The Washington herald., 1918-07-31
Allied Officers Say Luden-
dorf Has Made Last
Major Offensive.
CIERGES LOSS ONLY
A TEMPORARY ONE
Foch, with Two Great At
tacking Columns, Must
Soon Retake Town.
| FABRICATED STEEL BRIDGES
SPEEDED ALLIED ADVANCE
AS Germans Burned Bridges Be.
hind. Franco-Americans Brought
Prepared Substitutes Up.

The ferocity OF the Franco-Amer-
lean attacks against the lines OF the
retreating German forces have Gre
ated such havoc to the armies OF
Won Below and Won Boehm, that
the great military machine of Lu-
dendorff never again can undertake
major offensive operation, accord
ing to allied military officers here.
The results of the fighting of
the past twenty-four hours in no
wise caused lessening in the ella
ton which for the past week. has
held Washington in its grip. That
the time must come when the Ger
mans would fall back to a position
of sufficient strength to permit at
least temporary resistance has been
generally recognized. 1t has also
been batter OF general comment
that the Franco-American forces
had greatly exceeded performances
Of other units-la the war in wrest-
ling with the-o old problem Of bring
ing up cannon and heavy artillery.
The feeling that the Germans will
not hold their present line long is
general. among well informed stu
dents of she battle situation who are
confident that before many hours
have passed the allied forces will
again have a preponderance OF field
guns in action.
CierEes Loss Not Serious.
Failure OF the Frarco-American
units to retain the battered and smok-
ing ruins Of the little town OF Cierges.
the point of the line between Fere-
en-Tardenois and Ville-en-Ta-deno
caused no telling of uncertainty as to
the final results which will be achiev-
ed by the strategy of Gen. Foch.
The town of Cierges rests in n hol-
low. the high ground on the south
which is held by the allies being ap-
proXimately go feet high, while the
ground which dominates the town
from the northeast is about 675 feet
in height. II is from these two To-
sitions that the opposing forces have
rushed in their attacks. centering
about the ruins of the village.
German Persistence Significant.
That the Germans should return
again and again to the attack at this
point clearly shows that their lead
ers recognize the menace which the
advances of the past week have
brought about. Viewing the present
battle situation from the lines of the
allies. it is apparent that the attack
ing forces are in a position to drive a
sharp salient into the territory where
the Germans are trying desperately
to collect and move great stores OF
cannon and war material.
officers here agree that il has been
the purpose of the allied leaders to
drive a strong column to the north
east of Fere-en-Tardenois. following
the line of the railroad and with
Bazoches as its objective From the
other corner of the pocket. there is
reason to believe a strong allied
force is striving to drive to the north
west along the line Of the mineral
railway. with Fismes as its objective.
Severe Fighting Ahead.
easy one, for to the northeast Of
Cierges in the direction of Vezilly
there are heavy forest lands. which
offer excellent positions for defensive
fighting.
1t is reasonable. however, to hope
that this difficult stretch of terrain
can be taken by an encircling move
ment. At any rate, the movement
Of heavier guns to the battle front
can be expected within two days.
Word was received here yesterday
that one of the secrets of the steady
progress of the Franco-American
troops was the use of so-calIcd fab
ricated steel bridges which were
quickly carried to the ruins Of those
destroyed by the retreating Germans
and erected in record time.