Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1918-03-28
French BLOCKING
GERMAN ADVANCE
DOWN OISE VALLEY
Take Over Part Of British
Sector and Are Holding
with Death Grip
OF ARTILLERY
FLOW TO BATTLE FRONT
These Are RemOrseIessIy
Pounding Bavarian Rein
fOrCementS
By Henry Wood

NOnlleu fresS statf correSp0ndent)
With the French Armies in the
Field, Mar. Commanded by two of
the most brilliant French generals, the
French are blocking the German g pro-
gress between Noyon and Nesle, where
the enemy is seeking to force his way
down the narrow Disc valley and turn
the entire French wink.
Other enemg forces ia the north are
seeking TO throw the British back te-
ward the North Sea, aiming thus to
crush both allied armies
Hindenburg s pre-announced aim of
capturing Amiens is considered a blind
The Germans, 1t appears certain,
have arranged to substitute Austrian
divisions III Lhs i':ei s-r.. Of the
French front, hurting the German di-
visions thus released into the battle.
Despite the enemy foresight in
choosing the full moon for his often
sive, during which the allied lines Of
communication could be more easily
bombarded at night, French columns
arc steadily arriving.
. Artillery At Work.
Long columns of artillery constantly
are flowing up to the battle front,
where they go into action with me-
chanical certitude, the result of nearly
four years of warfare.
After taking over part of the Brit
ish line, the French are solidly holding
the left bank of the Disc, between
Tergnier and Noyon, commanding the
bridges and fighting with spirit un-
equalled since the battle of the Marne.
Nowhere in the entire war have |
seen calmer confidence. With the poll
us convinced the Germans are playing
their last card, they are performing
individual miracles
A French battery facing Noyon
fought three days and ihhre nights
without food. After being completely
by Germans, the gunners
fought their Iyay opl, saving their
guns and carrying off their dead and
Moving Down Infantry.
The captain of a French machine
gun company told me he went into
action with thirty thousand rounds,
which were exhausted against the solid
masses of the enemy. He declared he
could have easily fired sixty thousand
rounds.
Meantime, hundreds upon hundreds
Of man killing soantequinzes (sevent-
fives) are performing to the utmost
the role for which they were created,
the moving down of infantry.
The heavy artillery is pounding with
deadly relentlessness against the Ger
man rear A battery captain told me
his guns had for targets advancing col
umns, each of which consisted of solid
of Bavarians.
Prisoners say half the Germans
strength on the west front was facing
the French on Monday.
Refugees who had partially repaired
their homes after last year s retreat
advance. They are re-abandoning ev-
arything.
Wood g dispatch was filed from the
sector where the Germans have met
the stiffest resistance encountered IN
their entire drive.
The British and French lines con-
verged in the vicinity of LATER, on the
Disc. When the British were forced
back here, the French were compelled
to retire simultaneously to preserve
their connection with the British. AS
the British were pushed westward, the
French left flank stretched in the same
ratio, but doggedly refused to give a
foot from its selected positions on the
south bank of the Oise.
Tergnier is three miles directly west
Of Lafere Chauny is tnree miles south
west of Tergnier Noyon is nine miles
farther west and a bit south. From
Noyon the battle front veers sharply
northwestward to Roye, about eleven.
miles distant
The French, by their stonewall de-
fense of the Oise embankment, have
thus forced Hindenburg to create a
dangerous salisnt in his lines and ex-
pose his left flank for a distance Of
moro than fifteen miles along that
river from the st. Goban forest to
Noyon.
This flanA, it would appear, is the
most vulnerabl point in the German
advance. 1t seems TO be a likely spot
for the allies to start a turning move
ment of their own by striking north
ward in the direction of st. Quentin.
Watch the papers on Easter Monday