Arizona republican., 1918-03-31
LONG STRUGGLE LIN NEW FRONT
 N0W EXPECTED
Repetition of Verdun and
 First Somme Offensives Expected to Result From
 Present German Attack
Republican A. p. Leased Wire1


 WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN FRANCE, March 29. Friday.-(By As sociated Press.)-The impression to- night among the troops fighting along the front is that the battle will develop into a long struggle similar to those at Verdun and the first battle of the Somme. The Germans are making strenuous efforts to bring their heavy artillery forward to support their ln- fantry. which has borne the brunt or the whole engagement thus far. IL IS considered probable that they will make another formidable rush with all tnelr available reserves, but the allied com manders view the future with con1l- dence They regard the situation, as 1 a general rule, satisfactory and De- lieve that the only change Will be | toward improvement.
 Germans Are in Pocket
 The Germans now occupy a. sort Of pocket in the Franco British lines i which leaves them open to flank at tacks For this reason they extended their attacking line 10 the eastward of Arras for the purpose of smoothing out sharp salient, but in order to be sue cessful they would be compelled to pay d heavy price. Whether they will be able to afford this after the ex- tremely heavy losses they have sus- tained is for them to judge. They used a larger number of divisions of their reserves than they foreSaw would be necessary to make the progress they have already achieved for the resist ance of the British was unexpected, considering their immense disparity of numbers as compared to the attackers.
 Allies Work in Harmony i The front now extends approximate ly 55 miles and the French occupy the ] line to within a few kilometers south 1 of the Somme river. Everywhere the French and British are working in com plete harmony, holding their newly oc- cupied positions with wonderful ten acity..
 On Thursday, when the Germans oc- cupied hill called Mount Renaud, the British General, commanding cavalry division requested the honor of attack ing it which was given. The dismounted cavalrymen advanced to the assault watched by their French comrades, and notwithstanding the most obstinate German defense, succeeded in captur ing the hill and in holding it firmly ever since.
 Germans Appear to Slow Down The Germans, who were advancing : in two directions, namely towar I'd Amiens and beyond Mont Didier, ap- pear to have slowed down their eff forts in the direction of Amiens and , to have thrown the greater part o1 their force around Mont Didier, where 3 however, they encountered determined resistance from the French who ever regained some ground by counter at- tacks.
 | A rough outline of the position today follows:
 Outline of Battle Line
 The French are holding strongly along the Disc canal and river. Thenc, southward of Noyon, the front passe. to the south of Lassigny and runs il an almost straight northwestward di. rection to the line of heights westward of Mont Didier. Then the line run. north through Gratibus and follows tn, r course of the river Avre. It goes by Hamel, crosses the Somme near Saill, Le Sec, passes westward of Albert ant Beaumont-Hamel, and rejoins tn, former British organization. at Hebu
 terne, Bocquoy and Moyenville. I leaves the Cojeul river to the east an, then joins the original front eastward 
 z Today all along the line the chem, | has been trying to find a feeble spo = without success
 Morale of Troops Fine
 The morale of both the French. an, & British troops is notably cheerful. The, : seem to know their turn is coming = The protection against German gas at o tacks has been efficacious. 5, 1t had been announced that the Ger : mans intended to use something ter e rlble in the way of gas, but nothin, o new has so far appeared It was pro : claimed that the Germans would us s a swarm of tanks, but only one ha
 been seen and that apparently was on t captured from the British at Cambra
 The diminution of German aerial ac ' tivity in the last few days probabl a IS sequel of his heavy losses in air men, but their bombarding squadron
 have been more active at night. espec lally in the vicinity of railroad iunc = tions and stations. 'N