The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-06-07
U. 5. MARINES HIT
SMASHING BLOW

Os Ne g4aNAIVuu ALI
SMASHING BLOW
CONTINUED from page -
attack. Their total advance was ap-
prOximately two miles on q three
mile front. The total number of
| prisoners taken was not known last
| evening. but additional captives were
brought In after the morning at
tack, which netted about 100 prison.
ers.
Morale Very Low.
A notable development was the
whom are Prussians. They expressed
| themselves as tired Of the war and
glad to get captured.
This was despite the fact, they say,
that they are furnished with food al
though the Saxons, the Wurteren-
berg troops and others may go with
out.
1t must not be imagined, however,
that they did not put up a fight this
morning, for their officers were
among them urging them on, but the
marines dashed into them yelling
like Indians and plying bayonet and
rifle. One marine who was taking
back prisoner ran into two Ger
man officers and 10 men. He tackled
them singlehanded with his rifle and
bayOnet, killed both the officers and
wounded seven Of the men.
Another sergeant was about to
take a prisoner when the German
threw himself on the ground and
discharged his revolver at the Amer
4 MI 1
settled the German for the sergeant
shot him, as he did four others who
also had surrendered but refused to
put up their hands.
In Four Waves.
The marines advancing in the Bel
leau wood region went in four waves,
in open formation. The men in the
first wave were, for the most part,
armed with rifles and bombs, while
the rear waves were equipped with
automatic rifles. With them came
squads Of machine gunners, Juggling
their collapsible guns. They crossed
the open space and turned up the
slope bent over like gnomes. The
trenches the marines passed over
hardly deserve the name for they
were simply lines OF little holes, big
enough to hold a man, while barbed
wire was lacking. Out In the open
field artillery officers with glasses
were directing the supporting fire.
while on the roof Of a nearby farm
house a signal man Wiggled with his
red and white flags. On all sides the
guns were flashing, some Of them
stationed right out in the field, while
others were hidden in the woods.
Looking down into the valley only
a mile away, the village Of Bussalr1es
could be seen on fire. AS the cor
respondent watched the scene the
clouds OF white shrapnal smoke
over the village Of Torcy also became
brownish and flames appeared in
that town.
Put Down Barrage.
The artillery fire that preceded the
attack lasted an hour and was of
especial intensity for five minutes
preceding the time when the ma
rines went over the top.
French and American batteries
both took part in the firing, putting
down a rolling barrage and then
shifting to the roads behind the Ger
man lines.
It appears that the marines in go
ing in forestalled an attack the Ger
mans had planned. 1t was to have
been carried out by the Prussians,
who had been put into the line for
that purpose and was to have taken
place either today or tomorrow. The
men had relieved the Prussian guard
which was badly chewed up in the
fighting Of the last day or two. They
in turn had relieved the Saxons, just
after the marines took over the Sec
TnF hn F.in
fact that they have used up three
German divisions in less than g. week
and are still very much alive them
selves.
The morale of the men is wonder
full. They are willing to attempt any
thing and are talking with pride Of
the heavy losses they inflicted upon
the Germans in their attack this
unorning, while all the early reports
indicated that the afternoon had
been even more costly to the enemy
This latter attack was undertaken
largely because of the splendid
showing the marines made in the
morning, coupled with the discovery
that the morale of the Germans in
the opposite position was low, which
made the going easier for the ma
rines. The advance was carried by
the same men who attacked IN the
morning and who had had no rest.
They asked nothing, however, but
plenty of ammunition and hardly ate
the food that was brought up to
them, so absorbed were they in the
task of chasing the enemy as far as
possible.
No one who saw the marines in
action today but thoroughly agreed
with the exclamation Of their COM
mander, himself an army man, who
said, IT just wish had an army
corps Of 'em here"
Marines, who began a second at
tack on the German lines late yester-
day, captured the village of Torcy,
and drove their way into Bouresches,
northwest Of Chateau Thierry. This
morning they were holding Torcy in
the face Of repeated counter attacks
and were pushing back the Germans
through the streets Of Bouresches.
Virtually all their detectives in this
attack were attained.
The American plan did not include
the taking of Torcy. but the marines
swept into it and drove out the Ger
mans.
The one point where the objective
was not reached was on the right of
attack in the Belleau wood. The
fiefcest fighting Is continuing here.