American troops in the last week.
as outlined yesterday by Gen
March, chief Of star, havs cleared
the Germans from virtually sill Of
the Northern France coal fields,
imperilled the enemy's ratl COM
munications on the Disc -Serre-Ar
gonne line, taken 5000 prisoners in
the thrust just begun on the Asiago
Plateau and along the Piavs. and
carried the Balkan pursuit over the
danube into Rumania. The week s
drive has added 900 square miles to
retaken territory.
Gen. March's statement reads:
During the past week the
steady retirement of the enemy has
been in progress, and we have taken
from them 400 square miles. Since
July IS, when the German drive
was brought to q stand-still by our
first counteroffensfve, the territory
we have retaken amounts to more
than 1000 square miles.
Coal Fields Retaken.
Since last Saturday the allies
have advanced rapidly eastward
across the plains of Flanders to the
line OF the canal which runs from
Eede. on the Dutch frontier to
Deynze on the Lys, where the enemy
had stopped his retreat and had or
sanized his resistance. BY this ad-
vance the area in Belgium occupied
by the allies has been increased to
1900 square miles. five times as
much as the allies held on July IS.
/. South of the Belgian frontier, in
French Flanders and Artois, the
enemy withdrew quickly from Lille
and Douai twenty miles to the line
of the Escaut river. through Tour
mai and Valenciennes. The retreat
released all of the coal fields in
northern France. except small
tract about five miles square that
lies east OF the Escaut
The enemy's attempt to stand be-
hind the Selle river between the
Escaut and lie Cateau was frus-
trated by the British. who drove
forward on Wednesday. Thursday
and Friday across that organized
defense line on a fifteen mile front
and advanced five miles in three
days to lie ouesnoy and the railway
south of valenciennes.
Foe Re.istance stubborn.
SOulU VI lHlS lIlt 40
vance stopped at the Sambre Canal
and the Oise River. Enemy resistance
has been stubborn in the Disc -Serre
angie and eastward to the Argonne
along the Hunding- Brunhilde line.
The general line now held by the
allied forces along this front is sub
stantially parallel to the railroad sys-
tenn which IL threatens at all points.
In front OF our own troops in the Ar
gonne very large mass OF German
troops has been concentrated. since IL
is imperative for the enemy to protect
this railroad line which runs from
MeZieres down to Metz.
been begun by Italian. French and
British forces on the Asiago Plateau
on the mountains between the Brenta
and the Piave, and on the Piave 5000
prisoners have been reported captured
during the first two days: the extent
of ground gained is not yet definitely
known. offfctally
On the Balkan front In Northern
Serbia the French and Serbian troops
are pursuing the enemy toward the
Danube. and are now about sixty
miles south Of IL on the Morava River.
To the east French troops have
reached the Danube at Vidin in the
northwest corner of Bulgaria. and
patrols have crossed the river at that
point and encountered hostile troops
on the Rumanian side.