Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-07-23
Special Cabie to Evening Public Ledger

| nina the German rear north Of the
Marine and it is evident that quaint
ties of supplies and munitions that
cannot be removed, stores for the
intended southern advance of the
enemy. are being burned
The obstinacy of the resistance tc
| our attacks near Oulchy is explained
by the need and difficulty of getting
| other material back to the north. The
direction of the retreat suggests tina,
| Won Boehm may make a definite stand
on the Vesle.
A characteristic of sound strategi-
cal conception, always supposing that
1t is well executed and fortunate in
circumstances, is to give results be-
yond the proportion due to the forces
Immediately engaged. Now that Cen
eral Foch's genius is having fuller
play, with results that in less than
week have transformed the mill
tary outlook, my mind goes back to
very different days when, in the i'm
mobility of trenches, such success
seemed to have become almost i'm
possible.
Allied Victories Spreading
Our victories spread and spread
On Thursday Foch loosed Mangin and
De Goutte on Won Boehm's west flank
On Friday night the German com
mander withdrew from the south bank
of the Marne. thus closing the pro
gram of enemy offensive begun on
Monday Of last week. On Saturday
he abandoned Chateau-Thierry, the
key to this part of the Marine.
Sunday he was threatened all along
his main line of communications to
the Aisne and driven by the forces
which crossed the Marne from Fossoy
to Gland, from Mezy to Charteves.
Between these points Won Boehm hur-
riedly abandoned a large angle of
which ChateauThierry and the hills
around the town were the southwest
ern buttress.
The Soissons-Cha -Thierry high
way was absolutely essential to the
maintenance of Won Boehm's army.
Even a short Allied advance from
the RetzSavieres and Clignon valleys,
such as would have brought it under
fire, would have gravely compromised
the German supplies of all kinds.
The German front was held by at
least six divisions, with n seventh,
which was in course of relief. OF
tlcSe ScNclal liad olidSi SpilC scNelc Z
losses in the Compeigne offensive of a
month before and had been told that
they were going to rest in a quiet
sector. Others. including the Sixtieth
division Of my faithful Brandenburg-
ers," whom the Kaiser lauded in a
famous dispatch for having taken
Fort Douamont in February, 1915,
were of better quality. How are the
mighty fallen!
Enemy Met Their Superiors
There were Bavarians and Saxons
also who don't exactly love one an
other. At least. the Bavarians charge
the Saxons with weakness almos,
amounting to treason. The fact 10 thai
all of them the Brandenburg braves In
cluded, met men superior in numbers
ir spirit and in war skill.
BY IL o'clock Friday morning We had
the Soissons- s-Chateau-Thierry road un-
der our gunfire, and a little later the
Fere-Bazoches railway. On Saturday
the Franco-American divisions We're at
Ploisy and Parcy Tigny, hardly two
miles from the road on the north, and
at Etrepilly, the same distance on the
south, while the French entered Chateau.
Thierry and crossed the Marne further
east, the situation had become exceed
ingly critical
1t was met by an accentuation of the
retreat on the south and stiffening OF
the resistance at what the enemy evi
IDENTIFY regards as vital points on his
west flank, namely, the line of the small
river Crise. Immediately south of Sois
sons, and the sector of the twin town!
of Oulchy. At both these points tn,
battle ragged furiously yesterday.
Nevertheless, the French and Allied
troops crossed the high road between Vii
lemontoire and Buzancy and approached
south of the Ourcq in the rear of Ro
court st. Martin. From this point th'
front ran across the road by Epieds t
the Marne near Jaulgonne.
British Divisions In Fight
Certain British divisions-strappint
fellows from the Black Watch ant
other English and Scottish contingents-
have had these two last days modes
but useful part in the battle on the
eastern flank near the ground where
their countrymen arrested the advance
from the Aisne a month ago. They hac
only just come up across the Marne ts
the line midway between Reuil anc
Rheims; had, indeed, scarcely gotter
out of their motor wagons, with
French force and some Italian elements
at their sides.
British regiments advanced Sunda,
on the front extending from the Rheim
high road near Bouilly to the Ardr,
Valley near Marfaux. Fortune was no
very kind to them. for 1t happened tina
| opposite the sector a relief was abou
| to take place, SO that the Allies wer
| faced by two German divisions instea
of one, and Of these the Fiftieth Division
was reputedly of good quality.
L .Thra,,uhp,t,
| fighting has been most obstinate. Sun
| day we took st. Euphraise village, a
the extreme right of our line. which
curiously enough faced slightly to tn
| southwest after the recent reverses, an
part of Rheims Wood at our center, bu
lost part of Marfaux village on our lef
Yesterday a new assault gave US tn
village of Bouilly and the remainder O
the wood. which was a regular nest @
machine guns.
From these points of the hillside W
came down into the Ardre Valley nearl
reaching Bligny and capturing Chamuz.
The Germans in the further corner {
Marfaux are therefore in very Pre-
carious positions.
Among 400 prisoners brought to tn
British rear are two battalion CON
manders and nine other officers. Th
real importance of the action of cours,
is to have pinned down a pretty larg
force which has been sent to troubl
US in more important field.
Germans DemoralIzed
There is some evidence of demoral
zation among the German soldiers, bu
do not recite details lest exsggerate
ideas of the dimensions of the Allie
success should be encouraged. We stan
beside open graves. The way befor
us is still long and bitter. Let US face
soberly.
i One must know the countrx IN Under