Imperial Valley press., 1918-12-07

in the form of a preliminary repor
to the Secretary, covering operation
up 10 November 20, afier The Germa'
collapse. II closes with these word
from he leader of The great army il
Franco, expressing his feeling 70
those who served under him:
81 pay the supreme tribute. 10 ou
Officers and soldiers Of ihe line. Whel
] think of their heroism, their pati
ence under hardships, their unflinch
inf spirit of offensive action, I an
filed with emotion which I am un
able to express. Their deeds are i'm
mortal, and they have earned he ete2
nal sraliiude of our country
The report begins with General Per
shing''s departure for France 10 pave
the way for the army That was to
smash German r. sistancc OF Inc
Meuse and give vital aid to The Allies
in forcing Germany 10 its knees nine
teen months laler lis striking feat
ure is The section devoted to .'combal
operations" where it told the Story
of fighting by the man who directed it.
General Pershing views the encoun-
ters before March q of This Year in
which American troops participated
as a parl Of their training and dis
misses them briefly. On that dale,
however, The great German offensive
was launched and crucial situation
quickly developed in the allied lines
which called for prompt sue of the
four American divisions thai were al
thai Tins "euual 10 any demands of
battle action"
The first crisis of the German drive
had been reached in picar3y.
Thus was the stage set for the
counter offensive which. beginning
with the smashing of The eneDoy's
Marne salient. brought overwhelm-
ing victory la The Allies and the
United States in The eventful months
that have followed. The intimation is
strong that General Pershing's advice
helped Marshal Foch 10 reach his de-
cision 10 strike. General Pershing
continues:
"The great force of the German
Chateau Thierry offensive established
the deep Marine salient. but he en-
envy was taking chances. and the vUl-
nerability of this pocket TO attack
might be turned 10 his disadvantage.
Selling this opportunity 10 support
my conviction. every division with any
sort of training was made available
for use in q counteroffensive. The
nlace of honor. in The thrust toward
scissors os July IS was given to our
First an3 Second divisions in com
.pany with chosen French divisions.
without The usual brief warning
of a preliminary bombardment, the
masses French and American artil-
lery, firing BY he map, laid down is
infastry began its charge. The tao
teal handling of our troops under
these trying conditions was excellent
throughout hi action. The enemy
brought up large numbers of reserves
and made a Stubborn defense both
with machine guns and artillery. but
through five DAYS fghlinf the First
division continued 10 advasce until it
ha7 gained the heiehls above Scissors
and cantured the village Of Berzt-le-
sec The Second division took Beau
Reraire farm and Very in q very
rapid advance and reached a position
in front of Tignv at Ire end of lis
second dav These Two divisions can
tured 1000 nrisOnp~s ar over 100
pieces Of artillery."
"At the cost Of only 1000 casual
ties, mostly light, in The reducting Of
the St. Mihiel sahenl. we had taken
10000 prisoners and 443 guns, a great
quantity Of material, released The in
habitants Of many villages from en-
emy domination. and established our
lines in a position TO threaten Meiz.
'"This signal success Of TIE Ameri-
can First Army in its firsi offensive
was of prime importance. The Allies
found they had n formidable army 10
aid thcm, and the enemy learned fin
ally that hc had one to reckon with"
The report shows for he first time
officially. that with This brilliantly ex-
ecuted coup, General Psrshing's men
had cleared The way for The grr8l f.
fort Of the Allies and American forces
10 win a conclusive victory. TIE
American army moved at once To-
ward is crownirg achievement he
battle of The Meuse.
The General tells a dramatic story
of This mightv battle in hree dis
tinct phases, beginning on the night
Of September 27. when Americans
quickly took the places Of tie French
on Inc ihinly held line Of this long
Quiet sector. The atack opeEed on
September 26 and he Americans
drove through entanglements. across
Moo Mans Land TO take all lie en-
emy's first line positions.
OF the total slrenst5 Of The EXpedi-
iionary Force, General Pershing re-
ports:
"There are in Europe altogether,
including a regiment and some sani-
iary units with the the Italian army
and the organizations a Murman7k,
also including these IN route from The
States, Approximately 2,053 SAT men
less our losses. OF this total here
ARE in Franc 1,338,l69 combaianl
troops. Forty divisions have arrived
of hwich the infantry personnel of 10
have been used as replacemenis, leav-
ing 80 divisions now in France or
ganized into three armies Of three
corps each. -"
OF their equipment he says: