Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-29
GERMANS HURLED
FROM Bic BASE
IN MAD EIDE
Capture of Fere Great Blow to
Hun Army; Allied Troops Press
on and on Unchecked
CAPTURE TOWNS FROM FOE
BY Associated Press to Every Evening

BY Associated Press to Every Evening
With the French Army ~ France,
July. % 9 n IN The forward pressure
ot the Allies was continued uninterrupted
II throughout Sunday On Saturday he
progress Of the Allied forces was extremely
rapid with slight opposition from the
retrcating enemy but Yesterday thc
Germans everywhere demonstrated that
their power Of resistance still was very
strong
In the streets of Fcre -en- Tardcnois
there was very severe hand to hand
fighting. but the A.lies eventually retain
cd the upper hand, the German retreat
soon becoming n stampede
Late last night fighting was still in
progress for the mastery Of Nille-cn-
Faricnols. the German strong point on
the southeagtcrIy side Of the salient but
the Allies gradually were gaining the as
cendancy here They arc established in
the southern portlco of tho town, having
beaten off all efforts of the Germans to
dislodgc them
ALLIES CROSS THE orRCQ
After oonqucring Fere- I'm Tardenois,
the Allies next had before them tho
difficult task n crossing the river Onrcq
IN the face If the strongest German fire
Happily the river IS running very low Just
now for not bridge was left intact
The Allies succeeded IN overcoming
all obstacles here and secured foothoid
on The northern bank, where they present
serious menace to the enemy
Farther to the southeast IN the neigh
borhood ~ the forest towards the center
of the pocket, both the infantry and the
artillery were heavily engaged
ouR TROOPS TAKE Two TOWNS
In the region north Of the RS forest.
there Were some very furious comhats
which lasted several hours and resulted
IN the Allies gaining possession ~ Champ
volsy Then Roncheres was reached by
advanced guards Farther 10 the cast,
| cavalry patrols came into action in the
Meuninlerc wood and al Aillers-AgrOn-
| AIgnzy
All along this part Of the Inc the
enemy threw great quantities Of gas
shells, the fumes Of which remained for
a long tame among the woods.
GAS SHELLS CANT HALT PURsUERs-
Near Ronignv, and Bhgnv the Allies
i got over the Dormans- Rheims nam
/ road
The advance called for the greatest
precautions here because Of the enormous
number of enemy machines guns under
| cover Of the small woods in this region.
/ On the eastern flank, however. the Allies
] now have got beyond the wooded country
and on TO the plateau.
TANKS DO GLORIOUS WORK.
The French var Office reports
since the opening Of the artillery
bornbardment on Juiv Is. the day Of the
French counter-offensIve on he front be
tween he Aisne and the Marne our tanks
/ have taken glorious part IN The battle
After piercing the enemy lines and en-
abIng the infantry u enter the breach
j they have not ceased 10 accompany or
+ precede the troops.
throughout the battle the TANKS
have gwen proof OF heir ability 10 man
euver and OF their incompatible audacIty-
The crews drove the tanks IN ne hottest
parts OF the battle and recoiled from no
obstacles They attacked the centres
of resistance and the batteries Of the
enemy under terrific FIRE from machine
guns and special German cannon.
BAGGED 20 GUNS APIECE.
Their gallantry attained the greatest
results Each tank accounted for II
or 20 German machine guns Some OF the
tanks charged the German batteries,
putting the gunners out of action and
lnsuring the capture Of the cannon and
material
The losses sustained by the Germans
rs a result Of the onslaught OF the tanks
were every high. according TO the reports
Of prisoners From July Is 70 july d
the tanks took part every day IN the
attack Most Of them were in action
twice and some returned TO the fight
four or five times IN the same day Some
tank companies fought for three full days
Drivers operated their tanks for SO hoa =
in the two-day period Of July 1919.