The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-09-09
FORCE
AGAIN BEHIND
OLD TRENCHES
OF LAST YEAR
Germans Only Two Hundred
Yards From French Forces
in Councy and St. Gobain
Forests.
STRUGGLE FOR 5 DAYS
SBy Associated Press)

WITH THE FRENCH ARMY IN
FRANCE. Sept 9.-The troops of
General Mangin between the Aisne
and the Disc rivers now are virtually
behind their old wire entanglements
in their old trenches of 1917. All
along the edge of the forest of Coucy
and through the western horn of the
st. Gobain forest the Germans are
only two hundred yards away and
some places they are in positions in
the old Hindenburg line that are
plainly visible from the heights west
of Chateau Caucy.
The Oise-Aisne canal and the river
Ailette that runs between the heights
and the Chateau and which forms a
sort Of advanced point of their main
line six miles farther back at Fresnes
were not abandoned voluntarily, but
wrested from the enemy after a strug-
gle of five days during which five
different German divisions tried to
hold off single French division.
The division that tried to prevent
the crossing of the canal and river
the Associated Press correspondents
was informed by French officer.
campaigns of the war, accomplished
the greatest concentration of machine
gun fire that has been witnessed in
this war
Within 20 Yards Of Guns.
The French troops were obliged to
face that fire at a range of twenty
yards in order to cross the Oise-Aisne
canal and the river Ailette Pioneers
hrid he
enteen yards wide suffered not only
from the quick firers but were in good
range of German grenades 1t re-
quired two days to advance to the
Ailette from the village of Pont Saint
Mard and four days to gain five hun
dred yards of ground. The machine
guns were massed thickly all along
the canal in front of Quincy and in
the woods, thickets and marshes.
The French engineers finally sue
ceeded in bridging the canal and over
the first bridge an enraged sergeant
charged the Germans around a ma
chine gun position and single-han.ied
made twelve of them prisoners. Such
was the work that went on both along
the river and the canal during the FIVE
days each day exhausting Germany's
best divisions.
Twenty-Five Guick-firers were foInd
In a small thicket called Etuaraissage
wood. They were almost as thick In
Nache wood and the more extensive
timbered land fronting Coucy-le-Chat
eau and Coucy-la-VilIe.
Where the French could get at them
they charged and killed the German
gunners on their pieces but many en-
placements were too well hidden or
protected for direct attack and It
was necessary to shell them.
Enemy Left Guns in Flight
During several hours French projec-
tiles sent splinters flying all through
the timber and when the infantry
charged they had to go on to Coucy-la-
Vile to catch the enemy who had fed,
leaving his guns and an enormous
amount of materials and supplies be-
hind Coucy-le-Chateau and theheight
on which it stands were thus turned
from the north and fanked at the
same time from the south, while thou
surrounding positions.
Chateau Nogent to the southeast
was taken about the same time and
with it the Germans lost positions on
which they had spent a tremendous
effort. They retired behind their
three lines Of barbed wire on the line
to Fresnes. The booty they left be-
hind in two immense engineering
dumps included locomotives, railroad
material of all sorts and a great num-
ber of quick-frers and emplacement
guns and one fifteen-inch gun with
which they had bombarded French
towns far behind the lines east of The
Ailette