The north Mississippi herald. (Water Valley, Yalobusha Co., Miss.) 1888-1929, 1918-10-25
AMERICAN ARMY
In DIFFICULT PLACE
Best and Freshest German Di-
visions Hurled Against A.
mericans, While Concentra-
ton of Artillery and Machine
Gun Fire Hampers the Yank
Advance.
(By CAsPAR WHITNEY,

PARIS, Oct. 20.-Returning from
the scene of the capture of Musad
farm by the Americans south of
Buzaney in the Argonne region, |
am impelled to repeat the warning to
home folks against expecting pro-
gress in this sector approximate with
the speed in the west.
The Americans here have the Sc
verest task on the allied front. The
country naturally offers tremendous
strength for Boche defenses with al
ternating clearings and forest, for
titled with network of trenches and
concrete nests literally numberless
machine guns, while day and night
German guns play on the front po-
sitions and back areas, making pro-
gress slow and adding immeasur-
ably to the difficulty of maintaining
supplies and getting up artillery,
which tasks have already been rend-
cred indescribably laborous by al
most uninterrupted rain and deep
mud.
Yet our boys continue to advance
despite all obstacles which the Boche
and the weather has put in their
way. At no place have the Ameri-
cans so comparatively green and in
experienced shown more clearly and
unfailingly the sterling quality which
is aiding them to be classed with the
best of the allies.
AS they advance the task grows in
creasingly formidable because they
are now striking at the pivot of the
herman position in France and Bel
gium and are encountering the best
and freshest German divisions
thrown in recognition of the dis
astrous consequences of American
success.
Sooner or later the Americans will
reach their objective, how soon de-
pends largely on the weather, which
is likely to lay the ultimate goal per-
haps in the winter, but when it is
attained the Germans must get back
to the Rhine,
"Americans must be prepared to
expect a hard campaign longer than
the MISUNDERSTANDING" kind
that home casuists suggest. Prison
ers taken in this sector give no evil
dence of lost morale. Some of the
officers are even defiant and the or
derby, skillful retreat of the Ger
mans everywhere indicates no de-
mobilization and cautions US against
feeling that the Boche is ready at
this hour honestly to throw up his
hands.
Experienced officers believe that
the future holds the severest sort of
fighting before the Germans will be
willing to accept unconditional sur
render. Personally | believe that the
Germans will not retire speedily on
the Antwerp Brussels -Mamur-M -Meuse
line, with the idea of holding it
through the coming bad winter
weather.
Meanwhile they are preparing a
withdrawal to the Rhine, now newt
able. in the hope that spring will
bring better peace terms. They real
ize that such long delayed surrender
win make the allied peace conditions
no harder, but that cuts no figure in
the reckoning of the leaders, whose
chief concern is to save themselves,
through saving the armies, the humili-
alton of laying down their arms and
without confessing failure to their
people.
The Germans are counting heavily
on the results being finally favor ia
them through sowing the peace germ
among the allied people behind the
lines and its assiduous cultivation
during the winter My conviction is
that we cannot count on the German
peoples having either the influence
or the initiative to terminate the war
They have not yet given any sign OF
being out of sympathy with the
kaiser. Unless Germany is in much
worse condition internally than We
have evidence Of, the country is not
yet ready to yield to the allies de,
mands,