The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-03-28
GERMANS ATTEMPT
DESPERATE DRIVE
AWFUL CARNAGE MARKS THE
CHARGES MADE BY HUNS AS
BRITISH FALL BACK
MILLION AND HALF GERMANS IN THE LINE
Heroic Defense And Strategy Mark the
Retreat While Half Million
Germans Fall

The greatest battle in the history Of
the world is now on along the British
front in France. On a front of over
fifty miles the Germans have massed
formations Of men against the British
and are striving with all the might Of
desperation and despair to force a
great drive through the defense and
make a drive of magnitude either
against Paris or the channel ports.
For weeks the Teutonic high command
has been concentrating troops from
the eastern fronts, with the avowed in.
tention of making a concerted attack.
SO pleased with their designs were
they, that they invited by formal invi-
tation all of the newspaper correspon.
dents of neutral nations to come and
witness the event.
Thursday Of last week, without any
great preparatory artillery fire, they
launched this great attack. The ground
that it overs is entirely defended By
the British, and it would seem that
they were selected partly because Of
the known animosity for the English.
1t would also seem from the orderly
way in which the attack was received
that its coming has been known to the
British command for some time and
that they were prepared. Since the
retreat for "Strategic' purposes, made
by Hindenburg, and the advance of the
British and French to advanced posi-
tions, all Of the new trenches occupied
by the British have been backed up
by this original battle line of trenches
and in their defense Of the present
attack they have been slowly and dog
gedly retiring through the country that
formerly was occupied by the Germans
before their retreat.
This drive by the Germans is the
most s%tupendous military operation
that has ever been attempted in the
annals of war. At no time in all the
battles OF the past have such immense
numbers of men been hurled along a
given line with such utter disregard
for the lives lost. All the reports
from the front, from the very first day,
have stated that the Germans are be-
ing moved down in countless num.
bers. Berlin has been obliged to admit
this in their official reports given out
and which reach us through neutral
countries.
The first attack commenced hast
Thursday west Of Cambria and then
slowly made itself manifest down the
line of fifty miles until now the strong.
est Of the fighting has been for two
days west of st. Quentin and a little
to the south until it now reaches the
sectors where the French line of de-
Tense joins the British at La Fere. In
tense fighting has taken place all
along the line of attack and in the on.
slausht of the enemy the British have
opposed a slow but gradual retirement
Of their whole line of defense. Even
with that conceded, they have not yet
reached the battle line of trenches
which they occupied before the Hin
denburg retreat. The farthest point
of advance of the Germans is only a
few miles more than the distance
from this city to Bushnell and in many
places 1t is not that far. BY putting
the distance in cOmnariSOn with local
objects it is easy to see that the adj
vance has not been so great and the
danger of immediate attack on either
Paris or the channel ports so imme.
date as might be imagined from the
reports. The entire plan of attack has
been to demOralize the British by at.
lacking in such awful numbers and in
mass formation, as to intimidate them
and break down their morale and thus
make the final punch possible. If Haig
had held his men to a hand to hand
fight, If he had attempted a stubborn
defense of the advanced positions that
the British held, there would have
been an awful loss Of life, the spirit of
the British army would have been
broken and then the Germans would
have had a victory with comparative
ease.
But like Joffre at the Marine. Haig
has adopted the policy Of a slow and
skillful retreat. making short and