The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1918-03-30
FACE HUNS CONFIDENTLY.
BARRIERS OF ALLIES WILL STOP
INVADERS.
French Public and Press Firmly Con-
vinccd Tlat Gigantic Effort of
Central Empires Will be Broken
Horrible Losses Suffered by Ger
mans Attacking I'm Mass Formation.

confidence that the great German Of
fenslve is wasting it's strength against
the allied line is voiced i'm an official
dispatch today from Paris. The mes
sage quotes at length from today's
Petit Journal to show that the Ger
mans. though suffering tremendous
losses In massed advances, have failed
to attain their detectives and that
the present situation is satisfactory to
the allies.
Following Is the dispatch:
"The French press continues to view
with calm confidence the develop
ments OF the gigantic battle which
- has been going on for five days. This
confidence Is based upon all the ex-
periences Of this war. Each time that
the Germans have attempted a move
nent against the troops in the West
the effort. after attaining an amount
OF success. always has ended in be-
ing broken against the barriers of the
allied armies.
The great example before all
minds Is that OF the Marne, where
Germany had every advantage on her
SIDE. Today she is lighting against the
powerful Franco-British armies ac-
customed to war and we'll supplied;
her EFFORT will again be stopped. Such
is the firm and calm conviction of
French opinion.
The Petit Journal says: 1T ap
pears now that while attacking from
the beginning on the whole of the
'front.'. the Germans have brought their
principal efforts to the west OF st.
Quentin. In thus acting they wished
to upset the English. reach the Somme
and To secure for themselves i'm this
direction a route to Amiens. which
they want at all costs to posses i'm or.
der to separate the English from the
French armies. 1t is for this object
that the German center has made for
three days such gigantic efforts. I'm
der the furious blows of the assailants
the English have been obliged to
withdraw. but the obstinacy with
which, they have fought has permitted
them to take the necessary measures
to oppose the plans of the enemy.
Finally the left wing operating
south of St Quentin appears to have
had for sts mission the object OF ef-
fectIng a diversion in order to favor
the march toward Amiens. Prince
Ruprecht expected undoubtedly that
his troops marching in the direction
OF Paris would absorb the attention
Of the adversary. But the interven
tion OF the French troops has dis
turbed this calculation.
AS for our poilus. from the mo-
ment OF their entry into the line, in
spite OF their numerical inferiority.
they have set the enemy q bay. inflict-
Ing upon him terrific losses and only
yielding ground inch by inch. The
defensive struggle Is continuing in the
region north OF Noyon while waiting
for the right moment to give a coun-
ter-thrust.
The Germans have not done any
thing further than apply the formula
from which they can not depart, but
which they plan on "a colossal scale
charges I'm close formation, more COM
pact than in 1914. Everywhere the
Germans have attacked in such close
waves that the individuals could hard
y be distinguished from each other.
The result OF this practice is that they
have suffered horrible losses. All the
prisoners relate that they are al
vancing over heaps of head. A terri
hed German said that more than
half OF his regiment had been killed.
The military critic of The Journal
makes the observation that the Ger
man command is far from having a
tanned his detectives. He writes:
Inc tutfuy IN dOOpllilb, dt ltdS'
10 all appearances. the plan Of limited
detectives. He announces the success
OF the first phase of the battle with
n haste which does not precisely indi-
cate an overwhelming confidence In
the future.
If We must take the Germans a
their word we have then the right Il
affirm that at the end of four day!
they have not reached the detectives
which. according to their own plans
had been assigned for the first day.
Until now the result attained doe
not exceed that which ~ PRACTICAL,
inevitable i'm an action where such en-
ergetic methods have been brought T.
bear. We have always attained tn