Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-10-05


and their allies on the far-flung battle
line extending from the North sea to
! the Persian gulf in Asia, the interna-
tional armies of Marshal Foch have
pushed forward with telling result ana
with not a single reverse. With Serbia
redeemed. with Roumania in a fair way
to become a factor on the side OF the
entente, with Turkey isolated and made
a non effective force. with the Aus
TRANS in Albania on the run and hotiy
pursued by the Italians. and with the
HNndenburg line shot to pieces and the
German hordes facing the ahaice OF
complete disaster or the evacuation OF
all OF France and the greater part or
Belgium, developments of the past
week have been decidedly in favor oil
the entente cause.
The Germans are being gradually
forced from France until their deepest
point of penetration and occupation IN
the salient in front of LaFere and l.aon'
is not to exceed forty miles. with the
width OF occupied territory narrowing
to the northward to a point near the
Belgian border south Of Ypres and to
the eastward to a point south of Metz.
where American guns are in reach OF
German soil. In Belgium the deep
wedge driven into the German lines in
front of Ypres not only caused the
speedy fall of Arment.eres and Lers
but is forcing the Gerrnann to avacuate
Belgian territory on the channel coast.
-
The desperate straits to which Ger
nd ha y
her man power to the utmost is ev-
;dcnced by the developments Of the past
two days. Won Hindenburg has been
forced to call upon his wanin- res
erves until he's supply of human cannon
fodder is almost exhausted. The tax 'ng
Of captives on the limited front at st.
{ Quentin proves this, as captives taken
in the past few days Represented four
teen different divisions. This number
of divisions would not have been re-
uuired on front of similar length I'M
less many of them had been used up
and had to be withdrawn for recupera-
ton 1t ie a hopeful augury of the sue
cess Of Marshal Foch's counter often
sivc Following the fall Of st. Quentin
the British and French have pushed on
and have passed entirely thru teh
Hindenburg line with it's network of
concrete and underground defenscs, and
are now in sight OF open county whore
war Of maneuver, at which FcCh Is
said to excel. can be pushed. y Hank
5ng movemeut from st. Quor'ir. north
ward will jcoDardize all Of he German
forces in BOT; France at.1 Belgian
Flanders.
II lie IN rly a yet IA mrs ~ " ~
any degree tf certainty the effect of
this break .tT,ru, nut unler7 the Ger
mans have. 'ar'er in thu rea". dc
fe-s systems stronger than is the prob
able. 1t would appear that HindenburS
must undatak q retreat III an -
rensive sea :, VI p their war;: var
10 wpr the Cernan comman t,rs mus
shorten their lines The desperate
lighting Of the past few days :ndi-
Gates two things- the Huns are ta5-
Ting agairCt tir c Il the hope that b;i-
weather will Intervene t. handicap
4 the a,!in5 c;frnsNe and a~c o'SanizinE
behind the ',a.tlc Ines fl: an eX;Hn
sive withdrawal. THIS retreat II foch
is able to foll..N up in force. must yield
the allies more thousands Of PRISONERS
and cost him many casualties In killed
and wounded by rear guard action:
which IF necc5s " must he fought u
protect the man forces o I retiring
army from complete annihiiiation.
80
There appears to be little doubt that
the Germans have given up nope 81
maintaining the Hindenburg line and
are preparing to fall back to shorter
line capable of being defended by the
number of troops remaining available.
1t is presumed this line will be selected
with the idea Of keeping the allies out
Of German territory, Won Hindenburs
present hope Is to loosen the present
grip Of Foch and for a brief time get
away from the blasting fires of the
allied artillery and infantry. He hopes
to repeat his retreat from the Sonlme
Of fourteen months ago, when he WITT
Grew so rapidly that the French and
British war machine was thrown oIt
of gear because of the necessity OF re-
building their lines Of communication
over q country devastated by the Huns.
There Is danger now, however, that TINS
retreat may resolve itself into rout.
The Germans may attempt to make
stand on the Meuse and the Moselle,
with a retreat to the Rhine as last
resort.
It is reported by way Of Holland and
Switzerland that already the Germans
are preparing to defend the crossings OF
the Rhine, such as Ehrenbreitstein OPP
Great German fortresses famous IN
their time, lie on the eastern bank OF
the Rhine, such as Ebrenbreitstein OPP
posite Coblenz and kehl opposite
Strassburg. & A continuous line o.
trenches Is being prepared with all
sorts of sgun shelters and artillery
stations
The Germans eventually must re-
treat to the Rhine. Winter may delay
this retrograde movement until next
spring. When the retirement to the
Rhine does come 1t will be by beaten
army with opportunity for reaction
forever removed. The Rhine valley,
before the war the greatest Industrial
valley in Europe, has supplied the Ger
man armies in Belgium and France
with all their munitions and most OF
their ordnance. True, the Krupp or
Essen district lies eastward, as does
Mannheim. But Cologne has been q
great producer and Coblenz an i'm
mense arsenal, while the mines OF Lor-
raine and Alsace have supplied the
metals enabling Germany to fight.
with the allies advanced into the
u - ,ps~p ~ mi