Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1918-04-04
CT lances of German Success Are
Wrecked by Anglo French Stand
By FRANK H. SIMONDS.

NEW 1eoIk, April line WoISt rs
almost over. Barring accidents. the
chance of a supreme German victory
seems to have passed completely, and
the offensive which began as an ei-
fort to crush the military power OF
Britain is diminishing to the level of
d gigantic raid against An1iens, with
the tWo-fold objective of separating the
British n French armies and destroy
ing the British communications with
Havre and Rouen, their principal bases
on the south.
While the main German drive has
not been checked. it has been contained
the Ancre n Somnae rivers
on the north and .kvre IN the south.
Actually, the German wedge is mar
rowing every ONE and if the pres
ent allied effort to hold the Germans
between those two rivers continues,
the German advance may end in a blind
alley just east of Amiens.
Fol- the past two days the Germans
nave been thrusting between the Brit
lsh and the French armies and toward
Amlens. while the British and the
French, holding the crossings of the
Ancre. the Somme and the Avre, have
been shepherding the Germans toward
the West. They have not been able to
check the full force of the German
thrust by frontal counter attack, as yet,
although they have slowed it down.
Can't Win Victory Now.
The possibility that the extreme point
OF the German wedge may reach
Amiens survives. The chance that the
will be able temporarily to
occupy Alniens and destroy this fine
old capital of Picardy as we'll as all
the British military material stored
mere n temporarily solate all the
British and h French forces, remains,
out even We're this to occur now it
would be but a passing detail, for un-
TESS the German can widen his front
ne "lll soon have to retire to avoid be
ing caught between the two millstones
OF British and French armies.
1t was the realization of this dan
ger that led the Germans to begin on
Thursday their desperate attacks upon
the British lines abou 1Arras. They
sought to break the northern or British
hinge OF the allied front, just as their
dash at Montididier was Il blow at
the southern or French hinge. North
and south they failed to make any but
local gains.
In pursuit of the limited local OBJ
j%ective. which is Amiens, the Germans
began on Thursday to make desperate
efforts just south of the Somme, to
clear the old Roman road running west
from st. Quetin to Amiens. This road
is their most direct route to Amiens,
now some II miles distant from War
fusse-Abancourt, which they reached
on Friday. At the same time they
pushed southwest into Montdidier. in
order to keep open the Noyon-Roye-
Amiens highway, which is their only
other road to Amiens.
Road to Paris Closed.
The danger that one or more British
armies could be destroyed and that ,
great British disaster result ended or
Thursday when the British had pulled
themselves together from the Scarpe t,
the Somme from Arras to Albert anf
We're standing firm. The arrival o
French armies on either bank of tn,
Disc, betWeen the bend near La Fer,
and Noyon and along the Noyon hill:
westward had already closed the road.
to Paris. Thus the whole problem wa.
simplified.
Now the lesser crisis which involve.
the safety of Amiens will be reached
in a relatively few hours and the Ger.
man advance between the Somme ant
the ANre is tie ono remaining menace
Somewhere the Mex 10 miles on tn.
rapidly narrowing front between tn,
Avre and the Somme the German
wedge must be checked or the cit,
will be in deadly peril. But on tn,
other hand if the Germans canno
widen the wedge, by crossing one o
the streams. their own position will b.
extremely dangerous.
If Anliens is to be saved the natura
method of hating the German ad
vance would be by a flank attack or b,
the converging flank attacks. The pusl
north on the Lassigny-Noyon line b,