The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-10-11
rhine VALLEY
NOW MENACED
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Collapse Of German Center
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Brings Hope of In y
vasiOn Near a ~
: l.-H 5
NEW ENTERPRISE
UNOFFICIALLY LIMITED
Attack in Different Quarter May Come
About as Result of Recent Develop
ments-German Collapse Greater
Than Expected by Allied Chiefs.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1.-THE victory
of the Anglo American forces north of
st. Quentin may be paving the way for
the early invasion of Germany itself
Striking hints of a wholly new enter
prise, directed at the upper Rhine valley,
have .come from unofficial quarters in
France and they follow repeated reports
from Switzerland that the civil popula-
! lions of the Rhine valley towns are being
removed by the German authorities.
Some officers here regard these reports
as highly significant. They give them
particular weight because it now appears
certain that the enemy will be forced far
! back all along the front in northern
/ France and Belgium within the next few
days. While the constant hammering is
/ kept up in the north to pin the German
armies there it might be possible, it was
said, to deliver a new stroke on the AL
SAGE Lorraine front that might swiftly
develop into an invasion of Germany it
self by way of the Rhine valley.
The wholly unexpected extent of tn,
German collapse between st. Quentin anG
Cambria, however, may upset any plans
for a drive to the Rhine Marshal Fool
may have planned. As the enemy stand,
now, with a great gap torn in the centre
of the lines that were already struggling
! to extricate themselves and get back K
shorter front there is even the posi-
bility of a crushing and immediate mill
tary, victory for the allies.
Should the French to the south or tn
. British to the north also succeed il
breaking through before the Germans ca
complete an extensive retirement tn
) capture or destruction of whole enem,
{ army group might be realized In tn
: opinion of observers here the situato
has almost limitless possibilities, an
: Marshal Fech is virtually certain to con
centrate every ounce of power at hi
5 command in an effort to execute fina
= coup. SRI
3 For this reason it dOes~not appear like
: ly that the Rhine drive plans, if ther
!, are such plans, will develop until tn
: situation clears in the north. Should tn
German armies escape the trap betwee
Il Nerdun and the North sea, however, an
II establish line on the Mouse front. man
e officers are confident that the centre ,
$ attack will swing suddenly to a dri>
f into Germany itself by the shorte,
! route, the Rhine valley.
For the moment attention is concel
!. trated on the startling forward rush
;, 1.-THE Anglo-Ameriean forces which ha,
e broken through the great St. Quentin
: Cambria defensive zone. To the soul
q, it is known that the enemy is strainir
u every effort to hold up the French alol
N the Suippe river.
r All but one of the "a good German div
u sions on this front, it has been reporte
" are now in the front line Should Il
IS French reach and pass the Aisne,
20 they threaten to do, the enemy forces
r. the Laon pocket apparently would be
st desperate straits.
re Still further east to the Mouse a
beyond, French and American forces a
3 striking fiercely ahead, carrying an ev
- wider menace, and to the north of Ii
= Belgian French and British troops ha
driven forward another grim threat.
no part of the line, apparently, can I
hard pressed centre turn for re-enfor,
ments and relief on scale that wol
more than delay the advance at a
] point
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