American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1918-09-06
FORCING GERMANS BACK
OVER $50 MILE FRONT
Steady Advance Along Entire West
ern Front Forcing Retirement to
Behind Old Hindenburg Lines.

Behind Old Hindenburg Lines.
Allied troops continue prying loose
the Germans from their strongholds
The Paris official communique tells
of success in the double thanking op-
erations above scissors, where steady
advances threaten enemy positions
both in Picardy and along the Vesle
and Aisne fronts. 1t was announced
that the French had established new
lines as far north as Guiscard. The
Germans we're reported retiring north
Of the Disc and the Vesle river de-
fenses we're being abandoned. the
statement announcing that the French
had crossed the stream on 12-mile
front and had advanced northward.
On the Picardy front the British war
office communique indicated that the
canal Du Nord defense of the Germans
was disintegrating. Field Marshal
Haig reported his troops had crossed
both the canal and the Tortille river
which it parallels for some distance,
on a wide front north of Moilaine
-four miles north of Peronne.)
The German general staff is facing
the possibility of vast new with
drawal which would entail giving up
practically the remainder Of France
under the Teutonic heel.
It is practically certain that the
plans of Hindenburg and Ludendorff
must undergo important revisions, ow-
ing to the British blow in the Sensee
valley, which has brought the allies
to within seven miles of Cambria and
within six miles of Douai, or less than
the distance from the Battery to the
Central Park lake in New York, while
important railway communications
between Douai and Cambria as well as
the highways and communications
generally between these two cities are
themselves generally dominated.
Unless the Germans can stop the
advance of General Horne the whole
system of the Hindenburg defense'
must crumble and beyond this there
appears to be nothing until the line il
reached running from Nieupport OF
the Belgian sea coast, past Lille anC
Mons, from there to Mesieres ant
Charleville, through the valley of th'
Meuse and joining up with the oi'
line at Pont-a-Mousson
Such a retreat would open the eye
of even the German home folk to sucl
an extent that the higher comman
will not dare to face it, unless fOrce'
to do so by allied blows. The Ger
mans will unmistakably sacrifice addi
tional legions before they begin sue
a crawl. They may yet be forced t
save themselves by retreating fror
the Hindenburg line as they did c
old.
There is reason to believe that tn
Germans hope to snatch the initiativ
from the allies before the end of tn
seasons campaign by rapidly with
drawing the bulk of their armies
the Hindenburg line. leaving the
picked troops and a screen of machin
guns and heavy artillery to preveI
the rapid advance of the allies.
It is argued that they might hay
sufficient divisions rested to form
reserve for use as storm troop. thes
to attack at the precise moment whe
the allies came into contact with th
Hindenburg line, when he German
might believe them tired and disc
ganized
But instead of stopping when the
reached the Hindenburg defense
Foch sent the British tearing throug
completely smashing any plans Il
Germans had. Whatever fresh r
serves they were saving for offensi'
purposes were sent to fill the breaC
in the line.
With the reported evacuation
Lens by all save nests of machii
guns and with the great possibiliti
opened up by the threat against Can
brai and Douai. the focus of intere
is on this part Of the line. Howeve
TO the north, in Flanders, the Britii
are at the doors of Armentieres,
which region the Germans are CO
tinuing TO retreat while around Sol
sons and in the vicinity of Noyon, Il
French troops are ceaselessly bitil
into the enemy's flanks, making fu
ther Withdrawals thereabouts INN
nent.
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